The Boss to do solo show on Broadway
The Boss is coming to Broadway, but he’s ditching the E Street Band.
Bruce Springsteen said Wednesday on his website that he plans to make his Broadway debut onstage this fall at the Walter Kerr Theatre in a solo show in which he performs songs from his career, interspersed with readings of his bestselling memoir Born to Run.
Springsteen on Broadway begins previews Oct. 3, ahead of an Oct. 12 opening at the intimate 960-seat venue. The eight-week run is expected to play through Nov. 26. Springsteen will perform five shows a week.
“I wanted to do some shows that were as personal and as intimate as possible,” the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer said in a statement.
“My show is just me, the guitar, the piano and the words and music. Some of the show is spoken, some of it is sung. It loosely follows the arc of my life and my work.”
The 67-year-old singer-songwriter becomes the latest and biggest artist in years to book a Broadway concert, a list that includes Il Divo, Barry Manilow, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and The Rascals.
For Broadway theatre owners, offering an empty venue to a band with a huge fan base offers a way to make money between scheduled musicals or plays.
For Springsteen, who has played everything from Red Rocks in Colorado to Madison Square Garden in New York City, it offers another notch on his resumé.