Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber is “gutted” that the Broadway production of his Cats: The Jellicle Ball is closing tonight at the Broadhurst Theatre, five months earlier than originally planned.

In an emotional message posted on Instagram, Lloyd Webber says he hopes the show’s closing will serve as a warning about “the unsustainable cost” of producing new shows on Broadway.

“I’m gutted that the wonderful Broadway production of Cats: The Jellicle Ball is closing today,” he writes. “I’m immensely proud to have been a part of an incredibly daring production whose cast and creative team broke new ground on Broadway and gave 17 actors their Broadway debut.”

He continues, “Maybe the show’s closing just might be remembered as the moment that caused everyone involved with Broadway to come to their senses and address the unsustainable cost of producing and running any new show now on The Great White Way, let alone saying new work.”

See the message below.

Today’s message isn’t the first time Lloyd Webber has expressed his disappointment about the early closing. Last month, when the August 8 closing date was announced, he wrote, in part, “As someone who is still as in love with Broadway as I was when I was a teenager, I beg the theatre owners, unions and producers to come together urgently to address what is a crisis coming to a head. Broadway is in dire danger of rivalling Hollywood’s empty soundstages with increasingly dark theatres.”

That IG post drew both praise and harsh criticism among commenters. While Sunset Blvd. star Nicole Scherzinger commended Lloyd Webber as “exactly the person” to “help drive the change that’s needed,” others rejected his seeming equating of landlords and union members in sharing the responsibility of Broadway’s financial uncertainties. “So have the audacity to call out out Shubert Organization which has a monopoly on almost half the Broadway theaters,” wrote one of Lloyd Webber’s followers. “Call out their greed. They want producers to cover the rent and the entire operating costs. They want to keep the telecharge fees which they own. How is this allowed?”

Wrote a member of a costume crew, “Leave the union workers out of this we deserve to be paid fairly for our work. if you can’t afford to pay us fairly then you can’t afford to produce a show right. Very dangerous to include the unions in this to be honest,” while actor and dancer Neil Haskell wrote, “Most Broadway actors can barely afford to live in the city.”

Tonight’s closing will almost certainly have at least one immediate impact: A bump in final-week ticket sales. While the box office report for the week won’t be out until Tuesday, last week’s figures showed Cats: The Jellicle Ball posting its best box office numbers ever as last-chancers scrambled for seats. The production was at standing room only for the week ending August 2, grossing $1,405,709. That’s an increase of $216,278 over the previous week.

Regarding today’s message from the composer, at least one famous commenter and Broadway devotee had a suggestion.

“Why didn’t alw just fund it himself,” commented Rosie O’Donnell. “he’s a billionaire.” A big fan of the show, O’Donnell did add a “Like” to Lloyd Webber’s message.

Forty years ago, Rob Reiner‘s career path took an unexpected turn with the success of Stand by Me. After starring on All in the Family, Reiner moved behind the camera to direct a pair of comedies: 1984’s This Is Spinal Tap and 1985’s The Sure Thing.

An adaptation of Stephen King‘s 1982 novella The Body, Stand by Me represented Reiner’s first foray into dramatic filmmaking. The introspective movie centers on four classmates setting out to find the body of a boy who went missing in the woods. In addition to taking a more nostalgic tone than the darker source material, Stand by Me puts its focus on Wil Wheaton’s Gordie, with Richard Dreyfuss stepping in after principal photography to narrate the movie as an adult version of the character.

Reiner said that he cast the young actors — Wheaton, River Phoenix, Jerry O’Connell and Corey Feldman — because they felt like real versions of their roles, and indeed, Wheaton has been open that surviving abuse at home inspired his performance as the neglected Gordie. Wheaton tells THR that he appreciates Reiner having sent the young cast to rural Oregon two weeks ahead of the shoot to bond. The actor adds, “More than once, we would be goofing off after rehearsal, and Rob would tell us to put that into the scene.”

Phoenix, who shot to stardom with the film before his death from an overdose at age 23, told THR at the time that he respected the director’s honest approach: “He knows how to bring the flavor of something to the screen.”

Columbia released Stand by Me on Aug. 22, 1986, and the film became a sleeper hit, grossing $52 million ($161 million today) and landing an Oscar nomination for its script.

Stand by Me was among the films of Reiner that were fondly remembered after he and his wife, Michele, were murdered late last year. King recalled in a December tribute in The New York Times how he “surprised the hell out of myself by giving him a hug” after Reiner showed him the completed film ahead of its release. Wheaton, O’Connell and Feldman have been sharing memories of the director and film during live Stand by Me anniversary shows. Reiner once said, “I look back on it as the richest experience I’ve had in making a film.”

This story appeared in the Aug. 5 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.