After Midnight to close early before Gladys Knight’s Broadway run

Gladys Knight and Natalie Cole will miss their Broadway turns in Tony-nominated musical After Midnight following producers’ decision to close the show early. The production will end after Patti LaBelle’s run as special guest star, which began last week (beg09Jun14), after 19 previews and 272 regular performances.
After Midnight, which celebrates Duke Ellington’s years at New York’s Cotton Club, was nominated for seven Tonys this year (14) and picked up the prize for Best Choreography a week ago (08Jun14).
Fantasia Barrino, LaBelle and Knight also opened the ceremony by performing a rendition of jazz standard Sunny Side of the Street. Barrino, k.d. lang, Toni Braxton, Kenny ‘Babyface’ Edmonds and Vanessa Williams have also appeared in the show at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.
Knight was scheduled to take over from LaBelle in July (14), and Cole was billed to appear from 5 to 31 August (14).