Roz Ryan, left, as Emma Joe Schaeffer and Carolee Carmello as Aimee Semple McPherson in the new Broadway musical 'Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson.'(Photo: www.ScandalousOnBroadway.com)
In the end, Kathie Lee Gifford's
popularity with a national TV audience couldn't make her words a hit
with Broadway theatergoers.
Producers of Scandalous,
Gifford's first outing as a Broadway lyricist and librettist, announced
Tuesday that the new musical would have its final performance this
Sunday, after playing 31 previews and 29 regular performances. Subtitled
The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson, the show -- which
followed McPherson, a 1920s evangelist, through her rise to fame and
subsequent struggles with controversy -- received less-than-stellar
reviews.
Sales had been weak, and there were reports that two producers had dug into their own pockets to underwrite their losses.
Scandalous,
which features music by David Pomeranz and David Friedman, did earn
positive notices for its star, Carolee Carmello, pictured above, right,
with Roz Ryan.
USA Today