Without a Tony Award nomination or funding, the musical produced at the James Earl Jones Theater ends after two months of performances.
The last tickets are on sale for Huey Lewis’ new musical show. The heart of rock and roll stops in three days on the main artery of New York. The recipes are bad. And at the Tony Awards, the ceremony which has rewarded American theater since 1947, the musical received no nomination. However, criticism had pushed this creation. For the New York Times, she is “the funniest new musical of the season”.
The piece is inspired by singer Huey Lewis and The News. It features several hits from the 80s group, including The Power of Love et Do You Believe in Love. All around a love story between a young man, played by Corey Cott, working in a cardboard factory in Milwaukee and the boss’s daughter, played by McKenzie Kurtz. While for the New York Theater Guide she “feeds 80s nostalgia from start to finish and unifies those who lived through the 80s with those who didn’t”. Despite her choreography win at the Chita Rivera Awards, it was only through the Tony Awards ceremony, which was held on June 16, that she could have gotten a boost in attracting more people.
Broadway, the expensive bet
The actors were able to perform 24 previews and 72 performances. The last one will be June 23. This colorful and lively spectacle only grossed $272,051 during the week of June 9, which is far from enough to cover the costs incurred, which amount to $19 million, and the operating costs of a life-size musical on Broadway.
She is not the only one to end the season so early. Lempika, just one month after its opening, closed its performances in May. However, she obtained three nominations on Sunday – for actresses Eden Espinosa and Amber Iman, as well as for scenography – but was excluded from the best music category. It is with this category that she would have had the financial boost. Revenues were low, from the start it brought in only $288,102. There are only thirty-two plays left on Broadway for the season.