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Broadway Takings Up as Weak Dollar Draws Tourists
2004-12-30
NEW YORK - Foreign tourists lured to New York by the weak U.S. dollar helped boost Broadway theater box office takings by 3 percent in 2004, an industry association said on Wednesday.Gross takings for the year were $749 million, up from $725 million in 2003, according to the League of American Theatres and Producers. The number of tickets bought rose to 11.3 million from 11.1 million. "Strong results for the year are partially a result of a dramatic upturn in overseas visitor attendance, with 1.2 million foreign visitors during the 2003-4 season, compared to 650,000 during the previous season," said Jed Bernstein, president of the industry group. The dollar is close to all-time lows against the euro and other major currencies, making the United States an attractive destination for foreign tourists. The theater business in New York takes stock twice a year -- at the end of the calendar year and at the end of the Broadway season running from June each year. Half way through the 2004-2005 season, the League said takings were slightly down on the previous season -- $419 million from $422 million -- a fall attributed to the number of one-person shows, which generally charge less than musicals. The most successful of the one-person shows was Billy Crystal's "700 Sundays" which grossed more than $775,000 in a single week earlier this month. A handful of new musicals are set to open in the first half of 2005, including the Monty Python vehicle "Spamalot" and musicals using the songs of the Beach Boys and Elvis Presley. Big stars set to tread the boards include Denzel Washington in "Julius Caesar," Kathleen Turner in "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf," Jessica Lange in "The Glass Menagerie" and John Lithgow in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels." Reuters
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