Long-running B'way musical 'Rent' to close

Reuters

Jan 17, 2008, ET

NEW YORK - The award-winning Broadway musical "Rent" will end its 12-year-run in New York this June, according to an announcement on the production's Web site.

The musical, composed by Jonathan Larson, chronicles the struggles of a group of young artists in New York.

"Rent" won a raft of awards following its April 1996 Broadway debut, including a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, four Tony Awards and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical.

Larson never lived to see the success of "Rent," dying at age 36 of an undiagnosed heart condition on the eve of its pre-Broadway opening night at the New York Theater Workshop in January 1996.

A spokesman for the production was not immediately available to explain why the show was closing.

Ticket sales for "Rent" had been soft for some time, according to data from the League of American Theaters and Producers. Box office figures showed it was playing to a little over 50% capacity in recent weeks.

Long-running B'way musical 'Rent' to close

Reuters

Jan 17, 2008, ET