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Today on Broadway: Tuesday, April 8, 2025
00:19:33
‘The Last Five Years’ Reviews, ‘Ragtime’ Reportedly Set for Fall on Broadway, Matt’s ‘BOOP!’ Mini-Review 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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Matt Tamanini
Welcome to Today on Broadway for Tuesday, April 8, 2025 on Broadway radio's Matt.
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Grace Aki
Tamminini and I'm Tell Me on a Sunday podcast.
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Matt Tamanini
Grace Ake Grace, the schedule is so weird, so we are going to talk about the last five Years reviews. The Last five Years opened on Sunday, but because it was late and I was traveling, I gave you my thoughts on the show because it was going up after the embargo was released. But we will talk about all of the reviews on today's episode. On tomorrow's episode, we're going to talk about the reviews for boop. Boop opened on Saturday, but the reviews were embargoed for Monday at 9pm so it's just kind of a mess with all of these different shows and their schedules and when's their opening, when's the embargo and all of that stuff. So it is a little bit complicated. We do have, as we talked about on yesterday's show, even more things happening throughout the week. Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends opens on Tuesday, so we've got to kind of play with that as well. And we'll figure out the way to get you the reviews as quickly as possible, whether they are all in the same same episode or if we do a standalone episode or we we wait on things. But with these weird reviews. It used to be pretty consistent that reviews would come out at like 9 o'clock, maybe 10. Now with things being pushed to like 11:30 and midnight and even days later, it's a little complicated. But we are doing our best to get them to you as quickly as possible. And since the reviews for Boop are coming out at 9:00 on Monday night, I am going to delay the release of this episode in Patreon until 9:00 so that I can get my thoughts on the show in at the end of this episode. So if you want to hear what I thought about boop, listen to the whole show and we will wrap up with that. But as I said, we're going to talk about the last five years reviews. But if you didn't see it in the feeds over the weekend, I actually had an interview about a different production of the Last Five Years happening in Shelton, Connecticut starring a real life married couple, Alex and Dale. So if you are interested in that and hearing how they were able to incorporate the their actual wedding footage and videos and then additional things that they shot for the show, head over to that episode, check it out and if you are in Connecticut or in the city and want to see a not terrible production of the Last five Years, head over to Center Stage Theater in Shelton, Connecticut. But that brings us, Grace, to the Last five years on Broadway and those reviews. As I said yesterday's I did talk about my thoughts, so I'm not going to belabor what I thought about the show other than to say that I was angry as I left the Hudson Theater and it was a complete missed opportunity for a show that I that I adore. And unfortunately many of the other critics agreed with me. Grace, I know you have not seen it yet, so you can't comment on your thoughts about the show, but we're gonna run through these reviews fairly quickly because it does feel a little bit like beating a dead horse. But as a reminder, this show is the first time that the Last five Years has ever appeared on Broadway despite being a staple in the musical theater canon for a quarter cent century. It was written by Jason Robert Brown and this production is directed by Whitney White. It stars two people, Tony winner Adrian Warren and pop star Nick Jonas. And as of recording time, the review aggregator site Did They like it? Has collected 16 reviews. One was positive, 10 were mixed and five were negative. Again, not going to dive too far into these, but we will start with Jesse Green of the New York Times, who was mixed, he said. But in the show's first Broadway incarnation, starring the resplendent Adrian Warren and the underpowered Nick Jonas, the structure, along with the balance, has been compromised. The production, which opened on Sunday at the Hudson Theater, muddies the show's temporal ironies and flattens its emotional topography, its meaning, and thus its impact are short circuited. I will give you the one positive review as well. That comes from Adrian Horton of the Guardian, who said, quote, in a season of overhyped shows, the evident sincerity, the effort, the fervent belief in character, and Warren's occasional transcendence feels refreshing. Matt Wenman of AM New York was negative, however, saying, quote, unfortunately, this long awaited debut is a frustrating misfire, overproduced, emotionally hollow, and fundamentally at odds with the delicate intimacy that makes the musical so beloved. Heading over to Adam Feldman of Timeout New York, who was also negative, he said, quote the problem is not that Jonas can't sing the part, though he doesn't sing it especially well. He's fine in his middle range, but wobbly at the bottom and strained at the top. It's that the Persona he has crafted over time and the performance habits that go with it, the ingratiating moves, mild pop riffs, and bouncy strut of a cute, athletic, slightly cocky, but basically nice all American boy next door are at a polar distance from what he has asked to play in the last five years. And then all since I've already told you the one positive reviews, I'll wrap up with Shayna Russell, writing for Entertainment Weekly, who was mixed, saying, quote the musical gives its performers center stage with nothing to hide behind and plenty of spotlight to fill both stars rise to the occasion. I had my my basic thoughts. As I said in yesterday's episode, I will go a little bit further in detail and talk about why I thought there was a general lack of coherence and internal logic in this show. In the Travelogue episode that will come out later this week, It'll it'll probably be Wednesday because I want to wait to make sure that I am able to talk about all of the shows that I saw. And with Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends opening on on Tuesday night, I will probably save that for Wednesday, but I'll go deeper into that later this week. All right, Grace, let's talk about the Olivier Awards, which happened on Sunday night as well. You and I both had the opportunity to see at least one or two of these shows that were nominated, and there's a lot of great stuff in here and from what I understand, a fairly decent amount of shows that are either going to transfer, some of them we know for sure, and some other ones that very well might be looking to transfer. Let's start with the best New play, and that went to Giant, which is about Roald Dahl. That one I've heard is very much looking to transfer Best New Musical Grace, I'm so excited that Ashley Hufford and I bullied you into seeing the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, because that did win Best New Musical. Unfortunately, as of now, I have no idea about if that is hoping to transfer, but I would love to see it or at least get an album for that. Best revival went to Oedipus, which we already know is going to transfer, and Best Musical revival went to the Regents Outdoor production of Fiddler on the Roof, which I also heard is planning on transferring. Grace, about those Four production shows. Giant, Benjamin Button, Oedipus, Fiddler on the Roof. I know obviously you saw Benjamin Button, but anything you've heard about potential transfers for any of those other than Oedipus, which we already know.
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Grace Aki
Yeah, I was gonna say Oedipus. We're aware of. Very excited about that one. I'll probably be working on that one when it comes in the fall. I'm very eager to. To make Benjamin Button happen. Specifically. I feel like Giant could make its way over, but I think that Benjamin Button, if there was like a regional, I'm looking at, like Goodspeed, frankly, because it feels very in the com from away Memphis pipeline. I don't know why, but it just did when I saw it. There just has to be some even La Jolla. Like. I. I don't know what it is, but I would love a US cast to tackle that piece with that creative team that really knocked it out of the park. I think it was just one of the most beautiful productions and adaptations that I've seen in a long time that I think people were very. It was very unexpected. Just how sweet and simple, but also really well done. It was.
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Matt Tamanini
Yeah, absolutely. Some of the performer categories. Best actress went to Leslie Manville for Oedipus. Best actor went to John Lithgow for Giant. Best actor in a supporting role went to Elliot Levy from Giant. And best actress in a supporting role went to Romolo Garai for the years Grace. That's a show that you saw. What do you think that one would do in a potential transfer? Because I know it's a. It's an emotional gut punch.
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Grace Aki
Yeah. I think again, it would be something where there was, you know, a really solid B star, US cast, but also not like. I really. I think the material is really strong. I think that the. The direction was obviously very good, hence the win, you know, But I. I'm curious to see if that one would also make its way over. I think that what we're all seeing in terms of the landscape of plays specifically on Broadway is really tedious. Like, you've got star, star, star, studded, tried and true. Sometimes like limited runs, but also like royalty free plays and virtually royalty free plays. And then you've got, you know, some new works, but also starring a star like Matt. Can you name a single play that is a new work that did not star someone that is known in film and television this year, this season?
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Matt Tamanini
I don't.
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Grace Aki
I mean, I don't think you can.
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Matt Tamanini
Yeah. I mean, like, Eureka Day wouldn't be new and those are English. English, yeah. Well, I mean, I knew. I knew one of the stars, but she wasn't, you know, Tala Ash. But she wasn't a huge star by any chance. But, yeah, I guess you're probably right.
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Grace Aki
It's pretty sparse. It's pretty sparse.
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Matt Tamanini
Purpose would be in there, although there's, like, you know, Latonya Richardson Jackson and Harry Mannix, but, like, you know, not.
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Grace Aki
Huge stars, but Phylicia Rashad was attached. Like, there's always some element of massive star power attached to each one of these pieces. And I'm very curious about the future landscape for the fall and the spring of next year, of next season for plays, specifically because of the conversation we're having right now.
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Matt Tamanini
Yeah. All right, let me run through the rest of these. Best actress in a supporting role in a musical went to Maimouna Maman from Natasha Pierre in the Great Comedy of 1812. Best Actor in a supporting role in a musical went to Leighton Williams for Titanic. Played the iceberg. The iceberg won an Olivier, which is crazy to me. That's awesome. Best actor in a musical went to John Daglish for playing the title role in the Curious Cage of Benjamin Button. And best actress in a musical went to Imelda Staunton, who I think just has, like, I don't know, 37 or so Oliviers at this point. She won for hello Dolly. And speaking of Titanique, it won for best new entertainment or comedy play. If you want to check out the full results from the Oliviers, we will have them in the show notes. Grace, we're talking about what the fall and spring are going to look like. You were speaking specifically about plays, but it looks like we have another show getting ready to premiere this fall on Broadway, and it is a musical. Ragtime, apparently is going to be coming to Lincoln Center Theater. That is, according to Philip Baroff of the Broadway Journal. Philip pretty much never misses. If he has a report, it is pretty much considered as strong as anybody else. He says that previews are scheduled to begin on September 25th with an opening on October 16th. And of course, Lir Debessinet is going to be taking over as the artistic director at Lincoln Center Theater beginning in July. There's no word as of now if the cast from Encores, Joshua Henry, Casey Levy, Brandon Uranowitz, Shana Taub, Colin Donnell, Michelle Lewis, Ben Levi Ross, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, are going to be continuing with this. I would imagine that many of them will be, as we've seen, with a Number of encores to Broadway transfers. Not all of them always do. So I wouldn't be surprised if there are people who have to be swapped out. But that was a pretty starry cast and I would not be surprised if many of them continue. So I think that's interesting. But like, when it comes to that cast, Josh, Casey, Brandon Shayna, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, I mean, do you.
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Grace Aki
I don't know if. I don't know if the production hinges on all of those people being back in those roles. You know what I mean? Because, I mean, look, there's also. I feel like I've talked about it twice. There's a Goodspeed production going on right now. Maybe Paris is playing Mother. There are so many people that I am sure that were also asked to be a part of this City center production. But scheduling and you know how that works. It's like a two week turnaround and then there the cast, you know, so it wouldn't surprise me if there are amendments to that cast list. But I do think it was a pretty stellar cast and a lot of people had really strong, exciting feelings about Josh's performance specifically and some other people. So I think that whatever they do end up with, it's going to be successful because the production is hopefully what people like. Do you know what I mean? It can't always just be. Well, I like so and so in this part. And that's the only reason I like seeing the show, because then you're kind of admitting that the production is no good or not good on its own. So I think that it's an interesting kind of like, debacle of like, you know, would Once Upon a Mattress transferred without Sutton? Probably not, but, you know, attaching.
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Matt Tamanini
They did make other changes.
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Grace Aki
Right, right, right, right. So it just depends. It really depends.
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Matt Tamanini
Yeah, I mean, remember like, we had like three different people who were announced to be playing Sarah in this production. And then things changed. Yeah. Joy Jakina and then eventually Nichelle. So. All right, we're up with a few more things here. Yesterday it was revealed who was going to be participating in the Town Hall Spring Shout, a benefit concert honoring Lin Manuel Miranda. This will be taking place at the town hall on May 19. And the night is going to kind of be going through not just like Lin Manuel's work, but actually the music of the people who were his heroes and influences. They've announced some cast members who have been a part of different Lynn projects throughout the years, from in the Heights to Hamilton to Warriors. Those include Janet Decal Robin DeJesus Mandy Gonzalez Chris Jackson Alex Lacamore, Priscilla Lopez Olga Moretta Alicia Roman Jasmine Cephas Jones Issa Davis Anissa Folds Amber Gray Julia Harriman Sasha Hutchins Giselle Jimenez Kanetta Miller Philippa Soo More will be announced from the Hamilton and Freestyle Love Supreme Worlds as well. So if you are interested in checking this out in just 5ish weeks, 56 weeks, you can purchase tickets at the link in the show notes. This is a benefit concert to support Town Hall's mission to amplify the voices shaping the next century of and conversation. Another event that I think a lot of people in the in and around the theater community will be interested in will happen on Friday and you don't have to be in St. Louis to participate in it. There will be a community celebration and memorial for the late great Ken page happening at 8:30pm Eastern Time, 7:30pm Central Time at the Sheldon Concert hall in Grand center in St. Louis. The Muny is going to live stream the celebration, so if you want to watch that on Friday night we will have the link in the show notes. And then finally, Grace, I know last week you went out to Milburn to take some folks to see Take the Lead at the Paper Mill Playhouse. We have a first look of highlights of this screen to stage adaptation. So if you want to see what that's all about, you can check it out in the show notes. Obviously, as I said, Grace, you were working for the event and bringing influencers out to Paper Mill to check it out. But what were your thoughts or what kind of indication can you give about what this show is going to be like?
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Grace Aki
Listen, I really love anything that takes place in the early 2000s. Like it's very millennial core, especially in New York City. But you know what, I just gotta say, like, I love Tammutu. I have been a tammutu fan since Dr. Zhivago. I saw it several times.
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Matt Tamanini
You were the one.
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Grace Aki
Yeah, every time, every time somebody makes that joke from that cast they say, oh, you were the person in the audience. And I said yes.
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Matt Tamanini
Yeah.
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Grace Aki
And because I just, you know, I love the score and I love, you know, the, the original film. So I was very excited to see it on stage and Paul Alexander Nolan obviously kicked ass. But I love, I love Tam in this show. I think he brings a really great spark and I know a lot of people are talking about Adrian Bailon and the cast of incredible dancers, but I think I specifically want to shout out how much I enjoy Tam in Any role that he does. And I just can't wait to see him either take this further, take the lead or do something else.
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Matt Tamanini
Yeah, speaking of Dr. Zhivago, like, justice for Kelly Barrett, too. Like, she is so good. And yes. And she always seems to end up being in shows that run or don't run very long at all, like Dr. Zhivago, but she's incredibly talented. So both of them. Justice for both of them. Hopefully, she'll get a great role like this one for Tam in the near future, too. Okay, as promised, we're going to talk about my thoughts of Boop the Musical, and I will say this. Had this show opened last season, I firmly believe that Jasmine Amy Rogers would have won the Tony. With all due respect to Malia Joy Moon, that was a season where I feel like Malia won by default. Not only was she aided by the monstrous financial machine campaign behind Hell's Kitchen, but there really weren't a ton of standout performances last season. This year, we obviously all know about the incredible stars and performances that are in the best lead actress in a musical category, and I still think that Jasmine very well could win. I. I continue to believe that Nicole Scherzinger is going to win, but I would probably actually put Jasmine second. She is phenomenal. She's an incredible singer, dancer, actress, comedian, dramatic performer. In fact, she is so good that it almost completely, and I'm assuming in some critics cases, does completely blind you to the fact that this show is awful. The first number of Boop Is pretty spectacular. It's fun. It's a little campy. It's got sarcasm to it. And as I was sitting there in the theater, I was like, oh, this is gonna be. This is fun. Like, if we can do this, this is exactly what I want. And as listeners know, like, I've been rooting for the show for a long time. However, after that first number and a little bit of the first scene after it, it goes downhill pretty quickly. The one other big bright spot in the show is the Act 2 opener, which is, again, a lot of fun. Jerry Mitchell. Des and I feel like this show is a very Jerry Mitchell show. There is a lot of glitter, bright colors and jazz hands and tap dancing thrown at this show that is really just masking what a mess that the show is otherwise. And in most cases, that is not the fault of the performers. There is one performer who I think is at fault. You're gonna have to listen to Patreon for me to talk about that. So check out the Patreon travelogue episode, when that is eventually out, if you want to hear the tea on that. But this really is just another case of the writers not understanding the material that they were working with. There are moments when I think that Bob Martin's script gets it and it's like, oh, this is the vibe that we need for this show. But borrow a term that I mentioned with the last five years. There is no internal logic to this show at all. And musicals don't have to make real world sense, although this one is set in the real world in air quotes. So it would be nice if there was some sort of common sense sense in there. But they have to make sense inside the scope of the show and it just doesn't. Not only that, but it just bungles the characters, rushes things. The music is mostly bland, the lyrics are pretty subpar, and most of the show, aside from Jasmine and some production numbers from Jerry and some set specifics, is pretty generic and forgettable. So I will talk more about this show in my travelogue episode. If you want to hear that, head over to patreon.com broadwayradio broadwayradio.com patreon and sign up at the message an A tier or above. 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. Broadway Radio. You can follow me on Instagram @bww. Matt Grace. Where can people find you?
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Grace Aki
You can find me at. It's Grace Hockey.
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Matt Tamanini
All right, everybody, have a wonderful Tuesday. We'll be back to talk to you tomorrow.