The Rasputin-like Broadway revival of I'm Not Rappaport will not close on Aug. 25, a spokesman confirmed to Playbill On-Line. Earlier this week, the Herb Gardner play posted a "provisional closing notice" at the Booth Theatre. It was the second such notice the show has given. The first had warned of a shuttering on Aug. 18.
As with last week, the jump in box office receipts was cited as the reason for the reprieve. Lead producers Elliot Martin and Lewis Allen can likely be expected to post a new provisional closing notice on Tuesday Aug. 27 with the same intention of taking it down at the end of the week.
The New York Post reported Aug. 13 that the Paul Newman Our Town was likely to move into the Booth.
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The Judd Hirsch-Ben Vereen revival of Herb Gardner's Central Park-set I'm Not Rappaport, directed by Daniel Sullivan, opened July 25 at the Booth Theatre, the same house it played when it won the 1986 Tony Award for Best Play. Previews began there July 12, but this revival has its roots in a co-production in 2001-2002 shared by Coconut Grove Playhouse, Ford's Theatre and Paper Mill Playhouse.
There is a tradition for a post-Tony Awards opening for Rappaport. It opened Off-Broadway June 5, 1985, and moved to Broadway — the Booth — in November 1985, waiting six months before snagging the Best Play Tony Award in 1986. Judd Hirsch also starred (and won a Tony for his work).
Director Sullivan won the Best Director Tony Award in 2001 for Broadway's Proof.. The Rappaport cast includes Anthony Arkin (Danforth), Mimi Lieber (Clara), Steven Boyer (Gilley), Jeb Brown (Cowboy) and Tanya Clarke (Laurie), with David S. Howard, Adam Wade, Nurit Loppel, Michael Pemberton and Robert McClure standing by.
The Booth Theatre is at 222 W. 45th Street. For ticket information, call (212) 239-6200.
