"Enron" survives one week on Broadway:
Demise of 'Enron' Mirrors Its Subject
By ERICA ORDEN
Wall Street Journal
MAY 6, 2010
Praised by some as brilliant but saddled with negligible sales, the Broadway play "Enron" had more than a little in common with its subject. Despite a hit engagement in London, the play about the scandalous Texas energy company will close its New York run Sunday, just a week after its opening.
The bad news didn't keep one of the show's performers, Stephen Kunken, from making an appearance Wednesday morning at a reception for Tony Awards nominees.
Mr. Kunken, who is nominated in the category of best featured actor in a play, described the past 28 hours as "strange and bittersweet." Hours before Tuesday night's cancelation announcement, which was made via a post on the play's official website, "Enron" picked up a handful of Tony nods, including for its score, lighting design and sound design and Mr. Kunken's performance.
During the event at the Millennium Broadway Hotel, Mr. Kunken said he believed the show's failure to capture a nomination for best play—"the bingo ball," as he described it—contributed to its demise. "It's such an exciting, chancy, big play that the way financing is, you can't take a lot of time to find an audience," he said.
"Enron," whose initial investment was $3.9 million, grossed $234,196 for the week ending May 2, according to data from The Broadway League—a decrease of $126,272 from its previous week, when it was in preview. ("The Addams Family" grossed $1.3 million during the same week.)
James Fuld, Jr., a producer of "Enron" (who said he is not related to Richard S. Fuld Jr., the former Lehman Brothers executive) said the play never found its target audience. "It did not attract the Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan crowd—perhaps the Goldman Sachs testimony on television, people could see it for free," he said.
He added that the play was trying for a younger audience of 30- to 45-year-olds, but attracted older, traditional theatergoers instead.
— Ellen Gamerman contributed to this report
Write to Erica Orden at erica.orden@wsj.com
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