Closing Soon...

[edjames]

Closing notices posted for :

 

Donna Summer Musical Posts Broadway Closing Notice, With Tour to Follow

When one disco’s doors close, another disco’s doors open. That seemed to be the message from a dual alert from the producers of “Summer: The Donna SummerMusical,” which simultaneously announced a Dec. 30 closing notice for the show on Broadway and the Sept. 30, 2019 beginning of a national tour.

 

When the Des McAnuff-directed “Summer” shuts its doors in the dead of winter at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, it will have played 289 regular performances on the back of 27 previews since the start of performances March 28. A cast album was released in July.

 

For the latest week for which grosses were posted by Playbill, ending Nov. 25, the show was playing at 43 percent of capacity — the lowest attendance rate among existing Broadway productions, falling just slightly beneath the 46 percent for “Head Over Heels,” which posted its own closing notice Tuesday.

 

AND...

 

Broadway’s ‘Once on This Island’ Revival Will Close Jan. 6

 

Hailey Kilgore and Isaac Powell in a scene from “Once on This Island.”CreditSara Krulwich/The New York Times

“Once on This Island,” a tragic West Indian fairy tale that won this year’s Tony Award for best musical revival, will end its Broadway run on Jan. 6.

 

The musical was much praised by critics, and scored an upset victoryover the better known “Carousel” and “My Fair Lady” in the Tony race, but it never fully caught on with audiences. It opened last December; at the time of its closing, it will have played for 29 preview and 458 regular performances at the Circle in the Square Theater.

 

The revival has grossed $27 million thus far, and has been seen by 280,000 people. Its best week was over Christmas last year, when it grossed $827,890, but it has more typically brought in significantly less than that — last week, also a holiday week because of Thanksgiving, it grossed $459,321.

 

The show, about a young woman whose life is upended when she falls in love with a wealthier man, features music by Stephen Flaherty and a book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. The original production opened on Broadway in 1990 and ran for 14 months.

 

The revival was directed by Michael Arden, with Ken Davenport as the lead producer. It cost $7.5 million to capitalize, and has not recouped those costs. A national tour is planned beginning next year.

 

AND, to no one's surprise...

 

Go-Go’s-Scored Broadway Musical ‘Head Over Heels’ Set to Close in January

Broadway won’t be going to a go-go for long. “Head Over Heels,” the Elizabethan period farce scored incongruously to the music of the Go-Go’s, has posted a closing notice five months into its Broadway run at the Hudson Theatre.

 

Vacationers still have six weeks to get to it over the holiday season, though; the final performance has been set for Jan. 6. By that date, the show will have played 188 regular performances, on the heels of 37 previews that began June 23 at the Hudson.

 

A cast album had been released less than three weeks ago, with 19 theatrical performances of Go-Go’s or Belinda Carlisle solo songs augmented by a brand new recording of “This Town” by the original five members of the group (the first time the quintet had been in the studio together since the 2000 album “God Bless the Go-Go's"

 

The musical was considered a crowd-pleaser, especially among LGBT audiences who took to the laughs based in gender-bending and non-binary themes. But selling a Go-Go’s score transposed to a distant century was always a tough sell, and decidedly mixed reviews weren’t altogether helpful in drawing a crowd. The show struggled most weeks to exceed 50 percent of the Hudson’s capacity, even with more reasonable ticket prices than many of its competitors, and the good will of some well-heeled producers (who included actors Gwyneth Paltrow and Donovan Leitch) is believed to be a big reason why “Head Over Heels” soldiered on past the point when others might have pulled the plug.

 

“Along with my partners, creative team and cast, it was our desire to create a piece of live theatre that celebrates love of all kinds and portrays a world of beauty in which joy and acceptance reign above all else,” said lead producer Christine Russell in a statement. “We are incredibly proud of what ‘Head Over Heels’ has come to represent, not only on Broadway, but for future generations of theatergoers.”

 

Many of the responses to the closing notice on social media spoke to the show wearing its socially progressive heart on its sleeve, as the @HOHmusical Twitter account retweeted messages like, “Thanks for giving young LGBT folks the fairytale we were denied as children. Y’all mean the world to me.”

 

Ben Brantley’s review in the New York Times drew controversy when he referred to the androgynous oracle character played by former “Drag Race” contestant Peppermint as “her — I mean them,” riffing off a pronoun joke that occurs in the script. The review that now appears on the Times’ website has a note that the content has been edited; Brantley publicly apologized, saying, “I was trying to reflect the light tone of the show, as well as a plot point in which one character learns to acknowledge another not as ‘she’ but as ‘they.’ This unfortunately read as more flippant than I would ever have intended, especially with regard to a performance that marks a historical first. I am deeply sorry.”

 

In the less controversial passages of his review, Brantley called the show “a shotgun wedding of song and script,” wishing “this oddly earnest show could really kick up its heels and let the message take care of itself.” Other critical notices ran the gamut. A Variety review of the original San Francisco production enthused, “The mix of ’80s music and 1680s setting is every bit as ridiculous as it sounds, and that’s a good thing.” A subsequent Variety review of the New York opening said “the show never recovers from the pervasive feeling of exhaustion.” The critical split had the Village Voice writing, “Shrewd, funny, sexy, and with a glorious beat, ‘Head Over Heels’ will have you flipping for joy,” while the New York Post carped, “This indulgent show is wackier than it is fun.”

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

The post-holiday bloodbath on Broadway begins

 

Shocked that Head Over Heels didn't close sooner.

 

Sad to see OOTI go. It was a wonderful revival.

[+ sam.fitzpatrick]

Shocked that Head Over Heels didn't close sooner.

 

Maybe if they had ended the show at intermission, it would still be running.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Maybe if they had ended the show at intermission, it would still be running.

 

My lips are sealed

[edjames]

Just announced, Torch Song to close. Tour to be announced. Shame, shame, shame.

Broadway’s ‘Torch Song’ to Close in January

“Torch Song,” the slimmed-down revival of Harvey Fierstein’s 1980s trilogy, is ending its run on Broadway on Jan. 6. The play, about a drag performer looking for love and family, is a classic of gay theater, and in 1988 was adapted into a film featuring Matthew Broderick and Anne Bancroft, as well as Mr. Fierstein.

The revival, starring Michael Urie and featuring Mercedes Ruehl, was praised by critics, but failed to catch on with ticket buyers during a year rich with important gay plays (including starry revivals of “Angels in America” and “The Boys in the Band”). Last week it grossed $220,459, which is 34 percent of its potential, and about one-third of the theater’s seats went unsold.

The early closing is a disappointment for the show’s producers and for Second Stage, the nonprofit that developed the revival and is now its landlord. Second Stage had initially hoped that the play would run for a year; by the time the commercial production began, it was being billed as a 20-week run. Instead, it will close after 13 weeks (26 previews and 77 regular performances).

The play was capitalized for up to $3.4 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission; it has not recouped that investment.

[The Phoenix]

Shame. I actually quite liked Head Over Heels. It wasn't the best thing I'd ever seen, but it is the representation Broadway sorely needs. I hope it sets a precedent in casting and we don't go back to making 90s movie adaptations. Unfortunately, I know that's exactly where we're headed...