The Heart of Rock and Roll, a musical featuring a score by Huey Lewis, will abruptly end its run this Sunday.
The musical includes pre-existing songs from Huey Lewis and the News but tells an original story about a factory worker having to choose between succeeding at his job at a cardboard box factory and his dream of making it big as a rock star. The show did not take off with critics and was not nominated for any Tony Awards.
In turn, the musical, which opened April 22 at the James Earl Jones Theatre, has seen a number of weeks of low grosses. The production played to 56 percent capacity in the week ended June 9 and grossed $272,050, well below a typical musical’s running costs.
By the time of its closing, after the June 23 matinee, the show will have played 24 previews and 72 performances.
The production was lead produced by Tyler Mitchell, Hunter Arnold and Kayla Greenspan, with Lewis also acting as a co-producer.
“It was pure joy working on the show with the team of creatives headed by writer Jonathan A. Abrams, director Gordon Greenberg, choreographer Lorin Latarro, music arranger and orchestrator Brian Usifer and special gratitude to the support and participation of the iconic music legend Huey Lewis,” Arnold said in a statement. “We were honored to have an amazing cast and crew who brought their immense enthusiasm, commitment and talent to each and every performance. With our original cast album just released and talks underway for a national tour and international productions, the musical will continue to delight audiences for years to come.”
The cast of The Heart of Rock and Roll includes Corey Cott, McKenzie Kurtz, Tamika Lawrence, Josh Breckenridge, F. Michael Haynie, John Dossett, Zoe Jensen, Raymond J. Lee, John-Michael Lyles, Orville Mendoza and Billy Harrigan Tighe.