‘Life of Pi’ to Close on Broadway in July

Abbey White
·2 min read
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Life of Pi, the Tony-winning play based on Yann Martel’s best-selling novel, will close this July.

The show will play its last performance on July 23 at Broadway’s Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, with Olivier Award-winner Hiran Abeysekera portraying lead character Pi Patel through July 9. Cast member Uma Paranjpe will then take over the role, beginning July 11 until the show closes, in a gender-reversed version of Lolita Chakrabarti’s original script. The show’s closing comes less than fourth months after its official opening.

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Life of Pi, which was also adapted into an Academy Award-winning movie, is set to launch a North American tour beginning in fall 2024, with locations and dates to be announced at a later date.

Written by Chakrabarti and directed by Max Webster, the play opened on March 30, 2023 following previews, which began on March 9. The story follows a 16-year-old Indian boy, Pi Patel, who survives more than 200 days stranded on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger, a hyena, a zebra and an orangutan after a cargo ship wrecks and sinks in the Pacific Ocean.

The cast includes Brian Thomas Abraham, Rajesh Bose, Avery Glymph, Mahira Kakkar, Kirstin Louie, Salma Qarnain, Sathya Sridharan, Daisuke Tsuji, Sonya Venugopal, with Nikki Calonge, Shiloh Goodin, Jon Hoche, Rowan Ian Seamus Magee, Jonathan David Martin, Betsy Rosen, Celia Mei Rubin, Andrew Wilson, Oge Agulué, Mahnaz Damania, Taha Mandviwala, Usman Ali Mughal and David Shih. Sonya Venugopal serve as the production’s Pi understudy.

The play is produced by Simon Friend, Daryl Roth, Hal Luftig, Mark Gordon and Playing Field. Its creative team includes puppet and movement direction by Finn Caldwell, puppet design by Caldwell and Nick Barnes and video design by Andrzej Goulding. Set and costume design are by Tim Hatley, with lighting design by Lutkin and sound design by Carolyn Downing. The show’s original music is from Andrew T. Mackay with dramaturgy by Jack Bradley.

The Olivier-winning play was nominated for five Tony Awards and won three at the 2023 ceremony earlier this month, including best scenic design of a play, best lighting design of a play and best sound design of a play.

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