Broadway is waving goodbye to some familiar faces this weekend. According to Deadline Hollywood, three productions are closing: The Balusters, Chess, and Celebrity Autobiography are wrapping their runs.
The closures mark the start of Broadway's summer slowdown—the weeks when packed spring schedules thin out and Times Square empties as audiences leave the city.
Chess, the Andrew Lloyd Webber classic, has had multiple runs on Broadway over the decades. This iteration could not sustain audiences during the summer heat.
Celebrity Autobiography, the improv show where Broadway stars read from their personal diaries, also closes this weekend. Fans of unscripted material and celebrity stories will have to wait until fall for new shows.
The Balusters rounds out the trio closing this weekend. Whether planned or driven by box office realities, the pattern is consistent: summer on Broadway belongs to a select few productions.
Theater insiders say this is normal for June. The season traditionally thins before a potential surge later in summer or early fall. For devoted theater lovers, each exit is disappointing.
