Producers said Wednesday that the play starring Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Basset recouped its entire initial investment of $3.1 million. It closes Sunday because Jackson has a movie commitment.
Playwright Katori Hall's fictional drama set in the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on the night before the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began performances Sept. 22 and opened Oct. 13.
When it closes, it will have played 24 preview and 117 regular performances.
In the play, audiences watch King flirt, curse, smoke Pall Malls, sip booze and even have a pillow fight with a mysterious hotel worker who brings the civil rights leader coffee.
