Broadway Grosses: History Boys Get a Grade-A Sendoff

Who says straight plays never make money? In its final week on Broadway, Alan Bennett's Tony Award-winning The History Boys set a house record for a play or musical at the Broadhurst Theatre, filling it to 101.44% capacity. Only Billy Crystal's one-man show 700 Sundays grossed more in a single week. The box-office take of $799,273 was icing on the cake for a show that paid back its $1,850,000 capitalization at the end of May, after just six and a half weeks on Broadway. Bravo, Boys!

Here is a look at who was on top and who was not for the week ending October 1:

FRONTRUNNERS By Gross
1. Wicked $1,383,737
2. Jersey Boys $1,166,937
3. The Lion King $972,501
4. The Drowsy Chaperone $966,417
5. The Color Purple $963,350

UNDERDOGS By Gross
5. Rent $314,280
4. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee $235,027
3. Heartbreak House $232,195**
2. Losing Louie $164,098**
1. Jay Johnson: The Two and Only! $58,609*

FRONTRUNNERS By Capacity
1. The History Boys 101.44%
2. Chicago 101.39%
3. Jersey Boys 100.73%
4. Wicked 99.52%
5. Mamma Mia! 96.98%

UNDERDOGS By Capacity
5. Losing Louie 66.94%**
4. The Wedding Singer 64.90%
3. Rent 64.19%
2. The Producers 57.62%
1. Jay Johnson: The Two and Only! 23.56%*

*Number based on two preview and six regular performances.
**Number based on eight preview performances.
Data provided by The League of American Theatres and Producers.