Today on Broadway: Thursday, July 24, 2025

Summary

BroadwayRadio Podcast Summary: "Today on Broadway: Thursday, July 24, 2025"

Release Date: July 24, 2025

Join hosts Matt Tamminini and Grace Aki as they delve into the latest happenings on Broadway and beyond. This episode covers exciting casting announcements, upcoming productions, special events, and insightful discussions on the ever-evolving world of theater.

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1. Upcoming Productions and Casting News

a. "Rollin Thunder" at New World Stages

Grace Aki shares her enthusiasm for the upcoming musical "Rollin Thunder," set to premiere at New World Stages. Described as part documentary, part biopic, and part jukebox musical, the show intertwines classic rock songs with narratives about the Vietnam War's societal impact.

• Grace Aki [00:55]: "I'm so excited that I'm gonna go see Rollin Thunder. I haven't been to New World Stages in quite a second so this is my little gateway in..."

Matt highlights the show's unique blend of storytelling and music, emphasizing its potential to resonate deeply with audiences.

b. Revival of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"

An exclusive report from People Magazine reveals casting details for the Off-Broadway 20th-anniversary production of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" at New World Stages. Key cast members returning from the Kennedy Center production include:

• Kevin McHale as William Barfay
• Felipe Arroyo as Chip Tolentino
• Liana Rae Concepcion as Marcy Park
• Justin Cooley as Leaf Coney Bear

Directed and choreographed by Danny Mefford, the 14-week run kicks off on November 7th, concluding on February 15th, 2026.

• Matt Tamminini [02:30]: "...it's a really interesting group to bring the show back to New York."

Grace expresses excitement about the show's dedicated fan base and its positive impact on the cast members' careers.

c. Casting for "Little Shop of Horrors" Replacements

The podcast announces the new leads for the Broadway revival of "Little Shop of Horrors":

• Nicholas Christopher reprises his role as Seymour.

• Madeline Brewer, known for her roles in "Orange Is the New Black" and "The Handmaid's Tale," takes on the role of Audrey.

• Matt Tamminini [05:25]: "...Madeline Brewer, you might know her from the first season of Orange Is the New Black..."

Grace is thrilled about the pairing, especially praising Brewer's performance potential.

d. Broadway Revival of "Art"

Set to premiere on August 28th at the Music Box Theater, the revival of "Art" boasts a star-studded cast featuring Neil Patrick Harris, James Corden, and Bobby Cannavale. The creative team includes:

• Director: Scott Ellis
• Scenic Design: David Rockwell
• Costume Design: Linda Cho
• Sound Design: Mikal Suleyman

Matt underscores the importance of a strong design team for a show centered around artistic discussions.

• Grace Aki [08:33]: "I thought they took the brief really well. And I also like that it kind of looks like an upcoming film."

e. Public Theater's "Pericles" Adaptation

The Public Theater announces its production of "Pericles," featuring:

• Cast Leads: Danae Benton and Etu Blankson Wood
• Additional Cast: Alison K. Daniel, Amina Fay, Crystal Lucas Perry, Erica Myers, Alex Newell, and Steven Scott Wormley

This adaptation, enriched with music and lyrics by Troy Anthony and directed by Carl Cofield, includes 100 New Yorkers from all five boroughs. Performances run from August 29th to September 2nd at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

Matt praises the Public Theater's commitment to community and diverse casting.

f. World Premiere of "Huzzah" on the West Coast

Highlighting the West Coast theater scene, the podcast introduces "Huzzah," a new musical by Nell Benjamin and Lawrence O'Keefe. Set at the Kingsbridge Midsummer Renaissance Fair, the story follows two sisters striving to save their family business.

• Director: Annie Tippie

• Cast Includes: Josh Breckenridge, Anthony Chatham II, Kalyn Fu, Alison Gwynn, Mike Milan, Kevin Pariso, and Kate Shindle

• Matt Tamminini [11:14]: "So love to see Kate Shindle reuniting with this pair..."

Grace appreciates the creative duo's work and anticipates the musical's success.

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2. Special Events and Recommendations

a. Kids Night on Broadway

Scheduled for August 19th and 20th, "Kids Night on Broadway" offers free Broadway show tickets to children accompanied by ticket-paying adults. Participating shows include:

• Aladdin
• Chicago
• Hamilton
• The Lion King
• Mamma Mia
• Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Additional activities at Duffy Square, Times Square, include meet-and-greets with cast members, tote bags, and Krispy Kreme treats for the first 500 attendees.

• Matt Tamminini [12:03]: "So if you want to check out all of the times and all of the shows..."

b. SHE NYC Arts Festival

Grace Aki recommends the SHE NYC Arts Festival, celebrating works by women and non-binary writers. Running from July 15th to 27th at the Lynn Engelson Theater, the festival showcases new plays and musicals selected from hundreds of submissions.

• Grace Aki [13:52]: "They are the only nonprofit theater company that is actually like funding and producing works written by women and non-binary writers."

Matt encourages listeners to explore the festival's offerings both locally and virtually.

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3. Notable Quotes

• Grace Aki [04:45]: "I'm the most accepting person that you will ever meet until you say those words." — Discussing naming conventions in theater.

• Matt Tamminini [05:25]: "It's actually like an assault. I feel like that's a personal assault on my eardrums." — On referring to "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee."

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4. Final Recommendations and Closing

Grace highlights the significance of supporting diverse voices in theater and urges listeners to engage with the SHE NYC Arts Festival. Matt wraps up the episode by directing listeners to their social media platforms and Patreon for more Broadway content.

• Grace Aki [15:05]: "I highly recommend."

• Matt Tamminini [15:26]: "Have a wonderful Thursday. We'll be back to talk to you tomorrow."

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Stay connected with BroadwayRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @BroadwayRadio. For more exclusive content and support, visit patreon.com/broadwayradio.

Transcript

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[Matt Tamminini]

Welcome to Today on Broadway for Thursday, July 24, 2025. I'm Broadway Radio's Matt Tamminini and I'm.

[Grace Aki]

Tell Me on a Sunday Podcast Grace.

[Matt Tamminini]

Aki Grace, we are heading in to the weekend. I know you are going to see a show tonight on Wednesday. It doesn't open until Thursday so you can talk about it on Friday's show. But what are you going to see on Wednesday night that you will talk about for tomorrow's episode after it's open?

[Grace Aki]

I'm so excited that I'm gonna go see Rollin Thunder. I haven't been to New World Stages in quite a second so this is my little gateway in and then next obviously Heather's. So I'm very excited because I need Justin Sargent to tear the roof off the place and he will so get ready for that.

[Matt Tamminini]

He has such an incredible rock voice and if you forget this is a musical that it's like part documentary, part bio or part jukebox musical with a bunch of like classic iconic rock songs intermixed with stories about how the Vietnam War impacted not only society in general, but also soldiers both in Vietnam and back in the States. So we'll also be talking with Cassidy Pope next week. So she is one of the stars of the show. So you'll hear Grace give her review tomorrow and then we'll also have Cassidy on an episode next week. But let's dive into the news Grace and this might be the first time in the thousands upon thousands of Broadway radio episodes where we are leading it today on Broadway episode with two stories that were exclusive news reports from People Magazine. The first one is having to do with the previously announced Off Broadway 20th anniversary production of the 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. We now know four of the stars, not all of the stars, but four of the folks who will be returning to this production after having done it in Washington D.C. at the Kennedy Center. They will be led by glee star Kevin McHale playing William Barfay with the accent au of course. Joining him will be Felipe Arroyo from and Juliet Fame as Chip Tolentino, Liana Rae Concepcion from Merrily We Roll along as Marcy park, and then Tony nominee from Kimberly Akimbo, Justin Cooley as Leaf Coney Bear. These folks were all part of that Broadway Center Stage production that was directed and choreographed by Danny Mefford who is helming this production as well. I'm amaz imagining that this means that we will not get the entire cast from that Kennedy center production that also included the likes of like Beanie Feldstein and Bonnie Milligan and others. So I'm guessing that this means that these are the four that are coming back from that production and then we will have another round of casting in the coming weeks. But the production will run for 14 weeks also at New World Stages. As you mentioned, Grace, it began performances on November 7th and is currently slated to run until the day after Valentine's Day, February 15th of 2026. But all of these folks are tremendous. I know you've worked with some of them, I think you're even friends with some of them. But a great group to start off a New York City revival of a show that really shot a number of people into stardom and I feel like it really could help some of these folks as well. Obviously Kevin McHale, fairly big star coming off of Glee, but I think this is a really interesting group to bring the show back to New York.

[Grace Aki]

Grace, I love that that this is such a fandom based show. I think that this and Seussical I kind of lump together often because they kind of have a similar fan base of young people that just really love also seeing young youth, I don't know portrayed in this way. But yeah, it has such a such a sticky fan base that I'm very excited that they're going to get what they have been begging for for let's just say years is another iteration of Spelling Beef and Matt to the girl that I went to school with at one time that refused to call it spelling bee and only wanted to call it 25th annual. Why I think about it a lot. That's not Listen, I'm not here to gatekeep. You can and should refer to whatever you want to as whatever you want to refer to it as. But I draw the line at 25th annual. It is spelling me.

[Matt Tamminini]

I've thought about this quite a bit actually because like there's just accepted ways that we in the Theater community, shorten longer show names. It's like, great comment. It's not Natasha Pierre. It's, you know, Joseph. It's not the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Like, I do wonder why some things just naturally make sense. Obviously, Joseph, that makes sense. I think I agree with you, Spelling Bee. But like, I do wonder if we could get like a linguist in to talk about why certain names latch on and some don't. Because I'm with you. Calling it 25th annual is. It's actually like an assault. I feel like that's a personal assault on my eardrums.

[Grace Aki]

I'm the most accepting person that you will ever meet until you say those words. Why? Why does it have to be this way? We have to move on. But I just had to say it because I've been thinking about it for 20 years.

[Matt Tamminini]

Yes, absolutely. All right. The Other People exclusive comes to us with another off Broadway show. This time not an original cast but, but the replacement cast. We now know who are going to be the next folks taking over at Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey and Seymour. We are going to welcome back Nicholas Christopher who did the role opposite Sheri Renee Scott earlier this year. He is going to be playing opposite Emmy nominee and former Sally Bowles in Cabaret in London. Madeline Brewer, you might know her from the first season of Orange Is the New Black. She was also one of the stars on Handmaid's Tale which recently wrapped up. I loved her for a three episode arc in a show called Shining Girls. That was really good. She's in this new season of youf, just one of these, like really cool, compelling actors that has really been doing great work on television for a decade, decade plus now. And she is now going to be making her, you know, musical theater return at least in New York, having done Sally Bowles in London with Cabaret. So you get back Nicholas Christopher. You're bringing in a big TV star here in Madelyn Brewer. And I think that's a really, really cool pairing. Gr.

[Grace Aki]

Yeah, I was really excited about this. I know a lot of people liked his Seymour and I think that this is going to be really exciting because I, I also like, really love that actor. Like, she's really good. So I think this is gonna be really smart. I didn't know she sang.

[Matt Tamminini]

Yeah, she did. Sally Bowles. Like, I, you know, I think that, that Sally Bowles can kind, especially in this production can kind of range in how good of a singer the actor is in that role. Like Latasha Richardson who did it in the the 1999 or whatever revival was like. She admitted she wasn't a great singer, but it worked for the part. We have seen some people who are more on that end. And then obviously we've seen, like, Eva Noblezada just wrapped up her runner or Marisha Wallace, who's in there now. So it'll be interesting to see if she can handle Little Shop. I'm assuming she can. And it'll be really fun to see how this new pair does over at the west side Theater. All right, Grace, we have talked about the upcoming Broadway revival of Art that is going to star Neil Patrick Harris, James Corden and Bobby Cannavale that is going to begin performing. Performance is coming up in, I guess, like, just over a month on August 28th at the Music Box Theater. We already knew who the stars are going to be. We now have the complete creative team that is going to be going along with it. The show we already Knew is going to be directed by Scott Ellis. We now know that David Rockwell is going to be doing the scenic design. Linda Cho is doing the costume design by Jen Scrivier, and sound design is by Mikal Suleyman. When a show like Art that I don't want to spoil anything about, like, what the art is in art, but like, in a show that takes place so much in conversations about art and how things look, having a great design team seems very important to me, Grace. And it seems like they knocked it out of the park with this one.

[Grace Aki]

I was really excited. Yeah. I feel like that's all I can say. But I agree with you. I thought it was really cool and I thought they took the brief really well. And I also like that it kind of looks like an upcoming film. Like, there's something about that that I think is kind of cool as well. So. Yeah.

[Matt Tamminini]

All right. Moving from off Broadway and then to Broadway, and now we're hitting another New York staple by heading out to all of the boroughs, pretty much. We are going to talk about the casting announced for the upcoming Public Theater Public Works production of Pericles. It is a new adaptation with music and lyrics by Troy Anthony, and it is being directed by Carl Cofield. The cast is tremendous. It is going to be led by Danae Benton and Etu Blankson Wood. Also in the cast will be Alison K. Daniel, Amina Fay, Crystal Lucas Perry, Erica Myers, the great Alex Newell, Steven Scott Wormley. It is going to be another one of those productions where they have this group of Equity actors like those and others that I just mentioned, but they are also going to be joined by 100 New Yorkers from all five boroughs. This is going to be a free production that is going to run from Friday, August 29 through Tuesday, September 2, at Cathedral of St. John the Divine, which is like, oh, my God, what an incredibly gorgeous historic venue to do a musical at. So this is great. Public Theater continues to do incredible work, incredible casting. You compare this with what's going to be happening at the Delacorte, A really, really great summer of free theater and free Shakespeare from the Public Theater. All right, now, we've been all over New York. Let's head over to the West Coast. And we have now got the casting for the upcoming world premiere of the Globe's production of Huzzah, a new musical written by husband and wife team Nell Benjamin and Lawrence o'. Keefe. Larry, when he was on Broadway radio a number of years ago, he actually told me about this show that they were in the midst of writing. It takes audiences to the Kingsbridge Midsummer Renaissance Fair, where two sisters are working to save the family business from financial ruin. It'll be directed by Annie Tippie, and it will feature Josh Breckenridge, Anthony Chatham ii, Kalyn Fu, Alison Gwynn, Mike Milan, Kevin Pariso, and Kate Shindle, who obviously was phenomenal. And Legally Blonde, written by Larry and Nell, but just gave a 20ish years later performance of the Legally Blonde remix that she sang from the show at a special concert, I think, on Tuesday night. And it is incredible. If you haven't seen it, check it out. Theater Lee has a great video of it.

[Unknown Artist]

Get back in the game back on the case Take a good look at my face I'm not a fool and it's a rule I do not follow But I see a star. You're my new muse. You got the best freaking shoes. If you need a muse don't go show the bruise Legal love guess you need a fuse.

[Matt Tamminini]

So love to see Kate Schindle reuniting with this pair, but I love them. I like, I love everything that they write together and everything they write separately. So, like, I'm looking forward to this. I'm looking forward to a musical about a ren faire grace, which I don't know that I would have anticipated if you'd put that on a bingo card a while ago.

[Grace Aki]

Listen, we had the WW or not the wwe, but the wrestling of it all. So this is really smart.

[Matt Tamminini]

All right, we now have details about this year's upcoming. This fall's upcoming Kids Night on Broadway. It will return on August 19th of this year and how this works is that kids get to go to a Broadway show for free when accompanied by a full ticket paying adult. The shows that are going to be involved are and Juliet, Aladdin, Buena Vista Social Club, Chicago, the Great Gatsby, Hadestown, Hamilton, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Hell's Kitchen, John Proctor is the villain, the Lion King, Mamma Mia, MJ, Moulin Rouge, Operation Mincemeat, The Outsiders 6 and Stranger Things, The First Shadow. The one difference in here is that the Great Gatsbys night is going to be August 20th because their schedule is a little bit different. There will also be a ton of other activities that'll happen at Duffy Square in Times Square on August 19th starting at 4:30. They'll be able to meet cast members from show the first 500 people that show their kids night on Broadway Ticket will receive a tote bag and a free treat from Krispy Kreme. So many great things. So if you want to check out all of the times and all of the shows and how much tickets are and all of that stuff, you can head to kidsnightonbroadway.com and we will have that in information in the show notes. All right, Grace. And speaking of Lawrence o', Keefe, we now have highlights from Heather's the Musical. You can see Lorna Courtney and the cast singing Beautiful. I will have that in the show notes. But Grace, you also wanted to recommend something before we wrapped up today's episode.

[Grace Aki]

Yeah. So there's a lot obviously going on this summer, but one of my favorite things, if not my favorite thing that's happening right now in New York city is the she NYC Arts Festival. This is running July 15th through the 27th. So you only have a few more days at the Lynn Engelson Theater in New York City to catch these shows. But they have an incredible array of different bits of media. If you don't already know. I was very fortunate to have my play picked up by the she ATL Festival and then eventually brought to the SHE NYC Festival. I am forever indebted to Danielle who started this company so many years ago. Now I think it's on their 10th year maybe and now they've expanded all over the country. You can look at their upcoming festivals with digital performances now streaming for SHE LA right now, Texas, the SHE DFW Arts, the she ATL Arts. There's, I mean it's, it's an incredible organization, but these new plays and musicals really are excellent. They get hundreds and hundreds of submissions every year for these new works. And they are the only that I am aware of nonprofit theater company that is actually like funding and producing works written by women and non binary writers. So yeah, highly recommend.

[Matt Tamminini]

We will have a link to the SHE NYC arts website in the show notes if you want to check that out and see not only the stuff that's happening in New York, but also happening around the country and virtually as well. 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 @BroadwayRadio. And if you want more Broadway radio, head over to patreon.com broadwayradio Grace, where can people find you?

[Grace Aki]

You can find me at graceaki.

[Matt Tamminini]

All right, everybody, have a wonderful Thursday. We'll be back to talk to you tomorrow.