New York’s fall theater season has produced a sharp contrast: two plays earned praise in a new Washington Post review, while two ambitious musicals drew criticism. For one of those musicals, Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen, the more immediate development is an early closing that will bring its Off-Broadway run to an end on November 15.
The production’s official website now advertises performances through that date only. The show had been scheduled to continue until January 3, 2027, according to Playbill’s closing report. Its final curtain will therefore arrive well before the holiday period included in the original booking window.
The announcement gives a concrete news development to a wider discussion of the city’s latest productions. In his November 11 assessment, Washington Post critic Thomas Floyd favored A Few Good Men and 2:22 – A Ghost Story over Wanted and Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen. The Post’s published summary identified the musicals’ scripts as the central weakness.
Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen ends its run November 15
Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen began previews on September 25 and officially opened October 15. By its scheduled closing, it will have played 18 previews and 35 regular performances, Playbill reported. Those figures describe the production’s performance schedule; they do not establish its ticket sales or financial losses.
The musical features music and lyrics by Duncan Sheik and a book by Leah Nanako Winkler. Rob Ashford directs and choreographs the adaptation of Moyoco Anno’s manga. Sophia Anne Caruso leads the production as Colette, whose experiences in a Paris brothel become material for her writing.
Its setting is also central to the audience experience. Performances take place at the Night Egg, a theatrical space within the Culture Club at 530 West 27th Street, the former home of Sleep No More. The production’s website describes an in-the-round environment designed by Scott Pask, with viewers seated around the action and original manga illustrations displayed in a gallery.
The show runs approximately 90 minutes without an intermission. For audiences considering a visit, the November 15 closing notice supersedes older listings that still show the previously announced January engagement.
Wanted brings a different story to Broadway
The other musical singled out in Floyd’s review, Wanted, is playing at Broadway’s James Earl Jones Theatre. Its official production website describes a story set in Texas in 1893, following twin sisters Mary and Martha Clarke as they struggle to protect their family and secure a future of their own.
The sisters are Black women who pass for white, placing questions of race, identity and survival at the center of the story. Angelica Chéri wrote the book and lyrics, Ross Baum composed the music, and Stevie Walker-Webb directs. The cast includes Solea Pfeiffer and Liisi LaFontaine.
The two musicals take very different approaches: one adapts a Japanese manga into an intimate Parisian setting, while the other builds its story around sisters navigating the dangers of the American West. Their inclusion in the same critical roundup should not be mistaken for identical commercial circumstances. The early-closing announcement cited here concerns Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen, not Wanted.
Two plays receive a warmer critical response
Floyd’s favorable assessment of A Few Good Men and 2:22 – A Ghost Story provides the counterpoint. The former is Aaron Sorkin’s courtroom drama, returning to Broadway with Bradley Whitford and Tom Blyth at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, according to Broadway.com’s production listing.
2:22 – A Ghost Story, written by Danny Robins, opened November 5 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. Its New York cast includes Anna Camp, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Finn Jones and Martin Marquez, according to New York Theatre Guide. The production is scheduled to run through January 17.
These judgments remain those of the named critic, not findings from an independent attendance by The Eastern Herald. Nor does the timing establish that the Post’s review caused the musical’s closure: the early-closing announcement was reported on November 10, before Floyd’s November 11 article. For theatergoers, the immediate practical distinction is straightforward: Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen has only a few performances left before its announced final day.
