Ohio State Murders, the Broadway debut of 91-year-old playwright Adrienne Kennedy starring Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, is ending its Broadway run in January.
Producers said Thursday that Jan. 15 will be the Kenny Leon-directed play’s final performance at the James Earl Jones Theatre. The show was the first to be staged in the newly renamed theater on W. 48th St. The show officially opened Dec. 8 following previews, which began Nov. 11, and was originally scheduled to close Feb. 12.
McDonald portrays writer Suzanne Alexander, who has returned to her alma mater to appear as a guest speaker discussing the violence in her work. But with her arrival, a dark mystery unravels, as Alexander grapples with the racial violence she experienced as an undergraduate in this suspense play that examines the destructiveness of racism in our society.
Ohio State Murders also stars Bryce Pinkham, Lizan Mitchell, Mister Fitzgerald and Abigail Stephenson, with Brett Diggs, Brooke Gardner, Christian Pedersen and Gayle Samuels serving as understudies. The creative team includes set designer Beowulf Boritt, costume designer Dede Ayite, lighting designer Allen Lee Hughes, sound designer Justin Ellington, projection designer Jeff Sugg and wig, hair and makeup design by J. Jared Janas, with original music by Dwight Andrews.
The show’s closing follows one of Broadway’s most lucrative weeks in history that has also coincided with a series of closure announcements within the last month. Among the Broadway musicals and plays wrapping up their runs — including planned limited engagements, extended runs and closures due to low ticket sales — are The Music Man, A Strange Loop, Into the Woods, Death of a Salesman, The Piano Lesson, Topdog/Underdog, Beetlejuice, Almost Famous, A Christmas Carol and The Old Man & the Pool.
