BWW Flashback: SILENCE! THE MUSICAL Ends Two-Year Run Off-Broadway Today

SILENCE! THE MUSICAL will end its triumphant two-year run today, July 7th, 2013, at the Elektra Theatre. The production will have played a total of 529 performances and eight previews. Below, BroadwayWorld takes you back through the parody's time off-Broadway!

Winner of the 2012 Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best Musical, Silence! The Musical is the unauthorized parody of THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, with book by Hunter Bell, music & lyrics by Jon and Al Kaplan, and direction & choreography by Tony Award winner Christopher Gattelli. After opening initially at Theatre 80 on July 9, 2011, the show immediately became a sold-out phenomenon and was selected by Time Magazine as one of the year's Top 5 Musicals on or Off-Broadway.

With Sean McDermott (star of Broadway's MISS SAIGON, GREASE, FALSETTOS, and STARLIGHT EXPRESS) as Hannibal Lecter, the cast of Silence! The Musical also features Laura Jordan (as Clarice Starling), David Ayers, Howard Kaye, Tyler Maynard, Sarah O'Gleby, Ronica V. Reddick, Kevin Spirtas, Kimberly Stern, Charlie Williams, Natalie Joy Johnson, and Kevin Zak.

Set design for Silence! The Musical is by three-time Tony winner Scott Pask, with costume design by David Kaley, lighting design by Tony winner Jeff Croiter, sound design by Carl Casella, and orchestrations by Brian J. Nash.

Created by Jon and Al Kaplan in 2002, Silence! The Musical began as a collection of songs on the internet which immediately attracted a staggering number of fans. The Kaplans' subsequent screenplay Silence! The Musical was adapted by Hunter Bell into a live stage show, which also featured newly composed songs by the brothers. Fueled by a rabid cult following, SILENCE! shattered every box office record at the 2005 FringeNYC Festival, winning the award for Best Musical. SILENCE! met with further success in London and Los Angeles, where the production received three L.A. Drama Critics Circle Awards.

In the Academy Award-winning film THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, rookie FBI agent Clarice Starling matches wits with the brilliant but insane cannibal, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, to catch the serial killer known only as Buffalo Bill. Clarice faces her own demons while racing the clock to unlock Lecter's clues before another innocent girl is killed and skinned by Buffalo Bill. The laugh-out-loud raunchy satire,SILENCE! THE MUSICAL, features a singing chorus of floppy eared lambs narrating the action as Buffalo Bill gleefully dances a hoedown while kidnapping hapless Catherine Martin. Even Dr. Lecter, scary as ever, sings about the life he'd like to lead someday outside the prison walls.

The original cast of SILENCE! The Musical featured Brent Barrett and Jenn Harris. SILENCE! The Musical officially opened at Theatre 80 on July 2, 2011, with Callan Bergmann, Stephen Bienskie, Harry Bouvy, Ashlee Dupré, Deidre Goodwin, Jeff Hiller, Howard Kaye, and Lucia Spina. Check out photos from opening night and of the cast in action below!

In the video, the cast of SILENCE! The Musical discusses their favorite lines from the movie and filthiest lines from the musical!

SILENCE! The Musical ended its run at Theatre 80 and began performances at The 9th Space Theatre at PS122 on October 25th, 2011 and officially opened on November 15, featuring David Garrison as Dr. Hannibal Lecter and Jenn Harris, who continued in her critically-acclaimed role as Clarice Starling, Stephen Bienskie reprising the notorious Buffalo Bill, Lucia Spina continuing as Catherine Martin and Deidre Goodwin returning as Ardelia Mapp. See photos from the re-opening celebration below!

Brent Barrett, Jenn Harris and the entire original cast of SILENCE! The Musical took to the stage at the Upper East Side Barnes & Noble on February 23rd, 2012, to perform selections from the hit parody of the classic film The Silence of the Lambs. Brian J. Nash musical directed the event, which included a CD signing by the company of the newly released cast album. The recording includes such song selections as "If I Could Smell Her C---", "Are You About a Size 14," and "Put the F--king Lotion in the Basket" and features original cast members Brent Barrett as Hannibal Lecter and Jenn Harris as Clarice Starling. BroadwayWorld was on hand and you can check out our coverage (all photos by BWW photographer Walter McBride) of the event below!

SILENCE! The Musical, filmed a provocative TV commercial on January 26, 2012, onstage at P.S. 122. Featuring cannibalism, cross-dressing and various excised body parts, the new commercial aired on major networks in February 2012. Go behind-the-scenes in the photos below!

Kimberly Stern joined the cast of SILENCE! The Musical on March 28th, 2012 in the role of Buffalo Bill's plus-sized victim, Catherine Martin. Shortly after, SILENCE! The Musical celebrated its 200th performance on April 6th, 2012 at The 9th Space Theatre at Performance Space 122. Then, Annie Funke returned to the cast on May 2, 2012.

Shuler Hensley, SILENCE! The Musical's newest Hannibal Lecter, took his first look at the show on May 19th, 2012, and he visited his new friends afterward. Hensley won Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Olivier Awards for his brooding performance as Jud Fry in Trevor Nunn's 2002 revival of Oklahoma! He also starred on Broadway as Javert in Les Miserables, The Monster in Young Frankenstein and Kerchak in Tarzan. On June 1st, Hensley opened as Dr. Hannibal Lecter for four weeks only through June 24th, filling in for the vacationing David Garrison. Check out photos of Hensley backstage and onstage below!

SILENCE! The Musical celebrated its one-year anniversary on July 9th, 2012, at PS122. The hit musical moved to the brand new Elektra Theatre in the heart of Times Square on July 18th. The Elektra Theatre was specially constructed to be the new home of SILENCE! The Musical. For the opening on the 25th, Randy Harrison assumed the role of Dr. Hannibal Lecter's nemesis, Dr. Chilton. Check out photos from the opening celebration below!

SILENCE! The Musical celebrated its 300th performance on August 1st, 2012, at the brand new Elektra Theatre. Soon after, the show announced it would open a Los Angeles production, with performances beginning August 31 at the Hayworth Theatre. The West Coast premiere of the Off-Broadway hit was produced by Theater Mogul and starred Davis Gaines, one of Los Angeles most popular musical theatre performers, as Hannibal Lecter.

Meanwhile, Hannibal Lecter paid a visit to Broadway in Bryant Park when the cast of SILENCE! The Musical performed in August. Click below to watch!

On August 8th, David Ayers joined the cast as Buffalo Bill, with original cast member Harry Bouvy returning as Dr. Chilton on September 12th. On September 19th, Stephen Hanna joined the cast as the new Dream Hannibal, and on September 30, David Garrison and Jenn Harris, as Dr. Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling, respectively, ended their runs in the off-Broadway musical. On October 13th, James Moye assumed the role of Dr. Hannibal Lecter's nemesis, Dr. Chilton.

November 18th, 2012, marked the 400th performance of SILENCE! The Musical off-Broadway. On November 20th, David Ayers returned to his role as serial killer Buffalo Bill. Sam Rogers jumped on the SILENCE! bandwagon as the new Dream Hannibal the next day, November 21st.

On December 9th, 2012, the Los Angeles run of SILENCE! The Musical closed at the Hayworth Theatre. But after announcing that Silence! The Musical would end its off-Broadway run December 30th at the Elektra Theatre, the producers decided to resume performances on January 18th, 2013. Originally announced as a strictly limited engagement through August 13, 2011, SILENCE! was extended numerous times by popular demand and transferred theatres twice. Broadway favorite Sean McDermott joined the cast as Hannibal Lecter for the reopening at the Elektra Theatre on January 19th, 2013, with Stephen Hanna reprising his role as Dream Hannibal. Check out photos of McDermott onstage below!

In the musical's last big cast changes before its closing, Laura Jordan joined the cast of SILENCE! The Musical as Clarice Starling on April 6, 2013, with Tyler Maynard assuming the role of Sgt. Pembry on May 4th and Charlie Williams as Dream Hannibal as of June 15.

SILENCE! The Musical celebrated its 500th performance on May 18th, 2013. After today's closing, the show's producer, Theater Mogul, is currently negotiating licensing deals for future SILENCE! productions to open during the 2013-14 season in major markets across the country and around the world.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos