Enron to close 9 May 2010

Lucy Prebble's Enron has posted early closing notices and will play its final performance on 9 May 2010. When the show closes it will have played 15 regular performances and 22 previews.

Enron will close just two weeks after it opened at the Broadhurst Theatre on 27 Apr 2010, following previews from 8 Apr 2010. It was originally selling tickets through to 18 Jul 2010.

The show received four 2010 Tony nominations: Best Featured Actor in a Play (Stephen Kunken), Best Lighting Design of a Play (Mark Henderson), Best Sound Design of a Play (Adam Cork) and Best Score (music by Adam Cork, lyrics by Lucy Prebble). However, it was not nominated for Best Play, which is the one nomination category that can help give a show a boost at the box office.

What is surprising about the closure is that it comes so soon after the show opened. Last week it grossed $234,196, and reached 66% of the Broadhurst Theatre's seating capacity. While this figure is not high, it is not unusual for a new show, which often only improve their tickets sales after opening and the reviews are in.

There has been no official announcement from the producers about the closure, but one can only speculate that the show's advance ticket sale were low and so the production was unlikely to make a profit. It is estimated that the production has made a loss of $4 million.

Enron opened to mixed reviews: Flashy but labored (NY Times); Whip-smart, edge-of-your-seat ride (NY Post); Riveting (NY1); Wonder, involvement and delight (Bloomberg); Lumbering docudrama (AP).

Michael Riedel of the the New York Post had been reporting for some time that there were problems with the show, and while Prebble's Enron has been a hugh successs in London, it was felt necessary to adapt the play for Broadway - with last minute adaptions being made to the show before opening night.

Inspired by real-life events and using music, dance and video, Enron explores one of the most infamous scandals in financial history, reviewing the tumultuous 1990s and casting a new light on the financial turmoil in which the world currently finds itself.

Directed by Rupert Goold, the show stars Norbert Leo Butz (Jeffrey Skilling), Stephen Kunken (Andy Fastow), Gregory Itzin (Kenneth Lay), Marin Mazzie (Claudia Roe), Noah Weisberg, Rightor Doyle, Ian Kahn, Mary Stewart Sullivan, Madisyn Shipman, January Lavoy, Jordan Ballard, Brandon J. Dirden, Anthony Holds, Ty Jones, Tom Nelis, Jeff Skowron and Lusia Strus.

The production features scenic and costume design by Anthony Ward, lighting by Mark Henderson, music and sound by Adam Cork, video and projection by Jon Driscoll and movement by Scott Ambler.

Headlong Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre and Royal Court Theatre production of Enron is produced on Broadway by Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Matthew Byam Shaw, Act Productions, Caro Newling for Neal St. Productions and The Shubert Organization.

Enron, which was commissioned by Headlong Theatre, premiered this past summer at the Minerva Theatre Chichester, and then moved for a six-week run at the Royal Court Theatre where it played through to 8 Nov 2009. The play transferred to the West End's Noel Coward Theatre in Jan 2010.

Lucy Prebble won the George Devine Award and the Critics' Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright for her debut play 'The Sugar Syndrome' at the Royal Court Theatre. On television, her work includes creating the series 'Secret Diary of a Call Girl.' Enron is her second play.

Rupert Goold's previous productions include Minerva Theatre Chichester's staging of 'Macbeth' with Patrick Stewart (that transferred to the West End and Broadway) and 'Six Characters in Search of an Author.' Additional credits include 'Time and the Conways' at the National Theatre, Pete Postlethwaite in 'King Lear,' and West End productions of Pinter's 'No Man's Land' and 'Oliver!' (currently at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane). He most recently directed 'Turandot' for English National Opera which opened at the London Coliseum in October.