"The Boy from Oz" closes at the Imperial Theater next Sunday after 397 performances, in the rarest of states for a musical -- in the black.
It has paid off its initial investment of $8.25 million, making it a rarity in an era of Broadway history when most musical shows close in the red, sometimes after running for years.
Producers of the show announced Tuesday that backers of the show, starring Australian actor Hugh Jackman, already had recouped their investments before the show's closing was announced. The closing comes because Jackman is dropping out of the show to fulfill film commitments. He plays the title role of Peter Allen, the late Australian-born singer-songwriter who was a protégé of Judy Garland's and married her daughter, Liza Minnelli.
The show opened Oct. 16, 2003, to negative reviews but raves for Jackman's performance, which won him the 2004 Tony Award for best performance in a musical. Jackman was credited with keeping the show alive and never missing a show in the course of its run.
© Copyright 2004 by United Press International
