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January is the cruelest month—at least, it is on the Great White Way. Late last night came official word that Sting’s The Last Ship (pictured) will have its last voyage on Jan 24. Apparently his joining the cast wasn’t enough to fill the struggling show’s sails for the long term. And the Roundabout Theatre Company quashed any hopes that its re-revival of Cabaret would run as long as Sam Mendes’s original (nearly 3,000 performances); we will say Auf Wiedersehen to the production Mar 29. These are just the latest casualties of the winter box office slump and a very competitive spring season coming on fast.
One show we’re worried about hasn’t even opened: Honeymoon in Vegas. In October 2013, this fizzy adaptation of the 1992 rom-com opened to terrific reviews at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse. But it took more than a year to move it to Broadway. The show—presumably frozen—has had a bizarre eight weeks of previews and opens Jan 15. It’s the slowest time of year and Honeymoon’s box office has been anemic: $409K last week. Maybe producers are betting on boffo reviews to make this the must-see musical of the spring, but it’s cold out there and they must be hemmoraging cash. I know the plot’s about gambling on love but this is ridiculous.
Then there are the shows which already announced closings or had limited runs: Motown—The Musical (Jan 18); Rock of Ages (Jan 18); The River (Feb 8); The Elephant Man (Feb 15); A Delicate Balance (Feb 22); You Can’t Take It with You (Feb 22); Disgraced (Mar 1); and Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Mar 15). Are there one or two there you keep meaning to see? You’re welcome!