Beaches' to Close on Broadway Months Earlier Than Planned

Beaches, a stage musical about a decades-long friendship between two women, closed on Sunday after opening April 22 and running for a shorter period than scheduled. The production was based on Iris Rainer Dart’s 1985 novel and was widely known through a 1988 film adaptation starring Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey, including the Grammy-winning song “Wind Beneath My Wings.” The early closing reinforced concerns about a weak season for new Broadway musicals, with fewer openings than the prior season and other shows already shutting down. The musical was rushed to Broadway with a small cast and minimal set, aiming for a limited run before touring, but it failed to attract enough success and reviews were mostly negative.

"Beaches, a long-in-the-works stage musical about a decades-long friendship between two women, announced on Tuesday that it would close on Sunday after a disappointingly short Broadway run. The musical, which opened on April 22 and had been scheduled to run through Sept. 6, is based on Iris Rainer Dart's 1985 novel. But the material is best known via a 1988 film adaptation that starred Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey and featured a Grammy-winning song, Wind Beneath My Wings."

"The early closing reinforces the idea that this is the weakest season for new Broadway musicals in years. Just six opened this season, compared with 14 last season, and The Queen of Versailles has already closed. It is not clear whether any of the four new musicals that are still running The Lost Boys, Titanique, Schmigadoon! and Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) will become profitable."

"Beaches was rushed to Broadway with a modest cast of 12, a barely there set and a plan to run just 24 weeks and then go out on tour. That was a change in plans for the show: The producing team, led by Jennifer Maloney-Prezioso, had announced last year a pre-Broadway national tour, but when the Shubert Organization offered the show a vacant theater during an anemic season for new musicals, the producers seized the opportunity."

"They theorized that the sparsity of new shows would be an advantage and that the Broadway imprimatur would lift the title's fortunes around the country. The strategy proved to be an unsuccessful gambit, losing investors millions of dollars (the capitalization cost has not yet been disclosed). The show began previews March 27 and opened April 22 at the Majestic Theater; reviews were mostly negative."

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