The Bridges of Madison County to close 18 May 2014

The Broadway premiere of Jason Robert Brown's and Marsha Norman's The Bridges of Madison County, a new musical based on the best selling novel by Robert James Waller, has posted early closing notices and will play its final performance on 18 May 2014. When the show closes it will have played 37 preview performances and 100 regular performances.

The Bridges of Madison County opened at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on 20 Feb 2014, following previews from 17 Jan 2014. The musical had been selling tickets through to 23 Nov 2013.

Directed by Bartlett Sher the show stars Kelli O'Hara as 'Francesca Johnson,' Steven Pasquale as 'Robert Kincaid,' Hunter Foster as 'Bud Johnson,' Cass Morgan as 'Marge,' Michael X. Martin as 'Charlie,' Caitlin Kinnunen as 'Carolyn' and Derek Klena as 'Michael.'

They are joined Whitney Bashor, Jennifer Allen, Ephie Aardema, Katie Klaus, Luke Markinovich, Aaron Ramey, Dan Sharkey, Tim Wright, Jessica Vosk, Charlie Franklin and Kevin Kern.

The Bridges of Madison County's story is about 'Francesca' (Kelli O'Hara) a devoted Iowa housewife, and her unlikely love affair with Robert (Steven Pasquale), a National Geographic photographer.

The musical opened to mostly excellent reviews: When O'Hara and Pasquale sing, the angels sigh (newyorktheatreguide.com); Sensitive, probing and operatically rich (New York Times); Blissfully beautiful score and shimmering star turns (New York Daily News); Cringe-inducing bits alternate with moments of musical-theater nirvana (New York Post).

The show was recently nominated for four Tony Awards: Best Original Score; Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical (Kelli O'Hara); Best Orchestrations; and Best Lighting Design of a Musical.

The musical features music and lyrics by Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown, with a book by Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner Marsha Norman.

The creative team features set design by Michael Yeargan (sets), Catherine Zuber (costumes), Donald Holder (lighting) and Jon Weston (sound).

The musical arrived on Broadway following its world premiere at the Williamstown Theatre Festival from 01 - 08 Aug 2013, which was also directed by Bertlett Sher and which saw Steven Pasquale originate the role of 'Robert.' That production starred Elena Shaddow as 'Francesca Johnson' and Daniel Jenkins as 'Bud Johnson.'

The Bridges of Madison County is produced on Broadway by Jeffrey Richards, Stacey Mindich, and Jerry Frankel, joined by Tulchin Bartner Productions, Jay & Cindy Gutterman and Cathy Chernoff, Scott M. Delman, Ted Liebowitz, Aaron Priest, Red Mountain Theatre Company, Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, Harold Newman, Bellanca Smigel Rutter, Will Trice, and The Shubert Organization.