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Today on Broadway: Thursday, May 8, 2025
00:17:52
Stars Announced for Sia’s ‘Saturday Church,’ ‘Heathers’ Revival Reveals Stars, Muny Wins Regional Tony 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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- [00:00]
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Matt Tammanini
Welcome to Today on Broadway for Thursday, May 8, 2025. I'm Broadway Video's Matt Tammanini and I'm.
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Grace
Tell Me on a Sunday podcast Grace.
- [00:39]
Matt Tammanini
Aki Grace I have two more shows left in the 20242025 season, so once I wrap those up, or maybe before, it depends on the timing, I will start pumping out the last few Travelog episodes from this season. So if you want to hear those, head over to patreon.com broadwayradio broadwayradio.com patreon I will kind of have a special a different Travelogue episode at the end of the weekend with a friend of mine who's coming to see some shows that probably many of you have already seen but might have a good perspective on somebody who's never seen it before. So we'll have that as well as the last, I think eight shows from the season from my perspective. So make sure that you are following along on Patreon to hear all of that. But on today's show we have award stuff, so which we'll talk about, of course, but we have a ton of very fun and interesting show and cast casting and outgoing. It started first yesterday over at the New York Theater Workshop where they announced a number of different things across the course of the season, but the big news was the initial casting for the upcoming world premiere of the new musical adaptation of the independent film Saturday Church. As we've talked about before, this show will feature a book by Emmy nominee Damon Cardassis and Pulitzer Prize winner and Tony nominee James I, and then a score written by Grammy nominee Sia, with additional music by Grammy winner Honey Dejon and additional lyrics by Cardassis and Imes. Whitney White is going to direct. We knew all of that, but the cast that they announced yesterday is just the initial cast, but it's pretty incredible. It features two Tony winners, a Golden Globe winner and somebody who was fantastic on this current season of the Voice. The Tony winners are Jay Harrison G. And Jakina Cola Congo. And the Golden Globe winner is Michaela J. Rodriguez, and the Voice contestant, who also happened to be the 2021 Jimmy Awards winner is Bryson Battle. I've been following along with them all season, so they've been fantastic. This show is based off of the of the same name, which was written and directed by Cardassis, and it tells the story of Ulysses, a New York City kid devoted to his aunt's church, until a chance encounter on a subway introduces him to Saturday Church, a haven for LGBTQ youth. This has been one of the most anticipated new musicals of this season and getting this cast announcement should be pretty exciting. The show will kick off the season later this fall. We also got some information about a new production that's going to be coming to New York Theatre Workshop this season and it'll be directed directed by Rachel Chavkin, and it'll come from the Obie Award winners, the Banksons, who are most recently seen on Broadway providing music in all in this show is called My Joy Is Heavy and it'll be choreographed by Steph Paul. But a great season, Grace with everything happening at New York Theater Workshop and everything for Saturday Church is shaping up to be really, really top notch and I'm incredibly excited to see what this is all about when it finally makes it to the stage later this year.
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Grace
I've been excited about this casting for a second. Not going to lie to you, especially knowing that Jay Harrison G was involved.
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Matt Tammanini
Sorry, I'm going to say. Oh, you knew about the casting ahead of time. I see. I get it.
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Grace
Well, well, well, well. I may or may not get to be a part of working on that in some way. So I'm very excited. But regardless, like I have been excited about this show again, another excellent adaptation from an indie film. I highly recommend that you go watch. I believe you can see it on Amazon prime, but am pumped because I may or may not get to hear some of my favorite Sia songs and some new stuff. And this is just like an exciting exploration of I think after Pose and with the resurgence of the way people talk about like Paris is Burning and all these other things. But yeah, I'm excited.
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Matt Tammanini
So two things that I want to talk about coming out of what you just said, Grace. One, maybe this could be something that could show up at Nighthawk Cinema for a special screening at some point. That would be very cool.
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Grace
Wouldn't that be cool?
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Matt Tammanini
That would be very cool. Secondly, though, you mentioned the fact that you're gonna hear some of your favorite Sia songs as well as new songs. Of course she is writing new music for this show, but as has been previously reported and I think maybe actually shared in a video at some point, there are some, some of the best songs that she's ever written that are gonna be included in the show as well. So that is very exciting to a lot of pop music fans that are gonna be heading down to New York Theater Workshop later this year. All right. On the other side of Manhattan from New York Theater Workshop, not completely, but back up in Midtown we the Off Broadway revival of Heather's the Musical beginning performances on June 22nd at New World Stages. And yesterday we got the initial casting of the two star crossed potential homicidal lovers. In this show. Playing the role of Veronica Sawyer will be erstwhile and Juliet Veronica sawyer. And playing J.D. someone who is a little outside of the type that I would have thought of for JD but playing JD will be erstwhile Marty McFly. Casey likes. This is going to be the first New York City revisit revival of this show that was a huge hit with a certain generation of theater fans about a decade ago. This is going to be essentially a transfer of the London production that is still kind of running and touring over there. I imagine that with folks like this in the two main roles that I would guess that the Heathers will be some fun names that we will probably know fairly well. And perhaps a certain mythic bitch will be somebody that your betrothed has semi recently shared a stage with. Who knows. But the show is beginning performances in like six weeks, so we will probably not have to wait too too to find out who else is going to be joining them in Westerberg. I think Westerberg is in Ohio. I'm pretty sure, at least in the film. I don't know if it's ever said in the musical, but I think in the film it's set in Ohio, which I don't know if that makes me more or less proud of my home state, Grace, but where, where are you? Where do you come down on the Heathers of it all?
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Grace
Oh God. This was, this was one of my favorite shows for, for a long, long, long time. I think, I think it's really hard to revive that right now. And that's no shade to anybody that's on this process again. You're, you're, you're talking to somebody who stage door and probably saw it 10 times. Like I love this show. I know people that were in it went back to see Molly Hager on no Ellie, like, it's. I, I do love it, obviously, like, Ryan, everybody a part of it. So, you know, this is coming from a place of love. But I think that a show that in a way, sometimes might glorify unintentionally. I just want to say that a school shooter, I mean, I don't, I don't, I don't know. We're just as a society, we're in a really hard place with that. And I'm. I'm not sure. So.
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Matt Tammanini
Yeah, yeah, I get that. I totally, totally get that. All right, let's dive into some of the awards conversations that I mentioned. At the top of the show, we got the regional theater Tony Award, and it will go to a show that we talked about multiple times here, I think on the, on the podcast this week, the St. Louis Muni, they have been awarded the 2025 Regional Theater Tony Award that also includes a $25,000 grant made possible by City National Bank. This is a theater that has been around for over a century. They offer incredible accessibility options. They provide over 100,000 free tickets every season. They have career development programs. They include local high school and younger theater students in every production that do is a pretty incredible theater, not only just from, like, seeing something cool outdoors in this gigantic theater in the middle of St. Louis in the summer, but all of the other work that they do. They welcome over 300,000 people every season to this gargantuan open air amphitheater. And I've been there, you know, I've talked about it. I've been there twice in the past couple seasons. My aunt lives not too far away from the Muni, and it's just such an incredible experience to go see a show there. So I am overjoyed that the Muni is getting this recognition. And maybe I'm going to have to figure out one of these shows. There's so many of these shows this season that I want to go see at the meeting, so I got to figure out if I'm going to make it out there. This probably won't surprise you at all, Grace. Keeping my eye on the bring it on the musical dates because I love that show. And when else am I going to get to see it? You know, it doesn't get done very often, so we'll be checking that out. But happy for everybody in St. Louis. All right, coming back to New York City with these next bit of awards. Yesterday, the Off Broadway alliance announced their award nominations for the 2024, 2025 season. The winners will be announced on May 7th. There are some competitive awards, some honorary awards. We will get to all of those. But running through all of the major awards, the nominees for best musical are all the World's A Stage Drag, the Musical, Forbidden Broadway, Merrily We Stole a Song, Music City, the Big Gay Jamboree, Best play nominees are becoming Eve here. There are blueberries, table 17, the light in the Dark and the Welkin. The best revival nominees are Cats, the Jellicle Ball, Ceremonies in Dark, Old Men, Ghosts, hold on to Me Darling and Orlando. Best solo performance nominees are 300 paintings, grand, eloquent, Hold Me in the Water, I'm assuming you know David Greenspan and Vanya. And the final competitive category, Best Unique Theatrical Experience. The nominees are Ain't Done Bad Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now, Mind Play, My First Ex Husband and Odd man out, the Legend of Off Broadway Awards. These are not competitive, These are being awarded. The two winners this season are David Greenspan and Scott Morphy. The Off Broadway hall of Fame recognizes this season William Finn, Morgan Gennis and Linda Lavin. And the Friend of Off Broadway award this year, Ghost goes to critic and journalist Helen Shaw. All right, Grace, I. I feel like if people didn't realize what an expert you were on how the inner workings of the theater community, especially on Broadway, happen, you have been calling this and we got another testament to just how insightful you are.
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Line2 Advertiser
Wait, what?
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Matt Tammanini
Yeah, yeah, you know, you know. But yesterday we got another best musical nominee announcing a national tour. What a coincidence that it happened this week right in the middle of Tony season, right around the spring. But yesterday maybe Happy Ending announced not just a national tour, but a 30 city national tour that'll take place over multiple years. It is going to include such cities as Los Angeles, Washington D.C. chicago, Tampa, St. Louis, Detroit, San Francisco and Providence, Rhode Island. But it will kick off in the fall of 2026 at the Hippodrome Theater in Baltimore. You know, I had a conversation with this about this sometime this week with somebody, Grace, and it might have been with F. Actually after your screening on Monday night about how like this might be a difficult show to tour because of the tech of it and all of those things. But like I'm super, super excited that it's going to go out on the road and people are going to get to see it. Certainly this is being done with an eye on or this announcement is being done with an eye on Tony's. But what a great, great opportunity for people to kind of see touring shows that aren't just the traditional like Back to the Future and Wicked and like the big flashy ones. Like, I think this is a show that is going to be so, so special for a ton of people who didn't know theater could be this.
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Grace
Yeah, I'm ecstatic. I'm curious to see what that casting could be on the road, but gosh, is that going to be spectacular? Like, I'm really excited. I think it is probably going to be difficult. It's not going to be easy, but I think it's a hell of a lot easier once you the fact that they have so many Tony nominations, regardless of whatever their wins are, this is a great place for them to be.
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Matt Tammanini
I do, I do remember I was talking about this not just with F but with many other people at the table afterwards. I do wonder like you're talking about the casting. Darren Criss is especially early on when people didn't really know what the show was about before it had really found its legs. He was so important to getting people to be like, oh, Darren Criss is in it. It must be good. I'm gonna go see it. And I do wonder if, you know, especially if it doesn't win best musical, although I do think it will. Like, if there needs to be some sort of recognition of one of the stars, doesn't need to be, you know, Darren's partner. It could be Helen's part. But there does there need to be somebody who people know to get them into this, you know, beyond just the people who are going to have it because of their subscriptions. I think that'll be really interesting to. To figure out, but. But I guess we'll find out in the next year or so before they. Whenever they get ready to announce their casting before it heads to the stage in fall of 2026. Speaking of people coming to the stage, two of the original stars, and not coincidentally, two of the original co writers for Titanique will be coming back for not the last two weeks of the show, the last four weeks of the show. Because the off Broadway musical is not only going to welcome back Marla Mendel and Constantine Rossulli, but it is also extending two more weeks at the Daryl Roth theater. Originally, performances had been schedul scheduled to wrap up on June 15th. They're now going to go through June 29th. So you have about six weeks left to check out this show. Marla will come back to finish the run as Celine Dion and Constantine Rossouli will be back as Jack. This show is just so freaking good and I'm so sad that it's not going to, like, run forever, but it's had an absolutely incredible multi year run off Broadway in a couple different locations. And I'm just ecstatic. You know, Grace, if I come back, you know, I'm going to have to, you know, figure out how to see them one more time because they are just so good in this show. And I'm really excited that they are going to wrap up the run, put a bow on Titanique Off Broadway, it's obviously playing in Chicago, playing in London, it's having so much success, but it just feels right, if they're going to close it off Broadway, to have Marla and Constantine back for one more run.
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Grace
Yeah. When I saw this announcement today, I was really excited because I know for a fact that, like, these two specifically sold the shit out of the show. And they. They're just so good. Like, I was texting my friends and I was like, should we try to go? Like, this makes sense, but I have no doubt that it's going to sell out pretty quickly. So if this is of interest to you, you better get your tickets fast.
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Matt Tammanini
Yeah, don't do what I did. And like, when Leslie Odom Jr. Was announced to be coming back to Hamilton, I was like, oh, the prices are expensive. They'll come down. After the initial rush, they have not gone down. In fact, there are no tickets left for Leslie Odom Jr's run pretty much in Hamilton. So if you want to see Constantine and Marla back in this show, jump on it now. But another show that apparently is doing very well at selling tickets, although for a very limited run, is Rob Madges. My Son's a Queer, but what can you do? The show was just going to come to New York City center and run for like three performances, June 13th, 14th and 15th. That is no longer the case. It's not going to be a huge extension, but they have now added a show to June 12 and added a matinee on June 14. So there is a couple extra performances to see Rob do this show. Of course. Course, we've recently talked about the fact that Rob is going to be playing the MC and Cabaret in London. So they've got a ton going on some extra performances here in New York. Not exactly the Broadway run that had originally been planned for this show last summer, but certainly excited that they're having an opportunity to see that there are people in New York City that are excited about this show, even if a little bit overdue. And then finally in the show and casting department here, Grace, yesterday it was announced that the Off Broadway revival of Lon Elder III's ceremonies in D, currently starring Norm Lewis, Off Broadway at the Theater at Saint Clements, has extended its run. It will now play for a few extra weeks through the end of June on June 29th. All right, I'm going to wrap up with a couple of recommendations. First, we have a scene from Yellow Face from the Great Performance broadcast that's going to be happening next Friday, May 16th at 9pm on PBS. Check your local listings. Of course, this is a scene where Daniel Dae Kim, playing dhh, calls his father and has a conversation with him. So if you don't really know the vibe of Yellowface, this scene is very good. It'll show you a lot about what that show is like. And then we also have some very touching performances that were released yesterday in honor of the late, great Gavin Creel, who did a couple of solo concerts in Indianapolis almost exactly a year ago. It'll be a year ago this weekend. And those were his final solo shows. Those were his final performances. In honor of that, the Cabaret in Indianapolis has released some of those performances, including as if We Never Said Goodbye, How Glory Goes, a medley from hello Dolly. So if you want to see those videos from the late, great Gavin Creel, head over to the Show Notes. All right, that's all we have for today. Thanks for listening to Today on Broadway. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, rodwayradio and Grace, what downtown theater can people find you at?
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Grace
You can find me at The Soho Playhouse, May 12th through the 25th.
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Matt Tammanini
Awesome. Mick. Get your tickets. Get your tickets, everybody. All right. Have a wonderful Thursday. We'll be back to talk to you tomorrow. Tomorrow.
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