>If you haven't caught on already, I'm talking about The Phantom of the Opera (the show made only 70,000 in it's first week, but then went on to make a lot more).<
That was $71,000 for a one performance week in 1988 dollars. Phantom was a box office smash right out of the gate. It was in no sense a slow builder.
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.