One of the closings is a long-running Tony Award winner, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. Another was a 2015 Tony nominee as Best Play, Hand to God. Most of the rest are limited runs that had been scheduled to close. All but one of the affected theatres have already rebooked with incoming shows.
While fans may mourn the loss of favorite productions, the changeover in Broadway real estate is part of the commercial theatre's circle of life. Old shows close, making way for new ones to open.
Here's a look at the departures and arrivals on the Main Stem in January:
Jan 3: Hand to God, Robert Askins' chilling comedy about a hand puppet possessed by the devil, was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Play and will have played 337 performances. Steven Boyer is still giving his Tony-nominated performance as the puppeteer. Bob Saget recently joined the cast in the role of the preacher. Booth Theatre has been rebooked with Hughie, starting previews Feb. 5.
Jan 3: Thérèse Raquin (scheduled closing after a limited run). Keira Knightley plays the unhappy young wife who helps murder her husband, only to see her relationship with her lover fall apart over their guilt. The cast also includes Judith Light, Matt Ryan and Gabriel Ebert. Studio 54 Theatre is rebooked with She Loves Me starting previews Feb. 19. Jan 3: The Illusionists (scheduled closing after a limited run). Featuring seven master magicians, each with his own style, this show will close at the Neil Simon Theatre, which has not yet (as of Dec. 29) announced a new booking.
Jan 3: Sylvia. Annaleigh Ashford plays a cute puppy who nearly breaks up a marriage in this A.R. Gurney play, which co-stars Matthew Broderick and Julie White. It will have played 79 performances. The Cort Theatre has rebooked with Bright Star, starting previews Feb. 25.
Jan 3: Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games (scheduled closing after a limited run). The Irish (and other international) dance and music revue features master dancer Michael Flatley. The Lyric Theatre is rebooked with Paramour, starting previews April 16.
Jan. 3: Dames at Sea. Originally produced in 1968 Off-Broadway, this six-character musical spoofs Hollywood movie musicals of the 1930s. The cast features John Bolton, Mara Davi, Danny Gardner, Eloise Kropp, Lesli Margherita and Cary Tedder. The Helen Hayes Theatre has been rebooked with The Humans, starting previews Jan. 23.
Jan 10: The Gin Game (scheduled closing after a limited run). James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson play an elderly couple who feud over a card game at a retirement home. The Golden Theatre has been rebooked with Eclipsed, starting previews Feb. 23.
Jan 17: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. The Tony-winning musical ends its two-year-plus run after 905 performances. Jefferson Mays will have played the entire run as the multiple members of the D'Ysquith clan who meet their maker in a variety of comic ways. The Walter Kerr Theatre is rebooked with The Crucible, starting previews Feb. 25.
Jan 24: Spring Awakening (scheduled closing after a limited run). Deaf West Theatre's acclaimed revival that uses a variety of deaf, hard-of-hearing and hearing actors. They perform this musical in song and in sign language. The Brooks Atkinson Theatre has been rebooked with Waitress, starting previews March 25.
Jan. 31: King Charles III (scheduled closing after a limited run). Written in Shakespearean-style verse by Mike Bartlett, the play imagines what could happen in Britain after the current Queen Elizabeth dies and her son, Charles Windsor, takes the throne. Shuffle Along, Or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed has already rebooked the Music Box with previews beginning March 15.
Jan. 31: China Doll (scheduled closing after a limited run). Al Pacino returns to Broadway in the latest drama by Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Mamet. The Schoenfeld Theater is already rebooked with the musical drama American Psycho, beginning previews March 24.
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