Lempicka to end Broadway run a month after opening
Lempicka, a new musical about an artistically and sexually adventurous painter, announced last week that it would close May 19, just a month after opening.
This is the first show to fall after this year’s Tony nominations were announced last week. Lempicka scored three nods — for actresses Eden Espinosa and Amber Iman, as well as for scenic design — but was shut out of the best musical category. It really needed a boost, because its grosses have been anemic — last week it grossed US$288,102 (10.6 million baht), which is unsustainably low for a Broadway musical.
The musical, which has been in development for years, had productions at the Williamstown Theater Festival and the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego before arriving on Broadway during a crush of openings this spring; it began previews on March 19 and opened on April 14. The show, which explores the life of 20th-century painter Tamara de Lempicka, was written by Carson Kreitzer and Matt Gould and directed by Rachel Chavkin. Reviews were mixed to negative.
The show, produced by Seaview and Jenny Niederhoffer, was capitalised for up to $19.5 million, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. That money will be lost. In a statement, the producers said: “We are so proud of our production and the family of artists and artisans who’ve shaped it. Few knew better than Tamara de Lempicka that art isn’t easy but always worth the effort.”
Broadway is packed with shows right now — there are 35 running, 12 of which opened in the nine days before the April 25 deadline to qualify for the Tony Awards. They are facing significant challenges, because production costs have risen and attendance has fallen since the pandemic. Many industry leaders believe that most of the new musicals will not succeed financially.