'Nice Work If You Can Get It' Quits Broadway

NEW YORK -- As the title tune says, Nice Work If You Can Get It, but Broadway employment rarely lasts forever.

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Nice Work If You Can Get It: Theater Review

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Directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, the musical confection will close June 15 at the Imperial Theatre, having played 27 previews and 478 regular performances. It opened on April 24, 2012. Announcing the closing date, lead producers Scott Landis, Roger Berlind, Sonia Friedman and Roy Furman confirmed that a national tour will be launched in the 2014-15 season.

A light-hearted period pastiche stitched together around classic songs by George and Ira Gershwin, the show spins a whimsical Prohibition-era story of a drunken millionaire playboy who gets mixed up with a female bootlegger. Matthew Broderick and Kelli O'Hara originated those roles; O'Hara has since left the production for other projects, with Jessie Mueller stepping in.

Nice Work won featured actor Tony Awards last year for Judy Kaye and Michael McGrath, both of whom will remain with the Broadway run through its final curtain, along with Broderick. Also in the current cast is Blythe Danner.

The show received mixed-to-positive reviews and opened to strong business. Its grosses later settled into a steady rather than spectacular pattern, picking up during busy holiday periods. However, the last few weeks have seen attendance slip into the 60% range. Despite running for more than a year and grossing $46 million to date, the production, which reportedly cost around $10 million, is not expected to recoup its entire investment.