'Mountaintop' Play Starring Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett Breaks Even

The play closed Jan. 22 after 141 performances

‘Mountaintop,” Katori Hall’s fictional drama set in Dr. Martin Luther King’s hotel room the night before his April, 1968 assassination, recouped its $3 million dollar investment during its Broadway, the play announced before it closed last weekend.

The moneymaker may have been extended but Samuel L. Jackson, who played Dr. King, had a movie commitment. The play opened last October.

Less then a third of Broadway plays break even on their initial investments. ‘Mountaintop’ had 141 performances at the Jacobs Theater in New York City. It was directed by Kenny Leon (Fences, A Raisin in the Sun).

"I was an usher at Dr. King's funeral, so this is a full-circle moment," Jackson said of his role. "I understand what's going on outside that motel room, so this play touched a nerve inside me that said, 'You need to do this.' There's also a need to do something about Dr. King the man, as opposed to the icon, speechwriter and dreamer. In this play he's just a guy, thinking about his life, his family, the death threats. It's a way to inform young people who see the play about who Dr. King really was."