Final Curtains Call Set
Final Curtains Call SetJust last week, it was reported that David Hyde Pierce and other principals from the Broadway musical Curtains had extended their contracts with the show through August. But today, proving yet again that ultimately "It's a Business," the harsh reality of sluggish ticket sales forced a closing notice.
The good, old-fashioned John Kander/Fred Ebb/ Rupert Holmes backstage musical murder mystery is now scheduled to close at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on June 29. When the curtains fall on the tuner, it will have played 511 performances, as well as many more during its 2006 world premiere engagement at Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre.
Regular readers will recall that I loved the Scott Ellis-helmed show from the moment I first saw it on the Left Coast. It left me humming a few of the tunes, including its valentine to live theatre, "Show People." I also believe the production only got better on Broadway.
I'm truly sorry to see Curtains go, but it's at least going out on a high note. Last week, it's box office take was $556,398 with a capacity of 74.9% -- far from shabby for a critically underappreciated show already into its second year.
Something tells me that one day, when the incredibly smart Curtains is ultimately revived -- and make no mistake, it will be -- critics and the public alike will "discover" its brilliance in much the same way they did when Chicago was revived over a decade ago. And almost in spite of Curtains' old-fashioned motif, Kander and Ebb (and this time Holmes) will once again be touted for being way ahead of their time.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:
This Goes Out To All The Lovers (Of Theatre) (February 14, 2008)
Curtains (The SOB Revisit) (October 12, 2007)
TONYS: SPRING HAS SPRUNG WHILE COAST REALIZES UTOPIA (June 11, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Top Ten Of The Year (June 4, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best New Musicals (May 22, 2007)
Amazing Candor From Amazing Kander (March 28, 2007)
Did Curtains Rise On Critics' Reviews? (March 23, 2007)
Curtains Finally Open On New Kander & Ebb Tuner (March 22, 2007)
Honorable Mentions: SOB's Singular Sensations Of '06 (December 30, 2006)
Curtains To Rise At Al Hirschfeld Theatre In March (November 3, 2006)
Curtains Meets the Critics (August 10, 2006)
Curtains (The SOB Review) (August 10, 2006)
Curtains Set to Rise on Curtains Tonight in LA (August 9, 2006)
Curtains Pulls Advance Buzz (August 1, 2006)
Curtains' Calling on Broadway? (July 24, 2006)
Kander and Ebb's Curtains Set to Rise in LA This Summer (May 11, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Closing Notices, Curtains, David Hyde Pierce, Fred Ebb, John Kander, Musical, Rupert Holmes
posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Wednesday, March 19, 2008
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