Why did it close?

It's a taste thing so the following is just my opinion after I saw it.

While it's a real charming show and had a lot of potential, it was also highly flawed. First off it was WAY over choreographed. I love Casey's work but he just did way to much with this one. This sort of mythical magical dancing chorus of faire folk show up in numbers they really shouldn't be in. And the other thing was that the show was just to safe. I really saw potential in what they could have done with it... IF they took a few risks with it but they didn't. It severely lacked a feeling of conflict and urgency. They fail to make clear what the motivation of their bad guy was and his reveal was rushed out then thrown to the side. And then in the moment where the book reaches a very tense and rather adult climax where the life of one of the main characters hangs in the balance, they just copped out with a slap on the wrist instead.

They were trying really hard to make it a happy go lucky family with kids musical must see but it was too boring for kids and to tame for adults. Don't get me wrong, I do like the show but it really makes me aggravated with how it could have been better if they just took a few risks.

They didn't try to elevate the children's story in any way. I felt like I was sitting in a children's theater production - but I'd never subject a child to that dreck.

dramamama611 said: "They didn't try to elevate the children's story in any way. I felt like I was sitting in a children's theater production - but I'd never subject a child to that dreck."

This. I know it's a book often read by children in school but they is still some meat in the plot yet they actually stripped it of all the darker stuff that could have elevated it to something more that could have appealed to a better target audience. I CAN'T get over the ending. How.... book and musical spoilers ahead I guess...

It took the actual interesting ending conflict the children's book had out to make it more family friendly and turned it into overpriced boring children's theatre. Because really what parent would take their kids to see Tuck Everlasting as an intro to Broadway when their are plenty of Disney shows to take them to see?

I know I'm in the majority but I liked it. Saw the final preview. I adore Carolee and would buy a ticket to anything she's in. I was not familiar with the book or film, and frankly I went because it was a free Monday night for me. Had a great time sitting next to a theater arts student focusing on set design. I'm fascinated by set design and was happy to have her point out a few secrets. The tree was an intriguing set piece. And while the ballet was a little bit long, I did like the story it told (though of course being a musical shouldn't they use words more than dance?)

To the OP: First, don't know where you are but TheaterWorks in Mountain View (north of San Jose, CA) is presenting the regional premiere later this month: https://theatreworks.org/201819-season/201819-season/tuck-everlasting/. I've seen dozens of shows at TW -- most recently, an outstanding production of Fun Home, and everything they do is very, very good. Second, Tuck has been discussed alot on this forum. If you do a search you'll find additional comments debating why it closed after a month.