Celebrity Autobiography to Close Early, More Broadway News and Updates

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Celebrity Autobiography, the comedy revue that brought together a rotating cast including Rita Wilson, Andrea Martin, Kenan Thompson, Molly Shannon, Matthew Broderick, and Tony Shalhoub, will close early on Sunday at the Shubert Theatre. Initially scheduled to run through August 16, the show will finish its limited engagement after just 40 regular performances.

Audiences largely stayed away from the show, with a recent performance grossing just $74,437 across eight shows, filling only 37% of the Shubert, and averaging a ticket price of less than $23. The decision to bring Celebrity Autobiography to Broadway was always questionable, and it appears that producers have decided to focus on other projects.

In other news, Lincoln Center Theater's acclaimed Broadway revival of Ragtime has announced its third and final extension, adding two weeks of performances through August 16 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.

This was always intended as a limited engagement, and the extension is likely a testament to the show's enduring popularity. Rather than risk a decline after the summer, producers appear to have chosen to finish on a high note while grosses and demand remain high.

Ragtime will therefore end its run on a triumphant note, receiving the level of acclaim, popular affection, and commercial momentum that largely eluded its 1997 original Broadway production. The show follows the intertwined stories of three families – one black, one white, and one Jewish – during the early 20th century, and features a Tony Award-winning score by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty.

In other updates, Lily Rabe and Raúl Esparza will reunite with director Daniel Sullivan for Shakespeare in the Park's production of The Winter's Tale, which will run from July 25 through August 22 at the Delacorte Theater. The show follows the story of a king who falsely accuses his pregnant wife of infidelity, and the production will feature a strong veteran cast.

Finally, Spring Awakening, the Tony Award-winning rock musical about adolescent sexuality and repression, will return to New York this fall in a commercially produced Off-Broadway staging at Studio Seaview.