Jay Johnson: The Two and Only! Announces Broadway Closing; National Tour to Begin in Dallas

The Broadway production of Jay Johnson: The Two and Only! will close on either Sunday, November 26 or Sunday, December 3, depending on ticket demand. The show wil then launch its national tour in Spring 2007 at the Majestic Theatre in Dallas. Further details about the tour will be announced at a later date.

The show made its debut Off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater Company in 2004, and was later seen in Los Angeles, Boston, and other cities before opening at the Helen Hayes on September 28. Despite largely positive reviews, the show’s weekly gross was at times as low at $25,000. Earlier this week, producers offered a promotion of $2 tickets.

In this 90-minute show, Johnson discusses his lifelong interest in ventriloquism, starting with his childhood in Texas. He uses a variety of puppets, including Bob and Nethernore, as well as inanimate objects. Johnson first came to fame in the 1970s on the popular ABC sitcom Soap.

In their TheaterMania review, Barbara and Scott Siegel wrote: “This production shows off his skills within the context of a graceful autobiographical arc that is packed with laugh-out loud comedy and tearful poignancy.”