CONFIRMED: CATS: THE JELLICLE BALL to close on August 8th — Page 4

Sad to say I hear an August closing is true.

Sadly, the cast recording is for sure not a thing at this point. If it had done better financially, maybe.

A tour also seems unlikely. As we’ve seen with this cast, it’s simply not a sustainable 8x/week show and tough on the bodies of even seasoned performers, and it would translate pretty badly to houses 3x the size of a Broadway house in some markets.

I always thought this should have been a limited run. It’s an exciting concept, even if I wasn’t as crazy about it as everyone else, but the shelf life was always going to be limited and needed to ride the wave it was on. ALW wanting to earn 3 consecutive Best Revival Tonys for his ego had a lot to do with not transferring while the buzz was still hot.

Updated On: 7/13/26 at 11:39 AM

malcs98 said: "ColorTheHours048 said: "Ialways thought this should have been a limited run. It’s an exciting concept, even if I wasn’t as crazy about it as everyone else, but the shelf life was always going to be limited and needed to ride the wave it was on.ALW wanting to earn 3 consecutive Best Revival Tonys for his ego had a lot to do with not transferring while the buzz was still hot."

Honestly yeah, I’m surprised most producers aren’t willing to go the limited run route for shows, especially new musicals. The idea of the open-ended run seems no longer sustainable in this Broadway economy and it creates more demand when it’s limited."

 

A "limited run route"  for a new musical would make no sense whatsoever (unless you're talking about a not for profit theatre).  The start-up costs for new musicals are ranging anywhere between $10M - $30M+, and those hard costs for start ups are the same whether the show closes on opening night or runs for 20 years.  What would be the point of a commercial producer doing a new musical on Broadway for 16-20 weeks or so?

Updated On: 7/13/26 at 12:35 PM

I think we will see more "limited runs" in the vein of Operation Mincemeat: effectively open-ended productions scheduled for an initial run that then release further blocks of tickets as "extensions."

WldKingdomHM said: "The magic was def downtown they lost the hype once it closed.



its such an amazing show and it should of won revival

judging by nextweeks sales yeah its time and lost boys is still running …"

Was it necessary to mention Lost Boys? Good grief. Not every show is for every audience. Leave other shows out of this potentially closing 

The fake "extensions" are all semantics and marketing tricks but there seems to be something to it because shows like Mincemeat and Oh Mary have made it work really well for them.

Mr. Wormwood said: "The fake "extensions" are all semantics and marketing tricks but there seems to be something to it because shows like Mincemeat and Oh Mary have made it work really well for them."

There are also additional factors for each:

- MINCEMEAT has a rabid fanbase and also has gamified the show by making it a point of honor to see all covers/understudies and in different combinations. Additionally, they release blocks of tickets in premium areas at accessible prices to younger fans, incentivizing return.

- With OH, MARY, every new cast announcement is a limited engagement event, and the casting team knows exactly who fits the bill and how they mesh in an ensemble. They also make clear each Mary is a limited time only. I definitely think that OH, MARY might not have had the long runaway success it had if it was just Cole in the role for an extended period. It would’ve run out of steam in the same way DEATH BECOMES HER did when there were no replacements 

Kad said: "Mr. Wormwood said: "The fake "extensions" are all semantics and marketing tricks but there seems to be something to it because shows like Mincemeat and Oh Mary have made it work really well for them."

Yes, it's artificial scarcity. But it helps make a production feel like an event that you may miss out on, which people are still very willing to pay for. Oh Mary has coupled that with genuinely exciting cast changes, so it really is more of an event even if it's obvious that the production isn't going anywhere.

After a few decades of Broadway that have been defined by extremely long running productions, we could be seeing a turnaround in which the prospect of a production not sticking around is what drives sales."

It feels like we never will have another generation-defining long running hit on broadway anymore. I think Hamilton is really the last of these we have left

ACL2006 said: "Oh, Mary might keep running if they can keep finding someone to play Mary. And probably enough actors will want to return to the role, too."

Even if they don’t have a superstar Mary, a star Abe and/or Teacher can certainly help.

Also, when Jinkx left after her first administration, she pretty much said that she is ready and willing ti jump right back in whenever viable, and thus far we have had a winter Broadway return and now an upcoming West End stint

Jonathan Cohen said: "It's not closing but I did just get an email that tonight's performance has been canceled."

I guess they finally hit their ceiling with the swing coverage. What did the email say?

Kad said: "The production hasn't even hit 4 months of performances - if coverage is already an issue, how did they expect to run this? To say nothing of the multiple injuries that have already occurred."

One thing I know from chatting with the cast is that there is quite a bit of aggravation that more swings have not been hired since production isn’t putting the cost up and casting has struggled to find people who “fit” in the show.

The show should’ve already been savvy to hire more swings when they started utilizing them a week into previews for coverage. Now they are contending with illness/injury AND cast members who are taking scheduled vacation time. This doesn’t look good

quizking101 said: "Kad said: "The production hasn't even hit 4 months of performances - if coverage is already an issue, how did they expect to run this? To say nothing of the multiple injuries that have already occurred."

One thing I know from chatting with the cast is that there is quite a bit of aggravation that more swings have not been hired since production isn’t putting the cost up and casting has struggled to find people who “fit” in the show.

The show should’ve already been savvy to hire more swings when they started utilizing them a week into previews for coverage. Now they are contending with illness/injury AND cast members who are taking scheduled vacation time. This doesn’t look good"

It's particularly wild considering this same thing happened during the PAC run so everyone involved knew this was going to be an issue.