Not only is half a season better than none, according to the League of American Theatres & Producers, half a season is better than half of last season.

The League just released its figures for the first part of the 1997-98 Broadway season -- and the numbers are encouraging. Grosses are up 6.4 percent (to $250 million), while attendance has risen 2.7 percent (to 5,127,000). Of course, these boosts can be attributed to the surprising number of shows (especially musicals) opening early this season: 16, up 3 from last year.

Says executive director Jed Bernstein, "We project that by season's end, we will have broken our attendance record in New York by entertaining more than 11 million in one year... On a nationwide basis, our grosses will be the highest ever." (Touring shows have brought in $353 million so far.)

Keeping Broadway in the public eye have been such high-profile shows as The Lion King, Titanic and Rent, the Rosie O'Donnell/Radio City Tony Awards, and the revamping of 42nd Street.

-- By David Lefkowitz