Curtains to close on Broadway on 29 Jun 2008

The Broadway musical Curtains is to close on 29 Jun 2008 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, the show had been booking through to 20 Jul 2008. When the musical closes it will have played 511 ragular performances and 26 previews.

Curtains: A Backstage Murder Mystery Musical Comedy, opened at Broadway's Al Hirschfeld Theatre on 22 Mar 2007, following previews from 27 Feb 2007.

The news follows an earlier announcement by the producers made on 12 Mar 2008 that the shows original principal cast had all extended their contracts through to 31 Aug 2008.

Roger Berlin, speaking on behalf of the producers said "All good things must come to an end, but we're happy that Theatrical Rights Worldwide will handle stock and amateur rights for Curtains, so that this great show will reach new audiences with productions planned all over the world. Meanwhile, those who haven't seen Curtains on Broadway have over three months to catch our supremely talented cast, who will see to it that Curtains goes out with a bang."

Curtains is the last musical to be written by composer John Kander and late lyricist Fred Ebb.

Composer John Kander stated "Fred just loved this show, and would be so thrilled with this remarkable cast, led by our great stars David Hyde Pierce and Debra Monk and with Scott Ellis' beautiful production. In one of our songs for Curtains, Fred wrote 'the show must go on.' I am so grateful to everyone that made it happen."

Curtains is set in 1959 in Boston during the pre-Broadway tryout of a new musical called Robin Hood. When the leading lady mysteriously dies onstage during the applause at the end of the show, the entire company and creative team are possible suspects; their various motives must be sorted out by a local detective (Pierce) who happens to be a musical theater fan.

The show opened to mixed reviews: "Brings a gust of giddy good fun to Broadway." (New York Daily News); "Delightful fun-ride of a musical" (The Record); "A faint but nonetheless refreshing blast of air." (New York Sun); "A thoroughly entertaining new musical" (Ass'd Press); "Talent-packed, thrill-starved production" (New York Times); "It's not so much a whodunit as a whydoit." (New York Post); "Likable at best."
(NewsDay); "Pure delight and laughter" (NewYorkTheatreGuide.com).

The show, directed by Scott Ellis with choreography by Rob Ashford, features David Hyde Pierce (Lieutenant Frank Cioffi), Debra Monk (producer Carmen Bernstein), Karen Ziemba (lyricist Georgia Hendricks), Jason Danieley (composer Aaron Fox), Gerry Vichi (producer Sidney Bernstein), Erin Davie (ing�nue Niki Harris), Edward Hibbert (director Christopher Belling), John Bolton (theatre critic Daryl Grady), Michael X. Martin (stage manager Johnny Harmon), Michael McCormick (investor Oscar Shapiro), Noah Racey (choreographer Bobby Pepper) and Megan Sikora (understudy Bambi Bern�t).

David Hyde Pierce won the 2007 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. The show was nominated for Tony's in several other categories including: Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book of a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical and Best Choreography.

Curtains has book by Rupert Holmes - based on a concept by the late Peter Stone, score by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, with additional lyrics by Rupert Holmes.

Set design is by Anna Louizos, with costumes by William Ivey Long, lighting by Peter Kaczorowski and sound by Brian Ronan.

Curtains is produced on Broadway by Roger Berlind, Roger Horchow, Daryl Roth, Jane Berg�re, Ted Hartley and Center Theatre Group.