You got trouble right here in River City.
The Hugh Jackman-led revival of The Music Man has posted its closing notice and will play its last performance on January 1, 2023. The big-budget show attracted screaming Wolverine fans and Broadway groupies clamoring to see effervescent Tony winner Sutton Foster opposite Jackman, but even their combined star power couldn’t keep the musical, capitalized at $24 million, afloat.
The pandemic delayed the production’s opening, followed by allegations of workplace abuse against lead producer and notorious Broadway bad boy Scott Rudin, who was quickly replaced with British producer Kate Horton. The show originally premiered in 1957 and beat West Side Story for the coveted Tony Award for Best Musical. But despite premium ticket prices that soared to $697 each, average theatergoers didn’t seem to buy into what Jackman’s Harold Hill was selling.
Related: Here’s what people are saying about Lea Michele in ‘Funny Girl’
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“We are endlessly grateful for the faith and support of our audiences, whose love affair with our show has weathered even the most complicated circumstances a global pandemic could throw our way,” said Horton. “We wish this ride could last forever but, alas, all good things must come to an end.”
Critics were less than enthusiastic. “The problem arises when this fantasy is mounted as an upbeat, tidy time capsule, allowing audiences to ogle a version of America that never existed,” wrote Ashley Lee for the Los Angeles Times. “It asks audiences to cheer for yet another romanticized fraud.”
“It’s easy to remember that The Music Man is a commodity as much as it is a creative endeavor,” wrote this reviewer upon the show’s opening. “The con is obvious — what you see is what you get. With Jackman and Foster marching to the beat of their own audience-driving drums, the band will play on. How the musical fares upon their departure may leave The Music Man irreparably out of tune.”
Related: Hugh Jackman’s wife addresses those gay rumors
Despite the show’s questionable themes, The Music Man did make an effort to reach new audiences and support theater-related causes. The production made available 10,000 subsidized tickets at $20 each during its run for New York City School communities and broke fundraising records for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Entertainment Community Fund.
Jackman commented on the production’s closing at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival:
Hugh Jackman talks end of ‘The Music Man’ on Broadway #musicman #hughjackman #themusicman #TIFF2022 #scoop #redcarpet #theson pic.twitter.com/OpJC6YlpUQ
— Maik Duijnhouwer (@maikduijnhouwer) September 13, 2022
DBMC
This show was not an open ended run. They decided not to replace, most likely, because they couldn’t get another star with Jackman’s power. There were rumors they were trying to get Justin Timberlake but, if that’s true, it didn’t work out.
Jackman and Foster both work in other mediums and this was never meant to run beyond them staying in it.
It is expected to recoup by the end of the run in January. The headline and focus of this story is way off base.
lou lou de la falaise
Agreed. I have not seen the show but from what I read it was a big fat hit. Not every show is meant to play for 100 years like Chicago. But rejoice, there’s always Funny Girl!
DBMC
We’ll see about Funny Girl. Unlike Music Man, it’s not a good show.
IanHunter
I thought after the Tony Award noms they had announced that it wasn’t going to remain open.
gjamesm46
It was always a closed run production.
RIGay
Not news. It was announced when the show OPENED that it was a finite run. There may have been wishful thinking…? Opining for a multi-year run…? But truth of the matter is that the show had x-number of shows to put on from the beginning.
What’s waiting in the wings to take over?
Kangol2
Both Jackman and Foster are incredibly talented but this wasn’t the moment for a Music Man revival on Broadway, and the Covid-19 pandemic surely didn’t help.
gjamesm46
Don’t believe this BS article. The show is a smash.
inbama
Vocally, this show was miscast.
Jackman’s razor -thin tenor wasn’t meant for belting out Harold Hill’s talkie numbers, and from all reports, it sounds as if he never captured the professor’s dark side.
And Sutton Foster didn’t have the kind of powerful soprano voice that would’ve make her numbers thrilling as they were when Barbara Cook originated the role. They should’ve gone with Laura Benanti or Lauren Ambrose.
Joshooeerr
The article doesn’t really define failure. The show may be closing, but it was reasonably well reviewed. The real question is whether it made a profit. But if your musical is capitalised at $24million with ticket prices north of $600, then you almost deserve to fail. It’s a ludicrous amount of money, and way more than anyone needs to stage a show, even a lavish musical with big stars and a large chorus. Anyone who knows anything about modern Broadway financing knows that it must have been over-capitalised like crazy – a scam not a million miles from the plot of The Producers. I’m guessing everyone cleaned up already, or it wouldn’t be closing. The only losers in all this are those who can’t afford $600 a ticket.
jackscott
Obviously, this writer doesn’t understand Broadway. The show was a limited run due to the schedules of the huge stars. The production rakes in millions of dollars each week and has broken house records. It isn’t closing due to lack of interest. Hugh & Sutton have many other commitments. Please do your research before posting foolish stories!
madmariner
This show continues to consistently sell 93-99% of available seats, and has set multiple records for the Winter Garden theater. This is easily verifiable with public information, which the writer apparently neglected to, instead just coming to their own conclusions about the reason for the run ending. A clear example of journalistic laziness.