Broadway Grosses: Al Pacino's Merchant of Venice Gets Off to Million-Dollar Start

Who says Broadway theatergoers don’t care about Shakespeare? When Al Pacino is playing Shylock, they’re plenty interested. The superstar’s limited engagement in The Merchant of Venice barreled onto the frontrunners’ list, racking up $1,060,015 in its first seven (rather than the normal eight) performances at the Broadhurst Theatre. Merchant joins a fall season now in full swing, with 35 shows on the boards that include newcomers Rain (off to a good start at the Neil Simon Theatre, playing to 90.20% of capacity), A Free Man of Color and Colin Quinn: Long Story Short. The still-previewing Driving Miss Daisy made the frontrunners' list for capacity, filling 93.49% of the seats at the Golden Theatre.

Here is a look at who was on top and who was not for the week ending October 24:

FRONTRUNNERS (By Gross)
1. Wicked ($1,573,370)
2. The Lion King ($1,411,468)
3. Billy Elliot ($1,122,640)
4. Jersey Boys ($1,106,734)
5. The Merchant of Venice ($1,060,015)*

UNDERDOGS (By Gross)
5. Mrs. Warren’s Profession ($252,797)
4. The Pitmen Painters ($229,838)
3. Lombardi ($194,649)**
2. A Free Man of Color ($89,433)***
1. Colin Quinn: Long Story Short ($60,699)****

FRONTRUNNERS (By Capacity)
1. Wicked (99.88%)
2. Billy Elliot (99.30%)
3. Jersey Boys (98.66%)
4. The Merchant of Venice (98.51%)*
5. Driving Miss Daisy (93.49%)*****

UNDERDOGS (By Capacity)
5. La Bete (65.14%)
4. Million Dollar Quartet (65.09%)
3. Time Stands Still (64.90%)
2. American Idiot (54.32%)
1. A Life in the Theatre (46.55%)

*Number based on seven preview performances.
**Number based on four preview and four regular performances.
***Number based on two preview performances.
****Number based on four preview performances.
*****Number based on eight preview performances.
Data provided by the Broadway League.