Kathie Lee's Broadway show, 'Scandalous,' to close

In the end, Kathie Lee Gifford's popularity with a national TV audience couldn't make her words a hit with Broadway theatergoers.

Producers of Scandalous, Gifford's first outing as a Broadway lyricist and librettist, announced Tuesday that the new musical would have its final performance this Sunday, after playing 31 previews and 29 regular performances. Subtitled The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson, the show -- which followed McPherson, a 1920s evangelist, through her rise to fame and subsequent struggles with controversy -- received less-than-stellar reviews.

Sales had been weak, and there were reports that two producers had dug into their own pockets to underwrite their losses.

Scandalous, which features music by David Pomeranz and David Friedman, did earn positive notices for its star, Carolee Carmello, pictured above, right, with Roz Ryan.