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Welcome to Last Week on Broadway for Monday, March 2, 2026. I'm Broadway Radio's Matt Tamnini. I'm here today to catch you up on all of the theater news from Broadway, Off Broadway, London and in other places around the globe. And then later on in the show, I will run through all of the biggest theatrical happenings in New York City and I'll throw in one from here in Central Florida as well. But let's start over at the Al Hirschfeld theater because we already know that Moulin Rouge, the musical will be wrapping up its Broadway run on July 26, but that does not mean that it is going out without a bang. Because knew that Kelsey Watts, most recently of six the Musical on Broadway, will be taking over the role of Satine, ostensibly to close out the show. But we also got, I mean, honestly, a pretty wild casting announcement last week, not for the Christian playing opposite Kelsey or even the Duke or Nini or anybody else, but for the one and only Harold Zidler, or I guess maybe just Ziddler. Because taking over the role on March 24th will be three time Grammy Award winner Megan the Stallion. She's going to be doing an eight week run from the 24th of March, just through May 17th. We will see if that ends up getting extended or not. If she has some sort of touring obligations that will take her away from the show during its final two months on Broadway. Megan will of course be the first female identifying performer to play the role that was originated on Broadway by Danny Burstein, won a Tony Award for that. In the weird pandemic shortened season of 2019, 2020, Megan Thee Stallion will replace Bob the Drag Queen who ends his run on March 22. And as I mentioned, obviously the, the role in the film and then throughout its run has always been known as Harold Zidler. But I did notice in the press release they just referred to the character as Ziddler. So we're not 100% sure if this is just because the press reps think that Ziddler has now become so synonymous with the character that they can go Madonna or Cher in that way or if this is some indic that there will be some sort of pronoun change or some sort of gender change when Megan Thee Stallion steps in. But I have zero doubt in my mind that however they decide to approach this, Megan Thee Stallion's costumes will be unbelievable when she takes over the role of Ziddler later this month. Really in just like three weeks. I will also not be surprised if we end up getting some sort of either addition into the show somewhere or even it's just a curtain call mix of one of her biggest hits. She's had three Billboard number one hits on the top 100 charts. Maybe WAP, who knows. But it's kind of crazy to me. Like they've already announced this show is closing. You would think that they were going to kind of ride into the sunset on that announcement, have some decent names and their Kelsey's got a pretty big fan base. But they are certainly not going to just let the last few months of Moulin Rouge on Broadway go uncelebrated. So they are bringing in a massive heavy hitter with a huge fan base. It'll be interesting to see what this is like and if there are any other big names are going to be joining this production before it closes this summer. Sticking with some pretty big name castings, but this one not in New York City but instead over in the uk. Last week it was exclusively reported by Baz Bama Boy that that the Royal Shakespeare Company will be doing an all male production of Shakespeare's as yous Like It. And starring as Rosalind will be Tony Award winner Jonathan Groff. This production will play at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Theatre in Stratford upon Avon from September 26 through November 7 of this year and will be directed by Daniel Evans. This will be Groff's RSC debut. He will join the likes of Peggy Ashcroft, Maggie Smith, Vanessa Redgrave who have done this role. But this is certainly not the first time that an production has been done in you know, the past half century or century even. Of course all Shakespeare shows were done by all male casts when they originally performed. Ronald Pickup, according to Baz in his Deadline article, played the role in 1967 at the National Theater opposite Sir Anthony Hopkins as Audrey. Adrian Lester played Rosalind. So this is not unheard of but certainly very fun to think of Grafsas doing this. He will be joined in the show by Fasayo Akanede who is is probably for a lot of people most well known for being one of the teachers on Heartstopper. He will play the role of Celia. Very excited about this. And you know Grof went away from theater for quite a long time doing films and TV projects and all that stuff and it was great. I was very happy to see him do that. But it really seems like we are in the era of Grof coming back to the stage and it's been fun to see him do a classic revival to do than a new jukebox musical. Obviously a bio musical, but then to go do some Shakespeare. The more we can get groff on stage, I think that the theatrical world is the better for it. Speaking of jukebox bio musicals, last week it was exclusively reported by People that the forthcoming crazy sexy cool musical the Musical about the RB hip hop group TLC has found its stars. Playing T Boz will be Holly Gabrielle Conway. She has appeared on Broadway in the original casts of Limpeeka and Tina, the Teenage Turner Musical, and she was also the first black woman to play Katherine Howard on Broadway in six. So you know we love that. Playing Lisa Left Eye Lopez will be Jade Milan, who is somebody who played Ally in Hell's Kitchen on Broadway. She's also been on Broadway in the Lion King. And then rounding out the group as Chilli will be Stoney B. Woods, who has been on Broadway in the Book of Mormon. She is also an Emmy nominee for her children's series Stoney Spectacular Show. So this cast seems like it has a really good mix of young up and coming musical theater talents and some of them also have experience in the recording world as well. The show will begin performances at the Arena Stage in Washington D.C. on June 12 and is currently scheduled to play through August 9. The great Kwame Kwai Armagh is writing the book and directing it and choreographing it will be Chloe O. Davis. The full cast and creative team will be announced sometime in April. Alright, let's do some Off Broadway news now. And coming off of a really well received run last year Off Broadway Audible will be remounting Hannah Moskovich's sexual conduct of the Middle Classes starring Ella Beatty and Hugh Jackman. The show will play a limited run at the medellin theater from March 17 through April 20. The show had originally played last year and then, because it is part of Audible's series, was made available for audio streaming in October of last year. This is another one of the shows that is being done by the production company Together, which is partially founded by Hugh Jackman, meaning that the company will offer a quarter of the theater seats at every performance for just $35, all sold day of via the Today Tix app or in person at the Mineta Lane box office. Sticking Off Broadway, a show with one of the best casts currently running is the Atlantic Theater Companies the Reservoir, starring Noah Galvin, Carolyn Aaron, Heidi Armbruster, Peter Maloney, Mary Beth Peele, Matthew Saldivar, Chip Zion and more. That show has announced that it is extending by an extra week and it will now continue to play play through March 22nd. And then another Off Broadway production that I'll talk briefly about again later in this episode is the upcoming super immersive production of J. Press and Allen's play. True, we already knew that Jesse Tyler Ferguson would be playing Truman Capote in that show, but joining him will be two time Tony nominee Charlotte Dambois. I'll talk a little bit more about this in a bit, but the production does begin performances later this week. And then moving away from New York theater proper at least a little bit, let's head over to the streaming world because last week it was announced that the Broadway production of Jeff Ross Take a Banana for the Ride will be streaming on Netflix beginning later this month. The show will be available to watch via the world's largest streaming service on March 24th. And then down in my Neck of the Woods Something that is incredibly exciting is that the Dr. Phillips center for the Performing Arts will be hosting a production of into the woods this summer just from July 31st through August 2nd. And it will star as the Witch, the one and only Tony nominee and Disney legend Jodi Benson. Now, I have seen her in a production, it was a concert production of Gypsy with her daughter, and I saw her in the same theater where she's doing into the woods do a production of hello Dolly. And I've talked about it here before, but like, Jodi Benson doesn't do much theater in New York anymore. I couldn't tell you the last time she did, but she still got it. She is incredible. So I am on the waiting list to make sure that I can get tickets because she is spectacular. And I cannot wait to see one of my favorite shows with this absolute legend. All right, before we get into this week's theatrical schedule, let's take a break real quick to talk about our sponsor Factor. Depending on where you are in the country, this time of year might be starting to warm up for you. You might start having the opportunity to get outside and do things. Or if you're in New York and it's still kind of cold sometimes, you still have all of these new shows starting to open. So your schedules might be starting to get incredibly busy. So you might not have time to do meal prep, you might not have time to cook. And that is where Factor comes in. As we told you about so many times over the years, Factor makes healthy eating easy with fully prepared meals designed by dietitians and crafted by chefs. So no matter what your schedule is like, no matter what level your culinary skills are at, you're gonna be able to eat delicious and healthy food without all of the planning or cooking that you would normally associate with it. One of the things that I love about factor, especially this time of year, as you're starting to think about, oh, bathing suit weather heading into the summer, especially here in Florida and as me going on all my cruises, I wanna make sure that I'm getting really real quality food with great ingredients, including lean proteins, veggies, whole food ingredients, healthy fats, all of those things that help me make sure that I'm hitting all of my macros with my workouts and everything. One of the meals that I've loved here lately is this shredded chicken taco bowl that comes with this corn salsa. Gives me a mix of all of the proteins and the veggies that I need to make sure that I'm eating a healthy, balanced diet. There's no refined sugars, no artificial sweeteners, none of those things like that. And they rotate 100 meals through to make sure that you are getting something fresh every single week. Factor meals are always fresh. They're never frozen. They're ready in about two minutes and there is no prep, no mess, no stress whatsoever. I've been a Factor fan for many, many years, and if you were looking for a way to cut down on your meal prep time or your cooking time, I could not recommend Factor any higher. So head to FactorMeals.com Broadway50OFF and use code Broadway50OFF to get 50% off and free breakfast for a year. Eat like a pro this month with Factor New subscribers only. Varies by plan. One free breakfast item per box for one year while subscription is active. All right, let's head into the back half of the show by looking at everything going on in the theatrical world this week. And let's start Off Broadway over at Theater555 with the opening night of Blood, a vampire pop opera. The show was written by Carrie Renee Sharpe and Drew DeCaro. Carrie Renee Sharpe also plays Valerie in the show Blood. I'm assuming the show is Blood Love. It's Blood Love is a new pop opera that transforms the classic vampire tale into an ultra contemporary theatrical extravaganza. Under the sultry lights of a nightclub, the Crimson, the former queen of the underworld searches for an existence beyond eternal bloodshed. But her endless night changes when she meets a mortal soul with his own devilish secret. This show will open Tuesday night over at Theater555, and last week it announced an extension, so the show will now play through May 10th. On Tuesday night, I will actually be at the Dr. Phillips center for the Performing Arts for the first night in the tour stop for Hell's Kitchen that will play the Walt Disney theater through Sunday, March 8th. Maya Drake is currently playing Ally, Kennedy Coughlin is playing Jersey Desmond, Sean Ellington is playing Davis, Roz White is playing Miss Liza Jane, and John Avery Worrell is playing Nuck. So not only will I be seeing it on Tuesday, but coming up on Wednesday I will also have a review episode for the tour, so make sure that you are keeping your ears out for that one. It'll be first in the Patreon feed and then hitting the regular feed shortly thereafter. All right, moving back to New York on Thursday, March 5, we will have another Off Broadway opening and this one is happening at Astor Place. And this is the Off Broadway opening for the show Burnout Paradise. This is the one I talked to you about last week where a bunch of people tried to do some random challenges while they are running on treadmills and if they are unable to complete all of the tasks, you have the opportunity to get your money back. I have heard such great things about this show. I have friends who saw it last week who had seen it previously in other incarnations around the country. It sounds like this is absolutely one of the most wild experiences you can have. So if you have an opportunity to see it, I would certainly recommend it. I'm going to try to get to it while I am in town coming up this spring. All right. That is not the only Off Broadway opening happening on Thursday night. The other one is at the Greenwich House Theater. And this is the play by Wallace what We Did Before Our Moth Days. Directed by Andre Gregory with an incredible cast, starring Hope Davis, Maria Dizzia, John early and Josh Hamilton. Hamilton, set in an urban world of intelligent and somewhat gentle middle class people, a father, mother, son and longtime mistress of the father tell the intimate story of their lives. This show is currently on sale through May 10 and it is actually running in rep on Sundays and Mondays with another Wallace Shawn play called the Fever. And this one is actually one that Wallace will actually be performing as well. Then on Friday, something that I haven't been able to say in quite a while, we have a new Broadway show beginning to performances and this one is going to happen up at the Winter Garden Theater and it is the latest Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. It is being directed by Joe Mantello and stars Nathan Lane as Willy Loman, Laurie Metcalfe as Linda, Christopher Abbott as Biff, Ben Ehlers as Happy as well as some names like K. Todd Freeman, Jonathan Cake, John Drea, Michael Benjamin Washington, Tasha Lawrence and Jake Silberman. Of course it is important to mention that this one is being produced by Scott Rudin, his second Broadway show following the pushback on the years of physical, emotional and verbal abuse that he was well known for for many, many years around the theater community with people that worked for him as assistants, co workers, employees, things like that. Then also happening on Thursday over at House of the Redeemer, this is the show that I mentioned earlier that Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Charlotte Dambois are going to be leading. This is true. This is the play by J. Press and Allen. It is being directed by Rob Ashford and It is playing 34 performances as of now and is in a 99 seat performance space at the House of the Redeemer which is this big fancy house. It is taking place in the very, very small intimate library there. So if you want to have the opportunity to check this out, you get your tickets now. This seems like this is going to be an absolutely unbelievable experience. Full disclosure, our friend Oliver Roth is one of the lead producers on this show, but he has an incredible track record of bringing amazing talents to do hyper intimate shows, whether that is the David Cromer, Marin Ireland Will Brill production of Uncle Vanya that was done in a loft or Tatiana Maslany at all in pre existing condition in a even smaller space. So Oliver and everybody else working on this team knows how to do shows like this. So I'm very, very excited to see what happens when performances begin this week and it's currently on sale through April 12th. Then over the weekend we have four shows closing, two on Broadway, two off Broadway, the two on Broadway are All out and Bug. And then the ones off Broadway are Playwrights Horizons, the Dinosaurs and the WP Theaters, the Waterfall. All right, before I get out, I want to tell you that I have two very special episodes that'll be coming out over the next few days in addition to the regular grosses episodes and other things. Last week I did an interview with Cost and Mayer, the husband and wife choreography and creative team behind the Off Broadway dance show 11 to Midnight. They were incredible. If you are on social media, chances are very good that you either follow Cost and Mayer or you have seen something from Costa Mayer. They are great. I think it was a wonderful conversation. I'm looking forward to getting that out to you. And then I also did a very fun episode with Ashley Hufford, who might be the biggest Hadestown fan in the world. They are switching over casts from Sunday with the final performance of the current cast to Tuesday with a new cast coming in. So Ashley and I took the opportunity to draft our favorite principal casts of Hadestown. Ashley and I spoke for an hour on Hadestown Replacements. We did not include the OBC because that really wouldn't be fair, but we spent an hour talking about all the people that we have loved seeing in Hadestown productions around the country and around the world over the years. So keeping ears out for that. And we'll have other great stuff coming to you as the season continues to progress. All right, everybody, that is all that I have for you. Thank you for supporting Broadway radio. If you want more Broadway radio, head over to patreon.com broadwayradio thanks for listening. This has been Matt Tamnini and I'll talk to you soon.