The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has two more weeks at The Public Theater. The musical was due to close on December 6 and will now play the Newman Theater through December 20, an extension the theater has said will be its last.
It is not the first time the run has grown. The North American premiere of Jethro Compton and Darren Clark’s musical began performances on October 8 and had already been lengthened to December 6 before it opened on October 21. With the reviews now in, The Public has added two more weeks and drawn a line under it there.
The show reached New York by a long route. Compton and Clark first staged it at Southwark Playhouse in London in 2019, and it went on to the West End and to the Olivier Awards before this crossing. Compton wrote the book and directs; Clark wrote the music; the lyrics are shared between them. Their version moves F. Scott Fitzgerald’s story of a man who ages backwards to a fishing village on the Cornish coast, and hands the score to the cast: a company of 15 actor-musicians plays it on fiddles, guitars and accordion.
Andrew Durand is Benjamin and Kelsee Kimmel is Elowen Keene, and Chi-San Howard choreographs. The first production photos show how much of the staging is built around the instruments.
The Public also runs a day-of rush for the show, the Curious Queue: $45 tickets are sold at the Guest Desk from 5pm for evening performances, and from when the desk opens for matinees.
Tickets for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button are on sale now.
