West End Thriving with Record B.O. Scores

Variety is reporting some very good news for the world of theatre, while Broadway is dealing with a bit of a "chill", the West End is heating up with record box office scores.

The entertainment bible reports that for the the week of December 29th, 2008, "the London production of "Wicked" grossed £885,294 ($1.28 million), the highest weekly tally of its entire London run, while "Billy Elliot" also broke its own weekly box office record".

The Queen musical "We Will Rock You," which just celebrated its seventh birthday at the Dominion Theater, achieved the highest number of paid admissions in one week for any West End show in 2008.

The McKellen and Stewart led "Waiting for Godot" is gaining a healthy advance, and the just opened Cameron Mackintosh revival of "Oliver!" has a whopping $22 million box office advance. That is $4.3 million more than the previous West End top advance title holder, "Dirty Dancing."

In the coming months the West End will gain two more potential hits with the screen to stage adaptations of "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" and "Sister Act" hitting the London stage.

For the complete Variety article, click here.