This blog is all about trying to crack the Broadway code.  What can we do to increase our odds of success?  Research?  New economic models?  Stars?

All of that analysis is essential, especially if you’re in this game for the long haul.

But Broadway and all businesses are like the weather.  You can predict it all you want, but you never know if the sun is going to shine until you’re standing outside and you can feel it on your face.

I predicted the sun would shine on The Bridges of Madison County, which is why I signed on as a producer and described my decision-making process in this blog.  So much of it made perfect sense to me:  a super-sized brand, one of the most celebrated directors of the last decade, a Pulitzer Prize winning author, a Tony Award winning composer, a celebrated musical theater star, and more.

But, despite audiences being moved out of their minds when they are sitting in those seats at the Schoenfeld Theatre, we had a hard time from day one getting people in those seats in the first place.

And on Tuesday, when the Tony Nominators failed to recognize it as a Best Musical, giving a fourth slot to a non-storied revue instead, and not nominating a fifth, the dark clouds that were already blocking our sun from getting through got stormy.

And last night, we announced that we’ll be closing on Sunday, May 18th at 3 PM.

To say I’m disappointed is an understatement.  My staff and I will go through our mourning period (along with my awesome investors), and then we’ll buckle down, and have a post-mortem to mine some positive information from this experience to help us next time.

I knew this show would be a tricky sell, but no one knew how tricky, and no one ever does, until the curtain goes up.

But one thing I do know.  History will treat this show a lot different than Broadway did.

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