Magic/Bird posts early closing notices.

The Broadway premiere of Eric Simonson's new play Magic/Bird, which chronicles the intertwined life stories of basketball Hall of Famers 'Larry Bird' and 'Earvin "Magic" Johnson,' has posted early closing notices and will play its final performance on 12 May 2012.

The show opened at the Longacre Theatre on 11 Apr 2012, following previews from 21 Mar 2012, and was selling tickets through to 30 Dec 2012.

The news follows the announcement of the 2012 Tony nominations in which Magic/Bird received no nominations. The show has has struggled at the box office, with last week's house capacity a poor 53%.

Producers Fran Kirmser and Tony Ponturo said, "Magic/Bird was a story that we wanted to tell and an idea that we believed in. We wanted to attract both an audience which had never set foot in a Broadway theatre, and to satisfy the traditional theater goer. We were honored to present Magic/Bird as a story of hard work, dedication, respect and love as the second piece in a series of sports stories. We are so proud that we were able to do this on Broadway, and though it ran a limited time, it attracted many new audiences to the theater as well as provided a vehicle for many young people to attend their first show. We hope to inspire new audiences through future sports stories in the theater. Like Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird, our incredible team created something special, worked tirelessly and left it all on the court."

Directed by Thomas Kail, the cast features Tug Coker (Larry Bird), Kevin Daniels (Earvin 'Magic' Johnson), Deirdre O'Connell (Georgia Bird/Shelly/Patricia Moore), Peter Scolari (Red Auerbach/Jerry Buss/Pat Riley), Rob Ray Manning Jr. (Michael Cooper/Henry Alvarado/Frank) and Francois Battiste (Jon Lennox/Ron Baxter/Willy).

Magic/Bird: Two of the greatest basketball players of all-time battled for three championships, bragging rights, and the future of their sport in the 1980s. Johnson and Bird electrified the nation on the court, reinvigorated the NBA, and turned their rivalry into one of the greatest and most famous friendships in professional sports.

The show opened to mixed, but mostly poor reviews: Predictable and a bit ... dull(newyorktheatreguide); Flat script, can't deliver (Back Stage); Sure looks like a winner (Newsroom Jersey); Mildly engaging drama (Hollywood Reporter).

The creative team features David Korins (set), Howell Binkley (lighting), Paul Tazwell (costumes), Nevin Steinberg (sound) and Wendall K. Harrington (projections), "who will weave historic NBA film footage throughout the play."

The play is produced on Broadway by Fran Kirmser and Tony Ponturo, who last season presented the Broadway premiere of Simonson's 'Lombardi,' which told the story of the Football Coach Vince Lombardi.