Going, going, gone - Plethora of Broadway Shows To Close

Failure hurts, so there are a lot of miserable producers right about now, given the abundant number of Broadway shows which have recently posted closing notices. Sunday was the last day for Eve Ensler's The Good Body - we liked it, but it just didn't catch on with the masses. We can see how it wasn't exactly great date night fodder, but couldn't the city's female contingency keep it going a hair longer? On January 2nd, it's a double whammy for both Dracula The Musical and Bombay Dreams, each closing that day. Frankly, it's a miracle they lasted this long. Then it was announced that the Marsha Norman play 'Night Mother would be closing on January 9th. That one really didn't surprise us. Gothamist thought the acting (by Brenda Blethyn and Edie Falco) was stellar, but the play seemed melodramatic and dated. Playbill via Yahoo reports here on these and a few other shows also biting the dust.

Meanwhile, while the dregs clear out, take Gothamist's advice and hit the Off-Broadway non-profits. Two of the best shows we have seen all year are Caryl Churchill's A Number at the East Village's New York Theatre Workshop and Woody Allen's A Second Hand Memory at Chelsea's Atlantic Theatre Company. Each is a complicated, very different look at the notion of family and the sins passed along by our parents. A Number is a really hard ticket, as Sam Shepard, who hasn't graced a New York stage in over 30 years, is acting in it. Beg, borrow, or steal - but trust us - just go. What have you dug lately, on or off-Broadway (or off-off, or off-off-off...)?