Broadways Room Postponed Indefinitely After Financing Falls Short, Producer Exits

“Room,” a stage version of the Oscar-winning movie, will no longer open on Broadway due to lack of funding and the withdrawal of a lead producer.

The production was scheduled to begin performances on April 3 at the James Earl Jones Theatre, but it has been postponed indefinitely. “Room,” which was in rehearsal, has shut down as of Thursday, March 16.

“In the midst of our rehearsals we were informed by one of our lead producers that due to personal reasons, they did not intend to fulfill their obligations to the production,” said producer Hunter Arnold. “Since being notified, the rest of the producing team has exhausted all possible avenues to keep the show on track, but the narrow timeline and economic shortfall created by this series of events has proven to be insurmountable.”

Adrienne Warren and Ephraim Sykes were set to star in “Room,” based on Emma Donoghue’s 2010 best-selling novel. Like the 2015 movie featuring Brie Larson, the story centers on Ma, who was kidnapped as a teenager and held in captivity for seven years. She’s trapped with her five-year-old son Jack, who was born in confinement and has no concept of the outside world. But the time has come to escape imprisonment and face their biggest challenge to date: life outside Room.

“Room” was headed to Broadway after performances at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in London, as well as the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, the National Theatre of Scotland, the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario and the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto. The Guardian praised the London version of the show as a “moving adaptation” of the novel.

“We have been honored to share the story of ‘Room’ since its world premiere in 2017 in London and its subsequent productions in Dublin, Scotland, and Ontario,” producers Sam Julyan and James Yeoburn said in a statement. “We truly believe that today’s disappointing news will not be the end of ‘Room’ on stage.”

All purchased tickets will be refunded and ticket buyers should return to point of purchase to process those refunds, producers added.

Must Read

Film
COVER | Sebastian Stan Tells All: Becoming Donald Trump and Starring in 2024’s Most Controversial Movie
By Andrew Wallenstein 3 weeks

Sign Up for Variety Newsletters

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. // This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

ncG1vNJzZmiukae2psDYZ5qopV9nfXN%2FjqWcoKGkZLumw9JomaunkZnEosWMq6aopV2lvLTAz6ilnpxdnrulscWipaKslaHGbrLIp5inm5mjtG6ywKWjrGWjnbyzwIxqaWxtZWqDdX%2BSaA%3D%3D

Larita Shotwell

Update: 2024-07-20

PicoDash