Today on Broadway: Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025

Summary

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Episode Overview

Podcast: BroadwayRadio
Episode: Today on Broadway: Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025
Date: October 23, 2025
Hosts: Matt Tamineni & Grace Aki

This episode dives into the latest happenings in the Broadway and wider theater worlds, featuring news about high-profile revivals, exciting casting announcements, and notable crossovers between stage and screen talent. Matt and Grace offer their insight (and a bit of friendly banter) on coming revivals, Off-Broadway shake-ups, London's upcoming Ivanov starring Chris Pine, and the holiday season's family-friendly theatrical offerings.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Rumors of a "Hairspray" Broadway Revival

[01:00–03:29]

• Matt shares that he's heard "a Broadway revival of Hairspray is moving closer to coming to fruition." Although there’s no official report, the financial paperwork has reportedly been filed.
• Jack O'Brien, the original director, has spoken about this multiple times since 2023.
• The potential timeline could mirror that of the successful "Mamma Mia!" revival, though details remain unconfirmed.
• Matt emphasizes Hairspray's widespread appeal, vibrant music, and the likelihood of a positive reception.

“It is one that a lot of people really enjoy. Great music, fun, upbeat colors and dancing. I would not be surprised if it has a similar reception as Mamma Mia if it does end up coming to Broadway sometime in the next year or so.” — Matt Tamineni [03:18]

• Grace notes that reviving older works now often requires critical updates:

“I don't know that that's a piece that has the ability to exist in a post 2020 world without some revisions, similar to the Book of Mormon and a lot of other shows that I think got a new lens with some like, you know, harder Broadway conversations.” — Grace Aki [03:38]

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2. "Heathers" the Musical: Major Casting Updates

[04:15–06:55]

• "Heathers the Musical" at New World Stages is extended through January 25, with a shuffle of cast members.
• Lorna Courtney (current Veronica) leaves Dec 8 to star in the UK’s "The Greatest Showman" adaptation; she’ll be replaced by Kuhu Verma starting Dec 11.
• Sarah Al Bazali will play Veronica for one day (Dec 10). She was previously Heather Chandler.
• Both Heather Chandler (Mackenzie Kurtz) and Heather Duke (Olivia Hardy) will take temporary leave. Jodie Steele (originated West End Heather Chandler) steps in as Chandler Oct 25; Keira Michelle Lee (currently in the ensemble) plays Heather Duke from Nov 6.
• Kate Rockwell just took over all adult women roles while Kerry Butler is away.

“I know some people were really excited by both Kuhu Verma and Jodie Steele. I have to admit, I am unfamiliar with either of them, but I know a number of people who are like, okay, well, it looks I've got to go back and see this production with these new stars.” — Matt Tamineni [06:16]

• Grace gives a glowing, personal endorsement for Kuhu Verma:

“Kahu is a friend of mine. I cannot tell you how I have to see her in this role...She is a star. I need her to be a household name. I really am not trying to be annoying. I give her the most glowing endorsement of human beings...she is just so talented and, and I'm just so. I'm thrilled that these audiences are gonna get to see her do this.” — Grace Aki [06:27]

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3. Chris Pine’s London Stage Debut in Chekhov’s "Ivanov"

[06:55–09:34]

• Chris Pine will make his London stage debut, starring as the title character in Simon Stone’s modern adaptation of Chekhov’s Ivanov at the Bridge Theatre, July 4 – Sept 19, 2026.
• Stone is known for bold reimaginings of classics.
• Ivanov: "man grappling with midlife malaise ... as debts and his wife faces unexplained illnesses...”
• Matt notes Pine’s strong stage background and express excitement for his return to theater.

“He’s one of those guys who I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anything that he’s been in and like, oh, he was bad. He’s always great and delightful in everything he does.” — Matt Tamineni [08:38]

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4. "Gotta Dance" — New Off-Broadway Dance Revue

[06:55–09:34]

• Premieres at St. Jean’s Theater Nov 25–Dec 28.
• Features iconic choreography from West Side Story, A Chorus Line, Pippin, Singin’ in the Rain, White Christmas, and more.
• Notable names in the ensemble include Jessica Lee Golden, Paloma Garcia Lee, Afra Hines, Jess LaProto, etc.
• Holiday family experience with choreography by Fosse, Robbins, Kelly, and others.

“...just a fun holiday family experience at the theater.” — Matt Tamineni [09:25]

• Grace points out the abundance of regional White Christmas productions, and is excited about Jess LaProto in the cast:

“Whenever you have Jess La Prada in your dance ensemble, I think that you consider yourself lucky.” — Grace Aki [09:44]

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5. "Frozen" at Papermill Playhouse — Full Casting Announced

[09:54–10:54]

• Extended before opening, Nov 26–Jan 11.
• Starring Mary Kate Morrissey (Elsa), Samantha Williams (Anna), Daniel Yearwood (Kristoff), Sam Gravett (Hans), Todd Bonapani (Olaf).
• Matt: “Papermill crushing it with a cast that very well could have been on Broadway or on tour at any point...” [10:54]
• Grace: “The continued Elsa Wicked pipeline continues. The Elphaba Elsas are simply untouchable and I totally get it.” [10:54]

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6. "It's a Wonderful Life" Returns to Irish Repertory Theater

[11:19–12:57]

• Holiday classic returns Dec 3–31, reimagined as a live radio broadcast.
• Directed by Charlotte Moore. Cast and creative team to be announced.

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7. "Dancing with the Stars" Does "Wicked"

[11:19–12:57]

• Entire episode devoted to Wicked songs, with strong buzz from theater fans.
• Elaine Hendricks’s dance to "Defying Gravity" was a social media sensation.

“From everybody who does that I follow on social media they said this was one of the best episodes in memory...Elaine Hendricks doing a kind of contemporary dance to Defying Gravity, which really stole the show and has been everywhere...” — Matt Tamineni [12:44]

• Grace celebrates the mainstreaming of theater content:

“This season of Dancing with the Stars has been amazing, and I’m so glad the theater kids are on board this time.” — Grace Aki [12:57]

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Notable Quotes

• “I don't know that that's a piece that has the ability to exist in a post 2020 world without some revisions...” — Grace Aki on Hairspray revival [03:39]
• “She is a star. I need her to be a household name.” — Grace Aki on Kuhu Verma [06:29]
• “He’s always great and delightful in everything he does.” — Matt Tamineni on Chris Pine [08:38]
• “The Elphaba Elsas are simply untouchable.” — Grace Aki [10:54]

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Important Timestamps

• 01:00 Hairspray revival rumors
• 03:29 Commentary on show updates for modern audiences
• 04:15 Heathers casting updates & extension
• 06:23 Grace’s endorsement of Kuhu Verma
• 06:55 Chris Pine in Ivanov & Gotta Dance preview
• 09:54 Papermill Playhouse’s Frozen casting
• 11:19 It’s a Wonderful Life at Irish Rep
• 12:44 Wicked featured on Dancing with the Stars

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Episode Tone

The hosts maintain their trademark enthusiasm, friendly banter, and deep affection for musical theater, with Grace sharing an especially personal and supportive tone when discussing colleagues and industry trends.

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For more Broadway news and extended discussion, listeners are encouraged to check the BroadwayRadio Patreon and follow the hosts on social media.

Transcript

[Jeff Bridges]

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[Matt Tamineni]

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[Grace Aki]

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[Matt Tamineni]

Welcome Today on Broadway for Thursday, October 23, 2025. I'm Broadway Radio's Matt Tamineni and I.

[Grace Aki]

Am Tell Me on a Sunday Podcast.

[Matt Tamineni]

Grace Aki Grace we are heading into the weekend so we wanted to remind everybody to head over to patreon.com broadwayradio broadwayradio.com patreon to sign up at the Bezzanine Tier and above for all of our bonus episodes that are happening over there. I still owe you a travelogue episode. I have all of the playbills for my trip sitting here. I will get to that before I head to Ohio for the weekend. I'm going because we are celebrating my grandmother's 90th birthday but I will get that Travelog episode up and in the Patreon feed before I head to Ohio. So if you want to hear all about everything that I saw, everything from Just in Time the second time, let's love Waiting for Godot, Heather's Ragtime and more. Make sure that you are subscribed there now. I want to start something Grace with something I'm just hearing. It goes back to something that we talked about last year. So this is not like being reported. There is no like news article out there. But I have heard that a Broadway revival of Hairspray is moving closer to coming to fruition. Jack o' Brien had said that this was going to be happening a couple times in the past few years. Of course, he was the original director of the show. He talked about at the 2023 Tony Awards. He'd reiterated it to some publications in 2024. Now it appears that the financial paperwork for this revival has been filed. I don't know if that means that it's going to happen this spring. That would seem like a fairly quick turnaround, but something perhaps in the fall maybe coming in, you know, with a similar timeline to what we're seeing with Mamma Mia. This is a show that is done all over the place and I feel like seeing how well that Mamma Mia. Has done in its return to Broadway could move some producers to want to bring this in. It's not the exact same situation as Mamma Mia, of course, because that came from a tour. While there has been a recent Hairspray tour, Grace, that was non Equity and from what I understand, it is no connection to this potential Broadway run. Nonetheless, it is one that a lot of people really enjoy. Great music, fun, upbeat colors and dancing. I would not be surprised if it has a similar reception as Mamma Mia if it does end up coming to Broadway sometime in the next year or so.

[Grace Aki]

Yeah, I think that like, you know, everyone is trying to find a thing that will just bring people to the theater in all frankness. And whether that is a revival or, you know, a piece of existing television, film or otherwise IP adaptation into a Broadway mom. I think what's difficult is just that, like I don't know that that's a piece that has the ability to exist in a post 2020 world without some revisions similar to the Book of Mormon and a lot of other shows that I think got a new lens with some like, you know, harder Broadway conversations. And I think that it's interesting that this filing is coming up because I have not heard tell of this. But you know what? It could have.

[Matt Tamineni]

All right, well, let's go to a show that is currently running and that is Heather's the Musical currently at New World Stages Off Broadway. The show has been extended through January 25th and through some of that we're going to see some casting changes. Currently, Lorna Courtney is playing Veronica Sora. As we talked about. She is going to head over to the UK to be one of these stars in the Greatest Showman world premiere stage musical adaptation. She is going to depart the production on December 8. She will be replaced by Kuhu Verma, who was last seen Off Broadway in Octet but also has been seen in films like The Big Sick. She will begin performances on December 11th. Sarah Al Bazali will play Veronica on December 10th, which is interesting because she is who I saw playing Heather Chandler when I went and saw it. Because Mackenzie Kurtz was out of the show, it now seems like both Mackenzie Kurtz and Olivia Hardy, who is playing Heather Duke, will be taking temporary leaves of absence from the show. Kurt's will continue to be out through mid November, and stepping into Heather Chandler's red scrunchie will be Jody Steele, who originated that role in the West End production of Heather's. She will begin performances on October 25th and we'll stick with it until Mackenzie comes back. And then Olivia Hardy will be out into early December playing Heather Duke. While she is gone will be Keira Michelle Lee, who is currently in the ensemble of the show. She will begin performances on November 6th. So lots of moving parts with this, of course, Kate Rockwell just recently, last week stepped into the role of all of like the adult women guidance counselor Fleming and some mothers in there while Kerry Butler is doing Batboy at Encore. So lots of moving parts. I know some people were really excited by both Kuhu Verma and Jodie Steele. I have to admit, I am unfamiliar with either of them, but I know a number of people who are like, okay, well, it looks I've got to go back and see this production with these new stars.

[Grace Aki]

Kahu is a friend of mine. I cannot tell you how I have to see her in this role. Not only is she a phenomenal actress, performer, she's got an insane instrument. I mean, I could hear her sing anything under the sun. She is a star. I need her to be a household name. I really am not trying to be annoying. I give her the most glowing endorsement of human beings and that's not just because she likes my play, but because she is just so talented and, and I'm just so. I'm thrilled that these audiences are gonna get to see her do this.

[Matt Tamineni]

Amazing. I had no idea. Well, there you go. All right. Going from New York City over to London, yesterday it was announced that big time movie star Chris Pine is going to be making his London stage debut. He is going to be playing the title role in a new adaptation of Anton Chekhov's Ivanov. It will be adapted and directed by Simon Stone, who is a film and theater director and writer who kind of takes classics and turns them on their head. His production of the lady from the Sea is actually currently playing at the Bridge Theater starring Alicia Vikander and Andrew Lincoln. That is the theater where Ivanov will be playing. Performances will begin on July 4th of next year and will run through September 19th. The plot is very, very Chekhov, if you're unfamiliar with it. Chris Pine's character, Nikolai, is a man grippling with midlife malaise. Despite a successful career and marriage as debts and his wife faces unexplained illnesses, he struggles to understand what's gnawing at him and whether he can save his marriage, career and will to live. While we obviously know Chris Pine as, you know, a big time movie star, he does have a fairly extensive stage background as well, doing productions of the Atheist, Fat Pig, Farragut north and the Lieutenant of Inishmore. So love that he is getting back on the stage as he's one of those guys who I don't know that I've ever seen anything that he's been in and like, oh, he was bad. He's always great and delightful in everything he does. Moving Off Broadway Again we talked about this production when the York Theater announced its upcoming season, but now we have the cast members for the new Dance Review Gotta Dance it is going to reconstruct some of the iconic numbers from such shows as west side Story, A Chorus Line, Pippin, Singin in the Rain, White Christmas and more. It is gonna play off Broadway at St. Jean's Theater from November 25 through December 28. Honestly sounds like just a ball and something that I think is going to bring a lot of people joy during this holiday season. It is going to officially open on December 3rd and it is being done in association with American Dance Machine. The company of dancers will be fairly robust, but some names you might be familiar with are Jessica Lee Golden, Paloma Garcia Lee, afra Hines, Jess LaProto and more. So sounds like this is going to be a lot of fun. Nikki Ferret Atkins and Randy Skinner will be co directing and obviously recreating some iconic choreography from Fosse Robbins, Kelly Bennett Stroman and more. So this seems like just a fun holiday family experience at the theater.

[Grace Aki]

Grace, we've been talking a lot. I've been talking to my regional theater friends a lot recently about how like everyone under the sun is doing like White Christmas and so on and so forth. So this is like another exciting moment. I think that like whenever you have Jess La Prado in your dance ensemble, I think that you consider yourself lucky. So I was really happy to see his name there as well.

[Matt Tamineni]

Speaking of regional theater doing shows that involve a lot of snow, yesterday the Paper Mail Playhouse announced the full casting for its upcoming production of Frozen and they actually announced that it is already going to extend by additional week. It'll begin performances on November 26th and will play through January 11th. Playing Queen Elsa will be Mary Kate Morrissey. She hasn't done this before, but if you would have asked me, make a list of the top five people you want to see play Elsa who haven't played Elsa before. She would have probably been at the top of the list. Playing Princess Anna will be Samantha Williams, who was fantastic in Pirates the Penzance musical. Playing Kristoff will be Daniel Yearwood. Sam Gravett will play Hans. Todd Bonapani will be playing Olaf. Mark Price is going to be playing Lord Weselton and Thomas Whitcomb is playing Sven. Obviously Grace, I know a show that is close to your heart, but really paper mill crushing it with a cast that very well could have been on Broadway or on tour at any point of course.

[Grace Aki]

And I think that like, you know, I love Daniel Yearwood. He's had such a great, I guess like three years now, just like booking, booking, booking. Blessed Sam is obviously going to be an incredible Anna and Mary Kate, you know, the, the continued Elsa Wicked pipeline continues. The Elphaba Elsa's are simply untouchable and I totally get it. So it's going to be fantastic for sure.

[Jeff Bridges]

Yeah.

[Matt Tamineni]

I mean like when your prototype is Adina, like it just makes sense that you dig into the two decade history of Elphabuzz to find the next Elsas. All right. The last holiday related show that we're talking about today was announced from the Irish Repertory Theater. They're going to stage It's a Wonderful Life this holiday season. It is going to begin performances on December 3rd and will run through December 31st. First, the company has presented this show for years so it is no surprise that it is coming back. It is being directed by Charlotte Moore, one of the main artistic forces behind the Irish Repertory Theater. It takes the iconic film and kind of reimagines it as a live radio broadcast filled with a bunch of like nostalgic holiday songs and vintage commercials and more. The cast and creative team will be announced very soon. All right, Grace, and let's wrap up. Speaking of Wicked, because earlier this week Dancing with the Stars devoted an entire episode to the songs of Wicked. Obviously Wicked for Good will be coming to movie theaters here in just about a month. And I don't watch Dancing with the Stars but from everybody who does that I follow on social media they said this was one of the best episodes in memory. But I think the one Grace that most people are talking about is Elaine Hendricks doing a kind of contemporary dance to Defying Gravity, which really stole the show and has been everywhere on social media ever since.

[Grace Aki]

Listen, when are we not talking about it? This season of Dancing with the Stars has been amazing, and I'm so glad the theater kids are on board this time.

[Matt Tamineni]

Yeah, absolutely. 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 Rodrigo. 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 Reyesaki or huddling under my desk trying to breathe just in the next month or so. So there you go.

[Matt Tamineni]

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

[Jeff Bridges]

Sam.