"Due to the irreconcilable schedules of the original Bounce cast and creative team, it has been determined that it would not be prudent to proceed with the benefit at this time," an official announcement stated. "It is the hope of all involved that we will move forward with this exciting project in the near future."
Actors' Fund is contacting ticketbuyers.
Bounce, which in 2003 played Chicago and Washington, DC, did not made it to Broadway. The concert was highly anticipated by New Yorkers, who hoped to get a chance to hear the score live.
Tickets for the Majestic Theatre event were priced at $1,000 for "prime orchestra," $500 for "good orchestra or prime front mezzanine," $250 for "rear orchestra or good front mezzanine," $125 for rear mezzanine (A-E), $75 for rear mezzanine (F-J) and $50 for rear mezzanine (K-L).
The Chicago and DC Bounce casts starred Howard McGillin, Richard Kind, Michele Pawk, Herndon Lackey, Jane Powell and Gavin Creel. *
In mid-November, producer Roger Berlind announced that he would not be bringing Bounce to Broadway. The decision was not unexpected. Several factors pointed to the prospect that the musical would not venture beyond its Kennedy Center engagement—among them, the fact that the score was recorded by Nonesuch out of town Nov. 10-11; and the southern journey taken by The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts' Theatre on Film and Tape Archive Nov. 15 to capture the production on tape. Both moves bespoke a belief that Bounce would not venture beyond the Beltway.
Also not helping matters were the largely poor reviews the tuner received from D.C. and national critics.
"There will be many productions of Bounce in the years to come, but I will not be moving it," Berlind told Variety. "The actors have dispersed. There are no Broadway theatres available."
*
Bounce officially opened at the Kennedy Center Oct. 30. It began previews on Oct. 21, following a world premiere at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, June 20-Aug. 10.
Bounce is inspired by the lives of the colorful, early-20th-century, American capitalists-cum-con artists, the Mizner brothers, their parents, their loves and their endless capers and schemes.
