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Today on Broadway: Thursday, July 17, 2025
00:26:40
‘Gypsy’ to close in August, ‘Oh, Mary!’ announces new spectacular cast, discussion on next NYT theatre critic Since 2016, “Today on Broadway” has been the first and only daily podcast recapping the top theatre headlines every Monday through Friday.
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- [00:02]
Matt Tammineni
Hello, everybody. This is Matt Tamoneni and welcome to Today on Broadway for Thursday, July 17th. I'm coming to you with some breaking news at the top of the show because I got word just a little bit before the press release went out. And so I paused the episode that we already had from going out in Patreon because even though I was at my brother's birthday party celebrating a few days early because he's going to be out of town, I wanted to make sure that we got you this information in the episode. And it was announced on Wednesday night at 8pm that the current Broadway revival of Gypsy will close in just one month. It'll close on Sunday, August 17th. At the time of its closing, it will have played 297 performances on Broadway after it began performances last December. Of course, the show stars Audra McDonald, is directed by George C. Wolfe, also features the likes of Danny Burstein, Joy Woods, Jordan Tyson, Kevin Solak, Leslie Margarita, Lily Thomas, Melinda hall, and more. This is not the plan that this show had initially wanted. I think that the fact that this is closing before its first year is over is a little disappointing for probably people that were involved with this, especially given all of the buzz and excitement around Autumn McDonald playing this role for the first time ever. But it did seem to struggle with finding its audience. It never really hit the grosses that it would have liked. Last week it did $816,000, which is fine, but not for a musical of that size needing to keep its weekly nut up through the entirety of the spring. Starting in March, it had been north of $1 million, but never getting really much above 1.2 million, save for a couple of weeks here or there, which means that was probably not anywhere close to what it needed to be bringing in to break even. And that's because of one the size of the Majestic. It is a very, very large theater. It seats almost 1600 people. The percent capacity for the Majestic during Gypsy's Run has only been above 80% one time since April, and it has been in the 60s more times than it has been in the 80s since the the beginning of April and obviously the previous week when Montego Glover was covering for Audra, it was a substandard week, bringing in only $294,000. And a lot of the people that were in the audience were heavily discounted, if not completely comped to be in. So it's a disappointing end for the show. But what is interesting to me is that this is a very, very valuable theater, one because of the history of Phantom of the Opera. But as I mentioned, the size of the theater and at one point it had over 1600 seats. I think with the renovations it's probably just under 1600 seats, but but it's in a great location. It is a Shubert owned house. I think that the closing of this show in August makes me wonder if somebody has this theater lined up for the fall. So if the show closes in mid August, it loads out, probably takes a couple weeks. If another show wants to load in, it could be running by mid September, could be in previews by mid September, but certainly could be up and running in October of this year. I don't know if that's the case. I know that there are some shows that have been heavily rumored to take that theater. So we will see if any of those actually happen. But for now, you have exactly one month to get over to that famed theater and to see the incomparable Audra McDonald in what some people might consider a role of a lifetime, playing Madame Rose in Gypsy opposite an all star cast. So send our best to everybody over at the Majestic Theatre and wish them a wonderful final four weeks with the show. All right now let's send you back to the rest of TODAY on Broadway. Welcome to TODAY on Broadway for Thursday, July 17, 2025. I'm Broadway Radio's Matt Tammineni and I'm.
- [03:57]
Grace Aki
Tell Me on a Sunday Podcast. Grace Aki.
- [03:59]
Matt Tammineni
Grace, we are gonna have a little bit of a different episode today. There's not a ton of news, but there is something that is really, really huge in the theatrical community that we're gonna talk about here in a second and we're gonna kind of just riff on it. So we're gonna get the news out of the way first, then we're gonna have a conversation. But if you want more conversations where it's just us talking to people, head over to patreon.com broadwayradio broadwayradio.com patreon and sign up at the Bethenny Tier and above where you can hear basically everything that we do here on Broadway Radio. But from a news perspective, some just continually unbelievably perfect casting coming to us from Omar. We already know that Jinx Monsoon is going to take over the role of Mary Todd Lincoln on August 4th. But now we know who is going to be joining her. And from top to bottom, it is fantastic. We will have starring as Mary's husband, Abraham Lincoln, the always delightful Kumail Nanjiani. Playing Mary's tutor will be Michael Urie. And joining the Company as Mary's companion will be Jen Harris. Tony Mock will continue in the role of Mary's husband's assistant through September 28th. And you know, Chris, I was thinking about. We talk about this all the time with like this and Cabaret and. And a Little Shop of Horrors where, like, they just keep continually nailing the casting. And I was thinking about that today as, like, this feels like a new phenomenon. Like, where in the past, yes, you might get like, that first replacement cast has some semi big names, maybe even big theater names, but to have the second and the third and the fourth cast not only just have cool theater people showing up or do stunt casting like Chicago or even just star casting like Waitress did, but to have, like, real big Hollywood stars continue to come into these shows years into the run, or in this case, like multiple casts into the run, it feels new, but really feels exciting and allows shows that have been up and running for a while that otherwise might have closed after a year or two to have extended lives. Because now I want to go back and see Jinx, Kumail and Michael do the show again. And I've seen it four times already.
- [06:24]
Grace Aki
Yeah, I think that any. And this is the thing that I think I've said kind of from the get go about this particular show is that it's a classic comedy. What you are watching is any kind of, you know, you know, what is it? Present Screwball.
- [06:42]
Matt Tammineni
Yeah.
- [06:43]
Grace Aki
Yeah. Like, it is a classic, like Neil Simon, almost like 60s comedy that I think the reason it could be redone and redone and redone with as many different cast members as possible for years and years, because it just sticks to an excellent formula for lack of border. And I don't mean that in a reductive sense, like, and so it makes sense that, like, you can have different comedic brains in there. You don't have to have the same type of performer, actor, writer, etc. In any one of those roles. And I think that this is. This is what makes good theater, frankly, is that, like, you have to be able to be malleable to different quote types and like, it's a survival tactic. Like so many shows that can only rely on one particular person, can't withstand and can't continue to have a long life, frankly, because it just can't. You can't. It's so limiting. So I'm really glad that this show is getting that amount of support and attention. Is this Camille Nanjiani's, like, Broadway debut? Yeah, I'm freaking out. Like, that's crazy, bro. Like, he's huge. Like, are we not.
- [07:59]
Matt Tammineni
Right? Like he is one of the, I mean he's not a list like George Clooney a list, but like he's a big time star of both small and large screens as both an actor and a writer and a producer. I've got to one, he's in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But I gotta tell you, the Big Sick is probably one of my favorite movies of the past decade. Which he wrote with his wife Emily. It's about their real life love story that he co starred in opposite Zoe Kazan.
- [08:32]
Grace Aki
Kazan, yeah.
- [08:34]
Matt Tammineni
Speaking of theater connections there. But that's a great movie. So if you are unfamiliar with Camille Nanjiani in any of his work, I think you are going to be delighted with his Abe Lincoln because he is, he is that guy when it comes to nailing all types of comedy. All right, in other news, we got the inductees list for the 2025 Theater hall of Fame. And there are a number of fantastic people, including director Anne Bogart, National Endowment for the Arts chair and producer Rocco Landsman, former Broadway Carers executive director Tom Viola. And then on more of the creative side, you have Kenny Leon, obviously Tony winning director, Tony winning director and choreographer Kathleen Mar, Tony award winning costume designer Paul Tazewell, and then in terms of actors, the always wonderful Richard Thomas and the late great Rebecca Luker. So a great group of people. It's interesting to me because we just saw Paul Tazwell get his first Tony for Death Becomes Her. Obviously also won the Oscar for Wicked. So it feels like it's quick to go from first Tony to theater hall of Fame. But I think this speaks really well to the fact that people can have huge incredible careers and have a major influence on the art form without having to have all of those accolades stacked up. And people will still continue to notice. So I'm thrilled with this group. A ton of people who have made massive impacts on the theater community, whether that's on stage or behind the scenes. And this should be a wonderful way to celebrate them. The induction ceremony will be held at the Gershwin Theater later this fall. The host and presenters and the exact dates and times will will be announced soon. All right, Greece. And then moving from stage to screen. Yesterday it was announced that Sony Pictures Classic will premiere the Merrily We Roll along live capture of the Broadway version that Maria Friedman, not to be confused with the 20 year filming process of the film version that is currently going on. They're going to premiere that in collaboration with Fathom events worldwide on December 5th. So now I know where I will be on December 5th. It will be seeing Merrily Weave roll along on the big screen, probably at Disney Springs, if anyone wants to join me. All right. Now, the conversation that I wanted to have with you, Grace, comes from news that the New York Times is shaking up its cultural criticism. They have decided that the four Times critics, television critic Margaret Lyons, music critic John Perales, classical music critic Zach Wolfe, and for our purposes, theater critic Jesse Green, will be moved into different roles in the coming, coming weeks and that they will be doing searches to replace them on their specific beats. This was announced in a memo to staffers by New York Times culture editor Sia Michael. It's interesting because all four of these people are essentially losing their jobs, but not losing a job. They will continue to work for the New York Times. And I think the fact that it's all four of them, it shows pretty clearly that the New York Times is looking to change the way that it does criticism. In the memo that was sent to staffers, it said, quote, we are in the midst of an extraordinary moment in American culture. New generations of artists and audiences are bypassing traditional institutions. Smartphones has balkanized fandoms even as they have made culture more widely accessible than ever. And artist institutions are facing challenges and looking for new opportunities. Our readers are hungry for trusted guides to help them make sense of this complicated landscape, not only through traditional reviews, but also with essays, new new story forms, videos, and experimentation with other platforms. Our mission is to be those guides. As we do so, I am making some changes and assignments in the department. So what this sounds like to me, Grace, is that they are pivoting to video, to use a phrase that has caused a lot of problems in media spheres over the years, but not exactly. They are just trying to pivot to a more modern form of criticism, which I think really will help the New York Times to not have that stodgy gray lady Persona where it has kind of just become calcified that it is going to be a fairly rigid approach to the criticism that they do.
- [13:00]
Grace Aki
Yeah, it's very. It's evident to me as well that they are going to be using video and long form content for those purposes. I think it's super smart. I follow a lot of, like the New York Times Cooking on TikTok New York Times Book conversations, even though I simply don't read.
- [13:20]
Matt Tammineni
But you can read, right? But you are okay. This isn't a Lea Michelle situation.
- [13:24]
Grace Aki
No. And she can read. But I think that, I think it's smart that they are making these alterations because as you all know, the New York Times little stamp and the New York Times critics pick little emblem symbol is one that unfortunately is still very much integral to the advertising and longevity of a show. Now there were several shows this year that were times critics pick, I believe by Jesse Green that are no longer running, that just opened this year. So take that as you will. But I do think that it's smart for them to find new ways to innovate in some capacity with their audience base so that people are engaging with their content like print media as and I'm not new to say this is just not what it was obviously in terms of audience consumption. And people are looking for multimedia ways to engage in something as respected as the New York Times. So I appreciate that they are looking for new ways to be innovative. I know that that's going to be a struggle. I think it's also hard when you are possibly going to be slapping, you know, a face and personality to a lot of these criticisms. The way that people come for people in comments. It's not something that you have in a critique that would be printed. You know what I mean? Like, no one is ever like, oh look, Jesse smirked in, you know, at 30 seconds in, you just know he, like, there's never been something spicy like that. Like people can take what they can from the words that are written. But I think that once you add another element to be criticized of those critiques, it becomes this other beast. And so I kind of like fear for whomever they are going within that direction because I am very, very, very much aware of how people react to criticism online.
- [15:11]
Matt Tammineni
Is this a role as described in that memo that you think one person can do? You know, I think you're still going to want to have the expert, well written, well thought out written reviews. But then they also want to do long form essays, they want to do other new story forms, they want to do videos. Is that something that like one person can do or do you think they, to kind of achieve that they'll have to go back to, at least on the theater side, the old model where they had multiple people doing it and maybe somebody, maybe one person focusing on the more traditional reviews and then maybe somebody else doing more of the new experimental video forms of things?
- [15:55]
Grace Aki
Maybe. I think it's like there are plenty of very smart, very well read, very well spoken people that are personalities on the Internet. I also think that it's, there's a lot of, you know, it vacillates a lot. Like I have a Lot of conversations about this when it comes to, like, journalism in general because, like, I'll see a lot of criticism about content creators specifically that have been asked to do a journalist's job. I know that Taylor Lorenz, who's been very critical about online media, but has been writing about it and posting about it for forever, you know, said something about this last week, week, and people ripped her apart. But I think that she was coming from, you know, somewhat of a good place. I think that we're all right, like, she's right and the other people are right to say that, like, having an influencer on a red carpet is not always the same as having a journalist who asks those questions. Now, some people are capable of both, but I don't think that's always one to one, and I don't think it's always the same time. So I think it, it really, really depends on. I think that there are a lot of people that have made content online, especially theater criticism online, that would never have been published because they don't have a writing degree from wherever, but they're very much capable and people are interested in their opinions and their critiques of a show. So I think it really varies. And I just, I think it's more of a question of, like, what are they looking for, right? Like, are they just like, hey, Jesse, like, we, we need to, to change things because for whatever reason, or, like, there's criticism around that, or is it that they're, like, trying to branch out to your point about, like, having multimedia? And could multiple people be answering most of those prompts? I don't know. So I think it's interesting. I'm curious to see what that rollout is and also, like, what their selection process is. Is it going to be, like, a person that already has a massive following that they want to attach themselves to? Is it someone that is really good at that type of content and that type of lingo and artistic criticism that maybe doesn't have a platform but is very good at it right now, you know, who knows? But I think it's, I think it's exciting nonetheless, because we want antiquated institutions, for lack of a better term. I'm sorry to be changing with the times, and I'm eagerly awaiting what that process is going to look like and hopefully it will not be given by the same, with all due respect, men of a certain background, that they're hopefully going to diversify who those voices are as well.
- [18:28]
Matt Tammineni
Well, and that was going to be my next question. I'm hopeful that especially with this conversation about new story formats, video, that they are going to look outside of the group of people that they already have on their roster, whether that is freelancers or stringers that come in and out. But I'm also interested if that means that they are going to look outside of the group that we already have doing New York criticism. Like, I, of course have long been a fan of Sarah Holdren. I think that she would bring an energy and an insight and a different perspective and a just a better writing style, more engaging, interesting writing style to that post. But I don't know if she has any interest or even ability to do the video stuff. You know, she's the first person when I saw the headline like, oh, I hope they get Sarah Holdren one. Because she, I think she's the best critic working. But also I think it would be pretty revolutionary from the New York Times perspective to have, you know, a woman be their full time theater critic. But do you go with somebody from outside of New York? So maybe someone who is doing this work, I mean, not from outside New York, but like outside the New York critical realm. Do you go with somebody who has a different background? Do you go with somebody who's working in another city and bring them to New York? What do you think the best option there other than to paraphrase Billy Eichner, name a woman for a dollar.
- [19:49]
Grace Aki
For, for a dollar, name a woman or just any, anybody of any kind of like, you know, general gender background. But I think that like, whatever that. Was there a submission process listed at all, Matt? Or is this something that you think that they are taking the reins on kind of vetting and processing and, and looking into people that have already been established or published?
- [20:11]
Matt Tammineni
As far as I know, there's not even been an official word from the New York Times. This is all coming from a memo that Variety. So I'm just quoting from what the memo said. So I, I assume just for legal purposes they're going to have to officially open it up. But as we all know, just because a job is posted doesn't mean it's actually open. It did say in the article that they would be conducting a search. So I don't know if that means they know people, they're going to go out and find people or they're going to wait for people come to them. But I'm hopeful that it's a mix of both. Like, I hope that they're like people that they go out and pursue and say, hey, we would really like to talk to you about this, but also open it up to people who might fly under the radar, who are incredibly talented and could bring something new to it, but just haven't had the sizable platform to get to get on the New York Times radar just yet. What's the background of somebody that you think would be the perfect person for that role?
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Grace Aki
Ah, gosh, I think. I hope it's someone that I don't know anything about. I hope it's somebody that I don't have a preconceived notion of. I hope it's someone that I've never seen before. I think that there are plenty of like, you know what, Matt, me, I want to do it, but I think that like there are people that I, that I follow that I don't always agree with, but I appreciate their brains. Kate Rankings 1. Mickey Jo, who is primarily based in London, has a massive channel on YouTube. I love working with him. I think he has got great thoughts. I appreciate his criticism a lot. But again, London based, so who knows. But has a great handle on critical media, especially in the theater spaces for the West End and Broadway. But I think that there's a lot of, I think that there's a lot of people that we're unaware of because the country's massive and there's theater everywhere, right? So there could be excellent critics that are like also hanging out in D.C. that primarily, you know, showcase like signature theater. There might be. I, it's just, I think it's, it's challenging, but I'm also like, are people looking on sub stack. Are they looking at people's, you know, like writings on seeing theater? Are people like gravitating towards that type of medium? And it depends. Like, are they wanting personalities? Are there, are they wanting, you know, someone who's just going to articulate like what the, you know, the girls are saying. Like, can you imagine if like some people that had like attended, you know, Sunset Boulevard 50 times to talk about the Tom Francis walk, you know, was like the primary correspondent around that, you know, it just, it's, it's totally, it's a new thing. So I'm, I am more interested in people that I don't know because I want to remind everybody that like, while theater is such a small community, all of these perspectives are exciting and they matter. And I think that we've had such specific perspectives for so long that it's become like so like, I don't care. I just, I don't, I don't care. So I want to care. Again, I think is My point, yeah.
- [23:12]
Matt Tammineni
My hope is, and it's kind of goes back to the question that I asked you earlier about having multiple people fill these roles. One, because I'm hopeful that in addition to all of the reviews, we know how time consuming writing all of these reviews, especially during the busiest seasons are. It might be very difficult to write these different story forms and to do videos and stuff for one person to do all of that. So that was part of my question earlier. But I would like to have somebody like, and I'll say Sarah Holdren, just because I mentioned her earlier, who brings a fresh perspective to the traditional review and then have somebody else do some of these new inventive things. You can have crossovers and have I'll just say Mickey Joe because you talked about him and he's a friend of ours. Like Mickey Joe can cross over and write and Sarah could cross over and do video. But have somebody that is specialized in both because they are very different art forms, they're very different communication forms and you are speaking to different people in those different forms. And yes, you want to be broad enough that you are bringing more people in. But the same people that read the New York Times review of a show are not going to be the exact same people that are going to watch a video about a show or a video review. And obviously they're the Venn diagram will overlap in some points, but there will also be places where it doesn't. So I'm hoping that they can find a way to have people who can speak to multiple audiences because as you said, the New York Times reviews are still incredibly important, whether that's good or bad. But I'm hoping that this is an opportunity for them to make them more accessible and speak to wider audiences than they currently are and potentially ever have in, even if their impact was even greater in the past. So I hope this is an opportunity to take advantage of and I'm excited to see what happens. And I would imagine they would have to do this fairly soon because obviously we're only in July now, but in a couple months we're going to start getting all these fall openings. I'm imagining they will want to have somebody in place at that point. All right, Grace, let's wrap up. We have a final Jeopardy clue from earlier this week. The category was theater. I think you will get this. If I know you, I think you will get this. But the answer was the title of a Pulitzer winning play from 2007 mentions this month, as does another winner 54.
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Grace Aki
Years prior, August Osage County.
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Matt Tammineni
Yes, I knew you would get that because I know you, how much you love August Osage County. I sat there and went through. I was like, gosh, nothing comes to mind. I went, january, February, March, April, May, June, July, August. Oh, August, shcon. It's like I didn't get it at first like you did, but I went through the months. Good thing I knew them by heart. So if you want to look at that one and see how all the contestants did, we will have that in the show notes. 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 oddwayradio. And if you want everything from Broadway radio, head over to patreon.com broadwayradio Grace, where can people find you?
- [26:05]
Grace Aki
You can find me at Graceaki. And happy National Hot Dog Day to all who celebrate.
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Matt Tammineni
I know how many hot dogs I know recording in the middle of National Hot Dog Day. How many do you think you're going to down by the time the day is over?
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Grace Aki
Not none. Today I actually went to Taco Bell, which is the taco equivalent of a hot dog. But that's okay. I just wanted to share the love. I can't hoard them all.
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Matt Tammineni
That's a good point. All right, everybody, have a wonderful Thursday. We'll be back to talk to you tomorrow.