Grace Aki (3:56)

Grace, I, you know, I. I love Daniel so much and so many things. I got to see him a couple of years ago in Hamilton when he was coming in. Really great. I just think that he's such a dynamic performer. I think that everyone associates him with comedy and playing Donkey and being in Shrek, and I'm obsessed with that whole thing. But otherwise he's actually a phenomenally nuanced performer and I'm very excited about this casting.

Matt Tamineni (4:21)

Yeah, I think I saw him three times as Burr on Broadway. He's tremendous. And in addition to Shrek, obviously you talked about that is a show that you can stream, I believe, on Netflix. But he's also in Passing Strange, which Spike Lee filmed, and that's available to stream as well. So it's very rare when somebody can be in a pro tape of a Broadway show once, let alone twice. But having two very different roles of Daniel breakers preserved for posterity is very, very fun. All right, Grace, we got some other really cool casting yesterday. We had previously talked about the fact that the Jonathan Larson Project was going to be making its Off Broadway debut starting in February. Previews actually begin on Valentine's Day at the Orpheum Theater. And now know who the stars of the show will be. Some of them were a part of that original 54 below production, and some of them are new to it. Returning to the production are Adam Chandler Barat, Lauren Marcus and Andy Mientus. Joining them will be Taylor Iman Jones and Jason Tamp. Now, this is the show that's being directed by John Simpkins, and it brings together dozens of songs written by Jonathan Larson that had never really seen the light of day before. Either they were unfinished or they were from unproduced musicals, or they were just kind of like pop songs that were one offs that he had written and never really done anything with. And Jennifer Ashley Tepper found them in a box and kind of put this show together. So I loved it when I saw it at 54 below, I will be going back to see it off Broadway. And this is a cast full of absolutely dynamic performers. This is a home run in terms of the casting as far as I'm concerned.

Grace Aki (5:58)

I'm so glad to hear that. I love when that happens. Right. You want everybody to be as excited about the project as casting gets announced and theaters and all that good stuff. So I couldn't agree with you more. I truly have nothing else to add. I'm like, that's it?

Matt Tamineni (6:12)

Yeah. And I think I mentioned this when it was announced that this was the first time I'd ever seen Lauren Marcus. And she's probably the least known name out of this group, but if you're unfamiliar with her, she is. I think she's going to blow you away when you go and see the show. All right. We found out some information about a new show having its North American debut coming up later this spring, but it will not be in New York City. Instead, it'll be over at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. This is a new musical that had its world premiere in Manchester, England, and It is called 42 Balloons. It'll begin performances in the Windy City on May 24th and is currently scheduled to run through June 29th. This is the same theater that you remember where Six made its North American debut. And unsurprisingly, a number of people on the production team that are involved with 42 balloons were also involved with six, including Kevin McCollum, Andy Barnes, and Wendy Barnes. Sonia Friedman is also a part of this production team. So that is obviously very exciting. But 42 Balloons tells a true story of a truck driver named Larry who used a lawn chair and 42 helium filled weather balloons to fly nearly 16,000ft above Los Angeles. I remember this story. This was wild. So it'll be interesting to see with a team like that. I don't think you were doing this just to be like, hey, here's a new quirky little show we're gonna do in Chicago. You are obviously putting together something that you were hoping has a longer life in and around the United States. So we will see what happens with 42 balloons moving forward and then finally some great performances. PBS News and it's not technically theater, but it is opera and it is from a Broadway favorite. And is the Jeanine Tesori's operatic adaptation of the one person show Grounded will air on PBS on Great Performances at the met on Friday, March 21st. Obviously check your local listings for when and where that will be. So Michael Mayer is directing this play. It is based off of a one person show written by George Brandt that originally starred Anne Hathaway at the Public Theater. And then Jeanine Tesori came in to write an opera version. So she wrote the score for the opera here. And this should be very exciting, very interesting. Mezzo soprano Emily D'Angelo will be the star of this. And even though it was a one woman show, there are more people in it. There's a lot of tech heavy things happening with LED screens and all of that stuff. So if you want to see what this show looks like, especially if you saw the one person version off Broadway a number of years ago, check it out on PBS in March. All right. Grace, I, I don't have any recommendations. Do you have anything to throw in there? It's a little quiet for Rex right now.

Grace Aki (9:04)

You know, I know that upcoming because I was, I was checking it out. I know next week 54 below is doing 54 sings. Taylor Swift 1989 and my friend Tyler Conroy starring in that. A couple of other really great people. Cara Rose DiPietro, really great lineup of people. Ethan Carlson, who's also a composer that you may have seen and heard his work on the the webs. But yeah, I think that like you know, looking at the, the concert programming and cabaret scene, especially as we mentioned Robbie show ahead of the very packed spring Broadway season, this is a perfect time for you to go and see something else. Like not even kidding, like if you think you've seen every single show right now, check out these other off Broadway venues, these cabaret spaces because those artists are probably the ones that are currently not starring at a Broadway show right now but they either just came off of one or about to come and do a next one. So that's my recommendation always to if you feel like you've seen it all or if there's one thing that you've had on your bucket list like check out the availabilities. Look, I am busting my butt to go see Caroline Bowman on Sunday in Sunset Boulevard as Norma Desmond. There are so many great opportunities to go see shows right now that you might have missed previously. So check it out.

Matt Tamineni (10:14)

All right, that's all that we have for today. Thanks for listening to Today on Broadway. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at Broadway Radio and follow me on Instagram @bww. Matt Grace, where can people find you?

Grace Aki (10:21)

You can find me at graceaki.

Matt Tamineni (10:23)

All right, everybody, have a wonderful Friday, a wonderful weekend. We'll be back to talk to you on Monday.

Grace Aki (10:27)

It.