David Byrne-Fatboy Slim musical ‘Here Lies Love’ to close after poor ticket sales

nme.com:

David Byrne and Fatboy Slim’s Broadway musical Here Lies Love is to close later this month, due to low ticket sales.The production, which depicts the life of former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos, is based on the two musicians’ 2010 concept album, debuted on stage in 2013 and began its current Broadway run in June this year.Deadline reports that the final performance will take place on November 26.

It will have played a total of 33 previews and 149 regular performances at the Broadway Theatre.The report continues that the show failed to attain a sufficiently high level of ticket sales to justify its relatively high weekly operating costs, which required the theatre to extensively renovate its setup to accommodate the show’s dance club setting.In a statement, the show’s producers said: “When we started this journey to bring this bold and original work to Broadway, we asked ourselves: Can anyone produce on Broadway in a new way?

Is there a new path forward? What does the template look like? Will audiences want something radically new? Who will those audiences be?”“We have learned a great deal about the answers to those questions.

Yes, new ways can work. Artistic excellence can be achieved. But the reality is, succeeding on Broadway means not only producing excellent work with artistic merit––it also means creating the audience for it.