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Today on Broadway: Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025
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Reviews are in for ‘Art’ on Broadway, Times Square casino officially not happening, full cast for ‘Oedipus’ announced Since 2016, “Today on Broadway” has been the first and only daily podcast recapping the top theatre headlines every Monday through Fri...
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Introducing Family Freedom from T Mobile. We'll pay off four phones up to $3200 and give you four free phones all on America's largest 5G network. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com familyfreedom up to $800 per line via virtual prepaid card typically takes 15 days. Free phones via 24 monthly bill credits with finance agreement eg Apple iPhone16128Gigabyte 8. $29.99 eligible trade in eg iPhone 11 Pro for well qualified credits end and balance due. If you pay off early or cancel contact T Mobile welcome to Today on.
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Broadway for Thursday, September 18, 2025. I'm Broadway Radio's Matt Tammanini and I'm.
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Tell Me on the Sunday podcast, Grace Locke.
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Grace, on Tuesday night you were over at the Music Box Theater because as we talked about previously, Art officially opened its first ever Broadway revival on Tuesday night. It is a limited run, currently scheduled to play through December 21st. Who knows if there's going to be extensions? I think that's probably fairly possible. This is the first Broadway revival of the Tony Award winning play by Yasmina Reza. It is directed by Scott Ellison, feature a trio of iconic stars, two of them Tony Award winners. Those two Tony Award winners are James Corden and Neil Patrick Harris and they are joined by star of stage and screen Bobby Canavali. If you're unfamiliar with the show, it features on three longtime friends one ridiculously expensive painting. Is it art or is it just the world's priciest inside joke? As the three men debate the piece and what truly constitutes art, they uncover long held grievances and tension points in their relationships. Can their friendship survive or or will one of them finally draw the line? It's just 100 minutes of minimalist art, maximalist jokes and a moving look at what we really see and forgive in the people we love. As of recording time, the review aggregator site Did They Like it has collected 18 reviews. Ten were positive, four were mixed and four were negative. We're going to start with the New York Times, but keep in mind the New York Times does not currently have a full time theater critic. They are still looking to bring somebody in after Jesse Green was removed from that role along with basically all of the other cultural critics as they look to spice up their critical reviews. Currently, Elizabeth Vincentelli is the one of record doing the review for this show and she was positive it was not marked as a critics pick, but I don't know if they're giving critics picks right now when they don't have a full time critic. So I'm not saying that that it doesn't rise to a critics pick level, but it did not get that designation, which I think is important to note. But she says, quote, let's end the suspense right away. All three meaning the actors are fine and Corden, back on Broadway for the first time since his whirlwind performance in one man, two governors in 2012, is often a lot more than that. But for an elegantly vicious play that's meant to draw pearls of blood, the actors, especially Cannavale and Harris, can come off as guarded as if they're fencing with blunted tips. Entire arguments hinge on tone, the way someone pronounces a particular remark, subtle variations that don't always land here. At times, Scott Ellis's production at the Music Box Theater feels like an extended episode of Curb youb Enthusiasm. She goes on to say, quote, reza has said in interviews that Art came about at a time when she was in dire financial straits and needed a hit. So she wrote the text for three popular actors she knew from her days on stage. Concerned that any one of them would bail if he felt his role wasn't as juicy as the others, she devised the three poles of this triangular relationship to be equal. So much so that since Yvonne, which is Corden's character, enters after the others, he gets a tour de force speech to make up for his delayed arrival time. Naturally, Corden makes a meal of that tirade, an increasingly frantic aria about negotiating his family's demands on his imminent wedding. Corden also makes a meal of a meal in a scene in which he eats olives by hungrily nibbling them one by one, like an oversized squirrel trying to appear polite while devouring his loot. In Company, Harris and Cannavale don't fare quite as well, making Ellis's production feel a little underpowered, though that may change once the actors have more performances under their belts, as this show very much depends on tight chemistry. On the other side of that equation, Sarah Holden, writing for Vulture, was negative, saying, as a director, Ellis is happy to put his trio of stars in a terrarium of a bland, upscale apartment and let them go for the punchlines. All three are nimble with comedy, and it's not that there's nothing funny in art, it's that the material makes the atmosphere in the room too thin to work up the breath for a good laugh. As always, and especially in revivals, there's the play in a vacuum and then there's the performance in its context. And the context here is that Art is a story about three middle aged men, largely white and wealthy, that's returning to Broadway in a season already rife with frustration about what feels like an overall swing back toward male heavy programming, not to mention any wider moment when drumming up a great deal of compassion for the woes of dermatologists who buy $300,000 paintings feels like a big ask. It also follows on the heels of last spring's big vehicle for three famous men, Glengarry Glen Ross, another revival no one asked for, and another play that makes it painfully obvious just how long ago the 80s and 90s really were. Juan A. Ramirez from Theatrely was mixed saying, quote, this first Broadway revival promises luxury in stars. Its black and white poster has Cannavale, Corden and Harris suited up and laughing expensively, politely. That frictionless sheen also glazes over their onstage chemistry, however game each of them might be. So grace, it seems like the reviews were mostly positive, but not wholly so, with some people being in the middle, some being mixed. But it seems everybody was very much taken by James Corden's return to the stage, which I think is noteworthy considering that since we've seen him so much in films and especially on the talk shows that people forget that he does have incredible dramatic chops. But what did you think about the show?
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But I want to say from my perspective and again I have disclosed on the show, I do work on the team that does promote and do ads for the show. But I had a good time. I've liked this play for a long time. I think it's an actor's play. A lot of people do it in scene study. I enjoyed the guys chemistry a lot. I think that they're having a lot of fun. I think it's a great conversation piece that talks about the show, but not just the show really. It's about how we talk about art and the things that we hold on to in friendships a lot of the times and sometimes it's that you're with people, you have people in your life for many years and sometimes you drift apart and you wonder am I just friends with this person because I've been friends for so long or is it because like I'm friends with this person forever? And I think that the conversations that it sparks are really great. I was really surprised by the amount of kind of vitriol from people for this, you know, first one of the first shows of the Broadway season to have had kind of a lot of like Random spite. I think it's to your point and to some of the credit here, it's like a revival of a show that, you know, whatever they're saying that there's no ask for it. I would argue that there's no ask for anything and people just choose to invest in things that they just want to see. But these are some of our best stage actors that also have massive, you know, imprints on TV and film. But they are well respected stage actors, all three of them. So I think it's a weird thing to relate it to what others are saying, like our cash grab, celebrity plays. That's what they're referencing, that this is part of it. We're talking about three of our best play actors that also have success in TV and film that are doing a Broadway show. So I don't know, man. I'm like, well, then what do you want? Do you know what I mean? Like, I just. I feel like we're getting away from the plot a little bit in terms of, you know, how reviews are done and the support. And it's not their job to, you know, support the show as a critic, obviously, but I do think it's kind of weird when it's like 90%, like, I don't know, discussed. Maybe I'm just talking out of my ass, but am I. Does that sound right to you, Matt? Or is it just like, me? In my head, I was genuinely surprised by some of the verbiage that was used. I understand when something is not beloved by every single critic. I understand that everybody has their right to. To voice their opinion. But I do think it's different when it's just nasty. And we've seen so much nastiness over the past two years that it's frankly, like, exhausting.
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I have, you know, because like you said, you are. You work on the team that promotes it. You have probably read more of these reviews than I have. I'm. I always go to the Times and to Sarah Holdren and then kind of look through, you know, skim through the other ones. I didn't see necessarily as much vitriol, especially because they are mostly positive reviews. But what I think is always an interesting conversation point is especially true with revivals because the show itself in those cases has already been reviewed. And obviously you still want to factor in that into the equation of a review of a revival. But the show is the show. And I think for me, I'm always interested in the critical takes on a revival that go beyond that because that's already established. This isn't a new work that needs to be vetted by critics to kind of explain to it, to explain to the audience what it is. So I'm more interested in revivals to know about that specific production. So to me, I do understand where like, maybe a little bit more hinges on the people who are involved in that one. But I didn't, I didn't necessarily since the vitriol and I was kind of skimming through some of those other reviews, Sarah Holdren's was a little bit more pointed than any of the other ones that I saw. And I think you kind of referenced that one a little bit more. So maybe. I don't know. I mean, I understand people being concerned about these male, male focused plays taking up space, but it is also important to remember that is, Mina Raza, the playwright, is a woman. She's the only woman to win Best play twice. So while the people on stage might be men, this is also a hugely, historically important play for women writers in the history of theater, let alone Broadway. So I think, to your point, that you can be concerned about, like, oh, it's three white dudes on stage, but it's also important to remember that those three white dudes are speaking the words essentially written by a woman, although she wrote them in French and they were translated by a man into English. I think it is important to kind of consider both sides of that conversation when deciding whether or not you're going to throw some vitriol at the fact that it's three really rich, really famous guys on stage. All right, speaking of vitriol, Grace, where whether there is a ton of vitriol for art in these reviews might be up to the eye of the beholder, but there is no denying that there was a ton of vitriol on both sides of the debate about whether or not there would be a casino put into Times Square and another one that was going to be over in Hudson Yards in Hell's Kitchen. Well, as of Wednesday, neither of those plans are moving forward. There were two different plans, obviously. We focused on the one mostly from Caesar's palace in Times Square, that was also backed by Jay Z's Roc Nation and Live Nation, which is the big international concert organization, as well as one that was going to be in Hudson Yards from Silverstein Property Properties. The committees that were the community advisory committees that were responsible for pushing forward both of those plans have voted to decline. Both of them. They were voted down four to two. The only two representatives on the committee that voted for them were the ones appointed by New York Mayor Eric Adams and New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Everyone else who came from more local organizations, whether those were councilmen or somebody else, declined to move them forward. That means that there will be a downstate casino somewhere in New York, probably close to New York City, but it will not be in Manhattan. And there was, you know, I'll have some information in the show notes about the different organizations wanting more time to go through. There was still. There was still a couple of weeks before there had to be a decision, but the committees have decided not to move forward. I had always heard that the most likely place for this casino, I think we talked about it before, is out over near where the New York Mets play in Queens. So if that's the case, there's a little bit more opportunity for expansion without disrupting current businesses. And it's still fairly convenient for a lot of people. But Grace, we've talked about before, lots of people in the theater community were against it. There were a smaller number of organizations in the theater community that were for the one in Times Square. But I think today, as this has officially been shot down, a lot of folks in the theater community, and especially some of the very, very high powered organizations that were actively, like the Broadway League, Broadway Cares, Equity Fights, aids, the Entertainment Community Fund, the Theater Development Front, iatse, the Shubert Organization. I think a lot of those folks are very happy that there won't be a casino going up right above the Minskoff Theater.
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Yeah, mainly me. I am happy.
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So I have only followed this tangentially. And as people know, I like casinos. What were the biggest things that people were concerned about beyond just like, I mean, obviously there's competition.
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Yeah. I'll just speak for myself because I think that everyone had a different agenda in terms of why they didn't want it. So I'm just going to very bluntly speak about mine. I physically work in that area. I do not feel safe to work near a casino. I think that there would be a lot of, like, challenges when it comes to safety. I think just my personal aversion to being near some of those spaces. While I know there are a lot of, like, very well intentioned people that enjoy those, I totally do not disavow every single person that has ever enjoyed that space, because I totally get that. But I think from an overall perspective, like, I have no interest in working in Las Vegas. I have no interest in trying to commute every single day. It is hard enough to work in Times Square. As a young woman of my height, frankly, and I know it just in all honesty, I have to speak to my own experience and like it's just just challenging. It's just really challenging and it just genuinely scared me. I also thought about a lot of the, you know, long running businesses that are partnered with on an ongoing basis within Shubert Alley, specifically like Juniors and others that I was just very afraid. Also on a union perspective, the shows that could exist in there could be not protected by the American or the American, the Actors Equity union. And so there are just 100 factors. A lot of them for me had to do with safety.
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Yeah, I totally understand that. And I will mention you mentioned potential non Equity shows. Actors Equity actually was one of the organizations in favor of the casino. Like I said, far more organizations, including a lot of the unions that make Broadway work were against it. So it was just one of those things where it's like for me at a distance, I'm like, it's very weird that the theater community is not congealed around a spot, but obviously the vast majority of people were against it and how much that impacted the decision, I don't know. But it is certainly something that I am not mad about, the fact that Juniors is not going to be going away because that is one of my favorite places to eat in between shows. All right, speaking of shows, Grace, let's run through some show and casting news. And yesterday we got the complete cast announcement for the upcoming Broadway transfer of the hit West End production of Oedipus. The show already was going to star Mark Strong in the title role and Leslie Manville as Yocasta. Not gonna spoil her relationship to Mark Strong's Oedipus if you don't know the show, but we'll just leave that there. Reprising their London roles will be Samuel Brewer, Bhaskar Patel, Jordan Scoen and James Wilbraham. And joining them on Broadway is I think one of the best character actors on stage and screen probably of my lifetime who just kind of flies under the radar. But every time he's in something you're like, damn, he's good. He can be funny, he can be scary. And that is John Carroll Lynch. I think he's fantastic. Also joining them will be Teagle F. Bougeret, any Mesa Perez, Olivia Reese and Ann Reid. The rest of the ensemble we will have in the show notes if you want to check that out as well. It will begin performances at Studio 54 on October 30th with an opening night scheduled for November 13th. Grace, I feel like because going Back to, like, his big breakout role in Fargo, John Carroll lynch, like, am I right? Like, he seems like just one of those great character actors that always makes whatever he's in better.
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I couldn't agree more. I thought the same thing about Fargo. I love him on the Drew Carey Show. I thought he was really good in the Founder. He's just been good in every single thing he's ever done. I think it's a real fortunate breakthrough that he's going to be a part of this play.
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Yeah, absolutely. All right, going over to the Jacobs Theater, we have a new casting announcement coming to us from the Outsiders. Earlier this month, we talked about the fact that Kevin William Paul, who currently plays the Soch bully Bob in the Broadway production of the Outsiders, was going to be taking on the role of the third point in the love triangle in the Baker's Wife at Classic Stage Company. He will be leaving the Outsiders for a limited time. He will be going back, but taking over in his stead will be Kevin Solak, most recently seen on Broadway as Tulsa in Gypsy. He'll be playing the role beginning on September 26th until Kevin William Paul returns on January 6th.
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I will say Kevin Solak, I believe, covered this role previously. He was in the original company of the Outsiders. He was in the ensemble and then went from singing justice for Tulsa to playing Tulsa in Gypsy. And now he's being back. So it is justice for Tulsa. Really. Pour one out for Gypsy.
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Pour one out for Gypsy. Yes, absolutely. All right. And real quick, yesterday we found out that Lachanze Productions is going to produce the new one person show written and performed by Tony Award winner Ariel Stachel called Other. It is going to play at the Greenwich House theater beginning on October 8th with an official opening on October 19th, and it's currently scheduled to run through December 6th. In the show, Stashel brings an ensemble of voices from his past to life and his solo show about his, quote, anxious search for belonging. This is not only cool, Ariel Stautchel was fantastic in the band's visit. And I love seeing the fact that Lachanze is further becoming even more than she already is, like just one of the most important producers in New York on or off Broadway. So this is very cool and looking forward to hearing all about that. All right, Grace, we're running short on time. So real quick, tell me about the coolest thing, the most fun thing that happened at the red carpet at the Music Box Theater on Tuesday.
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Yeah. So speaking of Glengarry Glen Ross, I think Bill Burr and I Had the funniest, best conversation on the carpet. I got to chat with him and his wife. So Bill Burr and his wife, Nia Hill, if you aren't familiar, she is so fabulous. She's really, really great. Her. I think she comes from a long lineage of understanding comedy, et cetera. Coming from the Apollo Theater, her family is. I mean, the reason exists, but it's, it's so cool to, like, have chatted with somebody that I've known tangentially for obviously many years. But, like, it was, it was really fun to see him on the carpet. There were so many people like Robert Klein that I got to talk to. He was telling me about his 2 cent residual check this week. There was just a lot of really fun, funny people at this opening. Paul Rudd was there. I'm sure you all are seeing the great social coverage, but it was just really, it was honestly one of the best Broadway opening nights I'd been a part of in a Hot Minute, just because it was so well run by Polk, the press team, but also because everybody that attended was just excited to be at the show and a lot of them knew the piece. And I got to talk to Victor Garber, who had done the play many years ago. So that was just really special. It was a really good night.
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Awesome. Love that. And hopefully we'll see some of your red carpet stuff across social media here very soon. 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 broadwayrading. Want more Broadway radio? Head over to patreon.com broadwayradio Grace. Where can people find you?
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You can find me at Grace Aki.
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All right, everybody, have a wonderful Thursday. We'll be back to talk to you tomorrow.