The Broadway production of “The Mountaintop,” Katori Hall’s drama about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final night before his assassination, has recouped its entire capitalization of $3.1 million, the lead producers Jean Doumanian and Sonia Friedman announced on Wednesday. The play opened to mixed reviews in October, but ticket sales proved durable in part because of the drawing power of its stars, Samuel L. Jackson (as King) and Angela Bassett (as a mysterious motel maid).
One-third of straight plays have turned a profit on Broadway in recent years, though most of those are not significant money-makers on the scale of hits like “A Steady Rain,” which starred Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig on Broadway in 2009.
“The Mountaintop” will end its Broadway run on Sunday at the Jacobs Theater; the new musical “Once” is set to begin previews there on Feb. 28. Ms. Hall’s next production in New York will be her play “Hurt Village,” which begins performances Off Broadway at Signature Theater Company on Feb. 7.
In a statement, the “Mountaintop” producers said, “We are absolutely thrilled by the audience’s response to this inspirational new play,” adding, “we look forward to the future life this work will undoubtedly have throughout the world.”
