“Gettin’ the Band Back Together” is closing about a month after it opened on Broadway, the show announced late Friday.
The musical will play its final performance on Sept. 16, marking 30 previews and 40 performances. “Gettin’ the Band Back Together” was met by a deluge of negative reviews from critics and has struggled to gain an audience since it began previews at the Belasco Theatre on July 13, 2018.
Lead producer Ken Davenport also wrote the book to the musical, alongside the improv group The Grundleshotz. Mark Allen wrote the show’s music and lyrics.
In a blog post, Davenport wrote that he considered trying to raise more money to keep the show open, but that it would still not get the show to profitability on time.
“At the end of the day, this is a business and I must uphold my fiduciary responsibility to my investors and close earlier than I would like,” Davenport wrote.
The musical hit its highest gross in the week leading up to its opening, bringing in $293,847, which still came in at 38% of its gross potential. In the following weeks, attendance, along with the show’s grosses, fell precipitously, with the show bringing in 23% of its gross potential, or $181,549, in the week ended Aug. 26, 2018.
“Gettin’ The Band Back Together” was capitalized at $12.5 million, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Davenport wrote in the blog that he raised a large reserve for the show, expecting that reviews may not be positive, and that investors may receive payment from funds leftover at the end. He expects amateur rights to be “strong.”
“It aches to close a show. Especially one you’ve built from nothing,” he wrote.
“But in business, when the data is on the wall, sometimes there is nothing else you can do.”
