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Today on Broadway: Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025
00:15:40
Sia Musical Coming to NYTW, Major Stars to Premiere New Guettel Show in Atlanta, Hilarious ‘Smash’ Social Media Joke Since 2016, “Today on Broadway” has been the first and only daily podcast recapping the top theatre headlines every Monday through Frid...
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- [00:02]
Matt Tamanini
Welcome to Today on Broadway for Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, on Broadway radio's Matt.
- [00:07]
Grace Aki
Tammini, and I'm Tell Me on a Sunday podcast. Grace Aki.
- [00:10]
Matt Tamanini
Grace, we have some news here, but I also you went and saw another show on Tuesday night, so we want to give you some room to talk about your return visit to Hell's Kitchen. I don't know what that's all about. I don't know if it was because of new cast members or whatever, but you're gonna talk about that at the end of the episode. So we're gonna dive in to the show first. But before we do that, I feel like we're gonna need to swing from a chandelier because yesterday the New York Theater Workshop announced that it will kick off its 2025, 2026 season this fall. We don't know exactly when dates TBD with a new musical called Saturday Church. This is based off of an independent film of the same name, and it will be directed by Whitney White. But here's where it gets interesting. The book comes from not only the original film's creator, Damian Cardasses, but also Tony nominee and Pulitzer Prize winner James I. And the music and lyrics are by the iconic singer songwriter Sia, with additional music by Grammy winner Honey Dejon. What's interesting about this is that none of the press notes great actually say if this is going to be all new songs by Sia or if it will be all existing songs that Sia's written or some sort of combination of the two. Not dissimilar from what Alicia Keys did with Hell's Kitchen. So we'll have to wait a little bit longer until NYTW gives us some information on that. But it is based off of a film of the same name, which was written and directed by Damon Cardassis, and it tells the story of a young man named Ulysses who is a New York City kid devoted to his aunt's church, until a chance encounter on the subway introduces him to Saturday Church, a haven for LGBTQ youth. Not only does that sound like a great premise for a musical, especially a New York theater workshop musical, Grace, but pairing people like James Imes and Sia is like, oh, this is like something that has greatness potentially mixed in. We don't know how. How Sia is going to adapt anything for a musical theater, whether or not she's going to write anything new for it, but James Imes and Sia working on a musical with that background and that story feels like it could be something very, very special.
- [02:20]
Grace Aki
I agree. I was really excited to see it and I see it, but I'm interested in whatever that project might be.
- [02:31]
Matt Tamanini
Do you have any thoughts on the original music versus existing music? Because obviously Sia has written a ton of songs that she didn't record that other people have recorded. So there's a large category. She's got nine Grammy nominations and you know, she's written a ton of stuff. But do you have any feelings on like Just a Guess or Whispers in the Wind about whether this is going to be original stuff or stuff from her catalog or some combination of both?
- [03:01]
Grace Aki
It wouldn't surprise me if they were original pieces of music. Like I think it's been a second since we've had like a new something out of her in that capacity. So I would not be surprised if this was new and not a jukebox situation.
- [03:14]
Matt Tamanini
Well, we will have to wait and see what that is all about when we get some more details later this year from New York Theater Workshop. Speaking of a new world premiere musical, this one will not be having its world premiere in New York City, but chances are probably pretty good that it will eventually end up there. And this is the new Adam Guettle musical called Millions. It will premiere later this spring at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta. It will feature a book by Bob Martin, who is getting ready to be represented on Broadway with boop. And it like Saturday Church is based on a film, but it is also based on a novel by Frank Cottrell Boyce and it will play from May 9 through June 15. And Bartlett Shear is directing. We actually already knew that, but they announced the for the show yesterday that will include Tony winner and Atlanta native Schuler Hensley, Tony winner Ruthie Ann Miles, and everybody's favorite, Stephen Pasquale. Also in the cast will be Keenan Barrett, Yair Kedar and Leigh Ellen Jones. And additional cast members can be found in the show notes if you want to check that out. But I know Grace, one of your and F's favorites, Billy Harrigan Ty is in the show as well. So as always, an Adam Gettle show gets a lot of people excited, gets a lot of people interested. This one follows two brothers who, while dealing with a loss of their mother, discover a duffel bag filled with cash. Sounds interesting. I don't know this film or this book, Grace, but with a cast like this, it'll certainly be something to keep an eye on.
- [04:42]
Grace Aki
I want to see any show that Billy Harrigan Ty is in. Like I'm just going to say that, you know what I mean, like, I don't care what it is, I'm going to see it. So the second I saw that also, you know that there are the Schuler Hensley Awards in Georgia for theater. So like, obviously he's very beloved and I think this is very cool. So I'm excited to see whatever happens with this show.
- [05:02]
Matt Tamanini
One of the big stories that we've been talking about for the past couple of weeks, Grace, has obviously been the Trump administration takeover of the Kennedy center and the impact that it has had on theater, music, opera, whatever. One of the first stories that we heard about a cancellation from the Kennedy center was the children's musical Fin that had originally opened at the Kennedy center. And the Kennedy center was producing a national tour of the show. That tour was canceled. However, we now know that there will be a presentation of this show. It'll be a one night only performance, but it will be live stream and it will happen at the Town hall next month. It'll take place on March 17th and some of Broadway's biggest stars are going to be involved with it. Those include Andrew Rannells, Andrea Martin, Kelly O'Hara, Bonnie Milligan, Jesse Mueller, Nikki M. James, Jose Lana, Lea Salonga, Hennessy Winkler, as well as members of the original Kennedy center cast. The evening will also feature performance by the Gay Men's chorus of Washington D.C. who also had their appearance at the Kennedy center canceled. Members of the New York City Gay Men's Chorus will also join in solidarity. So, Grace, this is a wonderful, a wonderful thing that people are going to have the opportunity to see this show. I will note that it is being presented by Stars in the House creators Seth Radetsky and James Wesley Jackson, along with the creators of, of of Finn. And the performance will mark the fifth anniversary of Stars in the House. I still think Seth Rasky and James Wesley Jackson's Tony Award for community support, I forget what the the actual name is, is long overdue, but this is another example of why they deserve it. But this should be a must see event whether you're in New York or not next month. Grace.
- [06:47]
Grace Aki
Yeah, I know that we've been talking about the, the Kennedy center in a lot of different ways in their programming and the board and all of that stuff, which has been really traumatic, honestly for the theater community. But I thank you all for listening. We also got some feedback from some people about the conversation around that, so thank you. But also, this is a really gorgeous pivot and even though it's not really a pivot, it is another way that Seth is allowing for platforms for companies like this, for creators like this, for artists. And so I'm just very grateful that he's providing that.
- [07:18]
Matt Tamanini
All right, going from Washington D.C. over to Chicago, earlier this week, Chicago's Goodman theater announced its 2025, 2026 season. And while there are some new by Richard Greenberg and a show by Lee Kirk, the big thing that we want to point out here is the fact that Megan Mullally is going to headline a new musical directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall. This is called Ice Boy or the Completely Untrue story of how Eugene O'Neill came to write the Iceman Cometh. Amazing title. I'm in. I mean even before Megan Mullally and Kathleen Marshall, like I was in on that title. But it also features music by Mark Holman who co wrote Urinetown. Holman wrote the lyrics with Jay Reese, who co wrote the 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and then Reese co wrote the book with Aaron Quinn Purcell. And it's just absolutely bonkers when you read this press description. Mullally is going to be playing Broadway star Vera Vim, who adopts a 4,000-year-old Neanderthal from the Arctic only to reel when he begins stealing the spotlight. Further casting and creative team members are going to be announced, but you give me Megan Mulally in an absolutely batshit bonkers crazy musical with those writers and those creatives. Grace, that seems like pure delight. Like it seems like pure joy and silliness and I cannot wait to hopefully be have an opportunity to see it when it begins performances in Chicago in June of next year. All right, let's get into some real quick show and casting stuff that I want to mention here, Grace, before we talk about Hell's Kitchen, but yesterday the Red Bull Theater Company announced an Off Broadway premiere of a new adaptation of Moliere's the Imaginary Invalid. This one comes from Jeffrey Hatcher, who penned the adaptation. It is gonna run from May 21 through June 9 and has some incredible cast members. It's directed by Jesse Berger and the cast includes the one and only Mark Lynn Baker, the hilarious Sarah Stiles, Arnie Burton, Russell Daniels, Manuel Falciano, Emily Kuachu, Emily Swallow, and John Yee. Absolutely bonkers. Good cast. So while I have never seen actually a Red Bull theater show in person, I've seen a lot of their live streams. This is one that I will definitely have to be checking out if I'm in town during the run. Then you might remember an Off Broadway show called High Prof. Which is improv under hypnosis. It had played in Ontario, Canada and Las Vegas and also did a run off Broadway where it featured comedian Colin Mochrie. That show was actually filmed earlier this month and it is going to be available for a TV broadcast at some point in the future. The complete details haven't exactly been announced, but it will be available at some point in the future and we will keep you up to date when that happens. And Grace, we had talked at one point about a stage adaptation of the iconic book and film series the Hunger Games coming to the London stage in 2024. That obviously didn't happen, but apparently we're going to get an announcement about it today. But depending on when you're listening to this, it might already be out. Connor McPherson adapted the first book of Suzanne Collins's series and the Instagram for the Hunger Games on stage. THG Onstage released something yesterday that said the world will be watching. 270251300 Greenwich Mean Time GMT. So that's obviously if you move the numbers around February 27th of 2025 at oh gosh, I was just in in London and I'm trying to do the time. So that'd be 1:00. So then five hours back would be 8:00. I think 8:00am Eastern Time.
- [11:05]
Grace Aki
You know I can't do math.
- [11:07]
Matt Tamanini
I know I'm not very good at this. So there will be an announcement. Presumably it'll be coming to the stage in London sometime after that announcement. And then coming up tonight at 5pm There will be a great event from the Maestra organization that helps involve women in musical theater, composition and music and all of that stuff, as well as Rise. And it'll feature 16 time Grammy winner Alicia Keys and Lilly Ling, the music director for Hell's Kitchen. That'll be happening at 5 o'clock and they'll talk for an hour in an event called Kaleidoscope Dreams unlocking the potentials in musical theater. It'll be on Zoom. The event is free and it's open to anybody if you want more information about it. I will have the link in the show notes and then real quick recommendation before we dive into a little bit more Hell's Kitchen stuff. But there's a new short film called 8 minutes 20 seconds. It has been released on like a bunch of short film festivals including becoming a best short nominee at the Atlanta Film Festival, but it features Brandon Uranowitz and A Two Blanks in Wood as well as Julia Chan and Nadia Quinn and other folks. So if you Want to watch that? You can check it out in the show notes. All right, Grace, so tell me all about Hell's Kitchen. Other than the fact that you work on the show, why did you go back? What do we need to know?
- [12:28]
Grace Aki
So last night, I hosted a content creator event highlighting black excellence on Broadway and black theater creators and just content creators in general. But it was a really, really beautiful event. And I had not gotten to see the show in a really long time since previews, so that's almost a year ago. And I was in the back of the mezzanine, and I felt like I couldn't really. Like, I feel like it was just a whirlwind. Like, it's been a long time. And I was like, I really need to see the show again. So also, new cast members, all those great things. I cannot begin to explain how good Philip Richards, like, he's. He's unbelievable as the character. Nuck also got to see Jessica Vosk finally in the role of Jersey. She's come in, obviously, for about two months now. So she's really, really in the. In the weeds of it. It's so good. It's. It's really a great cast. The company was excellent. I just, you know, I saw Gatsby the other day. New. New. Some new principles, but. And some new ensemble members. And then today I'm actually seeing Buena Vis. And then last night was Hell's Kitchen. And it's just like, I'm so excited to see the. The kind of like the rebirth, the re. Energizing of some of these new companies. And if you had already seen the show, but you're like, oh, I would see that again. I would recommend you go again, because this show with this cast is really phenomenal. And you could tell they're all just absolutely head over heels collaboratively in love with each other. It's. It's fantastic to see. So it was an awesome night.
- [14:08]
Matt Tamanini
Love that. We'll get over to the Shubert Theater if you want to check out these new folks. And then, last thing I'm going to throw at you. Whoever is doing the social media for Smash on Broadway really knocked it out of the park when they posted a video where they were going around asking cast members if they could do a different thing. They could film a dressing room tour or do a get ready with me. And every single person had the same response in some form or another, and they said, no, I can't. I'm in tech. Grace. I don't know. Remind me, were you a big smash fan at the time of the show.
- [14:46]
Grace Aki
I was not a fan of season one. I was a fan of season two. So I was not a Bombshell girl. I was a big hit list girl. And that is my illness and I do understand that. But obviously I'm a very big bombshell fan right now because Caroline Bowman.
- [15:01]
Matt Tamanini
Right, of course. So that is obviously an iconic reference to one of the most bonkers lines in series and television history. But kudos to them for having that ready to go once the show actually did enter into the tech rehearsals. All right, everybody, that's all we have for today. Thanks for listening to today on Broadway. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram BroadwayRadio. You can follow me on Instagram @BW. Matt Grace, where can people find you?
- [15:24]
Grace Aki
You can find me at. It's Graceaki.
- [15:26]
Matt Tamanini
All right, everybody, have a wonderful Thursday and we'll be back to talk to you.