*

In its second week of previews at the Richard Rodgers, Hamilton showed continued strength. The buzzy new rap musical played to capacity crowds, and collected 111.51% of its possible gross. The latter number was not the best in Times Square — that belonged to long-runner Wicked with 112.52% — but it was better than the mighty The Book of Mormon, which registered 109.33%.

Taye Diggs began his run as the title character in Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Belasco. His initial showing was not bad. Seats were 92% full, and box-office take was 67% of the possible. As Diggs put in only six performances last week, the box offices numbers fell by $275,979.

No one should ever count the smash The Book of Mormon out, but it does seem like the musical’s reign as the owner of the top average ticket price on Broadway is temporarily over. For the third week in a row, its number was beaten by The Lion King. Mormon’s average ticket price was $172.05, while The Lion King’s was $177.49.

Mamma Mia! is enjoying a new lease of life this summer. For the second week in a row, the Broadhurst Theatre attraction played to capacity auditoriums. Gross was 84% of the potential. Also running to capacity last week were Matilda the Musical, The Lion King, The Book of Mormon, Aladdin, Fun Home and the aforementioned Hamilton. Fish in the Dark showed a notable drop at the box office, sliding $185,258 from the previous week. Seats were 90% full, and box-office take was 69% of the potential. The limited run comedy was originally supposed to end on July 19.

Many of the shows on Broadway were down slightly at the box office. As a result, overall box office slipped from the previous week’s $29,808,363 to $28,053,394. Attendance was down from 270,484 to 255,568. Season-to-date grosses were $248,673,932, a lesser amount than last season’s figure at this time, $251,338,418.