Business Notes ENTERTAINMENT

May we have the envelope, please. And the winner for biggest Broadway success of the year is . . . the box office. During the 1989-90 season, which ended last week, receipts at Broadway's 36 stages reached a record $283 million, up 8% from last year and 48% from the depth of the slump in the mid-'80s. The past season featured the Tony Award-winning musicals City of Angels and Grand Hotel, along with many major stars, including Dustin Hoffman, Kathleen Turner and Tyne Daly.

All told, 35 new productions reached Broadway, the most in three years. Higher ticket prices played a major role in the winning performance. Prices averaged $35.25, compared with $32.90 the previous year. Top prices reached $60 a head. Even so, attendance increased as the season wore on, boding well for next year's box-office returns. Observes George Wachtel, head researcher for the League of American Theaters and Producers: "Rather than having one megahit, you had a number of shows that have, as they say in the business, 'legs.' "