Sara Krulwich/The New York Times The original cast of “Old Jews Telling Jokesâ€: from left, Bill Army, Audrey Lynn Weston, Lenny Wolpe, Marilyn Sokol and Todd Susman, at the Westside Theater.After a healthy 15-month run, “Old Jews Telling Jokes,†the revue of Jewish-themed comedic songs and ethnic humor, will close on Sept. 15 at the Westside Theater, the show’s producers announced on Tuesday. (A sample gag: Why don’t Jewish mothers drink? They don’t want to dull the pain.) When it closes the show will have played 22 previews and 552 regular performances.
Co-created by the authors Peter Gethers and Daniel Okrent, the first public editor of The New York Times, and directed by Marc Bruni, the production was inspired by the Web site oldjewstellingjokes.com, which features people doing just that. When the show opened in May of last year the reviews were mostly positive. In his review for The Times, Jason Zinoman wrote: “Some jokes are obscene and politically incorrect, but the essence of the comedy is sweetly warm, even cautious.â€
In separate interviews Mr. Gethers and Mr. Okrent said despite the closing notice they were happy with the show’s run, a long one by Off Broadway standards these days. “I thought it was going to run for six years,†said Mr. Okrent. “Everybody who has a show thinks it’s going to run forever. Most don’t last half as long as we did.†Mr. Okrent said the show partially recouped its initial capitalization, although he declined to say how much it was.
Both Mr. Okrent and Mr. Gethers said the shows’ investors were likely to make their money back with future productions of the show, including a possible tour. A Chicago production is already scheduled, with performances at the Royal George Theater set to begin on Sept 24. Mr. Gethers said he and Mr. Okrent hoped to mount the show in London next spring, with little of the show’s New York flavor changed for a British audience.
“We’ll have the great irony of having British actors doing New York Jewish accents,†said Mr. Okrent.
