Final Weeks For 21 Broadway Shows
As incredible as that headline sounds, it's for real.
A whopping 21 Broadway shows out of 39 will be closing between now and the end of January 2011. Yes,
over half of the shows currently on the Great White Way will be gone in less than two months.
Among those 21 shows, 17 of them are scheduled to close during the month of January (although
one could possibly extend beyond). That number may seem inordinately high, especially coming off two consecutive Januarys in which we lamented the closing of an unusually large number of shows due to the perennial winter doldrums coupled with a poor economy.
However, unlike the last two years, 10 of the shows set to close in January are limited runs shuttering on schedule. And among the four shows concluding performances between now and the end of the year (including
one, pictured right, that hasn't even opened yet), all but
one of them is also a limited run closing as scheduled.
Additionally, it should be noted that of the seven other shows closing in January, five of them --
A Little Night Music,
Fela!,
In The Heights,
next to normal and
West Side Story -- will not only have been performing on Broadway's boards for over a year, but each has earned at least one Tony Award, including
In The Heights' Best Musical Tony from 2008. And did I mention
next to normal's belated Pulitzer Prize?
With box office doing quite well in recent weeks -- grosses hit $22,656,843 just last week -- it's fair to say that things seem to be looking up for the Great White Way, which is relatively flush with green. Of course, it's entirely possible that there are additional closing notices looming for other Broadway shows that aren't faring well at the box office. But I won't speculate here on what else may not be long for this world.
Here's the current schedule of shows set to close between now and the end of January:
A Life In The Theatre - Limited run closing early on November 28, 2010
Mrs. Warren's Profession - Limited run through November 28, 2010
The Pitmen Painters - Limited run through December 12, 2010
Donny & Marie: A Broadway Christmas - Limited run December 9-30, 2010
Brief Encounter - Limited run extended through January 2, 2011
Elf - Limited run through January 2, 2011
Fela! - Closing notice posted for January 2, 2011
Promises, Promises - Closing announced for January 2, 2011
The Pee-Wee Herman Show - Limited run through January 2, 2011
West Side Story - Closing announced for January 2, 2011
Colin Quinn: Long Story Short - Limited run through January 8, 2011
A Free Man Of Color - Limited run through January 9, 2011
A Little Night Music - Closing notice posted for January 9, 2011
In The Heights - Closing notice posted for January 9, 2011
La Bête - Limited run closing early on January 9, 2010
Rain: A Tribute To The Beatles Limited run through January 9, 2011
The Merchant Of Venice - Limited run through January 9, 2011
next to normal - Closing announced for January 16, 2011
Time Stands Still - Limited run through January 23, 2011
Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown - Limited run through January 23, 2011
Driving Miss Daisy - Limited run through January 29, 2011
So, dear readers, which of these shows are you going to make a point of seeing before they close?
This is
Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.
Labels: Broadway, Broadway Box Office, Closing Notices, Closings
Broadway: What Shows Are Closing?Good thing I didn't make a bet to eat my
Next Fall Playbill if it didn't post closing notices.
A couple days ago,
I had predicted that due to its lackluster box office performance in the already tiny
Helen Hayes Theatre coupled with no Tony wins that it would likely shutter soon. But
its producers say, for now anyway, that it's their goal to remain open through summer.
UPDATE (June 23, 2010) - Next Fall has posted its closing notice for July 4.So what shows
are closing?
So far, none as a direct result of Sunday night's Tony Awards.
In fact, this year's Best Play
Red announced just yesterday that its limited run would close
as scheduled on June 27, which is really too bad because it offers those fortunate enough to see it two of the year's most magnificent stage performances (
Alfred Molina and
Eddie Redmayne). That is, unless you count those being offered over at the
Cort Theatre for this year's Best Revival of a Play
Fences with the two other stellar performances (
Denzel Washington and particularly
Viola Davis).
Fences currently remains on schedule to close its limited engagement on July 11.
But here is the full list of Broadway shows currently scheduled to close:
June 27, 2010:
Hair - Al Hirschfeld Theatre
(
SOB Review: *** out of ****)
On June 9,
it was announced that the 2009 Tony Award-winning Best Revival of a Music otherwise known as "The American Tribal Love Rock Musical" would shutter on June 27, 2010, after 29 previews and 519 regular performances (over and above those
Hair extensions in Central Park during the summer of 2008).
Most of this revival of
Hair's original cast may be seen in
London through September 4. Plus, a
tour commences this October at the
Shubert Performing Arts Center in New Haven, Connecticut.
Red - John Golden Theatre
(
SOB Review: **** out of ****)
An import from London's
Donmar Warehouse, this year's Tony Award-winning Best Play has only been scheduled for a very limited run. That engagement will conclude as scheduled on June 27, 2010.
Red will have played 22 previews and 101 regular performances.
Look for
John Logan's work to be mounted by regional theatres throughout the United States over the next couple years, albeit with different direction and casts.
Sondheim On Sondheim - Studio 54
(
SOB Review: **1/2 out of ****)
This limited engagement initially was set to finish this past Sunday but was extended by two weeks. When it closes on June 27, 2010, this revue will have played 37 previews and 76 regular performances.
As for a life beyond? Unless there's a tour, which seems highly unlikely, it's hard to imagine regional mountings given how a major portion of the show incorporates
Stephen Sondheim's own words via video. Plus, there are already several other Sondheim songbook revues out there.
July 11, 2010:
Everyday Rapture - American Airlines Theatre
(
SOB Review: *** out of ****)
The last-minute, surprise hit run that managed to garner Tony nominations has always been a limited run and is scheduled to close on July 11, 2010. When it shutters,
Everyday Rapture will have played 11 previews and 85 regular performances.
Although
Sherie Rene Scott is portraying a semi-fictionalized version of herself, there's no reason why enterprising regional theatre companies couldn't pick up this show
a la Hunter Bell and
Jeff Bowen's semi-autobiographical
[title of show]. Yet Scott herself
seems to be keeping the door open to returning to her character for a tour, although "it wouldn't be for another year."
Fences - Cort Theatre
(
SOB Review: ***1/2 out of ****)
Director
Kenny Leon's camp at this year's Tony-winning Best Revival of a Play has been so silent over the past few days that you can't help but wonder if they're secretly working toward extending their limited run past July 11, 2010, which is nearly sold out. Or are they waiting to announce something else like a new cast and/or a tour?
If the show closes as scheduled, it will have enjoyed 13 previews and a mere 80 regular performances. But why do I have this hunch....
August 15, 2010:
Lend Me A Tenor - Music Box Theatre
(
SOB Review: ***1/2 out of ****)
The single most hilarious Broadway show I saw all year was initially an open-ended run. But on May 21, a
closing notice was posted for August 15, 2010, which marks the end-date for its ensemble's contracts. Tony-nominated for Best Revival of a Play,
Lend Me A Tenor will have played 25 previews and 153 regular performances.
There's no word on any plans for this production beyond Broadway, but
Ken Ludwig's farce is already regularly mounted by regional and community theatres.
August 21, 2010:
Race - Ethel Barrymore Theatre
(
SOB Review: *1/2 out of ****)
Yesterday,
Eddie Izzard,
Dennis Haysbert and
Afton C. Williamson join the cast of this
David Mamet play as replacements for
James Spader,
David Alan Grier and
Kerry Washington, respectively (
Richard Thomas remains). Currently, the show is scheduled to close August 21, 2010, after 23 previews and 297 regular performances.
Although the show has already recouped its initial investment, don't be surprised to see it close earlier if the box office doesn't experience a bounce from its new cast.
August 22, 2010:
South Pacific - Vivian Beaumont Theatre
(
SOB Review: ***1/2 out of ****)
On February 19,
it was announced that this 2008 Tony Award-winning Best Revival of a Musical would close on August 22, 2010. But when it does, it will have played 37 previews and 1,000 regular performances. The show will go out with a bang as original cast member
Kelli O'Hara returns August 10 and again appears opposite Tony-winner
Paulo Szot (rumors that
Matthew Morrison may also return remain just that -- rumors).
Earlier this year, I caught the
South Pacific national tour and I can tell you that it is nearly as good in every way as the Broadway mounting; that tour will last through 2011. Additionally, when the closing notice was posted, it was
also announced that there are plans to bring the production to London and Australia.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.Labels: Broadway, Closing Notices, Closings, Everyday Rapture, Fences, Hair, Lend Me A Tenor, Next Fall, Race, Red, Sondheim On Sonheim, South Pacific
Avenue Q: The Road From East 15th To 50th StreetAvenue Q has long been a little musical about firsts.
First musical to mount a serious (and successful) campaign to win the Tony for Best Musical.First musical to immediately forego the national tour route in favor of a sitdown (and not so successful) Las Vegas production.
First musical to offer "full puppet nudity," as well as puppet sex.First musical to present its version of a presidential debate, dubbed "Avenue Q&A" in which Rick Lyon and Jennifer Barnhart operated George W. Bush and John Kerry puppets, respectively.First musical to host an online contest to change lyrics (President Barack Obama's inauguration necessitated a change from the show-closing line "George Bush is only for now").Now, in perhaps the biggest firsts of them all,
Avenue Q will be the
first hit* Broadway musical to ever transfer to an Off-Broadway venue.
During yesterday's Broadway closing, producer
Kevin McCollum made the surprise announcement that the little tuner that could would in fact move just a tad more than five blocks from the Great White Way's
John Golden Theatre at 252 West 45th Street to Off-Broadway's
New World Stages at 340 West 50th Street. According to
The New York Times:
[T]he Off Broadway production would likely use a smaller group of musicians, as when it was performed at the Vineyard Theatre in 2003, and that some reorchestration of the music might be needed. Otherwise, it will use the same sets (and same puppets), and the show’s creative team, including its director Jason Moore and book author Jeff Whitty, will remain with the show. Casting for the Off Broadway production was not announced.
It should be noted that by vacating the Golden Theatre,
Avenue Q was already leaving one of Broadway's smallest theatres, which has a capacity of 805. But for fans, this was very welcome news.
While
Avenue Q made its initial debut during the 2002
National Music Theater Conference at Connecticut's
Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, the show's first New York production came in March 2003 at the tiny 120 seat Vineyard Theatre on East 15th Street. Just four months later,
Avenue Q made the highly successful leap to Broadway, opening on July 31, 2003. Talk about a quick ride to the Great White Way.
Later that same fall, I saw
Avenue Q and enjoyed myself, even though I have to admit being caught a little off-guard by the level of delight the show took in "Schadenfreude." But the original cast --
John Tartaglia,
Stephanie D'Abruzzo,
Ann Harada,
Jordan Gelber, Lyon, Barnhart and
Carmen Ruby Floyd as Gary Coleman (
Natalie Venetia Belcon was out the night of my performance) -- possessed such a sweet sincerity that I rolled along with it. It wasn't until
I took in the first national tour in early 2008 that I was really put off by its overly cynical, mean-spiritedness. In retrospect, I chalk it up to being in too large of a venue with a cast that could not deliver irony quite the way the original did.
At least with
Avenue Q's transfer to the intimate New World stages, its producers won't have to worry about it becoming lost in too large a house. The question will be whether its too-be-announced cast can deliver the goods.
* Thanks to Alicia for correcting me. Apparently there was another musical to go from Broadway to Off-Broadway, but it was no Broadway hit.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Avenue Q, Broadway, Closings, Firsts, Jennifer Barnhart, John Tartaglia, Musical, Off-Broadway, Rick Lyon, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Touring Production, Transfer
Rondi Reed: The Yellow Brick Road From Wicked To August: Osage CountyFor those of you whom have wondered aloud about my admitted fixation with the wildly disparate
Wicked and
August: Osage County, I give you quotes from the Tony-winning actress who successfully straddles and connects the two divergent productions.
In a
Chicago Sun-Times story on the close of the Windy City's sitdown staging of
Wicked, after its sold-out 1500th performance,
Rondi Reed -- the
Steppenwolf ensemble member who originated the role of Madame Morrible there, but who is best known to Broadway audiences as Aunt Mattie Fae Aiken in
August: Osage County -- had this to say:
Wicked has been unlike anything else I have experienced in my career so far -- one of the best things that ever happened to me.... It is, of course, a project of huge proportions and big budgets. And I learned so much, about so many things, in ways I never dreamed possible. To be a part of that theatrical juggernaut is something that comes along once in a blue moon. I had never done such a long run before, either -- never been asked to be so consistent, so disciplined, have the kind of stamina and heart it takes to play on that level. You are responsible not just to yourself, but to the other 125 people who show up for each performance behind the scenes -- in the orchestra pit, the wardrobe room, the sound board, the management office, the ones pulling the ropes, making it all happen and making it seem like magic in the process.
To the audience -- and odds are there is someone out there who has never seen a live show before -- this is the moment it happens. A husband who said he hated musicals and was dragged along got swept up in the story. Or four generations of one family who came to see the show together for Christmas used it to celebrate their mom's victory over cancer. And oddly enough, doing Wicked in the 2,200-seat Oriental prepared me for August, so that a Broadway theater didn't overwhelm me. It taught me about the size of performance needed to reach the back rows and still maintain integrity.
So for all you naysayers out there, I couldn't be happier that this actor's actor has such affection for
Wicked. No wonder she'll be returning to Broadway this spring as Madame Morrible in the tuner that's not only defying gravity, but also defying the odds at the otherwise dismal
Great White Way box office (hat tip to
Gratuitous Violins).
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: August Osage County, Broadway, Chicago, Closings, Musical, Rondi Reed, Wicked
Going ... Gone (Part III)Of all thirteen Broadway shows that are closing this month (actually fourteen if you count the January 31 closing for the limited run of
Soul Of Shaolin), perhaps the most bittersweet of all is the shuttering of the Best Musical of 2007,
Spring Awakening.
After all,
Steven Sater and
Duncan Sheik's musical was not only supposed to draw in an entire new generation of theatregoers with its edgy, anachronistic view of 19th Century sexual awakening, but it was to keep them coming back.
But take heart. Not only is the
North American tour in full bloom (it's
currently playing Houston), but
Music Theatre International (MTI)
has acquired the rights to the tuner, meaning that it will be licensing the show to regional theatres. While
Spring Awakening is currently "restricted" for such licensing, if you are among those wishing to produce the show, you can click
here to be among the first to receive a special e-mail notifying you that it's become available.
Spring Awakening will also flower internationally.
Expect productions in
London (opening next month), Vienna, Toronto, Helsinki, Seoul and
The Philippines.
I'll be taking in an upcoming leg of the current North American tour and will report on whether or not
Spring Awakening's seedling has continued to flourish and grow.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Closings, Duncan Sheik, London, Musical, Spring Awakening, Steven Sater, Touring Production
Going, Going, Going ... Gone (Part II)One week ago today,
I took note of Charles Isherwood's bittersweet
story that almost served as a plea to get out and see your favorite shows before they close. That same day, nine Broadway shows closed.
Today, we'll bid adieu to yet another three Main Stem productions, including
one that earned the Tony for Best Musical just four years ago and
another that earned its
three principal cast members Tonys for their exceptional acting.
Today is your last chance to see the following three shows:
All My Sons. Going. No word yet (as of this writing) on whether a tour will ensue.
Gypsy. Going. While rumors had run rampant that a West End transfer might take place -- at least for its star
Patti LuPone -- there's been no official word as of late. For that reason alone, I revisited the
St. James Theatre last night to catch the second to last performance on the Great White Way. WOW!
I will discuss just a little later how Ms. LuPone stopped the show twice -- once when the audience gave her a standing O upon the conclusion of her rendition of "Rose's Turn," but also
during the same tune when she stopped the orchestra because some idiot in the audience had the bad manners to be taking at least three photos (by her count) of her performance.
After rebuking the offender by saying, "How dare you?" among other fourth wall-breaking chastisements, Ms. LuPone had the jerk kicked out and then started the tune all over, to great applause. This marked the first time I had ever seen an artist stop a show because of an audience member's complete lack of manners.
If you're attending Sunday's final performance and think you can get away with taking a photo, be forewarned!
Monty Python's Spamalot. Going. And if you were toying with traveling to London to see the
West End mounting, you'll have to rethink that strategy as the show closed there on January 3 (the abbreviated
Las Vegas staging already closed last summer). But the
North American tour continues. You can catch its last
South Bend (IN) performance today; from there, the tour moves on to
Peoria (insert your
obvious joke here) and then to
Chicago.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: All My Sons, Broadway, Closings, Gypsy, Monty Python's Spamalot, Patti LuPone, Rumor, Touring Production
Going, Going, Going, Going, Going, Going, Going, Going, Going...Gone!Charles Isherwood's downright
nostalgic piece in this morning's edition of
The New York Times serves as an excellent reminder that today's your last chance to see nine of the thirteen Broadway shows slated to close during January 2009.
Boeing-Boeing. Going. But a
45-week national tour is planned for take-off sometime this year.
Dividing The Estate. Going. But subtracting
Elizabeth Ashley from the cast, the ensemble will transfer to the
Hartford Stage in Connecticut come May.
Grease. Going. But the ongoing
North American tour with
Taylor Hicks as Teen Angel is about to play Chicago's Auditorium Theatre.
Hairspray. Going. But the Award-winning
London staging is going strong. Oh, and there's the sticky
non-Equity tour that's about to play such markets as Terre Haute (IN), Kalamazoo (MI) and Wabash (IN) for one nights only, but it does not share the Broadway credits (including direction, choreography or elaborate set designs) or talent.
Irving Berlin's White Christmas. Going. But producer
Kevin McCollum "
would love to bring the show back to Broadway" in the future, and the show will continue to live on during future holiday seasons throughout North America.
Liza's At The Palace...! Going. What?! You expected
more?! After two extensions??
Slava's Snowshow. Going.
13. Going. But there's "much interest in a
national and international tour," according to lead producer
Bob Boyett.
Young Frankenstein. Going. But
a tour is planned for this fall.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: 13, Boeing-Boeing, Broadway, Closings, Dividing The Estate, Grease, Hairspray, Liza's At The Palace, Slava's Snowshow, White Christmas, Young Frankenstein
The Great Red Way?As noted here time and again in recent weeks, a lot of Broadway shows are shuttering in January, thanks in no small part to the truly devastating economy. After all, who wants to be swimming in red ink?
With
Sunday's news that the excellent revival of
Gypsy would expedite its scheduled March closing to January 11, you may well have heard me sadly saying, "Another one bites the dust" yet again.
The New York Times' Patrick Healy took note of the plight of the Broadway show in
one humdinger of a story yesterday that is hardly a positive harbinger of things to come. In addition to the closings, new shows are having trouble finding the financing to get on the boards. Then there are those that have simply been postponed. Or completely canceled.
I'll have more to say in this space later, but given all the pain even typical, hardworking theatre lovers from Cleveland and elsewhere are experiencing (check out
Serino Coyne Chairwoman
Nancy Coyne's ill-advised comments regarding said tourists from Cleveland in Healy's
piece), expect this winter to be particularly cruel.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Closing Notices, Closings, Gypsy, Nancy Coyne
Rent ClosesIt's not every day I write about a Broadway show that's just closed, but then
Rent was not your average Broadway show.
After 5,124 performances, the late
Jonathan Larson's little tuner that infused the Main Stem with an amped up downtown mojo finally closed at the
Nederlander Theatre Sunday evening. Credit the cast with dedicating their final performance to Larson.
All is not lost for those mourning the loss of
Rent from the Great White Way. First, there's the
2005 film version that forever immortalizes most of the original Broadway cast on celluloid. Then, there's a
Sony Pictures'
The Hot Ticket film version of the final performance that will be shown in select movie theatres for a special limited engagement September 24, 25, 27 and 28.
And then there's the
touring production of
Rent that begins anew this January in Cleveland. Headlined by
Adam Pascal and
Anthony Rapp in a bit of a farewell victory lap, the tour will crisscross the United States for 30 weeks before heading to Japan's Akasaka Act Theatre and then to South Korea.
The Tony-winning Best Musical of 1996 is now history. But I'm sure it will live again another day.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Broadway, Closings, Japan, Musical, Rent, South Korea, Touring Production
One Song GloryPractically even before you could say, "FLOP!" the $2.5 million Broadway musical
Glory Days has
shuttered.
Not since 2003's failed
Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All with
Ellen Burstyn has a show closed immediately after its one opening night shot at glory.
Interestingly enough, when I took in a performance over the weekend, I kept getting asked by other members of the audience (including one unnamed critic), "Why are you here?" At the time, they made me feel like some old lech, but in retrospect, I think they were surprised to be there themselves.
This is a show that should never have transferred to Broadway without being better vetted along the way, including perhaps in an Off Off-Broadway gig that could have played more appropriately to its target audience.
The
pummeling was pretty severe with potshots coming from all directions. While
I thought the tiny tuner from
James W. Gardiner and
Nick Blaemire had some promise, it came across as completely underdeveloped and sadly lacking in any memorable tunes, with the exception of
Jesse J.P. Johnson's heartfelt "The Open Road."
Now, the only thing open is the
Circle In The Square Theatre's space. Any guesses on the next tenant?
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:Did Critics Make This A Glory Day For Glory Days? (May 7, 2008)
Glory Days (The SOB Review) (May 7, 2008)
Opening: Glory Days Hopes For Glory Night (May 6, 2008)
Early Tony Handicapping (March 25, 2008)
No Glory In Crap Shoot (March 24, 2008)
Glory Days Yet To Come This Broadway Season? (March 19, 2008)
Labels: Adam Halpin, Andrew C. Call, Broadway, Closing Notices, Closings, Eric Schaeffer, Glory Days, James W. Gardiner, Jesse J.P. Johnson, Musical, Nick Blaemire, Steven Booth, Transfer, Washington DC
Final FourJust as America’s annual national obsession with college basketball is about to conclude, so will four performances on Broadway this evening.
The Great White Way will bid adieu to two plays, one musical and one singular, breathtaking performance in a musical. They include:
The critically-acclaimed
Manhattan Theatre Club revival of
Brian Friel’s
Translations, which after 53 regular performances sadly leaves on a bitter note with the abrupt firing of actor
Michael Fitzgerald for rough handling of a castmate.
Jeremy Bobb replaced him for the final performances.
David Hare’s
The Vertical Hour, with
Bill Nighy and
Julianne Moore. Critics were mixed on this play, although all sang Nighy’s praises. Moore’s starpower wasn’t enough to keep the production from closing two weeks earlier than planned. Still, with 117 regular performances, the production achieved that rarest of feats for Broadway plays: it leaves having already turned a profit.
The Roundabout Theatre Company’s revival of
The Apple Tree with
Kristin Chenoweth,
Brian d’Arcy James and until recently,
Marc Kudisch, who jumped ship for
The Pirates Of Penzance. Although the cast received decent to rapturous notices, few critics (including yours truly) were excited about this dated concept musical. The limited run enjoyed 99 regular performances.
Bob Martin (pictured), a/k/a Man In Chair, in the ongoing, Tony-winning Broadway production of
The Drowsy Chaperone. Martin, of course, is one of the genii behind this vastly entertaining musical from before its inception as a 1999 Toronto Fringe Festival favorite. But fortunately for West End audiences, Martin will be returning to the comfort of an English version of his favorite settee later this year. Still, it will be hard to imagine anyone else on the Great White Way as this one-of-a-kind character, who inserts himself into the action of a 1920s-style tuner.
Each of these departures is deserving of a fond farewell, and expect to see some well-deserved Tony nominations announced for performances in the outgoing productions. And perhaps there’s a future Olivier in the cards for Martin, who rightly received a Tony nod last year.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for The Drowsy Chaperone tickets.Labels: Bob Martin, Broadway, Closings, Kristin Chenoweth, Musical, Play, Revival, The Apple Tree, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Vertical Hour, Translations
The Little Dog Left
Yesterday marked the final Broadway performance for
The Little Dog Laughed. After slogging through middling reviews and less than 50% capacity crowds through most of its run, the comedy by
Douglas Carter Beane has finally been put to rest after just 112 regular performances.
What's particularly stunning is that there are no other
new plays by
American playwrights currently running on the Great White Way, unless you happen to count
Eric Bogosian's
Talk Radio,
which was written in the 1987, but never produced on Broadway until now. Undoubtedly, Tony voters will label
Talk Radio a revival.
Even though I didn't find
The Little Dog Laughed nearly as satisfying as I had hoped it'd be, I trust that come Tony time, the exhilarating tour de force performance by
Julie White will still be remembered. And that's no laughing matter.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Closings, Julie White, Play, Talk Radio, The Little Dog Laughed
