LAS VEGAS-
The musical "Hairspray" is ending its run at the Luxor hotel-casino after less than four months–the second Broadway hit to flop in Las Vegas in the past two months.
The producers told the cast and crew just before Monday night's performance that the show that began Feb. 15 would wrap up Sunday because of low ticket sales.
"These people are such pros, they went from literal tears in our meeting to extraordinary performers when they hit that stage. I'm so proud of them," co-producer Myron Martin told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Luxor chief executive Felix Rappaport had said in February that the show, which won eight Tony Awards, was destined for at least a four-year run on The Strip.
The tale of a plump girl who helps integrate a local sock-hop TV show in the 1960s got off to a great start, helped by 12 weeks of performances by Harvey Fierstein, who reprised his role of Edna Turnblad, which he had originated on Broadway.
But the musical–a cut down version of the original New York production–failed to regularly fill the Luxor's 1,500-seat theater.
"Ticket sales were very, very good on many nights, and others just weren't as good," Martin said.
The departure in May of Fierstein and co-star Dick Latessa, who played the role of husband Wilbur Turnblad, had no major effect on ticket sales, Martin said. "This was simply a really good show that for whatever reason just never found its audience."
The closing follows the premature shuttering of Tony-winning "Avenue Q" last month after a nine-month engagement at Wynn Las Vegas.
The latest failure dents but does not destroy Las Vegas' hopes of becoming "Broadway West."
"Mamma Mia!" began its run at Mandalay Bay in February 2003, and is the longest running import to succeed in Las Vegas.
"Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular," a 90-minute version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, will start at The Venetian later this month, and "The Producers," the smash Mel Brooks musical, will open at the Paris Las Vegas hotel-casino late this summer. "Monty Python's Spamalot" is headed to the Wynn next year.
Hal Rothman, author of "Neon Metropolis: How Las Vegas Started the Twenty-First Century," said the demise of one show does not mean the notion of "Broadway West" is kaput.
"I don't think it signals the end of hype. Las Vegas is all about hype," said Rothman, distinguished professor of history at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "I do think operators will be more careful about their choice of entertainment. But I expect 'Phantom' to do extremely well."
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