If you were planning to see Escape to Margaritaville on Broadway, you better get your tickets now — the musical from Jimmy Buffett is set to close July 1.
The show officially opened at New York City’s Marquis Theatre in March after 29 preview performances, according to Playbill . When it closes, 124 regular performances will have been staged.
Featuring some of Buffett’s most famous songs — like “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” “Why Don’t We Get Drunk,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” and, of course, “Margaritaville” — the jukebox musical tells the stories of those who occupy a Caribbean island that seems to be paradise, including a bartender/singer whose view of the world is challenged after meeting a visiting scientist.
Helping theatergoers feel the island vibe, frozen margaritas are sold in the lobby, beach balls get bounced around the audience, and many sing-alongs break out.
Escape to Margaritaville received mixed reviews from critics when it first opened. Newsday said audiences “will get quickly into the island vibe and have a great time,” and the Hollywood Reporter said the show “exudes an affable likability that’s hard to entirely resist.”
However, Entertainment Weekly said the “performances are constrained by underwritten, one-dimensional characters and millennial clichés,” and New York magazine’s Vulture said, “ Escape to Margaritaville is about as much fun as buying a dud hermit crab as a pet. It seems like it’ll be exotic, or at least cute, but it’s really kind of sad, and definitely a rip-off, and, at the end of the day, actually just an empty shell.”
Sadly, when the Tony Award nominations were announced May 1, Buffett’s baby was completely shut out.
For those Parrotheads (that’s the official name for Buffett’s diehard fans) who can’t make it to Broadway before Escape to Margaritaville closes, Playbill reports that the cast will perform in Washington, D.C., for PBS’s A Capitol Fourth special on July 4. Additionally, a national tour will be launched in Providence, R.I., in October 2019.
Buffett, who began his career in the 1960s, won’t be crying for long over the loss of his Broadway show though. The 71-year-old singer’s latest tour — celebrating the 40th anniversary of his album Son of a Son of a Sailor — is underway and will run throughout the summer, and he has a lot of money coming in from his numerous Margaritaville resorts, restaurants, casinos, and assorted merchandise.
This fall, he will debut the new Island Reserve line of shoes. According to Footwear News , the shoes will retail for $75 to $125.
