Recession Hits Disney as Broadway's 'Little Mermaid' To Close

July 7, 2009 at 4:29 PM | by egw | 0 Comments

The Mouse just couldn't mint that money fast enough: The Broadway production of "The Little Mermaid," one of three Disney shows currently running on the Great White Way, will close August 30 and seek its fortunes on a national tour.

"The Little Mermaid" opened in November 2007 after a very mixed out-of-town try-out in Denver and never gained the hearts and minds of critics, while its siblings were either mostly ignored ("Mary Poppins") or unduly celebrated ("The Lion King"). Stung by the stagehands' strike and widespread mockery of the production's use of rollerskates to make its actors "swim" about the stage, the show nonetheless outlasted box office predictions and as of last week was still at 85 percent capacity, while the critically acclaimed play "Mary Stuart" languished at 55.3 percent. (The second-last show in grosses, "Blithe Spirit," is closing this week.)

Also set to lock its doors in September is the puppet musical "Avenue Q," a gleeful spoof of "Sesame Street" wrapping a coming-of-age story about a newcomer to New York named Princeton and his crazy neighbors. In a subplot too long to explain here, one of the monster characters in the show memorably exclaims "In volatile market, only stable investment -- is porn!" But "Q" actually rewarded its original investors quite well, making $23.5 million for them since opening in July 2003 and picking up a Best Musical TONY in 2004.

Rumored to replace these closers are the all-new "Addams Family" musical, which tries out in Chicago this November with Nathan Lane as the patriarch, and the transplant of a Los Angeles production of David Mamet's "Oleanna" starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles. Audience numbers may be down but expect the star wattage to be turned up this fall on Broadway between Jude Law's "Hamlet" and Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig's cop drama.

[Photo: Ben Sutherland],p

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