Some Like It Hot, the well-reviewed musical stage adaptation of the classic 1959 film comedy and winner of four 2023 Tony Awards, will play its final performance at Broadway‘s Shubert Theatre on Saturday, December 30, producers have announced.
One of the more highly lauded productions of the 2022-23 season, the musical never quite caught on with audiences, at least not enough to place the show in the fully-fledged hit category. Box office figures for the week ending Sept. 24 indicate that only 61% of seats were filled at the Shubert, with a gross that week of $681,485. The figures suggest a fairly steady decline in audience interest from the show’s most recent high point of $1,143,488, which came in June following the musical’s decent showing at the Tony Awards, where J. Harrison Ghee took the coveted trophy for best lead actor in a musical.
The show also won Tonys for orchestrations, choreography and costume design.
A national tour will launch in September 2024 and a West End production will follow in 2025, produced by The Shubert Organization and Neil Meron in partnership with Ambassador Theatre Group.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to bring one of the greatest comedy films of all time to the stage with a completely fresh approach,” said producers Robert Wankel and Neil Meron in a statement. “We want to thank the creative team, cast and company of Some Like It Hot who have created an entertaining and moving show that has delighted audiences for the past year, bringing joyous laughter to the Shubert Theatre. We are thrilled to see this production’s journey continue beyond Broadway with the national tour next season and a future West End production as well.”
At the time of its final performance, Some Like It Hot will have played the Shubert for more than a year, having started previews on Nov. 1, 2022, with a Dec. 11 opening night. The musical will have played 483 performances at closing.
The musical features a book by Matthew López and Amber Ruffin, music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman and direction and choreography by Casey Nicholaw. The original cast included Ghee, Christian Borle, Adrianna Hicks, Kevin Del Aguila, and NaTasha Yvette Williams.
Some Like It Hot is produced by The Shubert Organization and Neil Meron and co-produced by MGM on Stage, Roy Furman, Robert Greenblatt, James L. Nederlander, Kenny Leon, Hunter Arnold, John Gore Organization, The Dalgleish Library Company Group, Sheboygan Conservatory Partners, Ambassador Theatre Group Productions, Bob Boyett, Cue to Cue Productions, Janet and Marvin Rosen, The Araca Group, Concord Theatricals, Marc Howard, Independent Presenters Network, Juanita Jordan, Jujamcyn Theaters, Henry R. Muñoz III, Ostar, and Mariah Carey. D. S. Moynihan is Executive Producer.