Broadway is contracting pretty fast.
It had already been announced that “Moulin Rouge” would shut down at the end of August.
Then “Death Becomes Her,” based on the movie, announced an end date of June 28th. This surprised a lot of people because it doesn’t seem like the producers did much to breathe new life into the musical after its lead actress, Megan Hilty, left.
It’s no surprise that “Beaches,” the musical based on the Bette Midler- Barbara Hershey movie is also throwing in the towel. It got no Tony nominations and is playing at 44% capacity.
The next victim of slow business should be “Six.” now playing at 58% and well under $500,000 a week.
What do all these shows have in common? They are musicals, which are considered almost prohibitively expensive right now. The result is producers putting up lots of revivals, and doing much in the way of original productions.
And, of course, ticket prices have skyrocketed. For people driving into the city there are high gas prices and congestion fees weighing on ticket buyers.
This is not a death rattle by any means. There are 35 shows doing well right now. New shows are prepping for the fall. But something has to be done to make Broadway more accessible, and fast.
