NEW YORK -- What's this? Is that a little bit of sun peeking out from behind the clouds of doom and gloom that have enveloped Broadway this season? After a disappointing October and much of November, the New York theatre has seen, in less than a week, the best reviewed shows of the fall: an adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry IV, starring a rapturously received Kevin Kline, and a revival of Wonderful Town, the Bernstein-Comden and Green musical, with the equally acclaimed Donna Murphy.

And their critical approval has been met with an equally warm response at the box office.

The weekend after Henry opened, it took in $762,000 US, according to Bernard Gersten, executive producer of Lincoln Center Theater. The run, which ends Jan. 11 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, most likely will be sold out by the end of the week, he added.

Wonderful Town arrived on Broadway with a meagre advance and plagued by the cancellation of preview performances after Murphy came down with the flu. It played only eight previews before opening because producer Barry Weissler wanted to open the musical before the lucrative Thanksgiving holiday weekend. His gamble paid off.

The show grossed $400,000 Monday, the day after the favourable reviews came out. Weissler plans an aggressive print, radio and TV campaign to help sell the musical. "My feeling is that the public always decides what is a hit and what is a flop," Weissler said. "Certainly the press helps. In the case of Wonderful Town, it's been an enormous help."