Author: Jim Glaub

By Jordan Levinson

Another one of Wilson’s most notable works is the fourth play in his Pittsburgh Cycle, The Piano Lesson. The play takes the ideas of legacies and family history and asks how we preserve them. Set in post-Depression Pittsburgh, The Piano Lesson follows a brother and a sister debating whether they should sell their family’s prized heirloom piano (carved with their ancestors’ faces). Only by revisiting their history can the family find a way to decide. The play arrived on Broadway in 1990, winning that year’s Pulitzer Prize for Drama. A revival starring Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, and Danielle Brooks opened in September 2022 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre and is about to conclude its limited engagement later this month. 

Wilson’s final work, Radio Golf, is also the last installment in the Cycle. It tells the story of Harmond Wilks, who is on a quest to reinvigorate Pittsburgh’s Hill District (through a major redevelopment project) and become its first Black mayor. Following a 2005 premiere at Yale Repertory Theatre, Radio Golf received a Broadway mounting in 2007, with Kenny Leon directing. Notably, it played the Cort Theatre, the same house where Wilson’s first Broadway play— 1984’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom — opened.

The African nation of Liberia saw itself represented on the Broadway stage when Danai Gurira’s Eclipsed opened in 2016 at the John Golden Theatre, following a critically acclaimed Off-Broadway run at the Public Theatre the year before. A story of hope and resilience, the play is set in 2003 in a small, bullet-ridden, one-room shack, and it follows five Liberian women as they survive the final stages of the Second Liberian Civil War. The Broadway production made history, as it became the first all-Black and female play to make it to the Great White Way. Eclipsed marked the Broadway debut of Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, who received one of the show’s 5 Tony nominations, which included Best Play. 

In 2022, Broadway audiences braced themselves for the flight of their lives, as Ain’t No Mo’ took off at the Belasco Theatre, also following a successful Public Theater run. Through a biting mosaic of vignettes, this sketch comedy imagines a world in which descendants of enslaved peoples are offered the chance to escape to Africa following Barack Obama’s election. The vignettes throughout the show touch upon themes of racism, classism, and culture. As Ain’t No Mo’ arrived at the Belasco for a limited engagement, Jordan E. Cooper became the youngest Black American to debut on Broadway as a playwright. Sales were lacking, though, and the run was cut short. What followed was one of the most triumphant final weeks in recent history: Cooper launched a #saveAINTNOMO campaign on Twitter, which gained a big celebrity push. Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, Shonda Rhimes, Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade, Queen Latifah, Sara Ramirez, and Tyler Perry all bought out performances, resulting in a one-week extension. 

By Jordan Levinson

Monday, January 16 marks Martin Luther King, Jr. Day across the United States. One of the leading figures of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, King challenged segregation through nonviolent protests and civil disobedience. Notably, he organized the March on Washington in August 1963, which culminated in his “I Have a Dream” speech. In it, King spoke of his “dream”: that one day, people would be judged by personal qualities — the “content of their character” — rather than the color of their skin. The speech had tremendous effects: it put pressure on then-President John F. Kennedy and his administration to advance civil rights legislation through Congress; it also played a major role in King being named TIME Magazine’s “Man of the Year” for 1963. The following year, he became the youngest man to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. 

We would like to pay tribute to King with a singular work from each decade beginning in the 1950s up until today, highlighting major Black plays on Broadway:

In 1959, Lorraine Hansberry became the first Black female author to have a work represented on Broadway, as her A Raisin in the Sun premiered in March at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The story follows the Younger family and their experiences in a Caucasian-heavy neighborhood in south Chicago; following the death of the father figure, the family tries to improve their financial standing with an insurance payout. Throughout the play, the family deals with experiences of racism, assimilation, and housing discrimination. A Raisin in the Sun was nominated for 4 Tonys, including Best Play. It has been revived on Broadway twice as of this writing, and it has spawned a film adaptation (starring its original leading man, Sidney Poitier), a musical version (the Tony-winning Best Musical Raisin), and a stage prequel told from the perspective of the family that sold their house to the Youngers (Clybourne Park, which won the 2012 Tony for Best Play).

Ossie Davis — who replaced Poitier during A Raisin in the Sun’s original run— had a play of his own, Purlie Victorious, reach the Broadway stage in 1961, playing the Cort Theatre (now the James Earl Jones). The New York Times greeted Purlie Victorious with great praise, calling it “marvelously exhilarating.” “The play tells the story of Purlie Victorious Judson, a joyous, robust preacher,” the Times explained, adding, “it won’t let you wipe that grin off your face.” The New York Herald Tribune also raved, calling the play “a bucketful of bristling laughs” with “wild, outrageous fantasy.” Like A Raisin in the Sun, Purlie Victorious was adapted into a movie (under the title “Gone Are the Days!”), and later it “got life” as the musical Purlie, which won lead actor and featured actress Tonys for Cleavon Little and Melba Moore. The play is set to receive new life soon, as a revival is currently in development and preparing for a Broadway bow in the 2023-24 season. 

On March 27, 1973, The River Niger arrived at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre (now the Lena Horne) after a celebrated Off-Broadway run that saved its home — the Negro Ensemble Company — from devastating financial difficulty. The tale of a family and the unrest they face when their son returns to their Harlem home after a stint in the Air Force, Joseph A. Walker’s work won the 1974 Tony for Best Play — the first Black play to accomplish that feat. The River Niger was filmed in 1976; it starred James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson. 

Known as “the theater’s poet of Black America,” August Wilson is best known for the ten plays that make up his Pittsburgh Cycle, which chronicles the Black experience and African American heritage in the 20^th century. The sixth play in the cycle, Fences, premiered at the Yale Repertory Theatre in 1985, before a Broadway production took up space at the 46^th Street Theatre (now the Richard Rodgers) in 1987. Fences is the story of Troy Maxson, who is a garbage collector but once had tremendous upside as a baseball player in the late 1950s. His childhood circumstances led him to prison, and when he got released, he met his wife and started a family; he struggles to provide for them throughout. The show won 4 Tonys, including Best Play, and its 2010 Broadway revival (with Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, and Stephen McKinley Henderson) picked up 3 more. Washington and Davis reunited on a film adaptation that gave both Oscar nominations; it was also nominated for Best Picture.

Broadway’s Best Shows has voted and designated that the following creators are 2022’s Broadway’s Best.

BROADWAY ARTISTS OF THE YEAR

KENNY LEON for his brilliant direction of “Topdog Underdog” and “Ohio State Murders” and his producing of the musical “Some Like It Hot”

PATTI LUPONE for her outstanding and Tony Award winning performance as Joanne in “Company”and her thrilling cabaret act at 54 Below (currently playing)

AUDRA McDONALD for her magnificent performance as Suzanne Alexander in “Ohio State Murders” and her extraordinary Carnegie Hall concert which highlighted memorable Broadway musical songs

OUTSTANDING BROADWAY PLAYWRIGHT DEBUT

MARTYNA MAJOK (THE COST OF LIVING)

ADRIENNE KENNEDY (OHIO STATE MURDERS)

BROADWAY PRODUCERS OF THE YEAR

DAVID STONE for his daring and brilliant productions of

KIMBERLY AKIMBO 

TOP DOG UNDERDOG

HUNTER ARNOLD for his dedication to Broadway as one of the major producers of such outstanding productions as

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

DEATH OF A SALESMAN

THE PIANO LESSON

OHIO STATE MURDERS

LEOPOLDSTADT

THE KITE RUNNER

A STRANGE LOOP

COMPANY

FOR COLORED GIRLS….

FUNNY GIRL

A BEAUTIFUL NOISE

SOME LIKE IT HOT

UPCOMING:

PICTURES FROM HOME

LIFE OF PI

BACK TO THE FUTURE

By Robyn Roberts

They can sing, they can dance and yes, they can act. As if being a triple threat weren’t already enough, many celebrated Broadway musical theatre actors are showing their range by trading melodies for monologues. 

It’s not unheard of for stage talent of various artistic genres to wade into new creative territories outside of their honed craft. The Wolverine meets The Music Man. Pop singer Selena Gomez pretends to uncover mysterious murders on TV and hawks a beauty line in between albums. The theatre however, is a far less forgiving place than TV and film. Broadway actors cannot hide their flaws behind post production and vast edits when on stage, in front of a live audience. On stage, they are completely exposed. It takes sincere raw talent to bring a group of people to their feet each night and to command such a demand for more encores. 

Musical actors on Broadway have already proven so much. They can hit the high notes every night on cue and work in tandem with the theatre’s acoustics to maximize the audience’s experience without missing a beat or barely breaking a sweat. So what is with this niche group of talent that has long mastered a voice that so many of their fellow actors are unable to that makes them want to venture into dramedies and away from melodies? Perhaps it’s simply that overachieving cliche of the musical theatre actor that makes them crave even more perfection. Whatever their reason, with songstresses like Audra McDonald giving us her stunning performance in the Broadway mystery Ohio State Murders, we couldn’t be more grateful for their incessant reach. 

Follow along as we mention a number of Broadway musical theatre actors who’ve recently traded songs for soliloquies and where you must see them. 

Danny Burstein is a seven-time Tony award winner, most notably for Moulin Rouge!, and will star in the dramedy, Pictures From Home, directed by Bartlett Sher (To Kill a Mockingbird) on Broadway in January 2023 alongside fellow musical actor Nathan Lane. 

Three-time Tony award winner Nathan Lane has 40 years of acclaim behind him in theatre, TV and film. From Guys and Dolls and The Producers, Lane is no stranger to non-musical roles and we can’t wait to see him star in Broadway’s dramedy Pictures From Home with Burstein in the new year. 

Jessie Mueller starred in Carousel and won a Tony award for Best Actress in a Musical for Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Mueller recently took on a very different role in The Minutes on Broadway this past spring, a comedic play from the Steppenwolf Theatre Company production group. 

Audra McDonald truly stands out in this list of musical theatre actors gone gloriously rogue. She has won six Tony Awards and is the only actor to win for all acting categories. McDonald stars as the lead character in Ohio State Murders—a whodunit style mystery written by 91 year old Adrienne Kennedy—the playwright’s Broadway debut. McDonald previously starred in Carousel and Ragtime among many other famed musicals. You will not want to miss Ohio State Murders so be sure and get your tickets asap.  

Matthew Broderick (and really, his wife, Sarah Jessica Parker, too). Broderick starred alongside Nathan Lane in the very popular musical The Producers (SJP famously starred in Annie as a kid), and yet the comedy, Plaza Suite, along with SJP, was a huge success this year. Broderick previously won two Tony’s, one for the famed Broadway musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Sharon D. Clarke is a UK born musical theatre actor and three-time Laurence Olivier award winner. Clarke starred in many West End London musicals. Her leading role in Caroline, or Change most recently led to a Best Actress award, followed by a win for the dramatic Death of a Salesman rendition in London, which you can see 8 times a week at the Hudson Theatre on Broadway. 

Jeremy Pope is a Tony nominated actor of Broadway’s Choir Boy and Ain’t Too Proud which also garnered him a Grammy nom. Pope currently stars as Jean-Michel Basquiat alongside Paul Bettany as Andy Warhol in Broadway’s The Collaboration directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah. The Collaboration kicked off in London’s West End and debuted at the Samuel J. Friedman theatre on Broadway in late November. Pope’s turn from musical songman to the dramatic NYC street artist is incredible to watch. 

Honorable Mentions

For those musical theatre actors who’ve gone from the stage to screen or are simply finding their way to new genres, we couldn’t leave them out. Tonya Pinkins won a Tony for Best Featured Actress in a musical for Jelly’s Last Jam. Pinkins also starred in the dramatic A Time to Kill and Radio Golf and praised for her recent turn in A Raisin In the Sun.

Darren Criss was a breakout star in TV’s “Glee” prior to taking the Broadway stage in the musicals How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch prior to the Broadway play, American Buffalo. Criss won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe in 2019 for TV’s dramatic thriller “The Assassination of Gianni Versace.” 

Hugh Jackman is probably the most well-known actor on this list and still commands blockbuster film status, which is why we’ve listed him as an honorable mention. However, Jackman still serves as a great example of the shapeshifting musical theatre actor. His Broadway hit The Music Man was a roaring success, but the triple threat actor also started out in The River on Broadway, a dramatic play, as well as A Steady Rain. 

Even the greatest dramatic actors can’t all sing a tune, but is it fair to say that all Broadway musical actors can be as brilliantly dramatic without songs to save them? If this list proves anything it’s just that. Let’s all give applause to the illustrious musical theatre actor, because whether you’re willing to admit it or not, they’ve certainly earned it. 

It’s December, the time for giving and the time for openings! That’s right, six Broadway shows will open this season, rounding up an incredible 2022 season with 22 new shows and 12 more that are planned; making a total of 32 new contenders for the Tony race in June.

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December 1
Ain’t No Mo’ (Belasco Theatre)

Direct from a smash-hit run at The Public Theater, AIN’T NO MO’ dares to ask the incendiary question, “What if the U.S. government offered Black Americans one-way plane tickets to Africa?” The answer is the high-octane new comedy from the mischievous mind of playwright Jordan E. Cooper.

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December 4 – A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical • Broadhurst Theatre

The story of the legendary Neil Diamond comes to life on stage in an uplifting new musical featuring all his hit songs including “Sweet Caroline,” “America,” and “Cracklin’ Rosie.”

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December 8 – Ohio State Murders • James Earl Jones Theatre

Six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald—“the undisputed queen of live theater” (Variety)—leads the cast of the riveting and surprising Ohio State Murders. Directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon (A Soldier’s Play), McDonald plays a famous writer who returns to her alma mater to finally reveal the truth of what happened when she was a student there.
 

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December 11
Some Like It Hot (Shubert Theatre)

SOME LIKE IT HOT brings one of Hollywood’s greatest comedies to new life on the Broadway stage. Don’t miss your chance to join this fast-paced, sassy, brassy cross-country romp, as two best friends run for their lives – and find true love where they least expect it.

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December 19
Between Riverside and Crazy (Hayes Theater)

City Hall is demanding more than his signature, the landlord wants him out, the liquor store is closed — and the Church won’t leave him alone. For ex-cop and recent widower Walter “Pops” Washington (Stephen McKinley Henderson) and his recently paroled son Junior (Common), the struggle to hold on to one of the last great rent stabilized apartments on Riverside Drive collides with old wounds, sketchy new houseguests, and a final ultimatum in this Pulitzer Prize-winning dark comedy from Stephen Adly Guirgis. For Pops and Junior, it seems the old days are dead and gone — after a lifetime living Between Riverside and Crazy.

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December 20
The Collaboration (Samuel J. Friedman Theatre)

Warhol. Basquiat. Electric, eccentric, polar opposites… together, for the first time in the most unlikely partnership the art world has ever seen. Paul Bettany (The Avengers, “WandaVision,” “A Very British Scandal”) and Jeremy Pope (Choir Boy, Ain’t Too Proud, The Inspection) star in the thrilling American premiere of the London sensation.

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List of announced productions scheduled to open in 2023

February 9
Pictures From Home (Studio 54)

March 9
A Doll’s House (Hudson Theatre)
Closing Date: June 4th, 2023

March 19
Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ (Music Box Theatre)

March 23
Bad Cinderella (Imperial Theatre)

March 26
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Lunt-Fontanne Theatre)

March 30
Life of Pi (Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre)

April 4
Shucked (Nederlander Theatre)

April 13
Camelot (Vivian Beaumont Theater)

April 23
Prima Facie (John Golden Theatre)
Closing Date: June 18th, 2023

April 24
Good Night, Oscar (Belasco Theatre)
Closing Date: August 27th, 2023

April 26
New York, New York (St. James Theatre)

As Thanksgiving approaches, many Broadway fans will be gathering around their TV or streaming device to catch the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  To celebrate, Broadway’s Best Shows is looking back at some of our favorite parade performances throughout the years. 

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will kick off on Thursday, November 24th at 9am on NBC or streaming on Peacock. This year’s performance lineup includes Lea Michele and the cast of Funny Girl, A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical, The Lion King (Celebrating 25 years on Broadway), and Some Like It Hot. Who are you excited to see?

Moulin Rouge! Performing The Sparkling Diamond at the 2021 Thanksgiving Day Parade

NEWSIES performing King of New York at the 2011 Thanksgiving Day Parade

Once performing Falling Slowly at the 2012 Thanksgiving Day Parade

TINA: The Tine Turner Musical performing The Best/Proud Mary at the 2019 Thanksgiving Day Parade

Matthew Broderick and the cast of How To Succeed… performing Brotherhood of Man at the 1995 Thanksgiving Day Parade

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang performing Toots Sweet at the 2005 Thanksgiving Day Parade

Footloose performs the title number on the 1998 Thanksgiving Day Parade

Sister Act: The Musical performs Spread the Love Around at the 2011 Thanksgiving Day Parade 

Christina Applegate and the cast of Sweet Charity perform I’m A Brass Band at the 2005 Thanksgiving Day Parade

Kelli O’Hara, Matthew Broderick, and the cast of Nice Work… perform Lady Be Good/S’Wonderful at the 2012 Thanksgiving Day Parade

The cast of Little Shop of Horrors perofrm Little Shop of Horrors/Suddenly, Seymour at the 2003 Thanksgiving Day Parade

By Jordan Levinson

When we see most musicals, they tend to use spoken word and song to get their point across, with elements of dance mixed in. However, there have also been several “dance revues” through the years in which the choreography does the heavy lifting. For instance, earlier this week, MCC Theater’s Only Gold officially opened. It tells the story of a royal family returning to Paris in the 1920s (including a king who tries to save his fading marriage) and three couples falling in and out of love, making everyone in town reexamine their lives and the choices they have made. Using the music of singer-songwriter Kate Nash, the diverse, multitalented cast performs Andy Blankenbuehler’s choreography, a series of moves that turn “eye-catching sequences into long narrative arcs.” (The New York Times) Their postures, twists, and turns tell the bulk of the story. 

Meanwhile, it was recently announced that a revival of Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ will arrive on Broadway in the spring; previews begin March 2 at the Music Box Theatre with an official opening set for March 19. A tribute to the art form that is dance, Dancin’ sets Fosse’s moves to a variety of musical styles and artists — from Mozart and Bach to Cat Stevens and Neil Diamond and everything in between — celebrating his influential form and exemplary spirit. The revue was nominated for seven Tony Awards, winning two (including Fosse for Choreography), and running on Broadway for over four years and 1,774 performances. 

Other “dance-icals” have jetéd to NYC in seasons past, to varying degrees of success. The late 1990s and early 2000s especially saw a renaissance of extended dance pieces reach New York stages.

The three-act musical revue Fosse is a more direct link to the many shows Bob Fosse worked on, and some of their most memorable numbers. Conceived by Fosse interpreter Chet Walker, Fosse played over 1,000 performances at the Broadhurst Theatre, from 1999 to 2001.  

Lincoln Center Theater also got in on the dancing act at the turn of the century, as Susan Stroman’s Contact opened in March 2000 and was met with critical acclaim. Made up of three separate extended dance pieces (and set to prerecorded music from all different eras, from Tchaikovsky to The Beach Boys), each one follows a central character’s desire to make a romantic connection or increase their “contact.” Contact won four Tonys including Best Musical but did not shy away from controversy because there was no live singing or original music in the show; a separate award for Best Special Theatrical event (which has since been discontinued) was introduced the following year. 

In 1996, Savion Glover (of next season’s Pal Joey revival) put on his dancing feet as he choreographed Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk, which also won four Tonys (including Choreography). Here, dance served as both entertainment and a guide to history, as the concept of this revue revolved around the Black experience, from slavery to the present day. Glover was also part of the dynamic original cast, returning to the show for its final weeks before it shuttered after a successful 1135 performances. 

Right before the dawn of the 2000s, Lynne Taylor-Corbett’s swing musical, the aptly titled Swing!, opened December 1999 at the St. James Theatre. Told entirely through music and dance, the show celebrates the look and sound of the swing era; Swing! featured well-known tunes from Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and many others. Though it didn’t win any Tonys, it was nominated for Best Musical and Choreography; it closed after over a year on Broadway.

Even the Irish received some love in New York at the turn of the century, as a company of 16 led Riverdance to the Great Bright Way. This show’s path was an unorthodox one, having been an interval act during the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. It was expanded into a stage show the following year, opening (where else?) in Dublin. To this day, over 25 million people have witnessed the step-dancing wonder of Riverdance, in over 450 venues worldwide. It ran for a year and a half in New York, from early 2000 to mid-2001.

The early 2000s introduced the world to the work of renowned choreographer Twyla Tharp, who had three separate Broadway “dance-icals” utilizing the work of popular artists. The most successful of them was Billy Joel’s Movin’ Out, about a group of Long Island youths and their experiences with the Vietnam War. The rock ballet ran three years (2002 to 2005), won two Tonys (Joel for co-orchestrating, as well as Tharp), and spawned a national tour — a commercial hit. 

Tharp also received a Tony nomination for her short-lived 2011 Frank Sinatra ballet Come Fly Away, which, like that of Contact, told the story of several couples in search of love. Despite only lasting five months on Broadway, it also received a national tour of its own. 

A valid reason as to why all these moving-and-grooving productions have popped up here and there is that dance is a language of its own. When words can’t say quite enough, choreography at its finest can be expressed by emotion and physical expression. Dancing breaks all language barriers and can easily be communicated amongst vastly different cultures. “Dance-icals” get their point across to both English and non-English speakers, opening themselves up to large audiences whenever they kick-ball-change their way over to Broadway houses.

The 2022 Clio Entertainment Awards, recognizing creative excellence in the marketing of film, television, home entertainment, gaming and live entertainment, were handed out on Tuesday night in Hollywood and 2021 Spotlight On Plays series were awarded with a Silver Clio.

Live Entertainment winners include AKA for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, RPM for A Strange Loop and Super Awesome Friends for Spotlight on Plays.

During the Dolby Theater ceremony, Netflix was revealed as the network of the year, Microsoft Studios/Xbox as game publisher of the year, Walt Disney Studios as studio of the year and Trailer Park Group as agency of the year.

Click here to see the winning entry. Congratulations to all the winners.