The shaky economy and 9-11 didn't keep Cincinnati audiences at home during the 2001-02 season, but they wanted old favorites that could be counted on for mindless fun.

        The region's two largest producers, Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Cincinnati and Playhouse in the Park, did best with mainstream, escapist fare. Neither was affected by the entertainment boycott.

        Broadway in Cincinnati played to 399,400 people over 26 weeks (that averages to about 80 percent capacity) of performances in the Aronoff's Procter & Gamble Hall and three weeks in the Jarson-Kaplan Theater.

        Phantom of the Opera and Radio City Christmas Spectacular, both extended run season extras heavy on spectacle, played to more than 75,000. Mamma Mia!, Aida and Blast! were the top sellers among subscription series offerings.

        While producer Brad Broecker declined to release a box office total, it's at least $14 million. Using the standard economic formula, that translates to a more than $30 million impact for downtown.

        Playhouse in the Park saw 187,000 attendance (excluding educational programming that topped 60,000) during its September-June season. Total attendance for Marx Theatre and Shelterhouse shows was 177,757 or 90.3 percent capacity.

        Almost 14 percent of that total can be attributed to the Agatha Christie standard Ten Little Indians, which played to 24,850, 97 percent of capacity.

        Gypsy also topped the 90 percent capacity number with 22,338 attendance. A Christmas Carol played to 23,486, the second highest total for public performances in the show's 11-year history.

        Anchored by crowd-pleasers, Playhouse saw a 3 percent increase in attendance and $5.6 million in box office contributed to the season ending with a comfortable surplus of approximately $300,000 on a $9 million budget.

        Summer season numbers won't be calculated until late August.

        Girl power was a force to be reckoned with for both theaters last season.

        At Playhouse, the return of girl group revue Beehive ruled in the Shelterhouse, playing to 15,921 (97 percent capacity) over an extended holiday run. Season closer Dirty Blonde flirted at the 90 percent capacity mark with more than 8,300 attendance.

        Vagina Monologues, presented by Broadway in Cincinnati in association with Playhouse in the Park, played to 10,640 in January, filling the Jarson-Kaplan to 97 percent capacity.

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