Boop! The Musical will play its final Broadway performance on Sunday, July 13, producers announced today. The show will have played 25 previews and 112 regular performances.
The musical is the fourth Broadway production – after Smash, Real Women Have Curves and Dead Outlaw – to announce an early close after coming up empty at the Tony Awards earlier this month. (Two other shows, Floyd Collins and The Last Five Years, also recently closed but those were planned as limited engagements.)
Featuring the Tony-nominated break-out star Jasmine Amy Rogers in the title role, Boop! began previews March 11 and opened to lukewarm reviews (except for the widely praised Rogers) on April 5 at the Broadhurst Theatre.
The production, capitalized for up to $26 million, struggled at the box office, with attendance usually below the 80% mark of the Broadhurst’s capacity. For the week ending June 22, the show grossed a below-break-even $602,017 with a very modest average ticket price of $81.28.
With a book by Bob Martin, music by David Foster and lyrics by Susan Birkenhead, Boop! was directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, who also was Tony-nominated. (The show’s nomination went to Gregg Barnes for Best Costume Design of a Musical.)
Based on the classic Depression-era cartoon character from animation pioneer Max Fleischer, Boop! followed the flapper as she time-travels from the black-and-white world of the 1930s to a very colorful, modern-day New York City.
In addition to Rogers, the musical’s principal cast includes Faith Prince, Ainsley Melham, Erich Bergen, Stephen DeRosa, Anastacia McCleskey, Angelica Hale, Phillip Huber (working the Pudgy the Dog puppet), Aubie Merrylees and Ricky Schroeder.
