Broadway Breakdown – Matt Reviews: Oedipus, The Baker’s Wife, Prince F*ggot, & Two Strangers Carry a Cake…

Host: Matt Koplik
Date: November 25, 2025

Episode Overview

In this dynamic bonus review episode, Matt Koplik—arguably Broadway podcasting’s most opinionated theater geek—dives into four major current/recent New York productions:

• Oedipus (Studio 54)
• The Baker’s Wife (Classic Stage Company)
• Prince F*ggot (Studio Seaview)
• Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York (Hudson Theatre)

True to form, Matt delivers passionate, thorough, and sometimes withering theatrical critiques, sparing no show (or audience) from his razor-sharp perspective. He offers context, performance notes, highlights, shortcomings, and even Tony Awards predictions—always in his signature, unfiltered style.

Pre-Review Updates and Listener Feedback

[00:19 - 08:00]

Broadway Breakdown Live Update

• The first live "Broadway Breakdown: At Cabaret Now" at Green Room 42 was a big success, both in person and on the livestream.
• More themed live shows are coming in March, May, and June—details to follow.

Listener Feedback Addressed

• Responded to anonymous listener comments accusing Matt of being “cringe” and entitled, especially regarding comped theater tickets.
  • “I’m not being greedy about it. I’m not being tone deaf… critics do not pay to see shows. They get tickets from the press team… That’s just how this industry works. And I’m just being transparent about it, as I always am. I just overshare, as we know.” [06:00]

Quick Shout-Out: Caroline at MCC

[08:01 - 11:30]

• Praises Preston Max Allen’s new play, which deftly explores parenting, addiction, trans identity, and redemption.
• “It was a very lovely, grown-up piece… reasonably funny while still being heartfelt and lived in.” [09:45]
• Minor reservations about a “rushed” Act III twist, but overall highly recommended.

1. OEDIPUS (Studio 54)

[11:31 - 34:30]

Background

• Adaptation by Robert Icke of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, updated to a present-day political campaign.
• Originally commissioned in Amsterdam, translated to English, and Olivier-winning in London.

Plot & Style

• Oedipus (Mark Strong) is a hotshot politician on election night, with campaign manager Creon (John Carroll Lynch) and wife Jocasta (Lesley Manville).
• Play unfolds in real time with a visible countdown clock on-stage, ratcheting up the tension.
• Political intrigue and the famous Oedipal prophecy unspool against the modern backdrop.

Matt’s Critical Take

• Text is masterfully revamped:

  “Ick has done a really masterful job of stretching it out just enough that it never feels like a slog. It is exceptionally well-paced… The clock adds this tension… even when nothing’s really happening you’re always looking at the clock.” [20:00]

• Praises acting:

  “Lesley Manville has a devastating monologue… the whole cast is exceptional but she and Mark Strong are just too phenomenal.” [21:45]

• Notable staging moment:

  “There is a scene… Mark Strong goes down on Lesley Manville and I thought to myself, oh, they’re performing the title song. I was very proud of that. What can I say? I am literally a child.” [24:10]

• Admiration for the blend of naturalism and high tragedy:

  “It begins as sort of West Wing, House of Cards, The Diplomat… But when it builds to its epic conclusion… it is so earned and so juicy… It allows the actors to play every shade of acting you can.” [26:45]

• Minor complaint: audience behavior

  “Boomer generation is just as bad, if not worse. Turning off their phones, couldn’t be bothered. Dropping their phones constantly. There were so many dropped phones in Oedipus, it was really fucking upsetting.” [29:00]

Tony Award Predictions

• Likely nominations: Best Revival, Actor (Mark Strong), Actress (Lesley Manville), Director (Icke), and Sound Design.
• Strong recommendation:

  “This is absolutely my favorite thing I’ve seen so far of the season… including off-Broadway. Go see it.” [28:00]

2. THE BAKER’S WIFE (Classic Stage Company)

[34:31 - 01:04:40]

Background

• Stephen Schwartz’s infamous “troubled” 1970s musical, noted for beautiful songs (“Meadowlark”) and much tinkering over the decades.

Plot Overview

• French village, 1930s: A new baker, Aimable (Scott Bakula), brings his young wife Genevieve (Ariana DeBose).
• Local stud Dominique seduces Genevieve, who leaves, causing the baker to stop baking. Eventually, Genevieve returns, and harmony is restored.

Matt’s Critical Take

• Overall:

  “It’s a solid, if not amazing, production of what is ultimately a very flawed musical. The first things first, it looks absolutely stunning… the whole look of it is beautiful.” [37:50]

• Music/orchestrations:

  “To hear it with a smaller band… it sounded very charmingly intimate and had a lot of personality. Tricky line to walk.” [39:55]

• Acting/accents:

  “There’s very inconsistent work happening here when it comes to accents… I either like everyone needs to do an accent or no one should do an accent.” [45:40]

• Score critique:

  “Meadowlark is a full on banger. Where Is the Warmth is very nice… But a lot of the score is kind of just sort of fine. Not super memorable for me.” [49:30]

• Plot pacing:

  “For a very slight plot, this two and a half hour, two-act show cannot sustain that length for me… It wants to have its cake and eat it too, and be about the townsfolk as well as Genevieve and Dominique, and it doesn’t really earn Meadowlark.” [53:10]

• Jeanvieve/Dominique Chemsitry:

  “Ariana DeBose and Kevin William Paul have no chemistry.” [54:00]

• Favorite performance:

  “Judy Kuhn absolutely fucking walks away with this show. She sounds incredible… For a woman I never really found funny in her youth, she has found a way to be funny in the 21st century and I am here for it.” [59:50]

• “Charming but overlong” summary:

  “It just feels very kind of simplistic and not always in a good way… It is still a little too fatty and a little too airy. Strongly advise Schwartz and team… to go back and make some hard decisions on cutting.” [1:03:50]

3. PRINCE F*GGOT (Studio Seaview)

[01:04:41 - 01:25:55]

Background

• By Jordan Tannehill, directed by Shyok Misha Chowdhury.
• Inspired by a viral paparazzi photo of Prince George that led to queer speculation; play imagines George as an adult if he were gay.

Plot & Structure

• Begins with cast examining their own childhood photos and discussing early queerness.
• Flash-forwards to an imagined adult Prince George, introducing his boyfriend to royal parents, exploring sexuality, love, duty, public scrutiny, kink, and class.
• Includes meta-theatrical fourth-wall breaks and direct addresses.

Matt’s Critical Take

• Reactions to hype:

  “Advertisements lean into ‘so controversial, so provocative’… There is some stuff—full sex scenes, some nudity—but I didn’t find it terribly sexy or sensual or provocative.” [01:09:15]

• Thematic ambition:

  “This play was trying to cover a lot of ground… When you’re covering a lot in a short period of time, it’s hard to really flesh out every topic and character.” [01:12:30]

• Acting:

  “John McCrae was giving a really phenomenally committed and delightful performance… David Greenspan, for me, was the absolute highlight.” [01:15:30] “Every actor gets a moment to break the fourth wall and talk about their own history with sexuality or their comments on the play.” [01:17:20]

• Criticisms:

  “The intelligence and the heart of the piece is enough to, if not win me over, make me recommend it as a piece of theater… Not as strong as the reviews from Playwrights would have you believe, but better than its biggest detractors would say.” [01:19:50]

• On the ending:

  “Final monologue does not, for me, connect to the rest of the play… I was left pondering, ‘What, why, why this?’” [01:22:40]

Audience Notes

• Praises the house staff for reseating rush/standing room audience members.
• Cautions about strict Yondr phone pouch enforcement due to onstage nudity.

4. TWO STRANGERS CARRY A CAKE ACROSS NEW YORK (Hudson Theatre)

[01:25:56 - 01:59:45]

Background

• New British musical by Jim Barne and Kit Buchan, transferred from the West End.
• Starring Sam Tutty (Olivier winner, Dear Evan Hansen West End) and Christiana Pitts.

Plot Overview

• Robin (Pitts), NYC native and coffee shop worker, must pick up her soon-to-be brother-in-law’s son, Dougal (Tutty)—a cheerful, earnest British 20-something in NYC for his estranged father’s wedding.
• When Robin’s relationship to the wedding is complicated (spoiler: family drama, sisterly betrayal), she and Dougal spend the day collecting the wedding cake and navigating Manhattan, growing closer.

Matt’s Critical Take

• General impression:

  “For me… cute. I wouldn’t say ‘charming,’ I would say ‘cute.’ Also rather slight. This is another show that is a little over two hours with an intermission. I do not think it justifies that length.” [01:28:10]

• Acting:

  “Sam Tutty is such a wonderfully talented, charming individual… If it weren’t for him, I think that this character and the show at large would not work half as well as it does.” [01:33:10] “Robin is the more interesting character… but the show doesn’t actually connect the dots [in her backstory] clear enough.” [01:35:00]

• Romance/chemistry critique:

  “For a show that’s supposed to be a romance, I did not buy the romance. I bought a friendship, a connection, but not a romantic one.” [01:39:20]

• Songs/scoring:

  “Not a bad score. The lyrics are actually pretty intricately clever. But also, they would end and I would often feel like I had felt with half the score of Baker’s Wife: there were songs I went, ‘I don’t think that was necessary.’” [01:42:00]

• Staging:

  “Very well designed. The set is a turntable with suitcases of various sizes; clever and well done.” [01:45:25]

• Final thoughts:

  “Sort of like the whole show is a falling in love montage… except the little moments didn’t make me believe they were falling in love, just that two lonely people were getting closer.” [01:48:10] “This show also suffers from multiple endings. The last 20 minutes start to feel a little endless because you’re not sure when the ending is coming because you thought it was going to happen 10 minutes ago.” [01:55:40]

Tony Award Predictions

• Season is light, so likely Tony noms for Best Musical, Score, Book, Actor (Tutty), and Actress (Pitts). Less certain on direction or design categories.

Notable Moments

• On Sam Tutty’s performance:

  “If it weren’t for him, Dougal would become a new entry in the Most Obnoxious Characters in Musical Theater… kind of the male British version of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl.” [01:57:30]

• On running time and substance:

  “I don’t think it should be a two-acter. I don’t think it should be two hours, because when Act One ends you’re not really left with a lot of questions… There’s not a lot of stakes, there’s not a lot of tension.” [01:53:30]

Closing Thoughts & Listener Engagement

[01:59:46 - End]

• Matt teases upcoming podcast episodes including a review of Wicked: For Good and further review roundups (Ragtime, Queen of Versailles).

• Requests listener feedback on the format and invites fans to join the Discord and Substack.

• Ends with, “Because I always feel like with these group reviews, I never give the full picture to listeners… But maybe that’s a good thing.” [~End]

• Dedicates this episode’s closing musical “diva” spot to Judy Kuhn (who “walks away with” The Baker’s Wife), featuring her “Meadowlark” from a Boston production.

Summary Table of Key Quotes & Timestamps

| Timestamp | Speaker | Notable Quote | |------------|-----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 06:00 | Matt | “I’m not being greedy about it. …That’s just how this industry works. And I just overshare.”| | 20:00 | Matt | “It never feels like a slog… The clock adds this tension…” (Oedipus) | | 24:10 | Matt | “Mark Strong goes down on Lesley Manville… oh, they’re performing the title song.” | | 26:45 | Matt | “It allows the actors to play every shade of acting… all over the place without ever feeling wildly off the beaten path.” | | 37:50 | Matt | “It’s a solid, if not amazing, production of what is ultimately a very flawed musical.” | | 59:50 | Matt | “Judy Kuhn absolutely fucking walks away with this show. She sounds incredible.” | | 01:19:50 | Matt | “Not as strong as the reviews from Playwrights would have you believe, but better than its biggest detractors would say.”| | 01:28:10 | Matt | “For me… cute. I wouldn’t say ‘charming,’ I would say ‘cute.’ Also rather slight.” | | 01:39:20 | Matt | “For a show that’s supposed to be a romance, I did not buy the romance. I bought a friendship.”| | 01:55:40 | Matt | “This show also suffers from multiple endings. The last 20 minutes start to feel a little endless…”|

TL;DR Takeaways

• Oedipus: The must-see play of the season—a brilliant, taut, and devastating modern adaptation with electric performances from Mark Strong and Lesley Manville.
• The Baker’s Wife: A visually stunning, flawed musical that, despite charming moments and standout performances (Judy Kuhn!), can’t overcome its thin story and overlong structure.
• Prince F*ggot: Bold, ambitious, well-cast queer theater that covers too much ground for its own good—but still smart, funny, and worth the watch.
• Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York: A cute, well-acted, and well-designed West End import that’s too slight and undercooked to truly soar as either a romance or a great musical—but likely a Tony nominee nonetheless.

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