Broadway Grosses: Weather Warms Up; Box Office Gets Chillier

In spite of unseasonably warm weather, January brought a dip in Broadway's box offices—but interestingly enough, adult-oriented plays such as A Bronx Tale, August: Osage County, The Seafarer and The Farnsworth Invention bucked the trend and saw their grosses rise after kids returned to school. The top five musicals stayed strong, but others notably The Color Purple, which lost leading lady Fantasia, experienced sharp drops. Previewing plays The 39 Steps and Come Back, Little Sheba doubled their take from the first week of previews.

Here is a look at who was on top and who was not for the week ending January 13:

FRONTRUNNERS By Gross
1. Wicked $1,400,269
2. Jersey Boys $1,172,218
3. The Lion King $1,024,955
4. The Little Mermaid $922,053*
5. Mary Poppins $834,991

UNDERDOGS By Gross
5. Is He Dead? $229,137
4. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee $218,471
3. The 39 Steps $209,777**
2. Xanadu $173,750
1. Come Back, Little Sheba $152,027**

FRONTRUNNERS By Capacity
1. Jersey Boys 100.37%
2. The Little Mermaid 100.17%*
3. Wicked 97.99%
4. The Lion King 91.87%
5. Avenue Q 85.85%

UNDERDOGS By Capacity
5. A Bronx Tale 57.65%
4. Legally Blonde 57.61%
3. Xanadu 57.11%
2. Rent 54.52%
1. The Color Purple 45.89%

* Number based on 3 preview and 5 regular performances
** Number based on 8 preview performances
Data provided by the League of American Theatres and Producers.