‘Six Degrees of Separation’ Broadway Revival to Close Early
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Version 0 of 1. The revival of “Six Degrees of Separation” on Broadway, which won neither of the Tony Awards it was nominated for and has struggled to gain traction at the box office, will close a month earlier than planned. Like “The Glass Menagerie,” which also closed prematurely despite luxury casting (Sally Field) and a script by a respected playwright (Tennessee Williams), “Six Degrees” was greeted with shrugs by critics and failed to catch on in a crowded Broadway market. It will close on June 18, instead of July 16. The play, by John Guare, will have been open for 21 previews and 63 regular performances. It had been planned for a 15-week limited run. The original 1990 Broadway production, which was a Tony nominee and a Pulitzer Prize finalist, ran for 485 performances. Directed by Trip Cullman, who also directed the short-lived Broadway run of “Significant Other” this past season, the revival starred Allison Janney, John Benjamin Hickey and the “Straight Outta Compton” star Corey Hawkins. Ben Brantley, in his New York Times review, admired the play but was ambivalent about this staging. The production earned two Tony nominations: for best revival (it lost to “Jitney”) and for best leading actor (Mr. Hawkins lost to Kevin Kline). In the week ending June 11, the days leading to the Tonys, “Six Degrees” brought in $271,320 — up from $259,703 the previous week, but still just 29.1 percent of its gross potential. Broadway is a difficult market for many plays. Even Lynn Nottage’s “Sweat” and Paula Vogel’s “Indecent,” both Tony nominees by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwrights, earned a respective 46.4 percent and 30 percent of their gross potential that week. |