Love Letters Posts Early Closing 14 Dec 2014

Producers of the Broadway revival of A.R. Gurney's Love Letters, directed by Gregory Mosher, have announced that the production will play its final performance on Sunday 14 December 2014 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, where it will have played 6 preview and 95 regular performances.

Love Letters opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on 18 September 2014, following previews from 13 September, where it was originally scheduled to close on 15 February 2015.

The production currently stars Alan Alda and Candice Bergen who will close the show, ahead of their previously announced schedules. Previously announced performers Stacy Keach, Diana Rigg, Anjelica Huston and Martin Sheen will no longer star in the show.

The rotating cast for Love Letters originally featured Brian Dennehy and Golden Globe winner Mia Farrow. Emmy Award winner and Tony nominee Carol Burnett took over from Ms. Farrow on 11 October 2014.

The play opened to good reviews: Sweet, elegant and touching (NY Daily News); Craftily written (NY Post); Both seasoned actors slide easily into their carefully shaded roles (NY1/Time Out); Surprisingly affecting (The Record).

Love Letters features an all-star rotating cast of Broadway and Screen veterans, bringing the two-hander to life, each in a different way. The production also features scenic design by John Lee Beatty, costumes by Jane Greenwood and lighting by Peter Kaczorowski, and is produced on Broadway by Nelle Nugent, Barbara Broccoli, Frederick Zollo, Olympus Theatricals, Colleen Camp and Kenneth Teaton.

The play centres on a pair of friends, rebellious Melissa Gardner and straight-arrow Andrew Makepeace Ladd III. The pair have exchanged notes, cards and letters with each other for over 50 years - from grade school, through summer vacations, to college, and well into adulthood. Throughout their lives they have discussed their dreams, hopes, failures, successes and difficulties. Once the letter are finished - the real question remains. Does the real love of their live exist a mere letter away?

Love Letters originally opened off-Broadway in March 1989 in a production which starred Kathleen Turner and John Rubinstein. The play changed its cast every week, and included performers such as Victor Garber, Julie Harris, Christopher Reeve and Christopher Walken. The show transferred to Broadway in October 1989 and featured further guest appearances from Lynn Redgrave and Stockard Channing.

- by Dom O'Hanlon