‘Pippin’ to soon close on Broadway; national tour gets new leading man

“Pippin,” the profitable 2013 revival of the popular Stephen Schwartz musical, will play its final performance on Broadway in January.

Organizers announced Monday that the Tony Award-winning production, which originated at the American Repertory Theatre in Massachusetts, will play its last performance on Jan. 4 at the Music Box Theatre in New York.

The revival production, which opened in April, recouped its initial investment of $8.5 million in December, according to the New York Times. It won the Tony for best revival of a musical, plus three other awards, for actresses Patina Miller and Andrea Martin and director Diane Paulus.

Separately, organizers of the “Pippin” national tour, which is currently in Los Angeles at the Pantages Theatre, have announced that actor Matthew James Thomas has left the production and will be succeeded by Kyle Dean Massey, starting Tuesday.

Thomas originated the title role of “Pippin” in the current Broadway revival. Massey has also played the role in New York.

The touring version of “Pippin” is scheduled to run at the Pantages through Nov. 9 before moving on to the Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts in Costa Mesa, where it is set to run Nov. 11 to 23.

On Broadway, “Pippin” recently welcomed “The Voice” alumnus Josh Kaufman, who took over the lead role from Massey.

Producers are planning future productions of “Pippin” for London, Australia and Amsterdam.

Twitter: @DavidNgLAT