The play recently recouped its $2.6 million investment just over three months after opening night, during the week that ended March 4. The play was originally scheduled to run through April 1, but is closing early.
The play, making its world premiere at Broadway's Music Box Theatre, is about a Yale professor (Moore) and her boyfriend visiting the boyfriend's father (Nighy) in the Welsh countryside and engaging in heated discussions on love, death, parenthood and the war in Iraq.
Sam Mendes directed the play, which began previews Nov. 9, 2006, and officially opened Nov. 30. Scott Rudin, Robert Fox, Neal Street Productions, Roger Berlind, Debra Black and The Shubert Organization produce.
Joining Moore and Nighy in the cast are Andrew Scott (The Royal Court's Dying City, "Saving Private Ryan"), Dan Bittner (The House In Town) and Rutina Wesley ("Hitch," "Step").
Moore has earned four Academy Award nominations for her work in "The Hours" (a Hare screenplay), "Boogie Nights," "Far From Heaven" and "The End of the Affair." Other film work includes "The Shipping News," "Evolution," "Hannibal," "An Ideal Husband," "Magnolia," "The Big Lebowski," "Children of Men" and "Savage Grace." Her stage credits include Vanya on 42nd Street Off-Broadway as well as Surviving Picasso, Serious Money and Ice Cream With Hot Fudge. An acclaimed British star, Nighy is known for his work on such movies as "Love Actually," "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest" and "The Constant Gardener" as well as the HBO film "The Girl in the Café." His roles this year include "Notes on a Scandal" and a voice on the animated feature "Flushed Away." He has trod the boards for Hare previously in A Map of the World and Skylight. Other stage credits include Pravda, King Lear, Arcadia, Blue/Orange, Betrayal, A Kind of Alaska and The Seagull.
The design team for The Vertical Hour includes Scott Pask (scenery), Ann Roth (costumes), Brian MacDevitt (lighting) and Chris Cronin (sound).
The Music Box Theatre is located at 239 West 45th Street. For tickets call (212) 239-6200 or visit www.telecharge.com.
