“Sleep No More” is closing after almost 14 years, “Blue Man Group” after almost 34 years and more than 17,000 performances. The longevity of these shows strikes me as reason enough to catch them before you can’t. The other eight shows closing soon that are on the list below had much shorter runs – some just weeks. But they are shows I’m glad I saw, and sorry if you’d miss, even the ones that other theatergoers more fully enjoyed.
They are listed according to their scheduled closing dates with links to their websites
Closing December 8
Water for Elephants
The puppetry, the choreography and especially the circus artistry are extraordinary in this Broadway musical, based on a bestselling book and a movie; that was apparently not enough to draw in an audience; it just opened in March. But I will remember it for its heart-stopping and expressive acrobatics.. Full review
Closing December 15
The Notebook: The Musical
The musical, which tells the love story of Noah and Allie over many decades, using three different Noahs and Allies, is also based on a book and a movie, and also opened in March. The story is cleverly adapted by librettist Bekah Brunstetter, who seems almost as much guided by the TV series “This Is Us” (where she worked as a writer and producer) as by Nicholas Sparks’ novel. And singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson, in her Broadway songwriting debut, delivers almost two dozen largely folk and country-inflected melodies, most of them lovely, if blandly so; the relatively low-key approach is part of the show’s appeal. Full review.
Closing December 22
Give Me Carmelita Tropicana!
This wild ride of a play exults in the hallucinatory humor of Carmelita Tropicana’s performance art and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ nostalgia for the East Village theater scene of his youth. It will have had a normal six-week run for an Off-Off Broadway show, but there is something of an elegy built into it; it’s the final production of Soho Rep at its longtime home. Full review
Closing December 29
Swept Away
It doesn’t surprise me that this Broadway musical about a shipwreck is closing so soon after it opened. It’s bleak, and vague. But it does have some stunning stagecraft and a quartet of magnetic performers. And with a mellifluous folk-rock score culled from a decade’s worth of songs composed by the popular indie band the Avett Brothers, I would not be surprised if the original Broadway cast recording becomes a cult favorite. If so, people can boast of having been among the few, the happy few, to have seen the band of brothers on Broadway. Full review
Update: Originally scheduled to close December 15th, it’s been extended two weeks. Others must have agreed with me.
Closing January 5
Sleep No More
Punchdrunk theater company’s wordless version of “Macbeth” as if retold by Alfred Hitchcock and Isadora Duncan launched New Yorkers’ enthusiasm for immersive theater. When the producers announced 14 months ago that it was closing in January, 2024, they pronounced it the end of an era. But it wasn’t even the end of “Sleep No More” — it kept on being extended. As I wrote at the time, immersive theater will continue. (And it has: witness “Life and Trust,” and “True Love Forever “) Which is all the more reason to see the pioneering show before it (they promise) really closes.
Suffs
Shaina Taub’s musical, which opened on Broadway in April extensively reworked after an Off-Broadway run, tells the story of the suffragists — “Suffs,” as they called themselves — who relentlessly pursued a Constitutional amendment that would give women the right to vote. It is inspiring, instructive, entertaining, and seemed especially well-timed…for a time.. Full review
Back to the Future
Opening on Broadway in August, 2023, this nearly scene-by-scene re-creation of the 1985 movie seemed to promise to last well into the foreseeable future. Some dismissed the show as a theme park ride, but the stage design and special effects were the main reasons to recommend it. Another reason: Marty McFly is still portrayed by the now-22-year-old Casey Likes, who is sure to have a future. Full review
January 12
Stereophonic
David Adjmi’s play chronicles a year of recording studio sessions by the members of a popular 1970s rock band as they put together their latest album and have their ups and downs with one another. I frankly did not understand the wide acclaim for this three-hour-long play until my third time with it – when, after attending performances first Off-Broadway and then when it opened in April on Broadway, I listened to the original cast recording, which contains 14 songs. It is not unusual for a Broadway musical to have an original cast recording, but not at all common for a Broadway play, which is how “Stereophonic” is officially categorized.
January 19
If ”Our Town” at the Barrymore is not a production for the ages, it’s as good an introduction to the play as any for somebody who has never seen it – and surely there are such people, even in America. It’s worth it for some of the standout performances among the starry cast. Full review.
February 2
Blue Man Group is a (rotating) trio of bald men painted blue beating drums, and engaging in eerily-lit performance art. The last time I saw them was a mere seven years ago. I interviewed a cast member named Pete Simpson, who had been performing with the group for two decades — performances so rigorous, he pointed out, that the company bought fitness equipment to encourage the performers to warm up and cool down. This was the same year that Cirque du Soleil, which has become an entertainment conglomerate, bought Blue Man Group, which had started out as three friends (Chris Wink, Phil Stanton and Matt Goldman) performing street theater in New York City. I suspect there is a lesson here. The performances will continue in other cities, but it feels worth journeying to the Astor Place Theater to pay our respects for what was.
