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Welcome to Last Week on Broadway for Monday, March 30, 2026. I'm Broadway Radio's Matt Tammanini. I'm coming to you today to catch up on the news that we might have missed since our last episode. I came to you on Wednesday with the previous week's grosses report, but we also talked about things like Jojo replacing Lea Michele in Chess, Merrily We Roll Alongs Pro Tape coming to Netflix next month, and a number of other things. So if you missed all of that, head back to our Wednesday episode and check that out. But I will get you through all of the latest news, but then also look forward to take a peek at to be happening in New York theater throughout the next seven days. Spoiler alert. Some pretty fun things happening on Broadway, but let's start not on Broadway, not even technically in the West End, but around the world and especially in the United States. Because last week it was confirmed that the West End protape of Hadestown and yes, it was in the West End. I was there, I saw it in London. But it is the original Broadway principal cast will be released in US movie theaters on July 24. A UK date will be announced in the very near future. This was filmed in February of 2025 and featured Reeve Carney as Orpheus, Andre de Shields as Hermes, Amber Gray as Persephone, even Noble Zada as Eurydice, and Patrick Page as Hades. Even though he had hurt himself and was not going to do the entire run in London as originally planned. Philip Boykin played the role of Hades for most of the performances, but Patrick did do the role of Hades for the live capture and they moved around some of the choreography because he was in a walking boot and had a cane. So it'll be interesting to see that. Looks like since it is a different version of the Hades performance than we are used to seeing either on Broadway, the West and on tour anywhere else. Now this is the first Broadway Live capture that Bleecker Streets Entertainment, Cinema Division, Crosswalk and LD Entertainment have collaborated on. They do plan on doing more of those. Bleecker street was also involved with the Waitress Pro tape and apparently they are going to be doing more moving forward. So that is very exciting. Cannot wait to see what those are all like. Now. In some news that I'm not 100% sure how to take, it was announced that Max Klimavikius, who has owned Sardis for 33 years, would be selling the famed Broadway and Times Square haunt. He will continue to run the restaurant through June 24, at that point, the restaurant is going to shut down for an undisclosed amount of time for, for it to undergo renovations because its new owners are the Shubert organization. What's interesting about this is, is that the building in which Sardis is located is where the Shuberts have most of their offices. And it's obviously very close to the Shubert Theater and many of the other theaters right there in the theater district, of course, Shubert Alley as well. While you of course hate to see Sardis closed for any amount of time, it does kind of make sense why they would want to get these renovations done not only when the Schuberts are taking over, but Sardis originally opened in 1927. So to have to have it in its tip top shape, brand new condition heading in, it's heading into its centennial year should be very interesting. You know, obviously the, the caricatures are going to remain, but I just kind of hope that they spruce things up maybe on the back end and the back of house so that it's, you know, easier to have a more working modern restaurant in that facility. Because I don't really want the interior to change. I don't want them to go minimalist and just put a few major portraits up and then kind of rotate them in and out. I want Sardis to be Sardis the way Sardis has always been. Although the one thing I do hope that the Schuberts will change when they take over is get a new caricature. Like these things have been bad for so long that they don't even really look like the people anymore. So hopefully when the Shuberts take over, they'll get, I don't know, Squigs or somebody else who can actually do caricatures to take over this, to take over this tradition. Because it would really be a shame if Sardis didn't maintain that aspect of its business. All right, let's dive into some show and casting news. And last week, the upcoming world premiere production of Gloria and Emilia, Stefan's new musical Bassora has announced its complete cast. It is going to begin performances on on May 30 at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta. It is currently scheduled to play through July 12th. Obviously, many, many musicals have made their out of town tryouts in Atlanta before coming to Broadway. But the show will be directed by Michael Greif with Karen Zakarias writing the book and Patricia Delgado doing the choreography. Of course, Gloria and her daughter Emily Estefan have done the score. The cast will be led by newcomer JC Calderon playing Namby and then joining the company are some fairly familiar names like Kevin delagula and Mandy Gonzalez. Some of the other principals in the company will be Dario Alvarez, Zach Calderon, Nathan Diaz, Isabel Gonzalez, Michelle Zink, Munoz and more. The plot of this show follows a music teacher who empowers students to make music even when they have nothing. This one has been in the works for a while and I'm excited to see what this one sounds like when it begins. Performances in Atlanta in a little over two months. Another new musical with a famous popular music composer also announced its cast last week, actually on the same day on Thursday. And this one is Julia, the new musical from country music star Jennifer Nettles, who of course also was on Broadway as Jenna and Waitress at one point. This one is it's actually Julia Colin, the Poison Queen of Palermo. It is set to begin its world premiere Off Broadway production at the Perlman Performing Arts center for on June 28th. Nettles is going to be playing the title role and Matthew Amiro will be playing Carlo. Also joining the principal cast will be Quentin Earl Darrington, Emily Fink, Brie Jackson, Andrew Kober, Aubrey Madelon, Christopher M. Ramirez, Dee Dee Romero, Naomi Serrano and Sam Semak. The musical tracks a real life serial killer who is on trial for murder and it begins with an act of self defense. Nettles wrote the book, music and lyrics and Mary Zimmerman is directing. In other Off Broadway news, last week Baz Bama Boy of Deadline reported that the stage adaptation of the 2018 movie Wild Rose will be a part of the New York Theater Workshop's fall winter season. Coming up. This show had its world premiere at Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theater where it was a big hit. But it is based on a movie that originally starred Jessie Buckley and was one of the things that really propelled her into movie star fame. But John Tiffany will be directing this production as it is at the New York Theater Workshop. Nicole Taylor, who wrote the original screenplay, is doing the adaptation for the stage and the show as well as the film follows a woman from Glasgow who is a mother of two but also is obsessed with country music. And she also just happens to be able to sing quite a bit. After she is released from jail, she hopes to be able to pursue her dream of having a life in country music and performing at the Grand Ole Opry. Of course, John Tiffany is no stranger to these types of shows. Currently he is represented on Broadway with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, but his first Broadway production was back in 2012 when he directed Once on Broadway. Obviously that originally was a musical esque film, although not like a musical musical, but a film with music. And he was able to helm that transition to the stage as well. Speaking of things happening on both stage and screen, last week we got in addition to the upcoming PBS Great Performances schedule for this season, we already knew that Suffs was going to be a part of the season happening on May 8th. Then on May 15th was Kathleen Marshall's new revival of Top Hat, which happened in London. But following that, we now know that An Evening With Nicole Scherzinger, which was filmed at Royal Albert hall in October, will get the slot. So that show features a mix of show tunes as well as pop hits from Nicole Scherzinger's career with the Pussycat Dolls. So you'll hear everything from with one look from Sunset, obviously, maybe this time from Cabaret, Not a Day Goes by and Losing My Mind, but also don't you and Purple Rain from her mentor Prince. So this one should be very fun. I love kind of the mix of these Suffs, a new musical, Top Hat, a classic musical, and a concert from somebody who is able to have a foot in both the popular and musical theater worlds. All right, let's dive in to this week's theatrical schedule. There's a lot of things happening. A lot of them are on Broadway, so I will focus on those specifically. But of course, everything that I mentioned I will have a link for in the show notes. But starting tonight, Monday, March 30, over at the August Wilson Theater will be the next Broadway opening. And that will be for For Dog Day Afternoon, based on a Life magazine article originally and then the film that was adapted from that by Warner Brothers. This play was written by Stephen Adley Girgis and directed by Rupert Gould. The show has a pretty big ensemble cast for a Broadway play, but in terms of the casting, there is a huge draw at the top of the bill, led by TV and movie stars John Bernthal and Eben Moss Bacharach. They are joined in the cast by Jessica Hecht, John Ortiz, Christopher Sears, Andrea Siklowski, and more. I'm not 100% sure when these reviews will come out. If I am able to stay awake for them on Monday night, I will get a review episode out to you right away. If not, I will have them for you as early as possible on Tuesday morning. But this is one that's been highly anticipated. And you know, to be quite honest with you, the word on the street is mixed at best. And that was only enhanced by a recent New York Times article from Michael Paul Paulson, who chronicled some backstage tension at the show. In fact, he reports that the show's producers had to kick playwright Stephen Adley Girgis out of rehearsals because there was so much tension going on on and off stage. And this was just like a week ago, a week before opening night. But the production and everybody around it, sources, you know, downplay that and just say it's a stressful time getting a new show up on its feet. And Girgis made all the changes, made everything they had time to get it set and frozen and all of that stuff. But anytime you have that type of tumult in a preview period, it certainly isn't necessarily a great sign. It doesn't either guarantee that things are going to be bad, but it certainly raises some eyebrows. So I'll be interested to hear what all of the critics think when the reviews are released tonight. Also happening tonight, though, we do have another Broadway show joining the boards, and this one is Joe Turner's Come and gone, of course. The iconic August Wilson show will be directed in this incarnation by the great Debbie Allen. It will begin performances at the Ethelberry Moore Theater and is currently scheduled to play through July 19th. The cast, as always, very exciting, led by Cedric the Entertainer and Taraji P. Henson. It will also feature Joshua Boone, Ruben Santiago Hudson and Maya Boyd. I am of the opinion that there should always be an August Wilson play running on Broadway. Like, if you want to do limited runs of like, August Wilson, Eugene o', Neill, Shakespeare, just, you know, through those types of great playwrights who always inspire wonderful productions, just put them in there, make up three months, have options for extensions, and just kind of rotate through one house all the time and kind of have make sure that you've got one of each of these great playwrights represented on Broadway every season. I would. I would love that so very much. Looking forward to hearing all about this one. Then another opening on Monday night will be down at the Public Theater. And this is the play that we've talked about before, Seagull. True Story. If you want more information about that, I will have it in the show notes. Then Moving to Tuesday, March 31, we will have not one, but two different Broadway shows beginning performances. Let's do them in alphabetical order. The first will happen over at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater, making it a Manhattan Theater Club production. This is the new play written by David Lindsay Abair and directed by Kenny Leon, called the Ballisters. It is currently scheduled to play through May 24. I would imagine they would like to extend that past the Tonys if they have the opportunity to. The cast features some favorite names like Mary Louise Burke, Carl Clements Hopkins, Margaret Collin, Michael Esper, Anika Noni Rose, Richard Thomas and others. We don't know a ton about this show other than the fact that it has something to do with like an hoa, but because it hasn't had an out of town tryout, this is the first time that we've ever seen it on stage. It is very exciting, but I gotta tell you, Manhattan Theater Club has not really missed in the last few seasons in terms of bringing plays to Broadway. They do very, very well in terms of the properties that they select to produce. So I'm sure that this one will be fantastic. The other show beginning performances on Tuesday night will happen over at the Booth Theater and this is the first Broadway revival of David Auburn's Pulitzer Prize play Po Proof. This is being directed by Tommy Kail and is currently scheduled to play through July 19th. It as well features a tremendous cast of four actors, Don Cheadle and IO Edebiri. In their Broadway debuts. They will be joined by the phenomenal Jin Ha and Kara Young, who was a rather late addition to this cast following Samira Wylie having to back out due to an undisclosed health issue. So we wish her the best. But Carrie Young on Broadway, who's not gonna love that? So this one top of the priority list in terms of just the play itself. When you throw this cast into the mix, I have no doubt that it will be tremendous. And then we do have an Off Broadway opening on Tuesday as well. And this one's happening over at stage 42. And this is Gotta Dance from Ricky, Kane Larimer and the American Dance Machine. Doing iconic choreography with some of the best dancers in New York City. Doing stuff from like Singing in the Rain and Gypsy and Contest and Smokey Joe's. All of these great iconic musical theater dance numbers are recreated on stage. There's nothing really happening on Wednesday, April 1. But I do just want to remind you, it's April Fool's Day. Don't fall for any silly, ridiculous, unbelievable headlines on Wednesday. I hate them every year. They are so annoying. Especially when there's this epidemic of disinformation being put out everywhere. I think any publisher who does these things is not worth their weight and salt. But just keep your eyes open, keep your brain engaged on Wednesday and don't fall for anything stupid. Then on Saturday we will have another show joining the boards and this one will be the stage adaptation of Schmiga Dune this features a book, music and lyrics by Cinco Paul and is being directed and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli. It is playing the Nederlander Theater and is currently scheduled to run through September 6th. It features a wonderful cast including Alex Brightman, Sarah Chase, Max Clayton, Aon Diop, Anna Gasteyer and Harada Ivan Hernandez, MacKenzie Kurtz, Isabel McCalla, Brad Oscar, Malik Panchali and more. The ensemble is filled with a bunch of people that you absolutely love, so I'm certainly looking forward to seeing this one, especially with a cast like that. Then on Sunday, we will have four Off Broadway closings. First, Bug House from the Vineyard Theater, then Chinese Republicans from Roundabout, Cold War Choir Practice from MCC and finally, Monte Cristo from the York Theater Company. All right, everybody, that's all that I have for you today. Thank you as always for supporting Broadway radio. If you want more Broadway radio, head over to patreon.com broadwayradio thanks again for listening. This has been Matt Tammanini and I'll talk to you soon.