It's just been announced that Young Frankenstein will close on Broadway as of the January 4th performance. There had been rumors that its producers were negotiating with Cloris Leachman to come in and recreate her film role as Frau Blücher (click here for horse whinny) but either those rumors were false or they couldn't come to terms…or maybe grosses are so low that the producers decided it wouldn't be cost effective.
Exactly what the show has grossed is a mystery because in a break with Broadway precedent, the backers of Young Frankenstein are keeping that information a secret. Given the show's constant availability at the TKTS booth and reports of empty seats, the run has to be disappointing, especially when one remembers the huge budget, the advance hype and how they once asked sky-high fees for "premium" tickets.
When Young Frankenstein closes, it will have run 484 performances. By contrast, the previous Mel Brooks musical — The Producers — ran 2502 performances.
I enjoyed Young Frankenstein when I saw it a little more than a year ago but it did strike me as a flawed product, especially the ending. Had it not come in with so much advance hype, as well as the expectation of matching The Producers, I think it would have done better. A national tour is supposed to launch in September of '09 and that presumably means a simpler production with less grandiose sets and special effects. Oddly enough, that might help.
January's going to be a big month for shows closing in New York. Hairspray and 13 close the same day, Spamalot ends a week later and the week after that, Spring Awakening goes to sleep. Three of those four shows won the Tony for Best New Musical in the years they opened.