Dark, Graceful, Whimsical and Enduring - Looking Back at Shows That Closed in 2016

Happy New Year, BroadwayWorld! As we eagerly anticipate the amazing musicals and plays coming up in 2017, we're taking a moment to look back at the significant Broadway closings of 2016.

From the dark antics of HAND TO GOD, AMERICAN PSYCHO and 'GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE', to the graceful AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, THE KING AND I and SHUFFLE ALONG, and the long-running draw of 'CURIOUS INCIDENT', LES MISERABLES, FINDING NEVERLAND, FUN HOME and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, this has been quite the season.

---

HAND TO GOD
Opening Night: April 7, 2015
Closing Curtain: January 3, 2016
Played: 337 performances

Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, Broadway's HAND TO GOD starred Steven Boyer as Jason/Tyrone; Geneva Carr as Margery; Marc Kudisch (and later Bob Saget) as Pastor Greg; Sarah Stiles as Jessica; and Michael Oberholtzer as Timothy.

Playwright Robert Askins goes for the jugular - by way of sock puppet - in his hilarious and heartbreaking new comedy Hand to God. In it, a shy teenager named Jason is surprised when his Bible School project-a puppet named Tyrone-takes on a shocking, truth-telling personality all its own, forcing everyone in its path, especially Jason's mother Margery, to confront their own demons as they search for redemption through a mix of riotous laughter and genuinely shocking twists.

---

DAMES AT SEA
Opening Night: October 22, 2015
Closing Curtain: January 3, 2016
Played: 32 previews, 85 regular performances

Directed and choreographed by three-time Tony nominee Randy Skinner, DAMES AT SEA starred John Bolton as The Captain/Hennesey, Mara Davi as Joan, Danny Gardneras Lucky, Eloise Kropp as Ruby, Laurence Olivier Award winner Lesli Margherita as Mona Kent, and Cary Tedder as Dick.

With a book and lyrics by George Haimsohn & Robin Miller and music by Jim Wise, DAMES AT SEA is a tap-happy gem of a show that celebrates the golden era of movie musicals with dazzling dances, spectacular songs and delightful dames! Ruby steps off a bus in Manhattan, and into her first Broadway show, but hours before the opening night curtain is to rise, the cast learns their theater is being demolished, so it is "all hands on deck" to find a stage to put on the show. Featuring rollicking tap dancing, love at first sight, joyful music and a boatload of laughs, DAMES AT SEA has everything you need to sweep your glooms away.

---

A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER
Opening Night: November 17, 2013
Closing Curtain: January 17, 2016
Played: 30 previews, 905 regular performances

Directed by Darko Tresnjak, the show starred Tony Award winner Jefferson Mays and Bryce Pinkham, with Lisa O'Hare, Lauren Worsham, Jane Carr, Pamela Bob, Joanna Glushak, Eddie Korbich, Jeff Kready, Mark Ledbetter, Jennifer Smith, Price Waldman, and Catherine Walker.

With a book by Robert L. Freedman, music by Steven Lutvak, and lyrics by Robert L. Freedman & Steven Lutvak, GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE tells the uproarious story of Monty Navarro, a distant heir to a family fortune who sets out to jump the line of succession, by any means necessary. All the while, he's got to juggle his mistress (she's after more than just love), his fiancée (she's his cousin but who's keeping track?), and the constant threat of landing behind bars! Of course, it will all be worth it if he can slay his way to his inheritance... and be done in time for tea.

---

SPRING AWAKENING
Opening Night: September 27, 2016
Closing Curtain: January 24, 2016
Played: 129 performances

Deaf West Theatre's history-making Broadway production of SPRING AWAKENING was performed simultaneously in American Sign Language and spoken English by a 28-member Broadway cast including Robert Ariza, Miles Barbee, Katie Boeck, Alex Boniello, Joshua Castille, Lizzy Cuesta, Daniel N. Durant, Treshelle Edmond, Sandra Mae Frank, Kathryn Gallagher, Sean Grandillo, ElizaBeth Greene, Russell Harvard, Amelia Hensley, Van Hughes, Lauren Luiz, Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Camryn Manheim, Daniel Marmion, Academy and Golden Globe Award winner and Emmy Award nominee Marlee Matlin, Austin McKenzie, Andy Mientus, Patrick Page, Ren, Krysta Rodriguez, Daniel David Stewart, Ali Stroker, Alexandra Winter and Alex Wyse.

Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's SPRING AWAKENING, directed by Michael Arden and choreographed by Spencer Liff, is based on Frank Wedekind's controversial 1891 expressionist play of the same name and features an electrifying pop/rock score. SPRING AWAKENING follows the lives of a group of adolescents as they navigate their journey from adolescence to adulthood in a fusion of morality, sexuality and rock & roll.

---

ALLEGIANCE
Opening Night: November 8, 2015
Closing Curtain: February 14, 2016
Played: 37 previews, 113 regular performances

ALLEGIANCE starred Tony and Olivier Award winner Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon, Les Miserables) in her long-awaited return to Broadway joined by "Star Trek" icon George Takei in his Broadway debut at age 78, and Broadway and "Glee" star Telly Leung.

ALLEGIANCE, with book by Marc Acito, Jay Kuo & Lorenzo Thione, and music & lyrics by Jay Kuo, was directed by Olivier nominee Stafford Arima in his Broadway debut, with Andrew Palermo as choreographer.

ALLEGIANCE illuminates one of American history's lesser known chapters as it tells the story of Sam Kimura (Takei), transported back nearly six decades to when his younger self (Leung) and his sister Kei (Salonga) fought to stay connected to their heritage, their family, and themselves after Japanese Americans were wrongfully imprisoned during World War II. An important story told with great resonance and intimacy,Allegiance explores the ties that bind us, the struggle to persevere, and the overwhelming power of forgiveness and, most especially, love.

---

TUCK EVERLASTING
Opening Night: April 26, 2016
Closing Curtain: May 29, 2016
Played: 28 previews, 39 regular performances

The cast was led by three-time Tony nominee Carolee Carmello as "Mae Tuck" (Finding Neverland), Outer Critics Circle nominee Andrew Keenan-Bolger as "Jesse Tuck" (Newsies), two-time Emmy Award winner Michael Park as "Angus Tuck" (How To Succeed...), three-time Tony nominee Terrence Mannas "The Man in the Yellow Suit" (Pippin), Fred Applegate as "Constable Joe" (The Last Ship), Robert Lenzi as "Miles Tuck" (South Pacific), Michael Wartella as "Hugo" (Wicked), Valerie Wright as "Mother" (Elf The Musical), Pippa Pearthree as "Nana" (Noises Off), and 11-year-old Sarah Charles Lewis as "Winnie Foster."

If you could live forever, would you? TUCK EVERLASTING took audiences on a journey they'd never forget in a powerful new musical about love, family and living life to the fullest. Based on the beloved novel by Natalie Babbitt, TUCK EVERLASTING features a book by Tony Award nominee Claudia Shear (Dirty Blonde) and award-winning author Tim Federle (Better Nate Than Ever), music by Chris Miller (The Burnt Part Boys), lyrics by Nathan Tysen (The Burnt Part Boys), and direction and choreography by Tony Award winner Casey Nicholaw (Something Rotten!, Aladdin, The Book of Mormon).

---

AMERICAN PSYCHO
Opening Night: April 21, 2016
Closing Curtain: June 5, 2016
Played: 81 performances

Starring Drama Desk, Outer Critics' Circle and Drama League Award nominee Benjamin Walker (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) as Patrick Bateman, AMERICAN PSYCHO has music, lyrics and orchestrations by Tony and Grammy Award-winner Duncan Sheik (Spring Awakening), book by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa ("Supergirl," "Looking," "Glee"), direction by Tony nominee and Olivier Award-winner Rupert Goold (King Charles III), and choreography by Tony nominee Lynne Page (La Cage Aux Folles).

Based on the best-selling novel by Bret Easton Ellis, AMERICAN PSYCHO is set in the epicenter of excess: 1980s Manhattan. The musical tells the story of Patrick Bateman, a young and handsome Wall Street banker with impeccable taste and unquenchable desires. Patrick and his elite group of friends spend their days in chic restaurants, exclusive clubs and designer labels. But at night, Patrick takes part in a darker indulgence, and his mask of sanity is starting to slip...

---

THE KING AND I
Opening Night: April 16, 2015
Closing Curtain: June 26, 2016
Played: 39 previews, 499 performances

Lincoln Center Theater's THE KING AND I, which featured an original cast led by Kelli O'Hara (as Anna Leonowens) and Ken Watanabe (as the King of Siam), was directed by Bartlett Sher. It also starred Ruthie Ann Miles (as Lady Thiang), Ashley Park (as Tuptim), Conrad Ricamora (as Lun Tha), Edward Baker-Duly (as Sir Edward Ramsey), Jon Viktor Corpuz (as Prince Chulalongkorn), Murphy Guyer (as Captain Orton), Jake Lucas (as Louis), Paul Nakauchi (as Kralahome), and Marc Oka (as Phra Alack).

One of Rodgers & Hammerstein's finest works, THE KING AND I boasts a score which features such beloved classics as "Getting To Know You," "Hello Young Lovers," "Shall We Dance," "I Have Dreamed," and "Something Wonderful." Set in 1860s Bangkok, the musical tells the story of the unconventional and tempestuous relationship that develops between the King of Siam and Anna Leonowens, a British schoolteacher, whom the imperious King brings to Siam to tutor his many wives and children.

---

BRIGHT STAR
Opening Night: March 24, 2016
Closing Curtain: June 26, 2016
Played: 30 previews, 109 regular performances

BRIGHT STAR, with direction by Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie and choreography by Josh Rhodes, featured Carmen Cusack in her Broadway debut as Alice, a role she originated in Bright Star's world premiere production. She was joined by co-stars Paul Alexander Nolan, Tony Award nominee Michael Mulheren, A.J. Shively, Hannah Elless, Tony Award nominee Stephen Bogardus, three-time Tony Award nominee Dee Hoty, Stephen Lee Anderson, Emily Padgett and Tony Award nominee Jeff Blumenkrantz.

Inspired by a real event, this original musical tells a sweeping tale of love and redemption set against the rich backdrop of the American South in the 1920s and '40s. When literary editor Alice Murphy meets a young soldier just home from World War II, he awakens her longing for the child she once lost. Haunted by their unique connection, Alice sets out on a journey to understand her past - and what she finds has the power to transform both of their lives.

---

SHUFFLE ALONG, OR THE MAKING OF THE MUSICAL SENSATION OF 1921 AND ALL THAT FOLLOWED
Opening Night: April 28, 2016
Closing Curtain: July 24, 2016
Played: 38 previews, 100 regular performances

SHUFFLE ALONG starred six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, Tony Award winners Brian Stokes Mitchell and Billy Porter, and Tony Award nominees Brandon Victor Dixon and Joshua Henry.

Presenting elements from the 1921 musical itself, as well as detailing the events that catalyzed the songwriting team of Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, and librettists F.E. Miller and Aubrey Lyles, to create this ground-breaking work, SHUFFLE ALONG has a new book by George C. Wolfe, is choreographed by Savion Glover, and is directed by Mr. Wolfe.

In May 1921, the new musical Shuffle Along became the unlikeliest of hits, significantly altering the face of the Broadway musical as well as that of New York City. By the time Shuffle Along stumbled into town after a back-breaking pre-Broadway tour, it was deeply in debt and set to open at a remote Broadway house on West 63rd Street. In a season full of spectacles, such as Sally - a Ziegfeld musical - and another edition of George White's Scandals, Shuffle Along's failure was almost a foregone conclusion. New York City was still in the throes of the Depression of 1920. And despite being celebrated vaudeville performers, Miller and Lyles and Sissle and Blake had never performed on Broadway, much less written a musical. But with an infectious jazz score and exuberant dancing, Shuffle Along ignited not just Broadway but all of New York City. George Gershwin, Fanny Brice, Al Jolson, Langston Hughes, and famed criticGeorge Jean Nathan were among the many fans who repeatedly flocked to West 63rd Street to see a cast which - during its run of 504 performances - featured such incipient luminaries as Josephine Baker, Paul Robeson, Florence Mills, Fredi Washington, and Adelaide Hall. Because of Shuffle Along, Uptown and Downtown met and became one.

---

FINDING NEVERLAND
Opening Night: April 15, 2015
Closing Curtain: August 21, 2016
Played: 33 previews, 565 regular performances

FINDING NEVERLAND originally starred Matthew Morrison ("Glee," South Pacific), Kelsey Grammer ("Frasier," La Cage aux Folles), Laura Michelle Kelly (Mary Poppins) and Carolee Carmello (Parade). The show was directed by by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus (Pippin, Hair), with music and lyrics by Gary Barlow (Take That) and Grammy winner Eliot Kennedy, book by Olivier Award nominee James Graham, and choreography by Emmy Award-winner Mia Michaels ("So You Think You Can Dance," Cirque du Soleil's Delirium).

FINDING NEVERLAND follows playwright J.M. Barrie as he summons the courage to become the writer - and the man - he yearns to be. Barrie finds the inspiration he's been missing when he meets the beautiful widow Sylvia and her four young sons: Jack, George, Michael and Peter. Delighted by the boys' hilarious escapades, Barrie conjures the magical world of Neverland and writes a play unlike any the high-society London theatergoers have ever seen. It's a tremendous risk, but as Barrie himself has discovered- when you believe, you can fly.

---

LES MISERABLES
Opening Night: March 23, 2014
Closing Curtain: September 4, 2016
Played: 1,024 performances

Cameron Mackintosh's newly-reimagined production of Claude-Michel Schönberg & Alain Boublil's legendary musical Les Miserables launched its run starring Ramin Karimloo (Jean Valjean), Will Swenson (Javert), Caissie Levy (Fantine), Nikki M. James (Eponine), Andy Mientus (Marius), Charlotte Maltby (Cosette), Kyle Scatliffe (Enjolras), Cliff Saunders (Thenardier) and Keala Settle (Madame Thenardier).

Mackintosh's production of Les Miserables is written by Boublil & Schönberg and is based on the novel by Victor Hugo. It has music by Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and original French text by Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, original adaption by Trevor Nunn and John Caird and additional material by James Fenton. The original Les Miserables orchestrations are by John Cameron, with new orchestrations by Christopher Jahnke, Stephen Metcalfe and Stephen Brooker. The new production was directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell.

Based on Victor Hugo's classic novel, Les Miserables is an epic and uplifting story about the survival of the human spirit. The magnificent score includes the classic songs "I Dreamed a Dream," "On My Own," "Stars," "Bring Him Home," "Do You Hear the People Sing?," "One Day More," "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables," "Master Of The House" and many more.

---

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME
Opening Night: October 5, 2014
Closing Curtain: September 4, 2016
Played: 23 previews, 800 regular performances

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME starred Tyler Lea in his Broadway debut as Christopher (the role was originated by Alex Sharp), Rosie Benton (Stick Fly) as Siobhan, Andrew Long (The Iceman Cometh at BAM) as Ed, Enid Graham (The Constant Wife) as Judy, and Nancy Robinette ("Louie") as Mrs. Alexander.

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME is the longest running play on Broadway in more than 10 years. Written by Tony Award winner Simon Stephens, adapted from Mark Haddon's best-selling novel, and directed by Tony Award winner Marianne Elliott, the play follows 15-year old Christopher. He has an extraordinary brain; he is exceptionally intelligent but ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. When he falls under suspicion for killing his neighbor's dog, he sets out to identify the true culprit, which leads to an earth-shattering discovery and a journey that will change his life forever.

---

FUN HOME
Opening Night: April 19, 2015
Closing Curtain: September 10, 2016
Played: 26 previews, 582 regular performances

The closing cast of FUN HOME featured two-time Tony Award-winner Michael Cerveris, four-time Tony Award nominee Judy Kuhn, 2015 Tony Award nominees Beth Malone, and Emily Skeggs, Gabriella Pizzolo, Roberta Colindrez, Cole Grey, Zell Steele Morrow, and Joel Perez.

FUN HOME had a history-making 18-month run on Broadway, becoming the first Broadway show written by women to win the Best Musical Tony Award and the first Broadway musical with a lesbian protagonist. Based on Alison Bechdel's best-selling graphic memoir, FUN HOME features music by Jeanine Tesori, book and lyrics by Lisa Kron and direction by Sam Gold, whose work on this production earned them Tony Awards for Best Score, Best Book and Best Direction.

FUN HOME introduces us to Alison at three different ages, revealing memories of her uniquely dysfunctional family - her mother, brothers and volatile, brilliant, enigmatic father - that connect with her in surprising new ways. This intimate and emotional theatrical experience is performed entirely in the round, bringing audiences closer to Alison's story than ever before. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Fun Home is a refreshingly honest, wholly original musical about seeing your parents through grown-up eyes.

---

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS
Opening Night: April 12, 2015
Closing Curtain: October 9, 2016
Played: 29 previews, 623 regular performances

The cast of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS featured Dimitri Kleioris as Jerry Mulligan, Leanne Cope as Lise Dassin, Veanne Cox as Madame Baurel, Jill Paice as Milo Davenport, Brandon Uranowitz as Adam Hochberg, and Max von Essen as Henri Baurel.

In a city suddenly filled with new possibilities, one young GI will discover his passion for art, his desire for change and the love of his life. AN AMERICAN IN PARIS is inspired by the Academy Award-winning film and features the music and lyrics of George and Ira Gershwin, the Tony Award-winning choreography of director Christopher Wheeldonand a book by Craig Lucas.

The score of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS includes the songs "I Got Rhythm," "Liza," "'S Wonderful," "But Not For Me," "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise," and orchestral music including "Concerto in F," "Second Prelude," "Second Rhapsody/Cuban Overture" and "An American In Paris."

---

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
Opening Night: December 20, 2015
Closing Curtain: December 31, 2016
Played: 463 performances

Fiddler on the Roof's closing cast is led by lead by six-time Tony Award-nominee and Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award-winner Danny Burstein as Tevye, and four-time Tony Award nominee Judy Kuhn as Golde. The production boasts a cast of 40 actors and an orchestra of 23 musicians.

A beloved theatrical classic from Tony Award-winner Joseph Stein, and Pulitzer Prize- winners Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, Fiddler on the Roof is directed by Tony Award-winner Bartlett Sher (South Pacific, The King and I) and choreographed by the acclaimed Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter.

Fiddler on the Roof is the heartwarming story of fathers and daughters, husbands and wives, and life, love and laughter. This classic musical is rich with Broadway hits, including "To Life (L'Chaim!)," "If I Were A Rich Man," "Sunrise Sunset," "Matchmaker, Matchmaker," and "Tradition."