'Hillary and Clinton' to end Broadway run early

Michael Paulson

June 18, 2019 12:40 PM

The play, by Lucas Hnath, stars Laurie Metcalf and John Lithgow and is directed by Joe Mantello. It opened in April; at the time of its closing it will have played 37 previews and 77 regular performances at the John Golden Theater.

'Hillary and Clinton' to end Broadway run early

NEW YORK — “Hillary and Clinton,” a Broadway play that explores the relationship of a political power couple, will close Sunday, four weeks earlier than scheduled.

Set a hotel room in New Hampshire in 2008, the play imagines an interaction between Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton — not the real ones, but characters with the same names in an alternate universe — talking about her struggling campaign for president that year.

The play, with Scott Rudin as a lead producer, cost $4.2 million to capitalize; that money has not been recouped. It is the third play that Rudin has shuttered in rapid succession this spring, after the early closings of a “King Lear” revival and the new play “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus.”

None were financial successes, though another of Rudin’s productions, Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” is a major hit.

“Hillary and Clinton” was nominated for only one Tony Award, for Metcalf’s performance, and did not win. It was struggling at the box office, grossing $291,098, 36% of its potential, during the week that ended June 9, according to the Broadway League.

The play was first staged at Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theater in 2016 and had several other regional productions before coming to Broadway.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Michael Paulson