Swept Away, the new musical featuring songs by The Avett Brothers to tell a shipwreck tale of survival and sacrifice, will close its Broadway run on Sunday, December 15, just a month after opening at the Longacre Theatre.
The $14.5 million show, which stars John Gallagher, Jr., Stark Sands, Adrian Blake Enscoe and Wayne Duvall, will have played 20 previews and 32 regular performances at the time of its closing. Swept Away began performances on October 29 with an official opening on November 19.
Producers Matthew Masten, Sean Hudock and Madison Wells Live announced the closing, noting, “We are deeply proud of this beautiful production and the years of work that it took to get to Broadway. We will forever be indebted to our fantastic creative team, our loyal actors and all of our co-producers and in turn their investors, for believing in this production and taking a risk on new work.”
The musical received mixed reviews from critics, with some, including Deadline and The New York Times, championing the work, but others emphasizing the downbeat nature of the story.
Audiences were even less enthusiastic, with box office tepid at best. Last week Swept Away grossed just $412,182 with attendance at the Longacre at an unsustainable 61% of the venue’s capacity.
The original Broadway cast recording of Swept Away is set for digital release on Friday, February 7, 2025, and a physical CD release in early 2025 on Joy Machine Records.
In addition to the Avett Brothers score, Swept Away has a book by John Logan and direction by Michael Mayer. Prior to its Broadway run, the musical played successful engagements at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.
Swept Away is the second new musical of the current Broadway fall season to announce are early close: The disastrously reviewed $25 million Elton John-Jake Shears musical Tammy Faye recently announced that it would close on December 8 after just 24 preview and 29 regular performances.
