Wonderful Town to Close January 30th

Wonderful Town has announced that it'll play it's last performance on January 30th, the same day that star Brooke Shields is scheduled to perform in the show. The musical opened on November 23, 2003 and will have played a total of 523 performances (including previews) when it shutters.

Brooke Shields took over for an often ailing Donna Murphy in September 2004, resulting in a wave of positive reviews, and a big boost at the box office.

The Leonard Bernstein-Adolph Green-Betty Comden show Wonderful Town, is based on Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov's play, My Sister Eileen. Two sisters from Ohio arrive in New York and find life in the big city a lot more complicated than they ever imagined. The score features songs such as songs as "Christopher Street," "My Darlin' Eileen," and "A Little Bit In Love."

Kathleen Marshall (who won a 2004 Tony for her choreography here) directs and choreographs.

Next up at the Al Hirschfeld theater will be Sweet Charity, starring Christina Applegate. Previews begin on April 4, 2005 for an April 21 opening.