After Midnight, the TONY nominated musical that kicked off with guests including Fantasia Barrino and Toni Braxton, will close early.
According to THR, the show will wrap weeks ahead of schedule on June 29, despite having a total gross, as of June 8, of $19.2 million from 19 previews and 272 regular performances.
News of the early close to After Midnight comes as a surprise following a performance from Fantasia, Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight at the TONY Awards earlier this month. Despite the performance shedding light on the show, sources claim it didn't boost ticket sales enough.
"While director Warren Carlyle won a Tony Award for best choreography, the show failed to score a win in any of the other categories in which it was nominated. And despite its splashy opening number on the CBS awards telecast, it appears not to have seen a significant enough boost at the box office to stick out the summer months," THR reports.
According to Scott Sanders, who produced alongside Wynton Marsalis, discussions are underway to launch a national tour in hopes of recouping some of the investment lost on the $7 million Broadway production.
Also featuring guest appearances from k.d. lang, Kenny "Babyface" Edmunds and Vanessa Williams, the musical combines the big-band songs of Duke Ellington and the best dancing on Broadway. A stageful of New York’s most celebrated singers, dancers and tappers joins forces with The Jazz at Lincoln Center All-Stars, a 17-piece big band created by jazz great Wynton Marsalis.
"It’s a glamorous, joy-making, high-energy celebration of Harlem’s legendary Cotton Club… and it’s all in AFTER MIDNIGHT," organizers report.
