Broadway Grosses: Box Office Hanging In; Spring Awakening Departs

The number of Broadway shows may be down for the moment, but the hits are still attracting healthy audiences, even on a bitterly cold January week with couple of snowy days. Newcomer Billy Elliot maintained its spot in the top five for grosses, and the limited run of the Chinese kung fu spectacular Soul of Shaolin attracted 91.73% of capacity at the Marquis Theatre. Meanwhile, Broadway said a fond farewell to Spring Awakening, which went out strong, filling the Eugene O’Neill Theatre to more than 96% of capacity in its final week.

Here is a look at who was on top and who was not for the week ending January 18:

FRONTRUNNERS By Gross
1. Wicked $1,302,387
2. Billy Elliot $1,149,588
3. Jersey Boys $1,039,863
4. The Lion King $1,023,125
5. South Pacific $928,947

UNDERDOGS By Gross
5. August: Osage County $371,918
4. Soul of Shaolin $361,036*
3. Avenue Q $319,716
2. Hedda Gabler $267,728**
1. The American Plan $142,116**

FRONTRUNNERS By Capacity
1. Jersey Boys 98.64%
2. South Pacific 98.14%
3. Spring Awakening 96.96%
4. Wicked 92.99%
5. In the Heights 92.89%

UNDERDOGS By Capacity
5. Shrek 73.31%
4. Equus 68.88%
3. August: Osage County 67.34%
2. Speed-the-Plow 66.82%
1. The American Plan 56.31%**

*Number based on 3 preview and 5 regular performances.
**Number based on 8 preview performances.
Data provided by the Broadway League.