Lately, Broadway has all about been closure and final curtain calls.
With "Dear Evan Hansen" waving its last goodbye on the window earlier this year, one of the longest-running Broadway musicals, "The Phantom of the Opera" is also having its last chandelier broken next year, after an extended play because of an unexpected ticket surge.
Now, one of the newest musicals on the block, "KPOP: The Musical" will be taking its last bow after a total of 17 official shows at the Circle in Square Theatre.
According to Playbill, "KPOP's last performance will be on Dec. 11, 2022, Sunday. In total, the show has only had 44 previews and 17 performances.
Previews started last Oct. 13, 2022, while the musical opened last Nov. 27, 2022.
However, the closing performance will be holding a rather important event for the company. Per the outlet, the last performance of "KPOP" will be dedicated to the Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) community.
After its performance, a panel discussion will be held to reflect on and discuss the AAPI representation on Broadway.
Playbill reports that among the panelists on the "KPOP" discussion would be David Henry Hwang, the first Asian American Tony Winner, KPOP's Helen Park, the first Asian female composer on Broadway, Hansol Jung, Pun Bandhu, of the Asian-American Performers Action Coalition, among mothers.
"KPOP" will also be giving out 200 complimentary tickets to the Asian-American community for the show; thanks to the Asian American Foundation, Asian American Performers Action Coalition, and Ma-Yi Theater Company.
Why Did "KPOP" Close on Broadway?
Per Playbill, the controversy surrounding the show's review from the New York Times critic Jesse Green.
Per The New York Post, the production wrote to The New York Times organization, slamming Green for the "casual racism" in his review of the show.
"We are the producers of the recently opened Broadway musical, KPOP, and we are writing to ask that you issue an apology to the cast and creators of our show for the insensitive and, frankly, offensive review written by Jesse Green," the letter reads. "To be clear, we respect Mr. Green's right to be critical of the show. What we are asking you to address is the cultural insensitivity, underlying ignorance of and distaste for K-pop as a genre, and what comes across as casual racism in his review."
In the harsh review, Green described the lighting of the show to be "squint-inducing," which the producers dubbed as a "harmful stereotype." This is apart from Green's jab at the show's language, which pointed out that non-Korean speakers would not understand the show without English subtitles.
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