Mother Nature has her faux fur coat on the foot of her bed and she’s almost ready to step out for New York’s hottest shows. We are here to celebrate the eight shows that will open up on Broadway before October.
Marianne Elliott (Company, Angels in America, Warhorse) directs this critically-acclaimed West End Transfer
Tony Award Nominee and Multi-Olivier Award Winner Sharon D. Clarke, Wendell Pierce (HBO’s The Wire) and the incomparable André De Shields round out this powerhouse cast
The Black actors portraying the Loman family during the 1940s transcends the writing making an even harder hit for Willy, his wife and his boys
The 2017-2018 Broadway season reached 13,792,614 in attendance and grossed over $1.6 million. Despite these record setting numbers, discussion and debate broke out amongst fans as all four Tony nominated Best Musicals were stage adaptations of films; The Band’s Visit, SpongeBob SquarePants the Musical, Frozen, and Mean Girls.
The Broadway cast of Some Like It Hot
A major criticism of Broadway is the trend of stage adaptations of popular movies, which has been featured heavily in recent seasons. With this upcoming season having two announced adaptations, Almost Famous and Some Like It Hot, and even more rumored for the future including The Notebook, The Devil Wears Prada, and a transfer of the West End’s Back to the Future, there is an understandable interest in the creation and development of original stories on Broadway. What many theatergoers are unaware of is that this trend isn’t new to Broadway. In fact, Broadway has a long history of translating movies to the stage including some classic and fan favorite shows.
Little Shop Of Horrors
While some adaptations are more obvious, such as the Disney Broadway catalog including shows like Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, and The Lion King, many well known theater classics were inspired by movies. Sondheim and Wheeler’s A Little Night Music, which originally opened on Broadway in 1973 and ran for 601 performances, is based on the 1955 Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night. The well-known Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon staple Sweet Charity, written by Neil SImon with music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Dorothy Fields, is based on the 1957 screenplay Nights of Cabiria. Little Shop of Horrors, whose award winning Off-Broadway revival is currently running at the Westside Theatre, is based on the low budget 1960 dark comedy, The Little Shop of Horrors. Andrew Lloyd Webbers’ Sunset Boulevard, which broke advance sale records and sold over 1 million tickets with its original Broadway production, is based on the 1950 film of the same name. Some other classics include Nine, based on Frederico Fellini’s 1963 film 8½, On The 20th Century, based on the 1930s film of the same name, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s State Fair, and Promises, Promises, based on the 1960 film The Apartment.
Heathers The Musical on Roku
Beyond the classics, many fan favorites, such as Heathers which currently has a production on the West End, are based on films. The 2007 Legally Blonde, which has become a go-to for many community theaters and High Schools across the country, is heavily based heavily on the 2001 film starring Reese Witherspoon as well as the Amanda Brown novel. The beloved Sara Bareilles musical Waitress, which ran on Broadway from 2016 to 2020 and returned in a limited engagement in 2021, is based on the 2007 film written by Adrienne Shelly. Other fan favorite adaptations include the currently running Beetlejuice, based on the Tim Burton horror comedy, 9 to 5, based on the 1980 film, Anastasia, based on the 1997 animated movie, and many more.
Billy Elliott the Musical
Some screen to stage adaptations have even garnered critical acclaim and gone on to win Tony Awards, such as Once, which won the 2012 Tony Award for Best Musical. Carnival, which won the 1962 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Musical and an Outer Critics Circle Award, was based on the 1953 film Lili. The 2013 winner Kinky Boots, which ran on Broadway for 2,507 performances and is currently running Off-Broadway at Stage 42, is based on a 2005 British film of the same name. The 2021 Tony Award-winning Best Musical, Moulin Rouge!, is based on the 2001 film starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. Other Tony Award winning adaptations include Billy Elliot the Musical, Spamalot, Hairspray, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Producers, and Passion.
The river flows both ways. While many musicals based on films have gone on to win awards and break records, Hollywood continues to turn out movies based on beloved Broadway shows. In the last 5 years alone, there have been a slew of film adaptations of Musicals including Jonathan Larsons’ Tick, Tick…Boom, directed by Lin Manuel Miranda starring Andrew Garfield, a remake of West Side Story directed by Stephen, In The Heights, 13, The Prom, Dear Evan Hansen, and The Last 5 Years (although this came out in 2014 and has yet to have a Broadway production). Coming to Netflix this December will be a movie adaptation of the acclaimed musical Matilda. The long-running Broadway musical Wicked, which has multiple national tours and international productions, has a film adaptation in the late stages of development starring Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, and Jonathan Bailey.
While there should be a healthy mix of original stories and adaptations in commercial theater, the relationship between Broadway and the silver screen has an extensive history that shouldn’t be dismissed. If a screen to stage adaptation is done well, it has the potential to connect with audiences, set records, and become a staple in the theater canon.
It was a wonderful opportunity to explore Lillian Hellman’s classic play with such a dream cast as part of this series of online performances. The themes of liberal America and its imperative to combat fascism in all its manifestations feels all too pertinent to the needs of our present times. When Watch On The Rhine premiered in 1941 it served to bring to the theatre-going public a sense of the turmoil that was brewing in mainland Europe and its potential impact on the global stage.
I was first exposed to the epic dimensions of the American drama when I made my professional theatrical debut in a revival of Strange Interlude by Eugene O’Neill. Written in the shadow of the Great War, this Pulitzer Prize winning drama features the theatrical convention of characters speaking their innermost thoughts as asides. In deploying this classical device in a contemporary setting, O’Neil shows that despite the privileges of modern education, human beings still struggle to communicate directly and truthfully with one another. However, my lasting impression of this masterpiece is not as profound as I would wish. I was thirteen years old at the time and my hair had been bleached a platinum blonde to evoke the archetypal Golden Child. The abiding memory I have is of the cast, which included Glenda Jackson and my father Brian Cox, gently but firmly urging me to go easy on the gold hairspray that I had applied to my side parting when the dark roots began to show. Luckily, I don’t think my besmirching of the beautifully tailored 1920’s costumes could be glimpsed past the front row.
Thirty seven years later and one of the benefits of being involved in the remote capture of an online performance of a classic play is that this actor can transform himself without having to make a trip to the hairdresser.
Alan Cox recently played Uncle Vanya at the Hampstead Theatre in London and Claudius in Hamlet for the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. He played David Frost in the national tour of Frost/Nixon, for which he received a Helen Hayes Award nomination. He made his Broadway debut in Translations. He made his motion picture debut as Watson in Young Sherlock Holmes. His film work includes Contagion, The Dictator, Mrs. Dalloway, and An Awfully Big Adventure. Alan’s television credits include The Good Wife, John Adams, and The Odyssey. He can be seen in Spotlight on Play’s Watch on the Rhine streaming this Thursday.
In 1981, I was in my last year of high school in the suburbs of Toronto. I’d done a bunch of musicals in theatre class (Godspell, Pippin, Fantasticks) but never worked professionally. I got a job bussing tables at a brand-new dinner theatre uptown, O’Neill’s. The opening show, starring six young actors in their mid-20’s, was a collection of songs (from other musicals) about making it in show biz. It was called, literally, One Big Break. Five nights a week, for months, I’d clear plates and glasses, then sit at the back, by the spotlight, and watch my new, slightly-older friends perform. After one show, I was washing dishes when I overheard the owners, in a kitchen corner, whispering their concerns about Stephen, one of the actors.
“He could barely sing tonight,” said Sandra O’Neill, the theatre’s namesake. “Well, we don’t have understudies, Sandra,” hissed the other owner, “what would you suggest?”
“I can do it,” I blurted.
They looked over at me, in my apron and my mullet. Sandra smiled, like I was an adorable puppy. “Aww,” she cooed, “thanks, hon. It’s Eric, right? We’ll figure it out, sweetheart.”
The next day, in history class, I got called to the front office. This had never happened in my life. The principal’s secretary handed me the phone. Sandra O’Neill was on the other end.
“Were you… serious?” she asked, with hesitation.
“Absolutely,” I replied, with none. The bravado of eighteen.
I met with the musical director at 4:00 and we ran the numbers. Once. When the actors got there, they looked ashen. Sure, I was their favorite busboy, but…this? We reviewed choreography for about half an hour…then we opened the place for dinner.
And I bussed tables.
At 8:00, the waiters (to the surprise of the patrons) suddenly became the performers. One by one they’d put down their trays and start to sing the opening number. I was the last. The first lines out of my mouth, the first words I ever sang in a professional theatre…
“One good break is really all I need to make the world stand up and cheer…”
It was a pretty good night. I played the role for two more months. I will always have a special place in my heart for Sandra.
And for Stephen McMulkin.
Eric McCormack
Best known as Will Truman on TV’s Will & Grace, Eric McCormack made his Broadway debut in The Music Man. He appeared as a mystery guest star in The Play What I Wrote, starred off-Broadway in Neil LaBute’s Some Girl(s) and returns to the Main Stem opposite James Earl Jones in the 2012 revival of Gore Vidal’s The Best Man.
This may come as a surprise to some, not so much to others, but Othello is a complex role to accept for the 21st century black actor. On one hand, he’s an incredibly deep, densely drawn character and one of the few that are built specifically for actors of color in the Elizabethan canon. On the other hand, he’s been reduced to some pretty nasty stereotyping. The character has a well documented history of blackface, and the optics of a white woman being strangled by a black man brings to mind the gut-dropping feeling we got in those last moments of Jordan Peele’s Get Out (Daniel Kaaluya hands wrapped around the neck of his captor/honeypot/devil in a white dress, Allison Williams, when suddenly red and blue lights wash the screen). So in my second year of graduate school, when I was called into my department chairs office to talk about playing Othello in the spring…I wasn’t sure what to do. I mean sure; in the name of the pedagogical experience, in the name of practice (because inevitably it wouldn’t be my last time playing the character) and well, the thing looks good on the resume, so why not? But does taking the part make me a sellout? Or worse…is it a full on soul sell?
Around this time, I was reckoning with myself, my artistry and this liquid prison I was attempting to construct. Growing inside me was this festering shadow of insecurity, imposter syndrome, and the ever present doom of letting everyone down, one I tried to bar up with Whiskey, Tequila and Rum. Little did I know, this shadow loved a drink, and despite my attempts to drown it, grew gills. I’ll spare you the rest of the bloody details but I can tell you with confidence that some people do indeed crack their skulls open on rock bottom. Others, however, bounce off stones of despair (it’s my band name, you cannot have it) and are given a chance to change direction.
I started writing letters to Othello in between classes, outpatient treatment, rehearsal and AA meetings on cold Sunday mornings (so much coffee and the squeaking of grey slush on the bottoms of winter boots). It’s not a ritual I had experienced before, but one of my Sunday Morning Crew was like “I write letters to myself and found xyz”. I thought that was a corny thing for a person to do, so I wrote letters to the characters I was cast as (a practice I still carry with me and yes, it is a far cornier endeavor).
We all “know” the play, and in that “knowledge” Othello is this larger than life character who looms over the canon/performer. If the past were to be prologue, he “should” be this gravitational force, the embodiment of strength and “manly-ness”. He’s jealous and angry or something along those lines. So rather than fall in lockstep with the mythic barnacles of the play, I re-read it with the fresh young eyes of a curious child at Disneyworld for the first time.
The first Act is the portrait of a man in love, a man with purpose, a man who has a grasp on what he wants the world to look like and how he can nudge the paradigm a bit closer to the shores of that promise. In my letters, I asked Othello to teach me what love was; specifically, to teach me what it was to be in love with oneself and one’s purpose (he later taught me that once you do that, falling in love is relatively easy). I asked him to remind me of what it means to see beyond what “is” into the realm of what “can be”. I asked him to demand my radical honesty. For a time it felt as though the letter went unheeded. Instead of waiting, I worked my ass off. I scanned and rescanned text, I battled tooth and nail for text to be re-entered into the cut, I linked arms with my castmates/peers to honor the work put in to tell the story as written. I fought for the story in the hopes that it would fight for me. And then, out of that big, looming shadow shrank there emerged a man. He looked a bit like me; a little stockier, a whole lot wiser and a generous smile. And we walked side by side through the play and he revealed things to me. Little secrets other people overlook.
Jealousy seems to be a trait oft associated with The Moor of Venice. I ask…where though? He’s one of the highest ranking generals in the nation, he’s got the hand of one of the most sought after bachelorettes in the nation, he talks business, pleasure and war with the Duke. Iago mentions jealousy, sure…but when does Othello? On the page, he wants to be the change he wants to see in the world. He chooses to partner with the only other human who sees him as such: who sees the sensitivity and the vulnerability in Othello, rather than upholding the expectations of manhood set upon him. With this realization, I felt a little hydrophobic daemon, resistant to my attempts to drown him, squeal away in a puff of brimstone and smoke. I dug deeper: when it is made known to him the possibility of deceit on the part of Desdemona, there is no time for jealousy when your heart is shattered. When you’ve been duped, hoodwinked, bamboozled, how can you blame anyone else but yourself? You can only perform the confusing task of picking up the shards of your heart and fighting through the wincing pain of putting it back together…even though you know it will not refract light the same way. Huh. That’s not jealousy. That’s good old fashioned world weary heartbreak and disappointment. In understanding a bit about him, I understood a bit more about myself. He wasn’t a monolith looming over me, he was right there, next to me, ensuring I honored every step in his shoes.
It’s a cliché to say that Theatre saved my life…so I won’t (it did though, *insert eyeroll*). I know that the characters aren’t actually leaping off the page to rescue me (I’m fully aware it’s my imagination+therapy+the work doing some heavy lifting). As much as I say that the characters are teaching me things, I know that ultimately it’s me, a room full of people, blood, sweat, tears, imagination, and ink on paper. Nor am I here to suggest that Theatre is a replacement to therapy, psychiatry, and/or AA/NA meetings (it isn’t, shout out to my therapist). But it can be a supplement (like B12). The gift and wisdom of the playwright is their ability to teach us lessons about what it means to be human. Sometimes those lessons are about success. They are often about failure; but always, there are lessons to be excavated, digested and shared. There are empathetic bridges to be built; within ourselves, to each other, and to the world into which we wake. And while that sounds like a gushy Barney sing along, the work is hard. It requires dedication, it requires an open mind and an open heart. Building empathetic bridges to truly see each other can be painful. Much like a journey to sobriety, it can feel pretty ugly (ha, I did one of those Shakespeare things). Much like nudging social norms and our existential paradigm towards a just and verdant society, you take it one day, one hour, one minute at a time.
It’s worth it.
Brandon Burton is a 2020 graduate of The Yale School of Drama Master of Fine Arts program. He can be seen in Spotlight on Play’s reading of The Baltimore Waltz streaming April 29th
When I first came to New York, with all those aspirations, I, through a fluke of a chance conversation between an actor I know and her agent, learned that Jerry Robbins, who was about to direct, off-Broadway, Arthur Kopit’s brilliant play Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Momma’s Hung You in the Closet and I’m Feeling so Sad, was having a terrible time casting the part of the young son in the play. I worked hard on the audition and waltzed in and knocked him out with the audition. So he asked me to come to a callback audition a few days later. At which I totally bombed. I’d never heard of a callback. It was a fiasco. Jerry called me the next day and asked me to come see him. He said. “what happened?!” He wasn’t angry, he was just bewildered. I told him that I had no idea, at that second audition, what I was doing. So he kept calling me back and calling me back, looking for the fire to return. Then finally, on, I think, the sixth audition, he had me read opposite the magnificent Barbara Harris. And we soared.
So my career was launched. Jerry was the launcher and Barbara was the rocket.
Luck. Pure, wild luck. This business is beyond capricious.
Austin Pendleton
Austin Pendleton is an actor and director who made his Broadway debut as the original Motel in Fiddler on the Roof. Other Broadway credits include Hail Scrawdyke!, The Little Foxes, An American Millionaire, Doubles, Grand Hotel, The Diary of Anne Frank and Choir Boy as an actor and Shelter, The Runner Stumbles, John Gabriel Borkman and Spoils of War as a director. He was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for The Little Foxes and most recently appeared on Broadway as Mr. Oldfield in The Minutes.
The sun is shining, cherry blossoms are blooming, and many world economies are opening up (slowly but surely). It seems like spring 2021 has finally arrived, bringing with it the seasonal sense of joy, promise, and new beginnings that has long been lauded by writers and artists throughout history. While many people may associate springtime with Shakespeare sonnets, Impressionist paintings, or even madrigals, spring has also been the focus of many Broadway composers and lyricists.
The most obvious example of springtime making its way into the Broadway canon is the song “Younger Than Springtime” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific. Sung right after Lieutenant Cable and Liat first meet (and make love), “Younger Than Springtime” has all the classic markers of a spring love song. Cable compares Liat to spring – favorably – saying she is “younger than springtime,” “gayer than laughter,” “sweeter than music,” and “warmer than the winds of June.” But the song also has a great “turn” – certainly one of the reasons it’s still so well-known today. While Cable begins the song by saying that Liat is like springtime, halfway through, he implies that she is also transformative: “when your youth/and joy invade my arms/and fill my heart as now they do/then younger than springtime/am I.” Through Liat’s love, Cable argues that he becomes someone who is “gayer than laughter,” “softer than starlight,” and “younger than springtime,” too.
Another well-known use of spring in the lyrics, title, and imagery of a Broadway song can be found in “It Might As Well Be Spring” from State Fair, another Rodgers and Hammerstein collaboration. The song plays with some of the springtime tropes and patterns used in “Younger Than Springtime.” The singer, Margy, makes clear that she hasn’t seen any of the typical, physical signs of oncoming spring. In fact, it’s decidedly not spring: “I haven’t seen a crocus or a rosebud/or a robin on the wing,” Margy sings, “But…it might as well be spring.” This is a prime example of Oscar Hammerstein’s genius use of conditional thinking. In the same way Hammerstein implies in Carousel that Julie Jordan is madly in love with Billy Bigelow using the conditional “IF I loved you,” and that Laurie and Curly in Oklahoma! are similarly destined to mate with the conditional “people will SAY we’re in love,” Hammerstein is able to write a spring love song that’s not actually sung during springtime.
The song grows even more rich and complex in its associations with the season. While the characteristics of springtime that Cable lists in “Younger Than Springtime” are all positive, for Margy “it might as well be spring” not only because she’s “starry-eyed,” “giddy,” and “gay,” but also because she feels “restless,” “jumpy,” and “vaguely discontented.” In “It Might As Well Be Spring” you get both sides of the coin: the good and the bad, the positive and the negative, perhaps best summed up by the lyric: “But I feel so gay/in a melancholy way/that it might as well be spring.” Here, spring is being used as a metaphor for the “nameless” discontent Margy feels with her life at the moment – a vague restlessness which sets up most of the action of the play: while Margy is dating Harry, who wants to marry her, she “keep[s] wishing [she] were somewhere else,/Walking down a strange new street./Hearing words that [she’s]…never heard/ From a man [she’s] yet to meet.” These lyrics foreshadow her meeting, and falling in love with, Pat at the (titular) state fair. It’s also hard not to read these lyrics without picking up something of a sexual edge. When Margy starts the song, she sings of “want[ing] a lot of…things/[she’s] never had before.” Given the traditional associations of birth, new beginnings, love, and even sexuality, with springtime, “It Might As Well Be Spring” could easily speak to Margy’s desires as a newly minted young woman.
Many Broadway songs focus on this deeper side of spring’s transitions. In Rodgers and Hart’s I Married an Angel, for example, Willy sings “Spring Is Here” when things with his angel-wife (yes, you read that correctly) have gone sour. “Spring is here/why doesn’t my heart go dancing?/spring is here/why isn’t the waltz entrancing?…Maybe it’s because nobody needs me…Maybe it’s because nobody loves me,” he sings. It’s another clever inversion of the springtime myth: spring may be here, with its gentle “breezes,” and “lads and girls…drinking May wine,” but because Willy has fallen out of love, he can no longer enjoy it. It’s a springtime love song that depends on negative space rather than positive space: without “love,” “desire,” or “ambition,” there can be no spring.
“Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most,” Fran Landesman and Tommy Wolf’s 1955 tune which was then incorporated into the 1959 musical The Nervous Set, similarly focuses on the “have-nots” of spring rather than the “haves.” A send-up of the first lines of T.S. Eliot’s “The Wasteland” (“April is the cruelest month…”), “Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most” implies that spring can actually be the worst time of the year – if you’re single, that is. “Spring this year has got me feeling like a horse that never left the post;/I lie in my room staring up at the ceiling/Spring can really hang you up the most!” the lyrics read. The song reverses traditional springtime psychology and implies that the singer was happy and in love in the winter, and now, during the joyful spring season of rebirth, is experiencing loneliness. “Love seemed sure around the New Year,” she sings, “Now it’s April, love is just a ghost;/ Spring arrived on time, only what became of you, dear?” It should be noted that this song, as well as “It Might As Well Be Spring,” became jazz standards, covered by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. The season’s failure to deliver on its promise is clearly a recurring theme on Broadway and beyond.
But no discussion of spring on Broadway would be complete without “Springtime for Hitler” from Mel Brooks’ The Producers. The major song in the musical’s show-within-a-show, a favorable retelling of WWII from the perspective of a disgruntled Nazi, “Springtime for Hitler” shows Brooks’ thoughtful understanding – and appreciation – of spring’s metaphorical function in Golden Age musicals. As the tap-dancing, sausage-wearing Nazis sing lines like “And now it’s springtime for Hitler and Germany/Deutschland is happy and gay,” Brooks is sending up the positive traits associated with springtime in musicals like South Pacific and State Fair. And to the Nazis represented in the show, “springtime for Hitler” is indeed positive: it encapsulates their military campaign to take over the world. Brooks makes clear, however, that this seasonal rebirth is actually extremely dark. Peppered in with the image of a “happy and gay” Germany are lyrics about “U-boats…sailing once more.” In the song, springtime equals gaiety, but it also happens to equal “bombs falling from the skies again.” Combined with the schmaltzy musical style, movie-musical tap-dancing, over-the-top costumes, and of course the late, great Gary Beach’s acting, springtime in “Springtime for Hitler,” repeated over 20 times in the eight-minute song, becomes an absurd (and incredibly funny) dramatic irony.
Brooks’ hilarious treatment of springtime is similar to the season’s representation in a lesser known E.Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy song, “Springtime Cometh” from the 1951 flop Flahooley. Like “Springtime for Hitler,” “Springtime Cometh” relies on and leans into the audience’s positive associations with spring and its traditional representation in Golden Age musicals. Sandy/Penny and her genie (truly – don’t ask) sing about “lilacs growing on the clothesline,” “roses growing in the ashcan,” “hummingbird[s],” “merry maidens,” and repeat the word “springtime” six times in the short song. Harburg went one step further and even wrote the lyrics in a sort of faux Olde English: “Springtime cometh,” the characters sing. “Hummingbird hummeth,/little brook rusheth,/merry maiden blusheth…springtime cometh for love of thee.” Harburg pushes this construction even further for comedic effect with “Sugarplum plummeth,/Heart, it humpty-dummeth,/And to summeth up,/The Springtime cometh for the love of thee.” The faux Olde English language reaches its zenith with Harburg’s tongue-and-cheek reference’s to spring’s inherent sexuality: “Lad and lass/In tall green grass/Gaily skippeth,/Nylon rippeth,/Zipper zippeth…which is to say/Spring cometh.” Harburg’s ironic send-up of springtime is sexual, funny, self-aware, and, most importantly, irreverent.
Broadway clearly has a long-time fascination – and infatuation – with all things spring. From the huge number of songs with “spring” in their title (and chorus) – to ones that rely on springtime imagery like the lilac trees in My Fair Lady’s “On the Street Where You Live” – lyricists have used the season to convey and inspire romance, joy, lust, restlessness, loneliness, humor, and personal transformation in equal parts. So in this close-to-post-pandemic moment: crank up the Broadway show tunes, smell the flowers, and look forward to a new (and hopefully, better) day. As they say: “springtime cometh!”
Katie Birenboim is a NYC-based actor, director, and writer. She’s performed and directed at Classic Stage Company, Berkshire Theatre Group, Barrington Stage, City Center Encores!, The Davenport Theatre, and Ancram Opera House, to name a few. She is a proud graduate of Princeton University, member of Actors’ Equity, and hosts a weekly interview show on YouTube with theatre’s best and brightest entitled “Call Time with Katie Birenboim.”
In 1997 I did a one man play about a drunken Irish theatre critic at the Bush theater in London. St Nicholas! Written by Conor McPherson, which I subsequently performed the following year at Primary Stages in New York on 45th street, and for which I was honored with ‘The Lucille Lortel Award’!
But the previous year the play was premiered at the Bush Theatre in London. The Bush was a small intimate theatre with the audience on three sides. This particular night was a sellout performance. The audience were packed to the rafters.
Now St Nicholas is an extremely intricate complicated and fantastical text. With a sinewy comic thread! It demands an incredible level of Concentrated attention from the player. That evening started well.
But…About 6 minutes into the evening I noticed that sitting on front row…in…the middle…to my right was my ex girlfriend. Who I had recently broken up with. I was a little thrown by this …and wondered why on earth she had chosen that particular, really, quite prominent, seat.
I recovered from this slight ‘hiccup’ and continued, feeling proud of myself that I was not thrown by this ‘obstacle’. So I proceeded with renewed confidence.
After a few minutes, I’d just gotten back in stride when I turned to address my audience stage left and there sitting…in the middle of the left front row was…my ex ex girlfriend. The girl friend previous…to the girl friend…now sitting stage right. In fact these two young ladies were actually sitting…facing…each other. I didn’t panic… but, my anxiety…was, shall we say…mounting.
What on earth was going on? And of course various scenarios began to play out in my mind!
Had they come together?
And as some bizarre joke decided to sit opposite each other?
Or??….were they there by pure coincidence?
My brain became occupied with, what seemed endless permutations on these shifting scenarios. The text of the play, the main purpose of my attention, was drifting in my consciousness. And..ten minutes into the evening….the inevitable happened. I went up! Dried stone dead.
I struggled like a drowning man seeking a life raft. But after..a beat..which seemed a lifetime. I stopped turned to the audience, and said “Ladies and Gentlemen I’m afraid for reasons I can’t entirely explain, I need to start the evening over again! Apologies!” And so indeed I did…and it was truly scary!
“Will I get over the point where concentration abandoned me.”
And…”Will I indeed get through the entire evening….”
The moment where I had lost my way, was looming like one of those huge fences at the English Grand national horse race. Would I get over the fence? The moment arrived… and I lept the fence.. and..proceeded obsessively to the finish. After it was over, I left the stage exhausted!
I sat in my dressing room. There was a knock on my door. It was my ex-girlfriend. “Brian that was wonderful, what an incredible evening.” I was about to answer when there was another knock at the door. Enter my ex-ex-girlfriend “Brian that was wonderful, what an amaz….Oh hello, blank!
I was about to answer when there was another knock at the door. Enter my ex-ex-girlfriend “Brian that was wonderful, what an amaz….Oh hello, blank! Were you in?”
Ex-girl friend, “Yes, were you, wasn’t it wonderful
Ex-ex-girlfriend “Amazing!”
I sat there in a state of stupefaction! Me “But weren’t you?… didn’t you? ..Um..ah…see..?”
Both, “What?
Me, “Oh…Nothing…”
Ex girlfriend “ I was absolutely caught from the moment you came on!
I was in a sauna with my husband and 3 year old son on the Dingel peninsula when I received a phone call from Joe Papp asking me to start a multicultural Shakespeare company for him to play for the New York City school system.
Why me? He had seen a multicultural-multilingual production of ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA that I had directed at the Womens’ Interart Theater on 52nd Street. I put together a company: 5 Blacks, 6 Hispanics, 3 Japanese, 2 Whites and 1 Turk.
We played in the Anspacher theater at 425 Lafayette Street for one year and then moved to the Belasco Theater on West 44th Street as SHAKESPEARE ON BROADWAY. It was Joe Papp’s dream.
We played daytimes during the school week for high school and junior high school students. On Friday and Saturdays they could bring their families from great grandparents to babes-in-arms. It was all free.
I TOOK FIVE MONTHS TO DEVELOP THE COMPANY
First an hour of relaxation and physical work led by a member of the company who was a dancer.
Then an hour of vocal work led by another member of the company. Then, five hours of free form work to find out who these actors were.
The reason for these five months?
Commercial actors of whatever culture or race learned to “act white” back in the 80s. I wanted to know who these people really were, their customs, their talk, their heritage, themselves. That stuff is the bedrock of compelling theater and fine acting.
One day Rene Moreno, an Hispanic, was showing us something of his heritage when Vince Williams, a big black guy from a family of musicians in New Orleans, sitting near me watching in the audience, piped up with “My heritage is some guys standing on a beach waiting to be brought here to be slaves”. Necessary talk this. Five months of it.
What do high school students like? Sports teams, oh, yes!
We put sweats on the actors and we had a sports team. (Ruth Morley of ANNIE HALL fame did the costumes). THE NEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL PLAYERS
AFTER 5 MONTHS, HERE’S THE DRILL!
The actors came out to introduce themselves “Hello. I’m . . .”
But-hold it! Is that theater? What is your moniker, what is your “John Hancock”?
What is yourself? Show me your essence!
Not easy. Maybe impossible. Try.
One actor was really good at juggling. One could do backflips. One had been trained at New York City Ballet. Got it? Too big a challenge? Yes. Try!
By now the kids were into it.
Bess Myerson, a former Miss America, now part of the city government saw just this much of the performance and gave us a big donation.
BLACKOUT. LIGHTS UP. AS YOU LIKE IT.
Natsuko was Rosalind. Celia was Regina Taylor—with a live boa constrictor around her neck. 25 pounds. Had his own dressing room.
“I can’t rehearse all day with this thing around my neck.” Of course not—but it had been her idea.
One matinee, lights came up and a big girl in the front row shot to the back of the house – faster than any animal I had ever seen run.
The snake was still on Regina’s shoulders.
We alternated AS YOU LIKE IT and ROMEO AND JULIET.
We played the Anspacher, the Mobile Unit in the parks all summer, and then added the Scottish play when we became SHAKESPEARE ON BROADWAY. Ching Valez played Lady M.
Oh, but she could.
After the students had seen the productions, the actors, as themselves, visited the schools and “played Shakespeare” with them.
At the end of our second season, I went, as a wife, to Gracie Mansion for dinner with the Mayor. My husband worked in the city government.
Bobby Wagner, head of the school board, was there. He told a story.
“I was in a school elevator and asked a teacher how her year had been. She said ‘Estelle Parsons’ Shakespeare program was the only good thing that happened all year.”
Estelle Parsons received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Blanche Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde, and was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Rachel, Rachel. She is well known for playing Beverly Harris, on the sitcom “Roseanne”, and its spinoff “The Conners”. She has been nominated five times for the Tony Award (four times for Lead Actress of a Play and once for Featured Actress) for her work in The Seven Descents of Myrtle, And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little, Miss Margarida’s Way, Morning’s at Seven, and The Velocity ofAutumn.
Beverly Jenkins is not afraid of a cut show. That’s a performance where there are more actors calling out than there are understudies or swings to replace them, and it requires a last-minute reconfiguration of everything from blocking to costuming to the placement of props.
For many people, this would be terrifying, but for Jenkins, who’s been a Broadway stage manager since the early 90s, it’s an opportunity.
“It’s a challenge I actually enjoy,” she says. “I know it’s a crazy thing to enjoy. It’s not something you wish for, but if you need to make it happen and you have the right people, you can make it happen.”
Case in point: At one performance of Broadway’s A Bronx Tale The Musical, she only had one Black actress available, even though there was a scene that required two. “I had to decide,” she recalls. “‘Do I have one Black female on stage, or do I have a Black female and a Black male in that other track?’ I’d planned for that, because you have to plan for that, even if it never happens. So I made the decision to have a Black male on stage, because otherwise it would have thrown some things off [to just have one person]. I spoke to some people; we made a few changes, and it worked. No problem.”
That solution indicates what a distinct style of stage management Jenkins has developed over her career, which includes landmark productions like Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk; the original Miss Saigon; and her current gig as the production stage manager for Hadestown.
The cast and crew of Hadestown
Crucially, she sees a cut show as a chance to connect. “It’s a community event,” she says. “You check with wardrobe, and they’ll make adjustments. The music department and the dance captains are involved. I always reach out to the director or the AD to make sure my choices are okay. And I take the personal trip to tell people what’s happening. I get a couple of extra steps in on my FitBit, and I’m good. I want to make sure I’m personally letting people know what’s going on before they step on stage.”
Those steps — up and down stairs, into the green room, into the wings — set Jenkins apart “Beverly runs a building, and she doesn’t have to open her computer to do it,” says Michael Rico Cohen, a fellow stage manager who has worked alongside her on A Bronx Tale The Musical, Amazing Grace, and Fully Committed.
“She is the person-to-person contact. She’s the problem solver. She’s the empathy master.”
Or to borrow a phrase Jenkins uses to describe herself, she’s a mom of many. “I’m fine with the tech,” she says. “It’s all good. I’m very calm, and I can call a cue just as well as the next person, but I believe my speciality is about being hands-on with the people. I put a lot of thought and care into everyone — not just the actors, but everyone — coming into that theatre.”
On every show, then, a big part of her job is figuring out exactly what this particular group of people needs. For instance, on Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk, the 1996 dance musical that uses tap to trace Black history in the United States, Jenkins worked with performers who were more familiar with the dance world than with Broadway. “Sorry Equity, but I had to bend the rules for this group of young men,” she says. “I had to assess the rules and see what they needed. Like, ‘I know this is half hour, and if you’re not here at half hour, then I need you to call me and tell me how far away you are. And as Iong as I know you’re coming, you get a five-minute grace period.’ And that’s something I still do, the five-minute grace period.”
On Noise/Funk, she also turned her office into an occasional daycare center, so that parents in the company could bring their children with them when there were no other options. She recalls, “I had Barney tapes. I had a playpen. I was like, ‘You’re not going to be forced to miss work because you’re doing the right thing with your child.’ I have to get my show up, no matter what. I have to figure out how to get the best show on stage today. And on that show, watching kids was part of it.”
For Amazing Grace, the 2015 Broadway musical that explores how the British slave trade inspired the titular hymn, Jenkins knew her job required extra compassion. She says, “Amazing Grace was important to me because of what was happening on stage. How hard is it that the first time you see Black people on stage, they are stuffed in a crate, and then they get pulled out, thrown on the ground, and shot in the back? So when the actors come off stage, how can they not carry that off stage? How do we make sure that these people are not carrying the feelings of trauma off stage with them?
“We had company morale-building events. We had t-shirt day. We made sure the dressing rooms were mixed, and that we weren’t keeping the Puritans over here and the Africans over here. It was good to see everyone put thought into how to make this a harmonious backstage area and still tell that particular story.”
It no doubt helped that Jenkins herself was spearheading the backstage culture. “She is wildly good at creating fellowship and community,” says Rachel Chavkin, the director of Hadestown.
“She exudes exuberance, but also doesn’t beat around the bush when she’s got a problem to work through. And she’s not precious, because she’s focused on problem-solving at every turn.”
Jenkins asserts that small touches help a company avoid bigger problems, particularly when they’re together for a lengthy run. That’s one reasons she runs a “turkey hand” contest for Thanksgiving, getting everyone in the building to trace their hand on construction paper and then turn it into a decorated turkey drawing. “And believe me, there are prizes, honey,” she says.
Cohen confirms, “There’s nobody that loves a turkey hand competition more than Beverly Jenkins. But it’s more than just turkey hands or door decorating contests or the Father’s Day barbecue. She’s a master of the casual-but-meaningful interaction. It creates a camaraderie and an immediate trust. It’s these little things that really make the building a happy place over a period of years. All of those things are just as important — and sometimes more — than announcing what we’re doing in understudy rehearsal on Friday.”
Mark Blankenship is the founder and editor of The Flashpaper and the host of The Showtune Countdown on iHeartRadio Broadway.
There’s nothing quite like the lights, music, and energy of Broadway, but those ticket prices can dim the excitement fast. The good news is that scoring affordable seats isn’t a secret art. It’s a mix of timing, flexibility, and knowing where to look. Whether you’re a local theatre fan or visiting the city for the first time, here are the best ways to land a great deal and still get swept up in the magic of Broadway.
Top Ways to Get Discount Broadway Tickets
TKTS Booths (by TDF) Classic same-day deals, often up to 50% off. Visit the red-steps booth in Times Square or Lincoln Center. Check the TKTS app first to preview what’s available.
Digital Lotteries Many shows offer $10–$40 tickets through daily online lotteries. Enter early, and act fast if you win since claims close quickly.
Rush and Student Rush Tickets Day-of bargains, usually $30–$60, sold when the box office opens. Some are open to everyone, others require a student ID.
Standing Room Only When shows sell out, a few standing spots open for cheap. Ask at the box office; these go fast for popular productions.
Promo Codes and Discount Sites Websites like BroadwayBox, TheaterMania, and Playbill Deals regularly post limited-time codes for 20–50% off.
Membership Discounts Join programs like TDF or industry groups for exclusive early access to discounted tickets.
Special Promotions Keep an eye on seasonal events like Broadway Week or Kids’ Night on Broadway, which offer two-for-one or free youth tickets.
Group Sales If you’re seeing a show with ten or more friends or coworkers, call the theater’s group sales office. Bulk bookings often mean built-in discounts.
Papering Lists Some organizations quietly “paper the house” with free or ultra-cheap tickets for members. Try Club Free Time or local arts newsletters.
Affordable Broadway seats do exist; you just have to know where and when to look. With a bit of planning, patience, and the right mix of apps, booths, and insider programs, you can see world-class theatre without emptying your wallet.
Based on the book, Right from Wrong, by Jacob Dunne, Punch on Broadway tells the story of a young man battling himself and everyone else in Nottingham, England. Adapted for the stage by British playwright, James Graham, and directed by Adam Penford, Punch hits every reservoir of emotion between the opening and final act.
Jacob, played flawlessly by Will Harrison as the lead antagonist turned protagonist, takes the audience along with him as he grapples with cause and effect of his environment versus his life choices. Jacob found understanding and community in the Nottingham streets while his single mother worked long hours to build a respectable life for her son. Jacob is also plagued with a spectrum of disabilities which only add fuel to his internal fire to snuff out a modicum of meaning or purpose to his life. Punching back at everyone and thing that have taunted or dismissed, Jacob becomes a habit that ultimately knocks him onto his most painful, but inspired trajectory yet.
The Punch cast is small and mighty, with many actors playing multiple characters within Jacob’s scarred reality. Costumes and set changes are minimal too, because in this story, it’s the characters’ rollercoaster of raw emotions that need no filler or color. As an audience member, you’ll revisit loss and grief, the anxiety of self-doubt, the rush of a new flirty crush, the weight of societal and familial pressures. You may laugh at times or cry at others, but you’ll easily leave humbled by your own life choices, and the idea of real second chances.
Harrison lends buckets of dialed-in energy to his portrayal of Jacob, amongst many other standout performances. Lucy Taylor as Jacob’s “mum” will leave you breathless as she reckons with the fate of the boy she raised. And then you meet another mum, played by Judith Lightfoot Clarke, whose grief is most palpable after the one punch that would change all.
Open now and running until November 2, 2025, go to the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre and experience Punch on Broadway before it ends.
This October, Broadway offers a striking mix of revivals and premieres. From a cult-favorite musical rising again to an intimate family drama, the fall season promises variety and impact. Here are the four productions opening this month.
Beetlejuice
Palace Theatre | October 8, 2025 Broadway’s favorite ghost makes his return in Alex Timbers’ high-octane staging. With its blend of outrageous humor, eye-popping design, and devoted fan following, Beetlejuice reclaims the spotlight at the newly reopened Palace Theatre.
Ragtime
Lincoln Center Theater | October 16, 2025 One of Broadway’s most sweeping and powerful musicals comes back in a revival directed by Lear deBessonet. Starring Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy, and Brandon Uranowitz, Ragtime offers a timely reflection on identity, change, and the American dream.
Liberation
Broadway Theatre | October 22, 2025 Set in 1970s Ohio, Liberation follows Lizzie as she gathers a circle of women determined to reshape their lives and their world. Decades later, her daughter steps back into that unfinished revolution and confronts what it means to inherit a movement. Written by Bess Wohl and directed by Whitney White, this new play examines freedom, legacy, and the fight to carry change forward.
Little Bear Ridge Road
Booth Theatre | October 30, 2025 Playwright Samuel D. Hunter and director Joe Mantello bring a quiet intensity to this new drama starring Laurie Metcalf and Micah Stock. Set in rural Idaho, Little Bear Ridge Road explores grief, family, and endurance with Hunter’s trademark emotional precision.
Jim Glaub sat down with Mike McLinden (Our Town, Hello Dolly!, Purpose, and the upcoming Little Bear Ridge Road) to discuss the pivotal and thankless job of Company Management; Broadway’s most under appreciated role. They balance the books, manage the cast, serve as first line HR, liaise with producers, and keep the machine running, all while staying out of the spotlight. For our Unsung Heroes series, Mike talks about what it really means to hold a show together.
Q: For people who don’t know: what is a company manager?
Mike: We’re hired by the producer and general manager to oversee the day-to-day operations of the show. We run payroll, pay the bills, settling with the box office, and keep the show on budget. But we’re also the first people to see problems brewing, whether that’s a dressing room that’s too warm or an actor who needs support. At the end of the day we are a conduit for communication. Basically, if you look at a show and wonder, ‘Who does that?’ it’s probably the company manager.
Q: As far as I can assume, nobody grows up saying, ‘I want to be a company manager.’ How did you find your way into this world?
Mike: I studied stage management and lighting design in college. My first company management internship was almost by accident, at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, a scrappy operation where the CMs also were on the run crew. Later, I spent summers at the Glimmerglass Festival, and that’s when I realized this work played more to my strengths. I wasn’t also running a show and juggling things outside my wheelhouse. Eventually, I landed at the Frankel office in New York on Standing on Ceremony Off-Broadway and then Leap of Faith. That was my front row view of legendary company managers like Kathy Lowe, and from there, every job I’ve gotten has traced back to those connections.
Q: Has there been a moment where you thought, I can’t believe this is my job?
Mike: All the time. During the Hello, Dolly! revival, I watched a rehearsal where the title number was just supposed to be marked. Suddenly Bette and the ensemble were full-out performing it, and I thought, ‘wow, small town Illinois kid in a Broadway theatre, pinch me.’ On the flip side, I’ve also dealt with stars threatening not to go on over something relatively trivial. That’s when you think, ‘Really? This is what I’m juggling today?’
Q: What’s harder: the numbers or the people?
Mike: Definitely the people. Everyone has lives outside the theatre… bad news at home, stress, illness. My job is to support them through that. If they don’t feel safe or valued, the show suffers.
Q: Has empathy ever changed the course of a situation?
Mike: Coming back after COVID, morale was low. People were on edge, worried about shutdowns. Small gestures like bagel Sundays, drinks after rehearsal, gave the company a chance to breathe. It bought goodwill and shifted the mood.
Q: Company management is so under the radar. How do you help people discover this as a career?
Mike: The NMAM apprentice program through our union is a huge step . It’s two years of seminars, training, and mentorship before becoming a full member. I also jump at any chance to talk to colleges. Students need to know you don’t have to sing or dance to build a career in theatre. And I love showing them: I didn’t move to Chicago like my peers, I tried New York, and it worked.
Q: What kind of person thrives in this role?
Mike: Someone with a knack for data, but who’s also a people person. And someone who doesn’t need the spotlight. If people outside the company know my name, something probably went wrong.
Q: If you could company manage any show in Broadway history, which would it be?
Mike:Phantom of the Opera. My grandma played the soundtrack constantly. And to be at the center of that phenomenon, a show that became a household name before the internet, that would’ve been extraordinary.
Q: This is a thankless job. What’s the best thank you you’ve ever received?
Mike: Glenda Jackson thanked me in her Tony speech. Nothing will ever top that. She was an icon, and to hear my name from that stage… I fell out of my chair.
Company managers are rarely in the spotlight, but without them, Broadway wouldn’t run. As McLinden proves, the role is equal parts accountant, counselor, negotiator, and cheerleader. Perhaps it’s time Tony speeches made ‘thank you, company manager’ as common as thanking agents and producers.
Pictured: Mike, Glenda Jackson, and SMs for Three Tall Women. Backstory on this photo from Mike: “Glenda had this sweatshirt that she wore EVERYWHERE. NYT Panel, she wore it. Tony Nominee luncheon, she wore it under a green camo jacket from Ann Roth. It drove some folks on the team a little crazy, so for closing we all got one and wore it.”
Your Broadway night deserves more than just a quick bite. Luckily, the theater district offers everything from glamorous institutions to tucked-away gems. To help you choose your pre-show dinner, we’ve grouped our favorites into categories so you can find the perfect match for your mood (and your Playbill).
The Glamorous Crowd-Pleasers
Red Eye Grill: Seafood With Star Power
Seafood towers that feel like stage props, sushi that sings, and a buzzing, art-filled space that’s as lively as the shows down the block.
Bond 45: Antipasto Takes Center Stage
Hand-rolled pastas, wood-fired pizzas, and that show-stopping antipasto bar make this Italian trattoria in the heart of Times Square a true headliner.
The Broadway Legends
Joe Allen: The Cast Party Classic
Unpretentious American fare, theater folks at every table, and the infamous “flop wall” of short-lived productions. A must for Broadway insiders.
Sardi’s: Where Legends Dine
Martinis, continental cuisine, and caricatures of Broadway’s best covering every inch of wall space. Tradition with a side of nostalgia.
Pasta, Wine & Comfort
Becco: Unlimited Ovations for Pasta
The all-you-can-eat pasta tasting menu is worth a standing ovation. Add a generous wine list and you’ve got fuel for an unforgettable Act Two.
Glass House Tavern: The Chic Ensemble Member
Modern American plates, a polished vibe, and cocktails that practically demand a toast, including a nitro espresso martini served tableside.
Hidden Gems & Insider Picks
Vida Verde: A Colorful Quick Hit
Casual Mexican plates, tacos that shine in the spotlight, and mural-filled walls that buzz with energy.
Danji: The Cozy Scene-Stealer
Modern Korean small plates served in an intimate setting with bold flavors in a low-key atmosphere just steps away from the neon lights.
Obao: Where East Meets West Side
A Thai-Vietnamese fusion spot with bold flavors and a stylish atmosphere. Think pad Thai with a twist, crispy duck, and cocktails that pack as much drama as a Broadway finale.
Nizza: Pasta’s Neighborhood Darling
A snug Italian bistro on 9th Avenue, Nizza serves rustic plates, house-made pastas, and thin Roman-style pizzas. Comforting, unfussy, and beloved by locals.
Sushi of Gari 46: A Hidden Hit
For sushi fans, this unassuming Midtown outpost delivers some of the city’s most creative omakase bites. Elegant, refined, and a perfect prelude to a sophisticated show.
Marseille: A French Accent on 9th Avenue
A charming brasserie blending French and Mediterranean flavors. Mussels, steak frites, and wine by the glass make it a pre-theater gem with European flair.
Jim Glaub sat down with Casting Director Peter Van Dam to talk about his journey from actor to casting, his philosophy on discovering talent, and how he’s reimagining classics like Chez Joey for a new generation.
Q: What first inspired you to pursue casting as a career?
Peter Van Dam: Growing up, I didn’t really know what a casting director did. I thought directors just picked the actors. But I was fascinated by theatre, listening to cast recordings, comparing different versions, and noticing how a single role could be transformed by different performers.
At 15, I went to Walnut Hill, a performing arts boarding school, and tried acting. I studied at NYU and then Boston Conservatory. But during senior year, when industry professionals came to speak, I realized I was more excited giving feedback to classmates than performing myself.
That’s when it clicked.
I interned with Roundabout Theatre Company’s casting office, and being in that culture confirmed this was the right path. Later, I even worked as Lonny Price’s assistant — years later, I ended up casting his shows, which felt full-circle.
Q: Did your acting background make you a better casting director?
Van Dam: Absolutely. Having studied acting, voice, and dance gives me empathy for what actors go through and vocabulary to assess stamina and technique. Add to that my time with directors and talent agencies, and it’s made me understand the collaborative nature of the theatre industry of musicals from all angles.
Q: What do people misunderstand most about casting?
Van Dam: Everyone asks, “So what do you do?” Some assume we pick the people, but we don’t. We build lists, organize auditions, and advise the team. Directors, choreographers, music supervisors, and producers all have different priorities — we’re the connective tissue helping balance them.
Q: Have you had moments where your instinct was proven right?
Van Dam: Casting Peppermint in Head Over Heels was one. The role was written as non-binary, and we reached out to the trans community. She sent in tapes, came into the room, and it was undeniable. It was groundbreaking — the first openly trans woman cast in a principal Broadway role — and the production’s celebration of diversity was something I’ll always be proud of.
Q: You also recently worked on Dead Outlaw. How did that process evolve?
Van Dam: That began as a workshop for what was then the “untitled Yazbek/Moses/Della Penna musical.” Because it was TheBand’s Visit team, it was easy to get people in the room. But the material wasn’t traditional musical theatre — it was rock-folk. We needed versatile actors who could play multiple roles convincingly. Watching it grow from workshop to Broadway was incredibly rewarding.
Q: With Pal Joey (now Chez Joey) being reimagined, how do you approach casting a classic?
Van Dam: It starts with the re-imagined book — Joey as a Black jazz singer in Chicago, and the interracial relationship with Vera. Working with Savion Glover and Tony Goldwyn, auditions feel more like rehearsals. We have a jazz band in the room, and actors are encouraged to play, not just perform perfectly. That creative freedom makes the process thrilling.
Q: How has technology changed casting?
Van Dam: Self-tapes have always been around, but after the pandemic, virtual auditions and Zoom callbacks became common. It means we can work with actors in LA or abroad without flying them in. Virtual open calls also expand the net — like when we recast Phantom of the Opera’s Christine, we saw 4,000 submissions and discovered someone in Texas we never would’ve found otherwise.
But nothing replaces the energy of being in a room. Live theatre is about presence, and that’s something you only feel in person.
Q: Do you find talent on social media?
Van Dam: Constantly. I’m on YouTube and TikTok, and people send me links all the time. For Six, we found performers that way. If we only relied on agents’ submissions, we’d miss out. Discovery is part of the job.
Q: What advice do you give young actors?
Van Dam: Don’t walk in asking, “How am I doing?” Instead, ask, “What am I doing?” Be bold in your preparation and show what makes you unique. Forget “type” — focus on what makes you stand out.
Q: If you could go back and cast any show in history, which would it be?
Van Dam: The original A Chorus Line. The auditions for that must have been fascinating — casting a show about casting.
Q: Last fun one: what’s the audition song you never want to hear again?
Van Dam: Songs about the business. Unless it’s A Chorus Line or Smash, I want to see a human being, not just someone singing about showbiz. Otherwise, I don’t mind “overdone” songs — it’s about the take. Ultimately, what I’m looking for is the same as any audience member: to be moved.
There’s nothing quite like the first dance at a wedding. That magical moment when all eyes are on the couple, swaying together in a song that feels like it was written just for them. And what better place to draw inspiration than Broadway, where love stories have been told for decades. From golden age classics to contemporary favorites, Broadway has given us a soundtrack of romance that’s perfect for the dance floor.
Classic Golden Age Romance
For couples who love tradition and timeless melodies.
1. “Some Enchanted Evening” (South Pacific) Rodgers & Hammerstein at their most sweeping – a grand, cinematic ballad about love at first sight.
2. “’Til There Was You” (The Music Man) Sweet and understated, with just enough charm to melt hearts.
3. “If I Loved You” (Carousel) A lush duet, brimming with longing and romance.
4. “Sentimental Person” (Maybe Happy Ending) Elegant, dramatic, and perfect for a graceful waltz.
Dramatic Showstoppers
Big voices, big orchestrations, and first dances that feel like opening night.
5. “All I Ask of You” (The Phantom of the Opera) A Broadway power duet that soars with passion.
6. “Somewhere” (West Side Story) Yearning and hopeful, with a grandeur that fills the room.
7. “What I Did for Love” (A Chorus Line) Heartfelt and emotional, a declaration of commitment beyond the spotlight.
Modern Favorites
For couples who want Broadway’s newer ballads to define their love story.
8. “Falling Slowly” (Once) Intimate and contemporary, with quiet emotion that builds beautifully.
9. “You Matter to Me” (Waitress) Sara Bareilles’ tender duet – modern, personal, and full of warmth.
10. “I Choose You” (The Bridges of Madison County) Jason Robert Brown’s soaring ballad of devotion feels tailor-made for weddings.
Sweet & Quirky Picks
11. “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” (Crazy for You) A Gershwin gem that’s equal parts classy and charming – perfect for couples who want timeless elegance with a wink.
12. “Do You Love Me?” (Fiddler on the Roof) Gentle, sweet, and slightly playful – a duet that captures the humor and tenderness of lasting love.
13. “You’re the Top” (Anything Goes)
Cole Porter’s witty wordplay brings sophistication with a dash of humor – an upbeat and charming choice.
Broadway is preparing for a season of homecomings. A parade of celebrated actors are returning to its stages, bringing new works, long‑delayed premieres and high‑profile revivals. The 2025 calendar shows why New York’s theatre scene remain a magnet for stars who could easily continue working in film or television. Many performers talk about the unique intimacy of the theatre and the chance to inhabit a character night after night, building energy with an audience. After pandemic disruptions and time spent in Hollywood, these artists are choosing to reconnect with their stage roots in a year that promises both nostalgia and novelty.
The season’s most talked‑about reunion pairs Kristin Chenoweth with F. Murray Abraham in The Queen of Versailles. Adapted from Lauren Greenfield’s documentary, the musical charts the saga of Jackie and David Siegel, time‑share moguls whose lavish dream home became a symbol of overreach. A Boston tryout confirmed that the show captures the couple’s ambition and downfall, and the Broadway production will begin previews at the St. James Theatre on October 8, 2025. Chenoweth will tackle Jackie while Abraham plays David.
Just down the block at the Booth Theatre, Laurie Metcalf will anchor the Broadway premiere of Little Bear Ridge Road. The one‑act, written by Samuel D. Hunter and directed by Joe Mantello, centers on a razor‑tongued aunt and the nephew who returns to help sell her crumbling Idaho home. Previews begin October 7, and the play’s combination of wry humor and emotional candour seems tailor‑made for Metcalf’s talents.
Comedy is taking center stage with Bobby Cannavale and James Corden team with Neil Patrick Harris in Yasmina Reza’s Art. The modern classic, which first opened in 1994, follows three friends whose relationship is threatened when one of them buys an expensive white painting. The new revival began previews August 28 and runs through December 21, 2025. Cannavale, Corden and Harris could make this a standout in a season full of drama.
Broadway fans are buzzing as Lea Michele and Aaron Tveit prepare to make their return to the stage in the first-ever Broadway revival of Chess. Set to play at the Imperial Theatre, the production begins previews on October 15 with an official opening on November 16.
Kelli O’Hara will headline Noël Coward’s Fallen Angels at Roundabout’s newly renovated Todd Haimes Theatre. The 1925 farce about two wives awaiting the return of an old flame has rarely been seen on Broadway, and this production pairs O’Hara with Emmy‑nominated Rose Byrne.
Carrie Coon, last seen on Broadway more than a decade ago, returns in Tracy Letts’s psychological thriller Bug. The Manhattan Theatre Club production, opening December 18, 2025 with an official opening January 8, 2026, follows a waitress who becomes consumed by conspiracy theories and delusions after meeting a disturbed Gulf War veteran. Coon’s penchant for inhabiting complex characters should bring new life to Letts’s unsettling play.
Tragedy will not be neglected. Studio 54 will host the U.S. transfer of Robert Icke’s adaptation of Oedipus starring Mark Strong and Lesley Manville. Critics hailed the London production for turning Sophocles’ classic into a political thriller set on election night. The American engagement begins October 30, 2025 and will run for a limited fourteen‑week engagement.
Other notable comebacks include Leslie Odom, Jr.‘s return to his Tony winning role as Aaron Burr in Hamilton, Betsy Aidem as Margie in Liberation by Bess Wohl, and Broadway Stalwart Danny Burstein, who is set to take on the role of Jon in the upcoming production of Marjorie Prime at the Hayes Theater.
Broadway has always drawn inspiration from the written word. From Les Misérables to The Color Purple, some of theatre’s most beloved scores have literary roots. The current pipeline of novel-to-musical adaptations shows this trend is stronger than ever.
Novels Already Heading to Broadway
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil – John Berendt’s Savannah-set bestseller offers a Southern Gothic blend of mystery, magic, and scandal. With Jason Robert Brown and Taylor Mac at the helm, this adaptation promises to be one of Broadway’s most original projects in years.
Beaches: The Musical – Iris Rainer Dart’s emotional tale (immortalized in the Bette Midler film) has been circling Broadway for years. After workshops and regional productions, it’s finally approaching Broadway with Lonny Price as director. Expect soaring ballads and plenty of emotional moments.
Anne of Green Gables – Lucy Maud Montgomery’s spirited heroine is making the journey from Prince Edward Island to Broadway. Anne’s story of belonging, imagination, and coming-of-age seems perfectly suited for a heartfelt musical score.
These join recent literary adaptations like The Great Gatsby, The Notebook, and Water for Elephants, proving Broadway’s appetite for book-based material.
The Next Hit Musical?
Some classic novels would make for great musicals. We experimented with some titles for your enjoyment.
Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn’s psychological thriller could translate into a noir-pop musical with unreliable narrators and dueling perspectives. Think Chicago meets Next to Normal with a contemporary edge. In a Broadway landscape that has embraced Parade, The Outsiders and Sweeney Todd, there’s room for darker material.
Mark Twain’s Catalog – Beyond Big River (Roger Miller’s take on Huckleberry Finn), Twain’s works offer untapped potential. The Prince and the Pauper could become a family-friendly spectacle.
The Catcher in the Rye – Holden Caulfield navigating New York with an alternative rock score could be the next Spring Awakening. The obstacle? J.D. Salinger’s estate has historically blocked adaptations. But if permissions were ever granted, it could electrify audiences.
Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier’s gothic masterpiece attempted a Broadway run in the 2010s but was derailed by legal and financial troubles. The source material remains compelling: a haunted estate, a menacing housekeeper, and a romance that ends in flames. The right creative team could finally bring this sweeping, operatic story to life. Maybe even a modern twist?
Lord of the Flies – Golding’s survival tale reimagined with choral harmonies and primal rhythms could be a daring new musical. The challenge? Making savagery sing without losing its edge.
The Exorcist – A rock-opera showdown of faith versus possession, complete with theatrical spectacle, could thrill Broadway. The risk? Special effects must serve the story, not swamp it.
The Scarlet Letter – Hawthorne’s tale of shame and resilience could soar with sweeping ballads and lush ensembles. The hurdle? Turning Puritan austerity into riveting stage drama.
Literature provides the emotional intensity that musicals require —love, loss, betrayal, triumph, and transformation. The best novel-to-musical adaptations don’t just retell stories; they find the songs hidden within the text.
With several literary adaptations currently in development, the next great novel-to-musical hit might already be sitting on your bookshelf, waiting for the right creative team to discover its hidden melodies.
When The Book of Mormon opened at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre in March 2011, it was an instant cultural earthquake—raucous, irreverent, and packed with a powerhouse cast. Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Robert Lopez’s satirical masterpiece took home nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and cemented its place in Broadway history. But what happened to the original cast after they bid farewell to Uganda? Let’s check in.
Andrew Rannells (Elder Price)
The breakout star of The Book of Mormon, Rannells earned a Tony nomination for his pristine comedic timing and powerhouse vocals. After leaving the show, he jumped to HBO’s Girls as Elijah, a role that made him a TV fan favorite. He’s also appeared in The New Normal, Black Monday, and the film adaptation of The Prom. On Broadway, he returned in Falsettos (another Tony nomination), The Boys in the Band, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. He’s now an established multi-hyphenate—actor, singer, and author (Too Much Is Not Enough), and came back to Broadway most recently in 2023 in Gutenberg! The Musical! opposite Mormon castmate Josh Gad.
Josh Gad (Elder Cunningham)
Josh Gad left The Book of Mormon with a Tony nomination and a rocket strapped to his career. He became a household name as the voice of Olaf in Disney’s Frozen franchise, starred in films like Beauty and the Beast as LeFou, Artemis Fowl, and Murder on the Orient Express, and fronted series like Central Park and Avenue 5. Recently, he co-created and starred in the Apple TV+ series Wolf Like Me. He returned to the stage in Gutenberg! The Musical! in 2023 and Broadway fans are eagerly awaiting his next project.
Nikki M. James (Nabulungi)
James earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her luminous performance as Nabulungi. Since then, she’s built a wide-ranging career spanning stage and screen. She appeared in Les Misérables (2014 revival), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and received a Tony Award nomination for playing Ida B. Wells in Suffs. On TV, she’s had recurring roles in BrainDead, The Good Wife, Severance, Daredevil: Born Again, and Proven Innocent. She continues to be a beloved Broadway presence and versatile performer.
Rory O’Malley (Elder McKinley)
O’Malley’s hilarious, scene-stealing “Turn It Off” won him a Tony nomination. After Mormon, he starred in Hamilton as King George III on Broadway and on the road, and has appeared in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and American Princess. Beyond acting, he co-founded Broadway Impact, an organization advocating for marriage equality. He remains a champion for social causes and LGBTQ+ rights within the theatre community.
Michael Potts (Mafala Hatimbi)
Potts has built a robust career in both theatre and television. He starred in the Tony-winning revival of The Iceman Cometh alongside Denzel Washington and earned acclaim for The Piano Lesson on Broadway. TV fans know him from The Wire (Brother Mouzone), True Detective, and Show Me a Hero. His career continues to balance powerful stage work with scene-stealing screen roles.
Lewis Cleale (Price’s Dad / Mission President)
A Broadway veteran before Mormon, Cleale has continued working steadily, appearing in The Book of Mormon for several years and in productions like The Fantasticks. He’s also lent his voice to recordings and is a respected name in the theatre community.
Brian Tyree Henry (The General)
An Emmy-nominated American actor best known for his role as Alfred “Paper Boi” Miles on Atlanta, Henry has appeared in acclaimed films including If Beale Street Could Talk, Widows, and Bullet Train, earning praise for his versatility and depth.
