'Piazza' take jumps after Tony awards

Here's one recipe for packing in crowds on Broadway: Win a bunch of Tony Awards.

In the two weeks since it picked up six Tonys, the musical "The Light in the Piazza" has seen the box office jump 28.1 percent per show compared with the month before, according to a USA Today analysis of data compiled by the League of American Theatres and Producers.

"Piazza," the Broadway debut from composer/lyricist Adam Guettel, certainly had room to grow. Initial critical reception had been mixed (though supporters were effusive), and up until the Tonys, "Piazza" filled 74 percent of seats on average, data show. In the two weeks since the Tonys, that's grown to 93 percent.

"A show like "The Light in the Piazza" — which no one outside the theater community knew about, with no major stars and no major buzz — is going to benefit the most" from Tony exposure, says David Sheward, managing editor of Back Stage, a trade newspaper. "Having

a segment on the (show) is going to spark some interest."

"In part, it's the turnaround of a show that got an initial dismissive notice in The New York Times," says Bernard Gersten, executive producer of Lincoln Center Theater, where "Piazza" is playing in the Vivian Beaumont Theater. In addition to the Tonys boost, Gersten says, the show is enjoying a well-received cast recording and reviews that have turned positive. "This is the musical that can."

"Piazza" wasn't alone in benefiting from big wins at the Tony Awards, broadcast June 5 on CBS. "Doubt," which took four Tonys, including best play, saw box office rise 9.8 percent in the following two weeks. "Monty Python's Spamalot," winner of three, including best musical, increased 7.9 percent. "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," winner of best book of a musical, saw the box office rise 5.8 percent.

The boost comes just as Broadway is coming off a hot spring. In the last 13 weeks of its 2004-05 season, which ended May 29, overall box office was up 10 percent and attendance up 7 percent over the same period last year, according to the league.

The increases aren't unusual. Last year, per-show box office for Tony-winning play "I Am My Own Wife" rose 44 percent in the two weeks after the awards. "Avenue Q" went up 13 percent after it won best musical.

The power of the Tonys has limits, though. Two revivals that walked away with wins — drama "Glengarry Glen Ross" and musical "La Cage aux Folles" — saw the box office stay flat or decline slightly.

As for "Piazza," producers took out ads proclaiming it "the most-winning musical on Broadway" and extended its run through Jan. 1.