Broadway's box office and attendance figures up

NEW YORK -- Broadway's revenue and attendance figures were both up this season, largely fueled by classics from Harold Pinter and William Shakespeare rather than brash, new musicals.

The Broadway League said Tuesday that box offices reported a record total gross of $1.27 billion for the season. That's up from $1.13 billion from the previous season. The trade association for theater owners, operators and producers also says attendance was up 5.6 percent to 12.2 million.

Box office sales and attendance were both down last season.

New musicals including "After Midnight," ''Rocky," ''If/Then," ''A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder," ''Bullets Over Broadway" and "Violet" have done only middling business.

Pushing the overall numbers higher were play revivals, including Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" and "Richard III," and Pinter's "Betrayal" starring Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz.