‘The Producers’ earns record gross

NEW YORK — With Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick back in the show, “The Producers” grossed a record $1,600,243 for eight performances last week, spokesman John Barlow said Monday.

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Barlow said the figure was boosted by premium $480 orchestra tickets and a special $600 ticket price for New Year’s Eve.

“They sold a lot of them,” Barlow added, referring to the $600 tickets. “I think that’s part of why the gross was so high.”

Initially, the show’s producers had planned to sell New Year’s Eve tickets for $1,500, a deal which was to have included a post-performance dinner. That event was canceled after only a few tickets were sold.

Lane and Broderick, who are reportedly earning $100,000 a week, returned to the musical Dec. 30. They will remain in the show through April 4. The musical is almost sold out through their engagement.

Even without Lane and Broderick, the musical did well during Christmas week. For the week ending Dec. 28, when Fred Applegate and Don Stephenson played the leads in the Mel Brooks musical, “The Producers” grossed $1,042,163, playing to more than 95 percent capacity.

The time between Christmas and New Year’s is generally a boffo period for Broadway box offices, particularly for shows with family appeal.

Other shows also perform well
“Wicked,” continuing to demonstrate box-office strength, sold out, grossing $1,188,937, without raising its price for the show’s performance on New Year’s Eve.

Also in the million-dollar club for the week ending Jan. 4 were “The Lion King” ($1,274,664); “Mamma Mia!” ($1,102,780) and “Hairspray” ($1,097,185).

Just under the million-dollar mark: “The Boy From Oz,” which stars Hugh Jackman as Australian entertainer Peter Allen and grossed $920,846. It had a top ticket price of $136.25 on New Year’s Eve, compared to its usual top of $101.25.

Even several long-running shows did well. The revival of “Chicago,” now in its eighth year, sold out seven of its eight performances and grossed more than $730,000. “Beauty and the Beast,” which opened on Broadway in 1994, did nine performances to take advantage of youngsters being out of school and grossed $986,950.