King Kong Musical Closes on Broadway August 18

The musical, featuring a 20-foot-high, 2,000-pound, puppeteer-operated gorilla as its star, opened last fall.

King Kong, the new Broadway musical based on the Hollywood adventure staple, closes August 18 at the Broadway Theatre after 29 previews and 323 regular performances. The Australian-born production opened in New York November 8, 2018, following previews that began October 5.

King Kong will play Shanghai in 2021. A North American tour and Japanese and Spanish productions are also in development.

King Kong received Tony nominations for Best Sound Design, Best Scenic Design, and Best Lighting Design of a Musical. The production was also the recipient of a Special Tony Award for Sonny Tilders and Creature Technology Company, who helped bring the title character to life through puppetry.

In addition to the 20-foot-high, 2,000-pound silverback gorilla, the musical stars Christiani Pitts as Ann Darrow, Eric William Morris as Carl Denham, and Erik Lochtefeld as Lumpy.

Read: BEHIND THE UNPARALLELED PUPPETRY OF BROADWAY’S KING KONG

Lead producer Carmen Pavlovic, who also brought Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge! to Broadway this summer, enlisted an all-new creative team to ready King Kong for New York audiences following its 2013 Melbourne world premiere.

The Broadway creative team includes Tony- and Olivier Award-winning book writer Jack Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Let the Right One In), Olivier Award-winning director-choreographer Drew McOnie (Strictly Ballroom), and Australian songwriter Eddie Perfect (Beetlejuice). Perfect joined the show’s original composer and arranger Marius de Vries (Moulin Rouge, Romeo + Juliet).

The King Kong ensemble includes Ashley Andrews, Mike Baerga, Rhaamell Burke-Missouri, Chloë Campbell, Leroy Church, Peter Chursin, Jōvan Dansberry, Kayla Davion, Rory Donovan, Casey Garvin, Christopher Hampton Grant, Jon Hoche, Gabriel Hyman, Harley Jay, James T. Lane, Marty Lawson, Jonathan Christopher MacMillan, Danny Miller, Brittany Marcell Monachino, Jennifer Noble, Kristen Faith Oei, Eliza Ohman, Roberto Olvera, Jaquez André Sims, Khadija Tariyan, Jena VanElslander, Scott Austin Weber, Jacob Williams, Lauren Yalango-Grant, Warren Yang, and David Yijae.

The production team also includes set and projection designer Peter England, costume designer Roger Kirk, lighting designer Peter Mumford, sound designer Peter Hylenski, aerial and movement director Gavin Robins, and hair designer Tom Watson. David Caddick is music supervisor with casting by Tara Rubin Casting. Johanna McKeon is associate director, and the associate choreographer is Ellenore Scott.

