Today on Broadway: Thursday, February 6, 2025

Summary

BroadwayRadio: Today on Broadway – Thursday, February 6, 2025

Hosted by James Marino

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I. News Highlights

A. Remembering David Edward Byrd

BroadwayRadio begins with the somber news of David Edward Byrd’s passing at the age of 83. Byrd was renowned for his iconic poster art for classics such as Godspell, Follies, and Little Shop of Horrors. These pieces have left an indelible mark on Broadway's visual legacy.

“Broadway World brings us the sad news that Broadway poster artist David Edward Byrd passed away at the age of 83. Bird created the poster art for Godspell Follies, Little Shop of Horrors and more. These are all iconic, iconic pieces of art.” [00:04]

Listeners are encouraged to visit Broadway World's page to view Byrd’s celebrated artwork, with a link provided in the show notes for easy access.

B. Lachanze’s Vision for Broadway’s Future

Time magazine features Lachanze, highlighting her innovative approach to promoting Ja Jaw's African Hair Braiding during the 2023 season. Instead of traditional publicity channels, Lachanze directly engaged with her target audience by distributing flyers in Harlem’s black hair salons and hosting intimate dinners with salon owners at the renowned Melba’s restaurant.

“Instead of relying on traditional avenues of theatrical publicity like the New York Times or Playbill, lachange decided to go directly to the audience she wanted to reach.” [02:30]

This grassroots strategy not only fostered a strong community connection but also ensured that the promotion resonated authentically with her intended audience.

C. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Role in Wicked

BroadwayRadio touches on Lin-Manuel Miranda’s humorous consideration of playing a munchkin in Wicked. During a recent appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Miranda explained his interest in the role that delivers a critical line in the play’s opening scene.

“Lin asked director John M. Chu to cast him as a munchkin in Wicked, and then he says it would have been distracting. So during a recent appearance on the Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Miranda explained that he had his eye on the role…” [04:15]

A YouTube link is provided in the show notes for listeners to watch the full discussion.

D. Stranger Things Broadway Adaptation

Excitement builds around the upcoming Broadway adaptation of Stranger Things. Entertainment Weekly offers an exclusive look into the special effects and new elements being introduced. The first Broadway run showcases a new, gargantuan Mind Flayer, with co-director Justin Mark and playwright Kate Trefry teasing several innovative additions tailored for the stage.

“Stranger Things is having a Broadway adaptation and it's coming soon. Entertainment Weekly had an exclusive look into some of the special effects that are happening.” [04:55]

This adaptation promises to bring the beloved series to life with fresh allusions and state-of-the-art effects.

E. Urinetown at City Center

BroadwayRadio previews Encore City Center’s production of Urinetown, opening on February 6th and running through February 16th. The show features a star-studded cast including Jordan Fisher, Keala Settle, and Rainn Wilson. A first-look video highlights scenes from the opening night, showcasing the vibrant performances and dynamic staging.

“Broadway World also brings us a video of a first look at Urinetown as Urinetown takes the stage at City Center.” [04:45]

Listeners are encouraged to watch the featured video in the show notes to get an early glimpse of this highly anticipated production.

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II. Bonus Highlights

• February 6th Birthdays:

  • Spencer Liffe
  • James Gurth
  • Kathy Najimi

• Historical Spotlight:

  • Kelly at the Broadhurst Theater: Opened and closed on February 6, 1965. Despite its brief run, the production, with a book by Edie Lawrence, music by Moose Charlotte, and lyrics by Edie Lawrence, remains a notable footnote in Broadway history.

    “Opening night on February 6, 1965 was also closing night for the infamous production of Kelly at the Broadhurst Theater.” [06:10]

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III. In-Depth Review: English at Todd Haynes Theatre

In a standout segment, host James Marino shares a snippet from the previous week's episode of This Week on Broadway, where he, along with Peter, Felicia, and Michael Portantiere, discuss their reactions to the Broadway transfer of the play English at the Todd Haynes Theatre.

A. Overview of English

English revolves around a class of Iranian individuals learning English, exploring the nuances of language and identity. The play skillfully alternates between English spoken with thick Farsi accents and pure Farsi, highlighting the characters' internal and external conflicts.

“The playwright Sanaz Tusi was very smart in doing that. That we switch back and forth from English that we hear as English, but it's really Farsi and English that we hear as broken English, so to speak, with a thick, heavy accent.” [08:03] – Michael Portantiere

B. Cast and Performance

The cast, all making their Broadway debuts, delivers exceptional performances that have garnered attention from theater award nomitors. The ensemble’s chemistry and portrayal of complex characters are particularly lauded.

“The cast is spectacular. They're all making their Broadway debuts and it's going to drive us theater world nominators crazy in determining who gets a prize.” [09:20] – Michael Portantiere

C. Set Design Critique

While the play excels in many areas, the rotating set has been a point of contention among the reviewers. The mechanism, coupled with floor-to-ceiling curtains, often obstructs the audience’s view, detracting from the overall experience.

“The set drove me insane. And the set is rotating... a lot of people are going to miss things, especially because there are curtains from floor to ceiling in the room where the class is.” [09:27] – Michael Portantiere

D. Overall Impression and Anticipated Awards

Despite the set issues, the reviewers unanimously praise English for its intelligent writing, poignant themes, and outstanding performances. They anticipate the play will receive significant recognition and awards in the theater community.

“I think it's gonna get a lot of awards and which it deserves.” [17:06] – Peter

Felicia further emphasizes the play's impact and urges audiences to experience it, even those who typically favor musicals.

“I really love seeing it. And I... I really urge people, you know, maybe people who think they only want to see musicals. When a play is this good, I think if you check it out, you're very likely to be very, very happy.” [10:52]

E. Additional Notes

The discussion also touches on comparisons with other plays like Eureka Day and Cult of Love, alluding to a current streak of excellent non-musical productions on Broadway.

“This was something like the third really excellent play, you know, as opposed to a musical that we've seen on Broadway recently between Eureka Day, Cult of Love and this one.” [10:52] – Felicia

Show Availability: English is running at the Todd Haynes Theatre until March 2nd. Links for tickets and more information are available in the show notes.

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IV. Conclusion

James Marino wraps up the episode by reflecting humorously on the Factor Meals advertisements, likening the presenters to the hosts themselves. He also teases future segments, including potential standalone show reviews, and invites listener feedback via their Patreon and official website.

“Does anybody else feel like these Factor ads are little vignettes of Matt and Grace? It's like there's so much subtext.” [06:58]

Listeners are reminded to support BroadwayRadio through Patreon for early access to shows, bonus content, and live listening opportunities.

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Stay tuned to BroadwayRadio for more updates, reviews, and in-depth discussions on all things Broadway!

Transcript

[James Marino]

Welcome to Today on Broadway for Thursday, February 6, 2025. I am Broadway Radio's James Marino. This week's show is sponsored by Factor Meals that are smart and delicious. Get 50% off plus free shipping on your first box. [e-mail] Broadway 50 off and use the code Broadway 50 off. That's Broadway with the number 50 off. Broadway radio is supported by listeners like you patrons through Patreon who get our shows early, receive bonus shows and get to listen live. Find out [e-mail] broadwayradio in the second half of today's episode, we are including a segment from last Sunday's this Week on Broadway where Peter, Felicia, Michael Portantiere and I talk about our reactions to the Broadway transfer of English at the Todd Haymes Theatre. There wasn't a ton of news on Wednesday. There were a lot of features and one bit of news, so we'll bring that to you right now. Broadway World brings us the sad news that Broadway poster artist David Edward Byrd passed away at the age of 83. Bird created the poster art for Godspell Follies, Little Shop of Horrors and more. These are all iconic, iconic pieces of art. Broadway World has images of these arts on their page, and so I have included a link in the show notes so you can get over there and check it out. Time magazine did a feature on Lachanze. The title of it is Lachanze has an Expansive Vision for Broadway's Future. The first graph says when Lachanze was publicizing the play of Ja Jaw's African hair braiding during the 2023 season, she approached it a little differently than most Broadway producers. Instead of relying on traditional avenues of theatrical publicity like the New York Times or Playbill, lachange decided to go directly to the audience she wanted to reach. She drove to Harlem with a stack flyers going from one black hair salon to another, inviting owners and their customers to see the show with a special discount code. Then she invited 25 salon owners to join her for dinner at the famous Harlem restaurant Melba's to talk to them about the show. I knew it was going to be difficult to get the women who own these salons to even know that they were invited to this space and to feel welcome, she said. I told them we're doing a story about your lives on Broadway in our next story. It's sort of a blast from the past because when Hamilton first came out, it seemed as though that we had a Hamill section in Today on Broadway almost every day. We haven't talked about Lin much recently, but Variety has this little thing on Lin where Lin asked director John M. Chu to cast him as a munchkin in Wicked, and then he says it would have been distracting. So during a recent appearance on the Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Miranda explained that he had his eye on the role of the munchkin who delivered a critical line in the opening scene of Wicked. We've included a YouTube link in the show notes with a link back to Colbert where Lynn has this discussion. It's very funny. Many of you know that Stranger Things is having a Broadway adaptation and it's coming soon. Entertainment Weekly had an exclusive look into some of the special effects that are happening. It's Stranger Things. The first Shadow Broadway run reveals new Gargantuan Mind Flayer where the co director Justin Mark and the playwright Kate Trefry tease some of the new additions coming to the stateside debut, including a whole lot of new allusions. Broadway World also brings us a video of a first look at Urinetown as Urinetown takes the stage at City Center. Urinetown opens on Wednesday night and runs through Friday, February 16, and we want you to go over and take a look at that video as well to get a first look at Encore City Center's production of Urinetown featuring Jordan Fisher Keala, Settle Rainn Wilson and more. The video features highlights from the starry production opening tonight and running through February 16th. In our bonus section, our February 6th birthdays include Spencer Liffe, James Gurth and Kathy Najimi. Opening night on February 6, 1965 was also closing night for the infamous production of Kelly at the Broadhurst Theater. This production opened and closed on the same night with a book by Edie Lawrence, music by Moose Charlotte, and lyrics by Edie Lawrence. As Peter Felicious says, you can't see them all. Broadway Radio would like to thank this week's sponsor Factor.

[Grace]

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[Matt]

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[Grace]

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[James Marino]

Does anybody else feel like these Factor ads are little vignettes of Matt and Grace? It's like there's so much subtext. Anyway, let's move on to Peter, Felicia, Michael Portent here and I discussed the Broadway transfer of English on this Week on Broadway last week on February 2nd, and we thought we'd bring you a little snippet of it here. It's something that I'm thinking about doing on Broadway. Radio is having standalone reviews of shows. We're not quite sure how it would work or if it's even feasible to do, but I thought I would include it here and give us some feedback of what you think. All our contact information are in the show [e-mail] so the three of us.

[Peter]

Got over to the Todd Haymes to see English. So, Peter, why don't you get us started on this transfer from Off Broadway's Atlantic Theatre Company.

[Michael Portantiere]

Well, it's a terrific play and it has a very, very smart idea behind it. And that is the fact that when people are speaking English, these Iranians, they haltingly do it, and they have thick accents and all that goes with that. However, there are times when they speak Farsi, but when they speak Farsi, they sound perfectly normal to us in English. That's what's really so skillful. The playwright Sanaz Tusi was very smart in doing that. That we switch back and forth from English that we hear as English, but it's really Farsi and English that we hear as broken English, so to speak, with a thick, heavy accent. It's not heavy enough to drive us crazy the way that the production. New York Theatre Workshop, knock at the door, which is very hard to understand, but the people here are very, very easy to understand, I'm happy to say. And this is a transfer from the Atlantic Theatre, and it's a very successful one with one drawback, and that's the set. The set is. Rotates. You're laughing.

[Peter]

I was going to say this and I thought to myself, am I being petty or not? But the set drove me insane. And I. Yeah, yeah.

[Michael Portantiere]

I mean, the thing is that the same problem that maybe happy ending has, the fact that if you're on the sides, you're going to really suffer because you're not going to see nearly as well. I don't understand why the set has to rotate at all. But in. In doing the rotating, a lot of people are going to miss things, especially because there are curtains from floor to ceiling in the room where the class. It's about a class of teacher teaching students how to speak English. So I think that's a real problem. That said, I really have to point out the fact that the cast is spectacular. They're all making their Broadway debuts and it's going to drive us theater world nominators crazy in determining who gets a prize. I won't be surprised if my fellow nominators think that it's a good idea to give them all an ensemble award for their Broadway debuts. But really very impressive that five people do so well.

[Peter]

Okay, Michael, what did you think of English?

[Felicia]

Well, I did not see it at the Atlantic. I don't remember why. I guess this was a co production of the Roundabout and the Atlantic that started there and then and then moved here. And it was at the Atlantic in 2022, I believe. And am I correct that this play won the Pulitzer?

[Michael Portantiere]

Yeah.

[Felicia]

Yes. So that's quite a statement, isn't it? I really loved it. I've always been fascinated by language and people speaking in different languages and the effort involved, what that means. And here there's discussion of. Really interesting discussion of how some of these characters feel so different when they're speaking in Farsi, their native language, or in English. I think one of them says, basically comes down and says, I feel Like a different person. And I can completely understand that. I mean, of course, the more fluent you become in another life, language that lessens. But I suppose there's always a bit of that feeling that remains regardless of how fluent you become. So I really appreciated all of that discussion. I'm going to admit something, and maybe it'll make me seem stupid, although a friend of mine said the same thing. It took me a while to figure out that when they were speaking Farsi, quote, unquote, they were actually speaking English with no accents, and that when they were speaking English, they were speaking with Farsi accents. At first I thought for the first scene or two, that I said to myself, gosh, that dialect work is really very inconsistent, because I didn't get it. But then I'm not sure when it kicked into me, but it did eventually. And I was like, oh, I see. And I think that a really great device that they used. It seems to me that I've seen that in at least one or two other plays in the past, but not used to this extent. So I loved it. I love the way that the individual dramas of the individual characters fit into the larger story here of people studying English for their various reasons. And yes, the cast. Tala Ash Puia Mohsani Marjan Nishat Hadi Tabal. And now let me say this last one really slowly, and maybe I'll get it. Ava La Lezarzadeh, La Lazar Zadeh, directed by Knud Adams. And as Peter mentioned, the playwright's name is Sanaz Toussi. So I think this was a really wonderful choice by the Atlantic Theatre Company and the Roundabout. And I loved seeing it. And I. And I turned to a friend and I said, you know, this is now, I guess, the third really excellent play, you know, as a opposed to musical that we've seen on Broadway recently between Eureka Day, Cult of Love and this one. And I just think they're all stellar, and that doesn't always happen where you have a really great streak like that. So I'm very happy with the plays we've been seeing on Broadway recently. And I know they never obviously sell as well as the musicals, but I really urge people, you know, maybe people who think they only want to see musicals. When a play is this good, I think if you check it out, you're very likely to be very, very happy. So that's my advice.

[Peter]

Michael, I'm right there with you, with the not understanding at first the difference between the Farsi and the English. And I thought exactly the. So I Don't think you're stupid for that.

[Michael Portantiere]

I agree entirely. And I think it takes everybody a while because we're not used to this type of thing, but it. Eventually the moment of alignment comes and it kicks in. So. Yeah, I'm with you, James. I agree with.

[Peter]

And the other thing is, is that you did see it before at the Atlantic, correct?

[Michael Portantiere]

Yeah.

[Peter]

So this is, you know, in your second viewing. It seems. You know it. Your mind fills it in.

[Michael Portantiere]

That's exactly right.

[Peter]

This was the first time I saw it, the first time Michael saw it. So I. I do agree with that. Did you guys see Vladimir at City Center?

[Michael Portantiere]

Huh?

[Peter]

And they. They did this as well with the Russian when. When they were speaking in Russian versus speaking in English and.

[Felicia]

Right, though. Yeah. That was another example. Right.

[Peter]

You know, so I was right there with you, Michael. And also Peter. It just drove me crazy with the set. Had that fourth wall post at the corner of the thing.

[James Marino]

That was the problem that it divided.

[Peter]

The stage in half for me. And. And it seemed to always be exactly where the action was. And I was like. And there was no need for it because they could have not had the post there and it wouldn't have made any difference whatsoever. They didn't need it for structural support or anything like that. There's nothing very tremendously interesting happened there. But that post made me crazy. I just hope that they don't do it. And it took away from an absolutely stellar five star product. What a cast, what direction, a great story. I really loved English and I think it's gonna. I think it's gonna get a lot of awards.

[Michael Portantiere]

I agree.

[Peter]

I think it's gonna get a lot of awards and which it deserves. Did the Tony Awards give any rulings on English? I. I can't remember if English was in any of the rulings about who they're going to consider for lead and supporting and if this is going to be a revival or a. Or a new production or anything like that. Do you have heard anything?

[Felicia]

No. But you did read that, if I'm correct, that Eureka Day.

[James Marino]

Yeah.

[Felicia]

Will be a revival.

[Peter]

Revival.

[James Marino]

Yeah.

[Peter]

Eureka Day is going to be a revival. All right, so English at the Todd Haymes. It's running through March 2nd and we'll have a link to that in the show notes.