The Avett Brothers’ “Swept Away” will have its final bow on December 15.
The Main Stem’s new musical made its debut at the Longacre Theatre on October 29, with an opening night on November 19, following two successful runs at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in California and Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. By the time of its closing, it would have played 52 performances in total.
The production features a book by Tony Award winner John Logan, direction by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer, along with a choreography by Tony Award nominee David Neumann.
“Swept Away” tells the story of an English yacht that sank in the 1880’s off the Cape of Good Hope and its crew of four who were trapped on a lifeboat. The Avett Brothers own the music, which is inspired by the band’s 2004 record Mignonette. It was preceded by the release of the single “Swept Away” the same year.
Tony Award-winner John Gallagher Jr., Tony nominee Stark Sands, Adrian Blake Enscoe, and Wayne Duvall will all reprise their roles in the Broadway production from the show’s previous engagements in California and Washington, D.C.
While “Swept Away” had sold out runs at California’s Berkeley Repertory Theatre in early 2022 with extensions, as well as Arena Stage’s Kreeger Theater at the Mead Center for American Theater in Washington, D.C in 2023, it was stuck at an unsustainable 61% of the Broadway venue’s capacity, according to various sources like Broadway World and Deadline.
“Over the Thanksgiving holidays, when many shows on Broadway saw a sizable increase in grosses, Swept Only took in $412,182.30 for the week ending December 1—unfortunately not enough to cover the cost of the musical, which has 16 members in its cast,” Playbill said.
However, the show reached out to audiences across 50 states, alongside theaters overseas in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Japan.
“We are deeply proud of this beautiful production and the years of work that it took to get to Broadway,” said producers Matthew Masten, Sean Hudock, and Madison Wells Live in a statement. “We will forever be indebted to our fantastic creative team, our loyal actors, and all of our co-producers and in turn their investors, for believing in this production and taking a risk on new work.”
Chris Miller is in charge of music arrangement and orchestrations, and Will Van Dyke takes on music direction. The creative team also includes music arranger and orchestrator Chris Miller, music arranger and orchestrator/music supervisor Brian Usifer, Tony-winning set designer Rachel Hauck, Tony-winning costume designer Susan Hilferty, four-time Tony-winning lighting designer Kevin Adams, Tony-winning sound designer John Shivers, and casting directors Jim Carnahan, Jillian Cimini, and Alexandre Bleau.
Returning alongside the original cast are ensemble members Hunter Brown, Matt DeAngelis, Cameron Johnson, Brandon Kalm, Michael J. Mainwaring, Orville Mendoza, Tyrone L. Robinson, and John Sygar. Newly joining the company are Josh Breckenridge, Rico LeBron, Chase Peacock, and David Rowen. Swings John Michael Finley and Robert Pendilla round out the company.
Fans can check out the musical’s official website for tickets and more info.
