Broadway Shocker: ‘Smash’ to Close Just Months After Opening Amid Tony Awards Fallout

Broadway Shocker: Smash Musical Abruptly Announces Final Show After Tony Awards Drama and Box Office Struggles

The shock waves from the Broadway community upended any thought of a relatively peaceful run for Smash; the stage adaptation of the much-loved television show will now close far earlier than expected. With the announcement from executive producers Steven Spielberg, Robert Greenblatt, and Neil Meron, the final curtain goes down on June 22 at the Imperial Theatre—just over two months after its official opening on April 10. Backed by big names with a plotline that held promise to excite fans of the original NBC show, Smash, however, just couldn’t carry itself beyond this point in either critical acclaim or commercial success.

Directed by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman and featuring music by acclaimed Marc Shaiman, Smash follows the behind-the-scenes chaos of creating a Broadway show about Marilyn Monroe titled Bombshell. What promised to be a meta-theatrical daydream soon turned into a cautionary tale, one about a musical barely filling its seats and unlikely to recoup its colossal $20 million investment. According to The New York Times, the weekly grosses went down sharply, falling from $1 million at its best to a paltry $656,000 for the week ending June 8.

Smash’s cringe factor was elevated at the 2025 Tony Awards, losing in categories that produced widespread opinions against it: Best Choreography and Best Featured Actor, the latter won by one of Smash’s leading men. Most contentious, however, was the producers’ move to prevent Smash from performing during the live CBS broadcast of the award show. Both Smash and fellow production Boop! The Betty Boop Musical had offered to pay CBS and the Tony Awards a $300,000 appearance fee for the privilege of performing but were denied. This slight, some whispered, would not go unnoticed and would raise the ire of Broadway insiders.

“It’s bizarre,” said one producer, maintaining anonymity in comments to The New York Post, a sentiment clearly echoed by others in the business. To have been dismissed so rapidly was a perfect example to showcase what a minefield Broadway can be for a show that ridden so high with every conceivable star resource since almost from the day it opened.

Read more: Jubin Nautiyal Birthday Celebration: The Heartfelt Journey of India’s Soulful Voice

Smash’s long journey to its Broadway stage began with Spielberg announcing the stage adaptation in 2020, following the NBC television series that had cultivated a cult following in its brief summer. Fans were anxious to experience Bombshell in its entire theatrical glory. In 2023, Spielberg related how passionately he felt about the project, calling it “near and dear” to his heart. Neil Meron remarked that the musical was created to appeal to die-hard fans as well as those who have never heard of the show: it was described as “a valentine to the Broadway musical.”

Read more: Sobhita Dhulipala Dazzles in Pearls at Akhil Akkineni’s Reception

But not even such love letters have the guarantee of a happy ending. With the close of Smash, it now becomes the first Broadway show to shut following the 2025 Tony Awards. This news sent shockwaves through audiences and insiders alike, reinforcing the hard fact that even with passion, money, and talent, there is the ruthless side of Broadway.

As of now, Smash will end up closing with just 84 regular performances and 32 previews on their clock- an epitaph of hope, disappointment, and shattered hopes.

We’re now on WhatsApp. Click to join. 

Like this post?
Register at One World News to never miss out on videos, celeb interviews, and best reads.