Suzanne Somers announced from the stage of her one woman show, The Blonde in the Thunderbird, last night that the show is being forced to close this Saturday, July 23rd. She cites the savaging that the show got by the critics as the reason for the show's early departure. The show was scheduled to run through September 3rd.
Lackluster grosses for the week, and tales of heavy, heavy, heavy discounting had tongues wagging for much of the week on the subject which is now said to be official.
Michael Riedel in today's New York Post expands on the subject, noting that on Monday when the reviews appeared that the show only took in $5,000 in ticket sales. Somers is naturally said to be disappointed, noting "The fighter in me is back today. Even though I only have [seven] performances left, they're going to be great performances."
Suzanne Somers one-woman musical show, The Blonde in the Thunderbird, which began performances on July 8th at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre was scheduled to run for a limited run of 64 performances through September 3rd. Written and directed by the Emmy Award-winning writing/composing team of Ken and Mitzie Welch, the show had its official opening on Sunday, July 17th.
"The Blonde in the Thunderbird is
Suzanne Somers' musical autobiography, a chronicle of hardship, pain and conflict that blossoms into a great love story. In addition to some well-known songs, the funny, warm and inspiring show features original music created especially for Ms. Somers," according to the press release. The show had its world premiere at the Spreckels Theatre in San Diego, CA, in January 2004.
The title of the show refers to the film that catapulted Somers to fame, when she captured the public's attention as the mysterious blonde driving the white Thunderbird in George Lucas' 1973 cult classic, American Graffiti. She has since starred in 21 years of various television series, including "Three's Company," "Step by Step," "She's the Sheriff," "The
Suzanne Somers Show," and served as co-host of "Candid Camera" and host of VH1's "8 Track Series Flashback." Somers, who has entered into a long-term publishing agreement with Crown Publishers for seven books over the next several years, is the author of five New York Times bestsellers. They include
Suzanne Somers' Eat, Cheat, and Melt the Fat Away,
Suzanne Somers' Eat Great, Lose Weight,
Suzanne Somers' Get Skinny on Fabulous Food, and her autobiography, Keeping Secrets, which remained on that list for 21 weeks. Her other titles include
Suzanne Somers' Fast & Easy, which hit the bestseller list at #1 and remained there for several weeks, Somersize Desserts, 365 Ways to Change Your Life, After the Fall, Wednesday's Children, Touch Me, and The Sexy Years.
The Blonde in the Thunderbird's performance schedule will be Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8PM, with matinees on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 2 PM. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster, (212) 307-4100 & (800) 755-4000 (or at www.ticketmaster.com).
