Theater buzz: ‘Groundhog Day’ to close, ‘Evita’ may return

THE SHOW “Groundhog Day”

THE DEAL Producers confirmed that the Broadway musical will close on Sept. 17. This time last year, it was widely assumed that “Groundhog Day,” which has a score by Tim Minchin (“Matilda”) and is based on the 1993 film comedy with Bill Murray, would be a hit. It received positive reviews when it premiered in London. Leading man Andy Karl, who sustained a knee tear toward the end of Broadway previews yet managed to return by opening night, earned admiration even from critics who disliked the show itself. A national tour and a new London production are in the works.

THE SHOW “Evita”

THE DEAL The musical, one of many featured in the new revue “Prince of Broadway,” may return to Broadway in a re-creation of director Hal Prince’s original 1979 production. In an interview with Playbill.com, Prince said he hopes a new international tour of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical (to be helmed by Prince and original choreographer Larry Fuller) will eventually make it to Broadway. A 2012 Broadway revival with Ricky Martin was viewed by many as a dud.

THE SHOW “Children of a Lesser God”

THE DEAL Screen actor Joshua Jackson, who appeared Off-Broadway last year in “Smart People,” will make his Broadway debut in a revival of Mark Medoff’s 1979 romance about a teacher and his deaf student and the difficulties they experience in communicating with each other. The revival, which debuted earlier this summer in the Berkshires, will play Studio 54 in the spring. Jackson will be joined by Lauren Ridloff, a former Miss Deaf America. Kenny Leon is directing.

THE SHOW “Travesties”

THE DEAL The Roundabout Theatre Company will present the Menier Chocolate Factory’s acclaimed London revival of Tom Stoppard’s 1974 experimental drama on Broadway in the spring. “Travesties” depicts an aging English official (to be played by English actor Tom Hollander) who tries to recall how he supposedly met with communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, Irish writer James Joyce and avant-garde poet, playwright and performance artist Tristan Tzara decades earlier.