PLAYBILL POLL: What Broadway Show Closed Too Soon? Readers Respond | Playbill

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News PLAYBILL POLL: What Broadway Show Closed Too Soon? Readers Respond The Bridges of Madison County ended its brief Broadway run May 18 after 137 performances. The show earned four 2014 Tony Award nominations, including Best Original Score for Jason Robert Brown and Best Actress for Kelli O'Hara. After watching O'Hara's musical farewell to Bridges, we wondered: What other Broadway show closed too soon?



Playbill.com polled our readers via Facebook and Twitter. Their responses follow:

Carly Rose Sonenclar, Janet Dacal and Darren Ritchie
Photo by Michal Daniel
Jordan Ari: Wonderland...Saw it twice, and enjoyed it!

Lea Passione: Wonderland - saw it 2x with a friend and parents and enjoyed it

With music by Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Jack Murphy and a book by Gregory Boyd and Murphy, Wonderland opened at the Marquis Theatre April 17, 2011. It closed less than a month later after 30 previews and 33 performances. The cast included Kate Shindle, Jose Llana, Karen Mason and Janet Dacal. The show received an Astaire Award nomination for Outstanding Choreography for Marguerite Derricks.

Aaron Tveit
Photo by Joan Marcus
Margaret Daisy Rose: Catch Me If You Can.

Sarah Sharpe: Catch Me If You Can.

Catch Me If You Can opened on April 10, 2011, and completed 166 performances before closing in September of the same year. The show starred Broadway veterans Norbert Leo Butz, Kerry Butler and Aaron Tveit and received four Tony nominations. Butz, in fact, won his second Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance.

Krysta Rodriguez
Photo by Joan Marcus
Annie Kathryn Zanchelli: First Date! I was so excited for Krysta, and it suddenly closed! What a shame.

Monica Perski: First Date. The score was catchy, the book was hilarious and the entire cast gave amazing performances. It definitely closed too soon!

Judy Muller: First Date! I loved that show. I've never laughed so hard before. It was so funny and original. It's a shame that it had a short life on Broadway.

Nguyen Hung Son: First date. So good but closed soooo soon.

Gigi Potter: First Date.

Cheryl Simon:  First Date.  I've never been in an audience that laughed so much and so often than the one at the performance I saw of First Date.

Shannen Banzhoff: First Date. It was incredibly funny and Zachary Levi and Krysta Rodriguez had great chemistry!

First Date, the first new musical of the 2013-14 Broadway season, featured a score by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner and a book by Austin Winsberg. The musical, a completely original story, centered around chic serial-dater Casey (played by Krysta Rodriguez) and tightly-wound Aaron (Zachary Levi, in a strong Broadway debut). The musical officially opened Aug. 8, 2013, at Broadway's Longacre Theatre and ran for 174 performances. It closed Jan. 5, 2014, and received no nods from the Drama Desk or Tony committee.

Laura Osnes and Jeremy Jordan
Photo by Nathan Johnson
Macon Prickett: Bonnie & Clyde!


Matt Jeanes: Bonnie & Clyde is a lovely score.


Skylar Phillips: Bonnie & Clyde.


Bonnie and Clyde opened on Broadway in December 2011 starring Laura Osnes and Jeremy Jordan in the title roles. Osnes earned her first Tony nomination for her performance as Bonnie Parker, and Frank Wildhorn and Don Black's score was also Tony-nominated. The show closed after 36 performances.  

Patti LuPone and Sherie Rene Scott
Photo by Paul Kolnik
John Pierson: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown!!!


Lynn Greenberg Turkington: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

Sandro Silveira: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown


Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown opened on Broadway in 2010 with a star-studded cast including Tony Award winners Patti LuPone, Laura Benanti and Brian Stokes Mitchell. The show received three Tony Award nominations, including nods for LuPone, Benanti and the musical's score, but closed after 30 previews and 69 regular performances.

Malcolm Gets
Photo by Joan Marcus
Gaspar Marino: A show that closed too soon from several seasons ago...Amour

Tim Stuff: Amour was such a beautiful score and heartwarming story. And wonderful performances!!!

The original musical Amour opened on Broadway Oct. 20, 2002, and closed shortly after on Nov. 3. The show was nominated for five 2003 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and boasted a cast led by Melissa Errico, Malcolm Gets and Norm Lewis.

Brent Carver and Carolee Carmello
Photo by Joan Marcus
Nathan Hinds: Parade, for sure. It is one of the most unique stories and the music is thoroughly. gripping. The characters truly break your heart.

Parade, another musical featuring an award-winning score by Jason Robert Brown, opened on Broadway Dec. 17, 1998, at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. The show earned a total of nine 1999 Tony Award nominations, winning awards for Brown's score and Alfred Uhry's book. The show closed on Feb. 29, 1999, after 85 performances.

Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley
Photo by Joan Marcus
R J Equality Lowe: Side Show will always haunt me as the show that didn't have the run befitting such a beautiful and moving slice of musical Americana.

Based on the lives of real-life Vaudeville and movie stars, conjoined twins Violet and Daisy Hilton, Side Show opened on Broadway Oct. 16, 1997. The show made Broadway history when Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner became the first actresses to be co-nominated for a Tony Award. The show closed after 91 performances on Jan. 4, 1998.

Norbert Leo Butz
Photo by Paul Kolnik
Lyndsay Wilshaw: Big Fish! Still miss it terribly.

L. Marie Martin: Big Fish! It had an amazing cast, tony award winner Norbert Leo Butz, tony nominee Bobby Steggert... closed way too soon!

Margaret Daisy Rose: Big Fish 

Big Fish made a splash at Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre early in the 2013-14 theatrical season, but the new Andrew Lippa-scored musical played under 100 regular performances before its Dec. 29, 2013, closing. The musical starred two-time Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz as Edward Bloom, yet the production was shut out by Tony voters. Big Fish, featuring a book by John August that was based on his screenplay of the 2003 film, also starred Kate Baldwin, Bobby Steggert and Krystal Joy Brown.

 
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