SHORT TAKES : Producer Extends ‘Chorus Line’ N.Y. Performances for 4 Weeks

“A Chorus Line” will keep kicking for four more weeks.

Broadway’s longest-running show, originally scheduled to close March 31, will now end its lengthy run on April 28 after 6,137 performances, producer Joseph Papp said today.

“In my original announcement, I made it clear that if box office pressure warranted, I would extend the closing a few weeks,” said Papp, head of the New York Shakespeare Festival. “I am pleased that the public has rallied so splendidly. The extension will permit some 50,000 more people the opportunity to see the show.”

Business has boomed at the Shubert Theater box office. “A Chorus Line” is almost completely sold out through the end of the month, Papp said. Weekly grosses have jumped nearly $200,000 since Papp’s Feb. 21 announcement that the musical would finally shut.