Broadway Grosses: Play Time!

The glut of post-strike opening nights has now ended, and strong reviews helped several Broadway plays make substantial jumps at the box office. Tracy Letts' August: Osage County, for example, took in almost $80,000 more than the previous week; Mark Twain's Is He Dead? posted a gain of more than $65,000; and Conor McPherson's The Seafarer gained more than $100,000. Still going strong: Kevin Kline and Jennifer Garner in Cyrano de Bergerac, which has been setting records for a straight play at the Richard Rodgers Theatre and grossed a whopping $945,061 for the week. Still to be determined, the effect of generally good reviews including a rave from Ben Brantley on the current Broadway revival of Harold Pinter's The Homecoming, which opened on December 16.

Here is a look at who was on top and who was not for the week ending December 16:

FRONTRUNNERS By Gross
1. Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas $1,572,719*
2. Wicked $1,449,240
3. Jersey Boys $1,263,204
4. The Lion King $1,126,140
5. The Little Mermaid $1,024,744

UNDERDOGS By Gross
5. Is He Dead? $202,357
4. Rent $199,907
3. Xanadu $191,820
2. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee $180,189
1. The Homecoming $165,679**

FRONTRUNNERS By Capacity
1. Jersey Boys 100.59%
2. Wicked 99.64%
3. The Little Mermaid 98.94%***
4. Cyrano de Bergerac 95.04%
5. The Lion King 87.79%

UNDERDOGS By Capacity
5. A Chorus Line 50.34%
4. Cymbeline 43.36%
3. Rent 42.53%
2. The Drowsy Chaperone 39.33%
1. The Homecoming 38.92%**

* Number based on 15 regular performances
** Number based on 7 previews and 1 performances
*** Number based on 8 preview performances
Data provided by the League of American Theatres and Producers