"Hands on a Hardbody" to close on Broadway

"Hands on a Hardbody," the new Broadway musical about a group of people hoping to win a truck, is driving into the sunset following disastrous box office sales.

Producers said Monday that the show will close on Saturday after playing just 56 total performances, the fastest close of a new musical this season.

"Hands on a Hardbody" has a book by Pulitzer Prize-winner Doug Wright and songs by Phish lead singer Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green. It's about an endurance contest at a Texas car dealership offering a free pickup truck to whoever can keep their hands on it the longest.

"I did not know the amount of work it was going to take. I didn't know it was going to take four years and, you know, six days a week from 10:00 to 6:00," Anastasio said in a recent interview on CBS News' "Sunday Morning." "It's thrilling, though."

The musical, which opened to relatively good reviews on March 21 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, pulled in only $240,040 for the week ending Sunday, or 22 percent of its potential of $1,071,968. The highest amount it ever grossed over an eight-show week was $321,043. Last week, the theater was less than 60 percent full.

The 15-character cast led by Keith Carradine includes the nervous owners of the truck dealership and 10 down-on-their-luck guys and gals for whom the $22,000 truck represents a new chance. The red Nissan truck itself weighs 1,400 pounds (635 kilograms) and rests on 16 casters in the center of the stage.

The closing of the show will likely be a blow to the creators' chances of snagging a Tony Award nomination, which are not revealed until the end of the month. The musical's 28 preview and 28 regular performances narrowly beat "Scandalous" for the title of fastest-closing new musical this season. "Scandalous" closed after 60 total shows.