Broadway slides during GOP visit

All those delegates to the Republican National Convention didn’t do Broadway box offices much good.

Grosses last week during the GOP festivities at Madison Square Garden were off 20.9% from the same week a year ago and attendance slumped 18.7%, according to figures released Tuesday by the League of American Theatres and Producers.

Nevertheless, season-to-date attendance for the year is up 7.2%, jumping from more than 2.91 million in 2003 to more than 3.12 million so far in 2004. And total grosses have risen, too, climbing from $192.6 million at this point in 2003 to $205.9 million so far this year.