'Mr. Saturday Night' to close Sept. 4

The weeks seem to be numbered for Broadway's "Mr. Saturday Night." On Sunday evening, producers announced that the musical starring Long Beach-raised Billy Crystal will play its final performance at the Nederlander Theatre on Sept. 4.

"Bringing 'Mr. Saturday Night' to the Broadway stage and experiencing the laughter and tears this show generates has truly been one of the high points of my career," Crystal said in a statement. "It has been a joyous experience to make my musical comedy debut at the age of 74, and I thank everyone involved."

The show is based on Crystal's 1992 movie of the same title in which he portrayed curmudgeonly Buddy Young, a once-famous stand-up comic in his 70s who has fallen on hard times both professionally and personally. Crystal, Babaloo Mandel and Lowell Ganz co-wrote the book for the musical based on their screenplay.

"Mr. Saturday Night," which opened April 27, scored five Tony nominations, including nods for best musical, lead actor for Crystal, featured actress for Shoshana Bean, book and score. The cast also includes Randi Graff as Crystal's wife and David Paymer, who is reprising his Oscar-nominated screen role as Crystal's brother. When the production concludes, it will have played 28 previews and 116 performances.

Crystal will not be remaining idle once the show closes. He's next set to star in and executive-produce the AppleTV+ series "Before," in which he'll play a child psychiatrist who takes an interest in a troubled boy. Oscar winner Barry Levinson ("Rain Man") is set to direct.