Broadway ‘Kentucky Cycle’ Closes After a Short Run : Schenkkan’s Two-Part Historical Epic Wins L.A. and a Pulitzer but Loses $2.5 Million in N.Y.

“The Kentucky Cycle” closed Sunday on Broadway after a disappointingly short run of only 34 post-preview performances, mixed reviews, and a loss of $2.5 million.

In Los Angeles nearly two years earlier, Robert Schenkkan’s two-part historical epic set a one-week box-office record at the Mark Taper Forum (since topped by “Angels in America”) and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize--the first play to do so without a New York production.

What went wrong?

Most observers agree that nothing went wrong with the play itself. The ensemble’s new star, Stacy Keach, was admired by most of the critics. Those who saw both versions generally liked Schenkkan’s rewriting of the next to the last of the nine one-act plays within the cycle. Taper producing-director Gordon Davidson, who remained a co-producer on Broadway, said the play looked better at Broadway’s Royale Theatre than at its previous venues--the Intiman Theatre in Seattle, the Taper, and the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theatre in Washington.

All of those previous venues had subscription audiences--people who bought the “Cycle” sight unseen, so reviews weren’t a life-and-death matter. Even so, one negative review in the Washington Post was said to have cost the production $500,000 in other revenues.

Davidson argues that in New York, too, the “Cycle” should have gone to “a subsidized house with a guaranteed audience.” But the only such theater there that could handle a project of this size, Lincoln Center, “wasn’t interested.”

And so in New York, reviews were all-important. One key review of the show played a major role in its demise. Although Frank Rich of the New York Times was only a few weeks away from leaving his post as chief theater critic, his very mixed response to the show evidently hurt ticket sales that were already a challenge to sell at $100 for the two-part epic.

The impact of Rich’s review seemed even more ironic when David Richards, then the Times’ regular Sunday reviewer but soon to become Rich’s successor, subsequently wrote a positive notice for the show several days later. It didn’t counteract the damage.

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Another way in which bad timing may have dogged the “Cycle” was in the simultaneous presence of another Taper-spawned, two-part epic, “Angels in America,” on Broadway. Was there room for two such extravaganzas in one recession-strapped season?

The primary “Cycle” producer, David Richenthal, said the relative difficulty of obtaining “Angels” tickets may actually have sent some frustrated theatergoers to “Cycle.” However, he also noted that the more enthusiastic (though not unanimous) reviews of “Angels”--Rich loved “Angels”--”may have spoiled theatergoers. They’ll see an epic only if it gets those kind of notices.”

He also acknowledged that “Angels” has “a core constituency in New York” of people who want to see AIDS and gay issues treated on stage, while “Cycle” “had to build an audience from scratch. We certainly couldn’t count on Kentuckians--who, if anything, were resistant.” Several Kentuckians have been quoted expressing resentment that the play didn’t represent their state accurately enough.

Richenthal changed his initial ticketing strategy, allowing people to buy tickets for as little as $12.50 to individual parts of “Cycle” instead of requiring a two-part purchase. And attendance was “never really bad,” said Davidson--recently, about 75% of the seats were filled. But judging from advance sales, attendance “was about to fall off the cliff” starting today. Hence the decision to pull the plug.

Although the Taper might have participated in any potential profit, it won’t lose any money from the loss. Its contribution to the “Cycle” was what it spent on its own staging.

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The show may yet be heard from, however. It will be eligible for Tony awards next spring. All members of the nominating committee saw it, and 200 Tony voters were expected to see it over the closing weekend.

Investors might still get a little money back if the “Cycle” goes on, as Richenthal expects, to productions in London, Australia and Chicago. He’s even talking about taking it on the road, with productions of parts 1 and 2 touring in consecutive years.

Furthermore, the early closing on Broadway hasn’t upset Home Box Office’s plan to present a miniseries based on the play in 1995, said an HBO spokesman.