Broadway keeps belief

Unlike previous years, Broadway loved a lift as "It of Mormon" rang within the Jewish Year with another record-breaking week. Remember once the Jewish holidays accustomed to mean a dip in Broadway sales? Not this season. Although Rosh Hoshanah fell on Thursday, overall Rialto sales upticked, with devoted auds still turning out for an additional record-breaking week at "It of Mormon" along with a crowd of converts keeping "Follies" over the $a million mark. The week's total, up about $275,000 to $18.7 million for 22 shows running, had some experts wondering when the traditional dip for that Jewish holidays was more an item of once the holiday fell throughout the month -- early September always being tougher for Broadway overall than late -- than from the holiday itself. Or possibly sales were stored aloft simply by family auds freed up by school closings. "Mormon" ($1,310,226), topping another box office milestone in the Eugene O'Neill Theater, and "Follies" ($1,132,226) were a couple of six shows to stake out a place within the riches club a week ago. Generally, the majority of the Street's top earners saw sales rise while individuals in the center of those -- including "Priscilla Full from the Desert" ($765,738) and "Memphis" ($722,193) -- dipped, although no slowdowns by individual shows were dramatic. Among plays now in previews, "Relatively Speaking" ($664,407) -- the trio of 1-functions by Woodsy Allen, Ethan Coen and Elaine May -- ended up by about $50,000, possibly since the curiosity factor pressed some theatergoers to earlier previews. "The Mountaintop" ($584,897) performed a complete eight perfs versus. five the last frame, posting solid otherwise stellar sales for any show starring large-title thesps Angela Bassett and Samuel L. Jackson. Out of the box the situation with many Broadway plays, both shows, along with the Roundabout's nonprofit revival of "Guy and Boy" ($216,636), expect a lift from reviews, since playgoing auds remain the rare demo to become particularly swayed by critical opinion. Contact Gordon Cox at gordon.cox@variety.com