“Spring Awakening” To Close
Variety reports:
Tony-winning tuner “Spring Awakening” will shutter Jan. 18 after a Broadway run of just over two years.
Rock tuner, with music by Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics by Steven Sater, has so far logged Rialto grosses of nearly $52 million. Teen-centric storyline, about 18th century German adolescents grappling with sex and death, helped the show win a base of young fans during the course of its run.
Sales for the musical, which opened on Broadway in December 2006, started slowly but spiked in summer 2007 in the wake of the show’s eight Tony wins (including tuner). Producers announced “Spring” had recouped its initial $6 million capitalization costs in August 2007.
Since then, however, box office has declined. Lately the production has posted weekly sales of between $300,000 and $400,000 for most of the fall, often playing to houses at between 60% and 65% of capacity.
Helmed by Michael Mayer and choreographed by Bill T. Jones, “Spring” originated at Off Broadway’s Atlantic Theater Company in spring 2006 before transferring to Broadway’s Eugene O’Neill Theater later that year.
Over the run, producers cultivated young auds with a heavy online presence and low-priced onstage seating.
A national tour, booked through 2009, launched in San Francisco in September and will open in L.A. next week. Upcoming international stagings are planned for London, Vienna, Toronto, Helsinki and Seoul.
A team of about 30 producers backed the tuner’s Broadway run. Group was headed by Ira Pittelman, Tom Hulce, Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel and the Atlantic.
When the show closes, “Spring” will have played 859 perfs on the Rialto, plus 29 previews.
