Today on Broadway: Friday, Jan. 17, 2025

Summary

BroadwayRadio Podcast Summary: "Today on Broadway: Friday, Jan. 17, 2025"

Release Date: January 17, 2025

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1. Weekend Highlights and Epcot’s Disney Festival of the Arts

Host Matt Tiamineni kicks off the episode by sharing his personal plans for the weekend before embarking on a hectic travel schedule. He recommends listeners in the Central Florida area to attend the Disney Festival of the Arts at Epcot, highlighting the Broadway concert series launching on Friday. Matt enthusiastically mentions performances by notable Broadway talents:

"Disney on Broadway stars. It is starting off with Patty Murin and John Rowe, obviously the first Anna and Hans from Frozen and they are alternating nights with Casey Levy and Jelani Remy."
— Matt Tiamineni [00:29]

He lists additional performers such as Adam Jacobs, Kissy Simmons, Josh Strickland, Kara Lindsay, and Michael James Scott, emphasizing the event's vibrant lineup and encouraging attendance for an enjoyable evening.

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2. Casting Announcements for "Real Women Have Curves" Broadway Adaptation

Grace Aki segues into exciting casting news for the upcoming Broadway adaptation of "Real Women Have Curves," based on Josefina Lopez's play and the subsequent film. The production had an out-of-town tryout at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Key casting announcements include:

• Justina Machado as Carmen, the mother of the protagonist, Anna. Justina, renowned for her roles in Jane the Virgin and One Day at a Time, brings warmth and depth to the role.

• Tatiana Cordoba as Ana, the ambitious high school senior and Anna's daughter, marking her Broadway debut.

"Anytime you have Justina Machado in anything, she is just so warm and loving and fantastic."
— Matt Tiamineni [01:30]

The production is set to premiere at the James Earl Jones Theater on April 1st. Grace expresses her excitement, especially having seen composer Joy Huerta perform at an Epcot concert, suggesting a seamless blend of creativity and talent for this Broadway venture.

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3. "Six" Cast Updates: New Queens Take the Stage

The conversation shifts to the popular musical "Six," with Grace sharing updates on the cast changes for the upcoming production, referred to as "Six Cast 4.0." Several original queens are departing, including Jasmine Forsberg, Dee Dee Romero, Adriana Hicks, Storm Lever, Aubrey Madelon, Olivia Donaldson, and Gabriella Carrillo, with their final performances scheduled through mid-February.

New additions to the cast at the Lena Horne Theater include:

• Naja Hetzberger as Catherine of Aragon
• Gianna Yannelli as Anne Boleyn
• Kelsey Watts as Jane Seymour
• Crystal Hernandez as Anna of Cleves
• Kay Sibel as Kate Howard
• Taylor Marie Daniel as Katherine Parr

Notably, Kelsey Watts and Crystal Hernandez are making their Broadway debuts, with Watts and Cybill having backgrounds as contestants on The Voice. Grace highlights the fresh energy these new queens bring to the production.

"Not necessarily as many names maybe in this cast as had been in the past, although there are a number of people with Broadway credits and stuff like that. But I'm always excited for a new group of Queens."
— Matt Tiamineni [02:10]

Grace adds personal excitement for the new cast members, especially Gianna Yannelli's transition from Mystic Pizza to a pivotal role in "Six."

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4. Casey Likes Returns to Regional Theater with "Spring Awakening"

The podcast spotlights Casey Likes, a rising Broadway star known for roles in Almost Famous and Back to the Future. Despite his Broadway success, Casey is dedicating time to the Scottsdale Community Players in Arizona, where he will star, co-produce, and direct a production of Spring Awakening. The cast includes:

• Carson Stewart from The Notebook
• Johanna Diaz Watson from Wednesday
• Britta Filter, a star from RuPaul's Drag Race

Matt praises Casey's commitment to nurturing local theater and providing opportunities for emerging artists.

"It's really cool that not only his community, but this company specifically is important to him enough that he's going to go back on a fairly regular basis and do shows that he would have probably been doing had he not, you know, had the ascent that he had on his career."
— Matt Tiamineni [05:00]

Grace echoes this sentiment, highlighting the importance of multifaceted roles in the arts and celebrating Casey’s initiative.

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5. Annie Potts to Star in Industry Readings for "White Lies"

Grace announces that Annie Potts, beloved for her role in Designing Women, will headline industry readings for a new play titled "White Lies." Written by Elizabeth Dewberry and directed by Tamara Tunney, the one-person show delves into the complex relationship between Sarah and her dying mother amidst the backdrop of the Black Lives Matter protests in Manhattan and suppressed memories of Sarah's evangelical Southern upbringing.

"She is an icon for many reasons."
— Matt Tiamineni [10:30]

Grace expresses her admiration for Annie Potts and her eagerness to witness this compelling performance.

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6. "Wicked" Film Achieves $700 Million Global Box Office Milestone

Matt delivers exciting news about the film adaptation of the hit musical "Wicked," which has surpassed the $700 million global box office mark as of Wednesday. The domestic earnings stand at $460.6 million, with international revenues reaching $240.4 million. Notably, the film has yet to release in Japan, a significant market, with plans to launch on March 7th in China.

"It's now pushed past that with 460.6 million coming domestically, 240.4 million internationally."
— Matt Tiamineni [10:00]

This achievement underscores "Wicked’s" widespread appeal and cultural impact.

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7. "Mystic Pizza" Transitioning from Florida to Paper Mill Playhouse

Grace alerts listeners about the rapid transition of the musical Mystic Pizza from Florida’s current run to the Paper Mill Playhouse in New York City by the end of January. She urges fans to secure tickets promptly due to high demand and swift scheduling.

"It's... selling out right now. So go. If that is something that is on your radar, it's online."
— Grace Aki [12:53]

Matt and Grace discuss the show's quick turnaround and the importance of acting swiftly to attend performances.

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8. Personal Insights and Closing Thoughts

In a more personal exchange, Matt and Grace discuss their preferences for experiencing theater, with Grace emphasizing her desire to approach shows with minimal prior knowledge to fully immerse herself. They share lighthearted banter about upcoming performances and the joys of supporting beloved actors and productions.

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Notable Quotes:

• Matt Tiamineni [00:29]: "Disney on Broadway stars. It is starting off with Patty Murin and John Rowe, obviously the first Anna and Hans from Frozen and they are alternating nights with Casey Levy and Jelani Remy."

• Matt Tiamineni [01:30]: "Anytime you have Justina Machado in anything, she is just so warm and loving and fantastic."

• Matt Tiamineni [02:10]: "Not necessarily as many names maybe in this cast as had been in the past, although there are a number of people with Broadway credits and stuff like that. But I'm always excited for a new group of Queens."

• Matt Tiamineni [05:00]: "It's really cool that not only his community, but this company specifically is important to him enough that he's going to go back on a fairly regular basis and do shows that he would have probably been doing had he not, you know, had the ascent that he had on his career."

• Matt Tiamineni [10:00]: "It's now pushed past that with 460.6 million coming domestically, 240.4 million internationally."

• Grace Aki [12:53]: "It's... selling out right now. So go. If that is something that is on your radar, it's online."

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Conclusion

"Today on Broadway: Friday, Jan. 17, 2025" offers a comprehensive overview of the latest happenings in the Broadway scene, from exciting casting announcements and community theater initiatives to major box office milestones. Hosts Matt Tiamineni and Grace Aki engage listeners with insightful commentary, notable quotes, and enthusiastic recommendations, making this episode a valuable resource for theater enthusiasts eager to stay informed about the vibrant world of Broadway.

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Stay connected with BroadwayRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more updates and insights into the world of Broadway.

Transcript

[Matt Tiamineni]

Welcome to Today on Broadway for Friday, January 17, 2025. I'm Broadway Radio's Matt Tiamineni and I'm.

[Grace Aki]

Telling you on a Sunday podcast, Grace.

[Matt Tiamineni]

Aki, Grace, we are heading into the weekend and this is a weekend that for me is like my last weekend before I have like five or six weeks of just absolute craziness in terms of travel. So I'm going to be spending it trying to relax and get prepared as much as possible. But one of the things that I'm going to try to do is over to Epcot where the Disney Festival of the Arts is kicking off, I think officially on Friday, or at least the Broadway concert series is kicking off on Friday. They've got some great folks in here for concerts. So if you're going to be in the Central Florida area, I really recommend that you go over and see those. They're very fun, 30, 40 minute concerts. They do it three times a night. Disney on Broadway stars. It is starting off with Patty Murin and John Rowe, obviously the first Anna and Hans from Frozen and they are alternating nights with Casey Levy and Jelani Remy. So if you go for two days in a row, you're going to see some great people. Other folks throughout the series will be Adam Jacobs, Kissy Simmons, Josh Strickland, Kara Lindsay and tons of other people. Michael James Scott, tons of other people that I'm not remembering, but you should definitely check those out. I'm going to try to hit both of those concerts over the weekend before. I am basically out of town every weekend, three through most of February. So having fun there. And if you are in the Orlando area, I would recommend doing that as well. All right, let's dive into some news. Grace and yesterday we found out who the two leads are going to be in the upcoming Broadway production of the musical adaptation of Real Women have Curves. Now this is based on Josefina Lopez's play of the same names that was then subsequently turned into a film. It had had an out of town tryout at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts already, but only one of these stars was a part of that show. That is one of my absolute favorite people on television, Justina Machado, who I first saw on Jane the Virgin, but she really kind of had a massive breakout as the star of the revival 2017 series one day at a Time that also starred her and Rita Moreno as her mother. She is fantastic. She is going to be playing Carmen who is the mother of Anna, who is the main character. She did this role in Boston, but she is going to be welcoming in newcomer Tatiana Cordoba, who did not do the show at Art. She plays an ambitious high school senior. That's the Ana. So this is a mother daughter story between these two. And I think anytime you have Justina Machado in anything, she is just so warm and loving and fantastic. Those are the only casting announcements we have at this time, but it will begin performances at the James Earl Jones Theater on April 1st. No fooling. And you know, I've talked about like, I'm not sure what to make of this, but honestly I forgot that Justina was in it. So I'm really excited to see her on stage and I don't know that I've ever really heard her sing, but I'm even more excited about this having seen Joy Huerta, the composer, at a different Epcot concert. It all kind of circles in together, but I think there's a lot of reasons to be excited about this one when it comes to Broadway in April. All right, we also got some other casting news. Grayson, it looked like at least from your social media you were excited about at least one of the people in this, but we now know who is going to be, I guess the six cast 4.0. As we talked about before, different queens are leaving at different times over the next few weeks. Last week on Sunday was the final performance for Jasmine Forsberg. Coming up on on February 9th will be the final performance for Dee Dee Romero. Then Adriana Hicks, who is who returned to the show Storm Lever, Aubrey Madelon, Olivia Donaldson and Gabriella Carrillo will play their final performances on February 17th. But two days later on the 19th over the Lena Horne Theater, we will have a new set of six queens as Naja Hetzberger will be playing Catherine of Aragon. Gianna Yannelli will be playing Anne Boleyn. Kelsey Watts will be playing Jane Seymour. Crystal Hernandez will take over as Anna of Cleaves. Kay Sibel will play Kate Howard and Taylor Marie Daniel will play Katherine Parr. All of the alternates for the show are going to remain with them, but Watts, Hernandez and Cybill will all be making their Broadway debuts. And two of them, Watts and Cybil, are former contestants on the Voice. So as somebody who loves that show, that makes me even more excited. So not necessarily as many names maybe in this cast as had been in the past, although there are a number of people with Broadway credits and stuff like that. But I'm always excited for a new group of Queens. And while I've been there for the first performance of the first three cast, I'm not gonna be able to be there for this one, but I am very much looking forward to checking them out on a subsequent trip.

[Grace Aki]

Yeah. Gianna Yannelli famously was doing Mystic Pizza for a while. People probably noticed that she was not continuing in this out of town, and then here maybe is why. So that's very exciting for her. And then also, Taylor Marie Daniel, who was most recently in Once Upon a Mattress in both the Broadway production and when they just did in la, was also in the ensemble of Heart of Rock and Roll. And she was one of the covers, I believe, for Mackenzie Kurtz. She's outstanding. She's an incredible vocalist. She's an amazing performer. I love watching her. She's just. She's a really, really strong actor, and I'm very, very excited for her to have this moment in the spotlight for sure. So I will be there.

[Matt Tiamineni]

So if she hadn't been getting ready to marry Henry viii, Gianna Yannelli could have been marrying F. It's so true.

[Grace Aki]

The Anne Boleyn type really has one type, and that's F. So I get it.

[Matt Tiamineni]

Anne Boleyn and Bachelor, they see. Are you saying, like, they're a pair there? Like, they kind of.

[Grace Aki]

This is so meta. Anyone listening to this is probably like, I really don't know the rabbit hole they're going down. But I am here for the ride, so who knows?

[Matt Tiamineni]

Yeah, absolutely. That's what we're here for. All right, let's move into some other news here. And yesterday, the Lucille Lortel Awards announced a lot of their 2025 plans. These awards that exclusively recognize Off Broadway theater have set their date. They're going to hand out their awards on May 4, which is awesome, over at the NYU Scoreball Center. But the big things that we want to talk about today is the fact that they have announced their special award recipients. Playwright Alice Childress will be posthumously inducted into the Playwright Sidewalk kind of hall of Fame in front of the Lucille Lortel Theater. Anytime you go over there and you can look down on the ground and see all of the incredible writers who have been honored by this, by this organization, then the New Federal Theater will receive the award for outstanding body of Work. And Carol Fishman will be honored with the Edith Oliver Service to Off Broadway Award. Fishman served as the managing director and production manager of second stage for 14 years. So absolutely incredible groups of honorees this year. And of course, as we get closer to the end of the season, we'll talk about all the nominations and all of that stuff as well. But May 4th at the Skirball center will be the Lucille Ortel Awards this year. Grace. One of the most in demand young Broadway stars in a long time is Casey Likes. He went straight from Almost Famous into Back to the Future. And even though that show just recently closed, he is not staying idle in his time off. Although I do believe he has another Broadway show coming in the very near future. But instead of waiting around for that thing to happen, he is heading back to his home state of Arizona. And for the third time, he is going to be collaborating with the Scottsdale Community Players. He had previously done productions of Rent and Next to Normal there. Now he is going to not only be starring in, but co producing and directing a production of Spring Awakening. He is going to star in it opposite Carson Stewart from the Notebook, who, if you saw that show, he was like the redhead who stole the show every time he was on stage, either as younger Noah's best friend or as like the physical therapist in the nursing home. He was awesome. And then Johanna Diaz Watson, who was on the TV show Wednesday, is gonna be in it. And then RuPaul Drag Race star Britta Filter will be in the show as well. This will be happening from April 4th through the 13th. And I kind of love this, Grace. Like, he's young, and for a lot of people who don't immediately become Broadway stars even before they graduate high school, I think doing theater like this in small regional houses would be how you get some experience and how you have opportunities to grow as an artist and to put things on your resume. And he obviously skipped that by going straight to the head of the line, being a big Broadway star. But, like, this is kind of cool that not only his community, but this company specifically is important to him enough that he's going to go back on a fairly regular basis and do shows that he would have probably been doing had he not, you know, had the ascent that he had on his career.

[Grace Aki]

Yeah, it's funny because I was just talking about it as well. Like, I think it's really fun when people, especially when they're younger, are able to do a bunch of different things in that creative space. I think often, like, when an actor directs something, people go, oh, so they're not acting anymore? And it's like, no, everyone contains multitudes. It's okay. You know, people are allowed to be in this arts community in whatever capacity they want to, and it doesn't negate the other things that they want to do. Right. So I think this is really cool and exciting. It felt like A Mad Libs though of being like, Casey likes directing Arizona Spring Awakening. But I think it's all great. Like, I really, really love that he's doing this. Obviously I love the show very much. And it looks like he's doing it with some people that are close to him as well. So he'll be able to collaborate. So very cool.

[Matt Tiamineni]

Yeah. And he's had a relationship with Steven Sater. I guess they've done like TikToks together and stuff like that. So he obviously knows the show very well. But Steven Sater, who's one of the writers of Spring Awakening, is going to do a video forward for the production as well. So a nice little touch there. All right. Coming back to New York City, it was announced yesterday that Annie Potts, great star of stage and screen, will star in industry readings for a new play called White Lies, which is by playwright Elizabeth Dewberry. And it's being directed by another great star of stage and screen, Tamara Tunney. This is going to be happening next Thursday over at the Open Jar Studios. If you are an industry member and would like to check that out, there's information in the show notes of how you can do that. But it is a one person show set against the backdrop of the Black Lives Matter protests in Manhattan. And it explores the relationship between Sarah and her dying mother in Alabama. As Sarah attempts to bid Farewell during the COVID 19 pandemic, suppressed memories of her evangelical and racially charged Southern upbringing resurface. Obviously, Annie Potts starred in Designing Women, so she knows all about Southern women of a certain age. So I think this one will probably be pretty exciting to see.

[Grace Aki]

I mean that. I'm sorry, but I'm such a Nanny Potts fan. Like huge. I really want to see this, but you know that my first email address was Ducky Lover. Like I love Pretty in Pink. This woman's a fricking queen to me. Designing Women, everything, solo shows like whatever. I have to be there to see this show. I have to go. So it's very cool.

[Matt Tiamineni]

I believe it was our friends over at the press room who sent out that press release. So you might want to reach out there. But. But yeah, absolutely. She is an icon for many reasons. All right, real quick, I wanted to give you an update on how well Wicked is doing. It crossed the $700 million global box office line just on Wednesday. So it is now pushed past that with 460.6 million coming domestically, 240.4 million internationally. And what's crazy about it is, is that the film has not yet been released in Japan, which is not the biggest market out there. Like, China is, like, the one where, like, if it releases in China, that's huge. But Japan is a pretty solid market for American film releases, especially something like this that has a cultural footprint like Wicked. So it'll be interesting to see how much that goes up when it releases on March 7th. So very, very cool and, you know, just thrilled that this has had the success that it has. All right, Grace, earlier, when you're talking about Gianna Yanelli being in six and not being in Mystic Pizza, and, you know, Gianna could have been marrying your fiance, at least on stage. But that reminds me that, like, Mystic Pizza has, I think, like, a little under two weeks left here in Florida, but then it's going to be up there in the New York City area over at Paper Mill before the end of the month, which is insane, how quickly they have to turn that show around. But if people want to get tickets, they probably need to do it now.

[Grace Aki]

I couldn't agree more. It's kind of crazy. Like, I was looking at the schedule today and the capacities and it is filling up. So I just want to say, like, I'm very excited to see it, obviously, but I hope I can get a ticket. Like, I hope that everyone is able to secure their tickets, if you. If you were interested in that. I know that they put up the show really quickly, like, at the end of the month, and then they open on February 2nd, so it's boom, boom, boom. They're just running that straight month until the end of February. So, yeah, just shouting out the fact that it's going to be a quick run, and it's not. It's. It's. It's selling out right now. So go. If that is something that is on your radar, it's online.

[Matt Tiamineni]

I know that it's not the easiest place to get to from Hoboken using public transportation, but how often are you planning on being there?

[Grace Aki]

I mean, I got to go at least once. I'm hoping twice if it gets easier. Probably more. Maybe weekly. I don't know. But I'm excited to see it. You know, I really don't. I know the plot of the movie and I know some of the music, but I don't know the ins and outs of this show. I've tried to go in really green, and I think that that's going to be for the best.

[Matt Tiamineni]

When you're not working on a show that F is in, whether it's in New York or Somewhere else. Does F, like, download a bunch of information to you or do you normally try to come in as blind as possible? Obviously with, like, Hard of Rock and Roll, you were working on it, so that's a completely different thing.

[Grace Aki]

They also wouldn't stop talking about it for three years, so it was very different.

[Matt Tiamineni]

That too. But if F goes out of town to do a show at O'Gonquit or Goodspeed or down in Florida, like, do you guys talk about it a ton or is it normal for you to just be like, just give me the nuts and bolts and I'll see it when I see it?

[Grace Aki]

Yeah, I really. Yeah, I like to know as little as possible because I want to go and enjoy it wholly. Unless it's something that I've already seen. So, yeah, it's really. We try to separate it a lot because I like, like, I talk to you a lot about seeing a movie or any kind of, like, show. If it's been long enough. I just want to go in blind. So that's kind of my M.O.

[Matt Tiamineni]

Makes sense. And obviously I know how much F likes talking about their work. Like, they get so passionate about talking about it. I always love having conversations with them. So I didn't know if that was something that guys try to avoid or not, but that's fascinating. A little peek behind the professional and personal curtain. All right, everybody, that's all that we have for today. Thanks for listening to Today on Broadway. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Broadway Reading. You can follow me on Instagram www.metgrace. where can people find you?

[Grace Aki]

You can find me at Graceaki.

[Matt Tiamineni]

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