Tom Stoppard's Jumpers to Close on July 11

Tom Stoppard's Jumpers, starring 2004 Tony nominees Simon Russell Beale and Essie Davis, will end it Broadway run six weeks early on July 11. The show had been scheduled to complete its limited engagement at the Brooks Atkinson on August 22. By the time it closes, the production will have completed 23 previews and 112 regular performances.

Jumpers centers on George Moore Beale, a professor of philosphy, who is struggling to write a speech about moral absolutes and the existence of God, while coping with the distraction of his mentally unbalanced wife, Dorothy Davis, a musical comedy star, and the murder investigation being conducted in their bedroom. In addition to the two aforementioned stars, Jumpers features Nicky Henson, Eliza Lumley, John Rogan and Nicholas Woodeson.

After runs at London's National Theatre and in the West End, this production of Jumpers, directed by David Leveaux, opened on Broadway on April 25. In his Broadway.com Review of the mounting, William Stevenson wrote: "Tom Stoppard's 1972 play Jumpers is brainy yet zany, an ingenious combination of philosophy, comedy, murder mystery, vaudeville and songs. The fact is most audience members won't follow the play's meandering philosophical discussions. But they should still enjoy the witty wordplay and the knockout performances by Simon Russell Beale, Essie Davis and the rest of the company."

As previously reported, the next tenant at the Brooks Atkinson will be another National Theatre production: Michael Frayn's Democracy, which is scheduled to begin previews there on November 2 in preparation for a November 18 opening.