“Beaches” will play its final Broadway performance on May 24 at the Majestic Theatre, cutting short a run that had been announced through Sept. 6. By the time the curtain falls, the musical will have logged 38 performances and 28 previews.
The closing is a sharp turn for a show that began previews March 27 and officially opened April 22, then drew no Tony Award nominations when the field was announced May 5. That left the production without the awards-season lift it likely needed to help attendance in a crowded Broadway market.
Jessica Vosk stars as Cee Cee, Kelli Barrett as Bertie, Ben Jacoby as Michael Barron, Brent Thiessen as John Perry, Samantha Schwartz as Little Cee Cee and Zeya Grace as Little Bertie. Vosk, Barrett, Jacoby and Thiessen are reprising roles they first played in the musical’s world premiere run at Theatre Calgary, part of a stage adaptation that has been in development for more than a decade.
The show is adapted from Iris Rainer Dart’s 1985 novel and its 1988 film adaptation, with a book by Dart and Thom Thomas, music by Mike Stoller and lyrics by Dart. It was first staged in 2014 at Signature Theater in Arlington, Virginia, before moving toward Broadway, where the production arrived with familiar source material and broad recognition but has struggled to find an audience.
Jennifer Maloney-Prezioso said bringing a new musical to Broadway is always an enormous undertaking and called the company one that created a production filled with heart, humanity, humor and emotional truth. She said audiences have laughed, cried, called their friends on the way out of the theatre and connected deeply with the story of friendship and love, adding that the impact is real and will stay with people long after the final curtain.
She also said the production is profoundly grateful to everyone who helped bring “Beaches” to life at the Majestic Theatre and looks forward to sharing the show with audiences across America on a national tour planned for 2027 and produced by Crossroads Live. That touring plan gives the musical a second life even as its Broadway chapter ends weeks after opening and months before the date it was once expected to stay alive.
