NEW YORK — The penniless Parisians of "La Boheme" are closing up shop on Broadway.
Baz Luhrmann's opulent version of the Puccini opera will fold June 29 after a disappointing seven-month run and losses of about $6 million.
Last week, "La Boheme" played to only 55 percent capacity at the Broadway Theatre, one of Broadway's largest houses, and grossed $519,526, below its break-even of $560,000.
The show recouped about $2.5 million of its production costs, which had ballooned to about $8.5 million by the time it opened in December. The reviews were largely favorably, although theater critics were more generous than opera reviewers in their praise of the production, which uses youthful, sexy singers and transplants the opera to Paris of the late 1950s. The opera was sung in its original Italian with English surtitles projected on screens. (Utahn Lisa Hopkins played one of three rotating Mimis in the production.)
Last Sunday, "La Boheme" lost the best revival-musical Tony to "Nine," although it did manage to win prizes for its lavish sets, designed by Catherine Martin, Luhrmann's wife, and for lighting by Nigel Levings. A special Tony was also awarded to the 10 principals who rotate performances in the show.
Two other post-Tony casualties — "The Play What I Wrote" and "A Year With Frog and Toad" — are closing today.