The Show Can't Go On: '9 To 5' Joins Musical Closures On Broadway
Now they can stay in their pajamas all day: The cast and crew of Broadway's movie-to-musical version of "9 to 5," cowritten by Dolly Parton, will be out of work by Labor Day as the poorly attended musical is scheduled to close. Based on the 1980 female-empowerment comedy costarring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, "9 to 5" opened April 30 but never found its audience, failing to break 70 percent capacity in the house this past week.
Our recessionary theory: A depressed job market has no place for fantasies about getting revenge on your sexist boss. After all, he could read your mind (or your tweets) and fire you, and then where would you be? More likely, the show's producers wildly overestimated the popularity of the movie (and Parton's drawing power when she's not onstage) when they sunk $14 million into the show; without marquee names either for Broadway or the movies—Allison Janney, we still love you—tourists steered clear.
Along with the announcements about "Avenue Q" and "The Little Mermaid," Broadway closures are up this summer. It's odd since summer is normally high-water season for tourists taking in shows. Glancing at last week's box office receipts in Playbill however, we're thinking the next to fall will be the Hitchcock adaptation "The 39 Steps," which has been bravely skating along since January 2008 on $39 tickets and an extremely low overhead (only four actors play all the roles). Despite its movie appeal, "Shrek" is also in trouble, along with last year's Best Musical TONY winner "In The Heights."
Related Stories:
· Feeble "9 to 5" Gets Pink Slip [NY Post]
· Endless Tony Awards Honor Europeans, Hippies: "Billy Elliot" and "Hair" Triumph [Jaunted]
· Broadway coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: BroadwayWorld]
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