Broadway Update: Burstein and Buena Vista

Gypsy Finds its Herbie: Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle winner Danny Burstein (Moulin Rouge, Fiddler on the Roof, Follies) will star as Herbie alongside six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald in the upcoming revival of Gypsy. Previews begin Nov. 21 at the Majestic Theater for this sixth Broadway production of the musical based on the memoirs of legendary strip-tease artist Gypsy Rose Lee. This show opens Dec. 19, 2024. Previous Herbies include Jack Klugman, Karl Malden, Rex Robbins, Jonathan Hadary, John Dossett, and Boyd Gaines.

Broadway Update: Picture This and Making Mincemeat

Picture This: Emmy and Olivier Award winner Sarah Snook (“Succession”) will make her Broadway debut playing 26 characters in the dazzling production of The Picture of Dorian Gray. The breathtaking stage adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s only novel is adapted and directed by Kip Williams, the Artistic Director of Sydney Theatre Company, where the production originated. The Picture of Dorian Gray will open at a Shubert theatre in March for a strictly limited engagement.

TOTALTHEATER MASTER INDEX OF PERIODICA ARTICLES

TOTALTHEATER MASTER INDEX OF ALL PERIODICA ARTICLES

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Oct. 2024: Broadway Update: Picture This and Making Mincemeat (David Sheward) https://totaltheater.com/?q=node/9675

Broadway Update: Five Years and a Redwood

Five Years This Year: Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years will have its Broadway premiere in a new production starring Tony winner Adrienne Warren (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical) and Nick Jonas (The Jonas Brothers, How to Succeed…) directed by Tony and Drama Desk nominee Whitney White (Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, On Sugarland), set to open in spring 2025. The two-character musical premiered at the Northlight Theater in Skokie, Illinois.

Broadway Update: Lincoln Center and Dolly's Hello

Lincoln Center Theater has announced its 2024-25 season for its Vivian Beaumont, Mitzi Newhouse and Clara Tow Theaters. LCT’s Broadway season at the Vivian Beaumont begins with the previously announced MCNEAL (sic) by Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar and starring Robert Downey Jr. in his Broadway debut (previews Sept. 5 and opens Sept. 30). 

Broadway Update: Mary and Two Juliets

Making Mary:
Mary Todd Lincoln is coming to Broadway. After a sold-out, twice extended run at the Lortel Theater Off-Broadway, Cole Escola’s riotous comedy Oh, Mary! starring Escola in the title role, will transfer to the Lyceum Theater this summer. Performances begin June 26 in advance of a July 11 opening for a limited run through Sept. 15. 

Broadway Update (4/5/2024): Town and Circle

Cast members, dates, and a theater have been announced for the upcoming Broadway revival of Thornton Wilder’s beloved Our Town, to be directed by Tony winner Kenny Leon (Purlie Victorious, A Raisin in the Sun). Previews will begin Sept. 14 at the Barrymore Theater prior to an Oct. 10 opening.

Broadway Update: From Desmond to Delia

As the 2023-24 Broadway season begins the final mad rush to its conclusion just before the Tony deadline, the 2024-25 season is starting to solidify.

Boulevard and Baker

Broadway Update: More Appropriate, Queen Cheno, Doubtful Ryan

More Appropriate:
The Second Stage revival of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s  Appropriate will be moving from the Hayes Theater (to make room for Paula Vogel’s Mother Play) to a limited run at the now-vacant Belasco Theater (after How to Dance in Ohio closed) from March 25 to June 23. The entire company will repeating their roles, except for Elle Fanning who has a scheduling conflict. Her replacement for the role of River will be announced in the coming weeks. The transfer will increase the play’s chances at the Tony Awards.

Broadway Update (1/5/2024): Stereophonic Sunset

Rise Sunset: The minimalist revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard, which is about to close in London, will transfer to Broadway. A somewhat vaguely worded press release announced that the show, directed by Jamie Lloyd, is indeed making the transatlantic leap sometime during this year. Former lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls Nicole Scherzinger will repeat her star performance as Norma Desmond, along with Tom Francis as Joe Gillis, Grace Hodgett-Young as Betty Schaeffer, and David Thaxton as Max Von Mayerling.

Broadway & Off-Broadway Update (12/24/23): Stranger Signs

It’s a Sign: Yet another jukebox musical is headed our way. A Sign of the Times will feature music from 1960s pop legends such as Petula Clark, Leslie Gore, and Dusty Springfield. Preview performances being Feb. 2 at New World Stages in advance of a Feb. 22 opening.

Broadway and Off-Broadway Update (12/5/2023): From Hell to Hamlet

To Hell and Forward:
Hell’s Kitchen, the new musical employing the songs of and inspired by the life of pop singer-songwriter Alicia Keys, is transferring from its current home at the Public Theater to Broadway. Previews begin March 28 at the Shubert Theater with an opening set for April 20. The show runs at the Public until Jan. 14, 2024.

Broadway Update (Oct. 28, 2023): Tommy and Town

The reimagined revival of The Who’s Tommy which had a hit run at Chicago’s Goodman Theater this past summer will join other renovated revivals including Cabaret, Merrily We Roll Along, and The Wiz on Broadway. The musical based on The Who’s 1969 concept album about a deaf, mute and blind pinball wizard will begin previews at the Nederlander Theater, to be vacated by Shucked in early 2024, on March 8 with an opening set for March 28. The Who’s Tommy originally opened in 1993 with direction by Des McAnuff who will return as stager.

Broadway Update (October 26, 2023): Come Back to the Cabaret

Star casting and dates have been confirmed for the upcoming revival of Cabaret, the fifth production of the Kander and Ebb musical based on John van Druten’s I Am a Camera and Christopher Isherwood’s “Berlin Stories.” Oscar and Tony winner Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything,” “Red”) will repeat his London, Olivier-winning performance as the Emcee, and Gayle Rankin (HBO’s “House of the Dragon”) will play Sally Bowles, the tragic nightclub singer.

Broadway Update (Oct. 17, 2023): Suffs, My Son

Suff Stuff
After a sold-out, extended run at the Public Theater in 2022, the musical Suffs, Shaina Taub’s sweeping chronicle of the women’s suffrage movement, will be opening on Broadway at the Music Box Theater. The opening is set for April 18 (preview dates have not been announced.) Lead producers Jill Furman and Rachel Sussman will be joined by former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai as co-producers. 

Pastoral Settings and Scenic Drives: Shows Playing In Chicago's Suburbs

The American Suburb, proliferating just after World War II, was invented to combine the best of rural and urban lifestyles. Decreasing numbers of available servants and increasing numbers of privately-owned automobiles both played a part in disrupting these optimistic goals, but the ancient bonds connecting the Dionysian play festivals of antiquity with our diverse Community Arts Leagues today have remained unbroken.

Off-Broadway Update (9/20/2023): Wanna Iguana?

Wanna Iguana?: La Femme Theater Productions will present an Off-Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams’s The Night of the Iguana, directed by Emily Mann (Having Our Say, Execution of Justice). Previews begin Dec. 6 with a Dec. 17 opening for a limited run through Feb. 25, 2024 at the Irene Diamond Stage of the Pershing Square Signature Theater Center (this is not a Signature Theater Company production).

Broadway Update: Mother Play & Death Becomes Her

Casting and dates have been announced for Mother Play by Paula Vogel (Indecent, How I Learned to Drive) to open this coming spring at Second Stage’s Hayes Theater. Tony and Drama Desk winner Celia Keenan-Bolger (To Kill a Mockingbird), Oscar, Emmy and Tony winner Jessica Lange (Long Day’s Journey Into Night), and Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG winner Jim Parsons (“The Big Bang Theory”) will star in the world premiere directed by Tony nominee and Drama Desk winner Tina Landau (SpongeBob SquarePants the Musical).

Hold That Crisis: Chicago's Fall Season is Off to an Exuberant Start

"American Theater is Imploding Before Our Eyes!" howled the perpetually-alarmed New York Times last month, as it warned of an impending "crisis" in the arts. Does this sound familiar? Didn't we hear this same outcry at the start of the pandemic in 2020, and in 2016. when gentrification displaced several storefront venues, or, even earlier, following on the "death of irony" airstrike in 2001?

Broadway Update - Aug. 24, 2023: The Outsiders and The Vineyard

A new musical based on “The Outsiders,” S.E. Hinton’s young-adult novel about rival teen gangs in 1967 Oklahoma, will be opening on Broadway this spring after a world-premiere production at the La Jolla Playhouse in Feb.-March of this year. Oscar winner Angelina Jolie will be among the lead producers. Previews begin March 16 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater prior to an April 11 opening. Danya Taymor (Pass Over) directs. 

Broadway Update - August 3, 2023: Spamalot, Readings, and Regional

The Knights Who Say Ni, The Killer Rabbit, King Arthur and Patsy and all the other medieval maniacs are galloping back to Broadway. The Kennedy Center production of Monty Python’s Spamalot will arrive at the St. James Theater with previews starting Oct. 31 and opening Nov. 16. Josh Rhodes (Bright Star, Cinderella) will repeat his direction and choreography from the Kennedy Center production. 

Treat Williams: When He was a Lion

Treat Williams, the actor known for his roles in the movies “Hair” and “Deep Rising” and the TV show “Everwood,” has died. An  S.U.V. crashed into his motorcycle in Dorset, Vt. He was 71.

We spoke with him in 2013 following a performance as King Henry in The Lion in Winter. There was an after-party in a tent that included Jayne Atkinson his co-star.

Williams appeared to be in an upbeat mood after a superb and successful performance. He was chatting with Aaron Costa Ganis who played young Prince Richard to his King Henry while I was photographing.

Broadway Update - July 29, 2023: Broadway Update: Star Casting with Paulson, Plaza, Shannon

Emmy, SAG and Golden Globe winner Sarah Paulson (“American Crime Story”) will return to the New York stage in the Broadway premiere of Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins’s Appropriate, with previews beginning Nov. 28 in advance of a Dec. 18 opening at the Hayes Theater in a Second Stage production.

Broadway Update - July 22: Sondheim Show and Ohio

IATSE, the union representing backstage technicians and craftspeople, and the Broadway League and Disney have reached a tentative agreement, awaiting ratification of the rank and file union members, thereby averting a possible strike and shutdown of Broadway and touring shows. After heaving a sigh of relief, let’s catch up on all the Broadway and Off-Broadway news that perked up the past two weeks:

Sondheim Show Announces Cast and Dates:

Broadway Update - July 1, 2023: Imitation of Life in Development

A new musical based on “Imitation of Life,” the Fannie Hurst novel and the classic Hollywood film version and subsequent remake, is in development. Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage (Ruined, Sweat) authors the book and EGOT recipient John Legend will compose the score and write the lyrics. Tony nominee Liesl Tommy (Eclipsed) directs. A private industry reading took place on April 24-28, 2023.

Broadway Update - June 23: Gad and Rannells Go for Gutenburg!

Book of Mormon co-stars Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells will be reunited in the Broadway premiere of Gutenberg! The Musical, written by Tony and Emmy nominees Scott Brown and Anthony King and directed by Tony winner Alex Timbers who staged the show’s original Off-Broadway production in 2006. Previews for the two-man musical begin Sept. 15 at the James Earl Jones Theater prior to an Oct. 12 opening.

Thoughts and Memories of Stephen Sondheim

 On the Friday after Thanksgiving, my husband and I were driving back from Philadelphia after a visit to my mother. For some unknown reason, I got the urge to listen to Sondheim. We had not been listening to the radio news, so I didn’t know about his death. I punched his name into the Spotify search engine we heard “A Little Priest,” “Another Hundred People,” “The Ladies Who Lunch,” “The Miller’s Son,” “Hello, Little Girl,” and “Now You Know.” A loving and unexpected tribute to the greatest musical theater writer of the 20th century.

Broadway Update - June 13, 2023: Melissa Etheridge, Musicians for Love, Tonys

Pop star Melissa Etheridge joins Bruce Springsteen and David Byrne in bringing an autobiographical, concert-style show to Broadway. She begins previews of  Melissa Etheridge: My Window at the Circle in the Square on Sept. 14 in anticipation of a Sept. 28 opening for a nine-week limited engagement.

Off-Broadway Update - June 8, 2023: Alicia Keys Musical and More at the Public

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Alicia Keys is coming to Off-Broadway with Hell’s Kitchen, a new musical loosely based on her own life, beginning performances Oct. 24 at the Public Theater prior to a Nov. 19 opening. The score will consists of new material from Keys and her previous hits. The book is by Pulitzer Prize finalist Kristoffer Diaz (The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity). Tony nominee Michael Greif (Rent) directs and Tony nominee Camille A. Brown (for colored girls…) provides the choreography.

Broadway Update: June 2, 2023: Doubt, Prayer, Writers and Musicians Up in Arms

Tony and Emmy winner Tyne Daly and Tony winner Liev Schreiber will headline the first Broadway revival of John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt: A Parable, presented by Roundabout Theater Company with performances beginning in February 2024. Tony Award nominee Scott Ellis directs. The play about a strong-willed nun confronting a priest over a suspected illicit relationship with a young male student originally premiered Off-Broadway in 2004 at Manhattan Theater Club’s City Center space. That production starred Cherry Jones, Brian F.

Broadway Update: May 13, 2023

Broadway Update: No Tony Broadcast, Strong is the Enemy, Nancy Drew, Too

No Tony Broadcast
News flash: First COVID and now the writers’ strike. The 2023 Tony Awards will not be broadcast on Pluto and CBS as planned on June 11. The producers of the ceremony had hoped to be granted a waiver by the union, but it has been denied.

Big Chickens, Baby Robots and X-rated Space Aliens

The chickens dubbed "Jersey Giants" by poultry breeders can grow to heights of over twenty-four inches and weigh up to fourteen pounds, but urban audiences at Hell In a Handbag's Agatha Christie parody A Fine Feathered Murder were still unprepared for the entrance of a SIX-FOOT-TALL ROOSTER that proceeded to nuzzle people's pockets in search of snacks and even steal a sip from a front-row customer's glass of beer.

Rockefeller and Them

After Seeing Rockefeller and I, Steve Capra interviewed the solo performer, John Gutierrez, and the director, Uwe Mengel — both of whom wrote the script. The show was presented by La MaMA, May 25-28, 2022, in NYC. Also see Steve Capra's review at TotalTheater.com.

STEVE CAPRA (SC): Is your earlier work like this?

Report on Chicago Theater at the Dawn of 2022

My first story after the theaters shut down in 2020 reminded us that the London playhouses shut down for eighteen years during the Interregnum (1642-1660). Though their plague conditions and tools for response thereto, differed considerably from ours, many of the same solutions born of necessity emerged: Printed copies of plays for citizens to read in solitary comfort? We had videos to enjoy in our own rooms.  "Chamber readings" in private homes?

Tony Award Predictions for 2021

 After a year and a half, the long-delayed Tony Awards will finally be presented tonight.

When all the Broadway theaters shut down in March 2020, the accolades were in limbo. The Drama Desks, Outer Critics, and Obies decided to honor the achievements of the abbreviated 2019-20 theater season either online and by press release in the late spring of 2020. But the Tonys dithered for months, probably because they wanted to wait until all the theaters could be reopened to maximize the publicity values.

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