Inferior Box Office

As has been widely reported, the producers of Tracy Letts' Superior Donuts have announced that it will be closing on January 3rd. This is not a huge surprise: the week of November 16-22 saw only 43.9% of the seats filled (more detailed information here). While the grosses may have been higher Thanksgiving weekend, and may continue to pick up at the end of the year when everyone's grosses rise, January is historically the worst month for Broadway, and it's unlikely they could have made it until things picked up in the spring. Still, it's quite a shame. One would hope that the success of August: Osage County would have made Tracy Letts into enough of a name to sell a play, but apparently that hasn't quite happened. The show got generally positive reviews, but not the ecstasies that August inspired, and that combined with the lack of stars were probably enough to do it in. It's a real shame. It's a lovely play that was being given an excellent, very well-acted production. Hopefully it will still see a regional afterlife, and the cast and designers will all get career boosts. We can dream.