Martin Starger, the producer of the musical "The Red Shoes," closed the show after Sunday's matinee performance at the Gershwin Theater, just three days after opening night. The cost of the show, close to $8 million, made it among the most expensive Broadway failures ever.
The show, based on the 1948 movie about the ballet and starring Margaret Illmann as a young ballerina torn between her love for dance and for a man, got largely negative reviews, although most of the critics singled out Illmann as a praiseworthy dancer.Starger declined, through a spokesman, to answer questions about the closing, but the spokesman, Marc Thibodeau, said the show did not have a substantial enough advance sale to continue performances through the week. "And with these reviews there isn't enough to go on," he said.
Looking ahead, he added that any show on Broadway needs "a lot of ammunition" to get through the traditionally fallow month of January, "and obviously we don't have it."
"The Red Shoes," which suffered through much-publicized troubles during its rehearsal and preview periods - the director and three leading actors were replaced - is the second musical to close prematurely this fall.
"Paper Moon," a $4 million show that was also expected to open this month, closed after an out-of-town tryout at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, N.J.