With No Tony in Hand, ‘Gigi’ Will Close This Month

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By MICHAEL PAULSON  JUNE 9, 2015 7:39 PM| ArtsBeat/The New York Times

Broadway is having a bit of a post-Tonys housecleaning.

 

The producers of “Gigi,” a musical revival starring Vanessa Hudgens in the title role, announced Tuesday evening that their show would close on June 21, after 20 previews and 86 performances. The announcement came one day after the producers of “The Visit,” a new musical starring Chita Rivera, said that their show would close on Sunday.

 

Neither show won any honors at the Tony Awards on Sunday, and both have been box office disappointments.

 

“Gigi,” which began previews on March 19 and opened on April 8, is about a teenage girl who chafes at her family’s expectations to be a courtesan. The musical, by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe and based on a 1958 film, as well as a novella that preceded it, was first staged in 1973. Its book was revised for the revival to reduce the age gap between Gigi and the man she falls for and to alter some of the other more problematic elements of the story.

 

The producers had hoped that Ms. Hudgens, who became a celebrity through her work in the “High School Musical” series, would make the show a hit with young girls and their families. But by last week, the Neil Simon Theater, where the show is playing, was half empty; the show had grossed $5.9 million through June 7.

 

It opened side-by-side with another romantic musical set in France, but the other show, “An American in Paris,” became a much bigger hit.

 

“Gigi” had been nominated for one Tony award, for Victoria Clark as a featured actress, and its cast performed “The Night They Invented Champagne” on the Tonys broadcast. The producers said the show would have a national tour during the 2016-17 season.

 

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Vanessa Hudgens in “Gigi” at the Neil Simon Theater. © Sara Krulwich/The New York Times ©

 

 

Reference: ArtsBeat/The New York Times  By MICHAEL PAULSON  JUNE 9, 2015 7:39 PM

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