Upcoming Beaches, A New Musical dates
Dates and live ticket listings appear here as soon as they are on sale. The guide below covers what to know before you buy.
Where things stand for Beaches
You cannot see Beaches, A New Musical on Broadway. The production played its final performance at the Majestic Theatre on May 24, 2026, after 28 previews and 38 regular performances, well short of the September 6 end date it had been booked to. The decision followed weak sales in previews and mostly negative reviews. At the time of the closing announcement, the producers said a national tour remained planned for 2027, with no cities or dates released.
So the practical question is the tour. If it is routed to your city, the seat advice below is what matters; the rest of this page is the record of the New York run.
Picking seats if the tour comes to town
Touring Broadway musicals usually play performing arts centers that run subscription seasons, typically for one or two weeks per stop. Those halls tend to be wider and deeper than a Broadway house, which changes the math.
Center orchestra, middle third
The first choice for a show carried by two leading women and their big solo numbers. You want to see faces.
Front mezzanine, center
The value pick. The Broadway design relied heavily on projections, and projected scenery looks sharpest from straight on and slightly above.
Wide side seats
Skip them in a big hall. At steep angles, projected images can stretch or wash out.
Expect subscribers to take many of the best seats before single tickets go on sale, so good locations may be scarce until close to the dates. Every Reserved Seat order is backed by a 100% guarantee.
Cee Cee, Bertie and Wind Beneath My Wings
The show adapts Iris Rainer Dart's 1985 novel, the book behind the 1988 Disney film starring Bette Midler. Its two leads meet as girls on the beach in Atlantic City: Cee Cee Bloom, a brassy would-be singer from the Bronx, and Bertie White, a quiet, studious San Francisco girl who grows up to practice law. Letters keep them connected across marriages, careers and quarrels, and the story ends with Bertie's illness.
The score mixes new songs with Wind Beneath My Wings, the Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley ballad that Midler turned into a Grammy-winning hit through the film.
Three versions over ten years
The New York production was the last stop in a long, uneven development:
- Signature Theatre, Arlington, Virginia, 2014: the first staging, directed by Eric D. Schaeffer, with music by David Austin.
- Drury Lane Oakbrook Theatre, outside Chicago, 2015: Schaeffer directed again. Thom Thomas, who co-wrote the book, died that December, and work paused.
- Theatre Calgary, 2024: a rebuilt version with a new score by Mike Stoller, orchestrations by Charlie Rosen and a revised book from Dart, co-directed by Lonny Price and Matt Cowart. This is the version that came to Broadway.
Who was on stage at the Majestic
Previews started March 27, 2026, at the Majestic Theatre, 245 West 44th Street, a 1,681-seat house (the Shubert Organization's count) best known as the long-time home of The Phantom of the Opera. The revival of Gypsy had played there immediately before, from late 2024 to August 2025.
- Leads: Jessica Vosk as Cee Cee and Kelli Barrett as Bertie, with Ben Jacoby as Michael Barron and Brent Thiessen as John Perry. Samantha Schwartz and Zeya Grace played the two girls.
- Writers and staging: book by Dart and Thom Thomas, music by Stoller, lyrics by Dart, direction by Price and Cowart, choreography by Jennifer Rias.
- Designers: James Noone (sets), Tracy Christensen (costumes), Ken Billington (lights) and Kai Harada (sound).
Why the reviews sank it
The critical complaints focused on the writing and the look of the show, and spared the cast. The New York Times found the friendship told in a "distractingly sloppy" way, and Time Out New York judged much of it banal, with Bertie's songs the weakest. Deadline dismissed the evening as largely forgettable and singled out the sets, while The Guardian thought the projections did too much of the work and the book, though often funny, ran thin emotionally. Entertainment Weekly argued that loyalty to the novel kept Bertie underwritten.
Jessica Vosk drew praise from both EW and The Guardian, and TheaterMania stood apart with an enthusiastic review. Trade reporting, including The Hollywood Reporter's, linked the early closing to the show being shut out of the 2026 Tony nominations.
For musicals still running, see Broadway and Musicals, or Death Becomes Her, another stage version of a well-known film.
Frequently asked questions
When did Beaches, A New Musical close?
On May 24, 2026, at the Majestic Theatre. It had been scheduled to run until September 6.
Why did Beaches close early on Broadway?
Reports tied the closing to soft sales during previews, largely negative reviews and the show missing out on 2026 Tony nominations.
Where should I sit if the Beaches tour comes to my city?
Center orchestra in the middle rows is best for the two lead performances, and the center front mezzanine is the value pick. Avoid extreme side seats, where projected scenery can distort.
Who wrote the music for Beaches, A New Musical?
Mike Stoller wrote the music for the Broadway version, with lyrics by Iris Rainer Dart. The score also includes Wind Beneath My Wings by Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley.
Who played Cee Cee Bloom on Broadway?
Jessica Vosk, opposite Kelli Barrett as Bertie.