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Today on Broadway: Tuesday, March 11, 2025
00:14:53
Jean Smart to Open One-Woman Show on Broadway This Summer, MTC Announces Fall Broadway Show, ‘Queen of Versailles’ to Open in Fall Since 2016, “Today on Broadway” has been the first and only daily podcast recapping the top theatre headlines every Monda...
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- [00:00]
Brad
When the Moore family ditched cable Internet and switched to Zigly Fiber, they got so much more. Mr. Moore got more upload speed for next level gaming and livestreaming to the masses with reliable service. Mrs. Moore is no longer her family's IT guru, leaving her more time to stream games into overtime.
- [00:15]
Grace Ake
Let's go.
- [00:16]
Brad
And young Mason Moore got more done quickly uploading HD product demos and video conferencing without FreeSync.
- [00:22]
Grace Ake
The numbers look good, Brad. You're on mute.
- [00:24]
Brad
Switch from cable Internet to ziply Fiber and get more of what you love for $65 less per month than cable@ziply.
- [00:30]
Matt Tammini
Fiverr.Com welcome to Today on Broadway for Tuesday, March 11, 2025. I'm Broadway Radio's Matt Tammini and I'm.
- [00:37]
Grace Ake
Tell me on a Sunday podcast, Grace Ake.
- [00:39]
Matt Tammini
Grace, you are going to be, I mean, not following in my footsteps, but you're going to be following a similar path that I had last month, I guess. Yeah, last month. And you are going to be heading out to London later this week. Are you able to discuss what you are seeing while you are in London?
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Grace Ake
Nothing's confirmed yet, so I don't, I don't want to speak until it's done, but I'm very, very excited to head over there and see a bunch of different things.
- [01:07]
Matt Tammini
Very good. All right, well, we'll have to get your thoughts on everything when you are back from the other side of the pond. We'll be looking forward to that tremendously. But fortunately today we've got a lot of news to talk about, Grace, and some of it is extremely exciting. In fact, it's like there's, there's very little filler news. It is mostly really big news that all got released on Monday. And let's start over at Studio 54. We already talked last week about all of the shows that Roundabout is going to be bringing in. They're going to be doing Rocky Horror, all of that stuff at 54. But before that, starting in May, we are going to have a new play coming into that venue and it will star the iconic star of stage and mostly screen, Gene Smart. This is one that has been in the works for a while. They've been doing workshops and presentations for it for a number of years. It is a one woman play called Call Me Izzy. It is written by Jamie Wax and it is directed by Sarna Lapine. It will play for 12 weeks, beginning performances on May 24, and is currently scheduled to run through August 17. This will be Smart's return to Broadway for the first time in 25 years for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for the man who Came To Dinner. The show is described thusly, quote, it is a dark comedic story about one woman in rural Louisiana who has a secret that is both her greatest G and her only way out. It is a moving tour de force portrait of a woman who resists being silenced by embracing her tenacity, humor and fiery imagination. Obviously, Jean Smart is known for playing incredibly strong characters, so there was obviously threads of Designing Women and Hacks in there as well. But I imagine Grace, as a Southern woman, as you are seeing her go back to those Designing Women roots and place someone from a rural Southern small town. That's gotta be nice.
- [02:57]
Grace Ake
I've loved her since I was a kid because of Designing Women. So this was very exciting to hear about. I love one person plays, obviously, and I love Jean. So this is a match made in heaven. I cannot wait to see this at 54. It's going to be excellent. And I think this is super Smart. So good for her.
- [03:13]
Matt Tammini
Jean Smart. Yeah, very well done. When we talked about the fact that it was kind of announced at a random time in a random way that Wonderful World was going to close at 54 at Studio 54, we thought, well, you know, there are some timing things that might have to do with why this announcement is coming now. It might have to do with schedules and producers and all this stuff, but it also might be because Roundabout has something that they want to put in that theater over the summer specifically. And I do wonder if the timing of this has to do with her Hacks schedule. Now keep in mind that this is going into the Roundabout theater owned Studio 54, but it is not a Roundabout show. This is a commercial rental of that venue. But obviously that certainly plays into a lot of the schedules that Roundabout had before and after it. All right, another show we found out that is coming to Broadway yesterday comes to us from the uk. It is actually currently playing at the Young Vic in London, Grace. So if you're putting your schedule together, maybe you can check out this new play called Punch. It is written by James Graham, who is a Broadway regular last seen on Broadway with Ink. That show was produced on Broadway by the Manhattan Theater Club. This one will be as well. And it is based on a memoir by Jacob Dunn called Right from Wrong. It is being directed by Adam Penford, who is the director of One Man, Two Governors. And it traces the true story of Dunn's journey in restorative justice after one impulsive punch led to Fatal Consequences. After spending more than a year in prison, he connected with the victim's parents, sparking a profound transformation. This show premiered last year at the Nottingham Playhouse and, as I said, is currently running at the Young Vic in London. Penford directed it over there and is directing it here. No casting has been announced for this show or anything, but we do know that it will be coming to Broadway this fall. We don't exactly know the specific dates, but we will get that information soon, I assume. Manhattan Theater Club also announced a new Off Broadway show called the Monsters. It will be written and directed by Ngozi and Yanwu, who has done some of the best Off Broadway shows in recent memory, including Good Grief. This will play Off Broadway at the New York City center in the winter of 2026. And then, Grace, another show that we had long known was coming to Broadway, it made its announcement. We knew it was coming, we just didn't know where or exactly when. But the Queen of Versailles will be opening up on Broadway at the St. James Theater this fall. We had originally heard that it was going to be going into the Palace Theater. Obviously, that is not going to happen because we had the announcement of the Lost Boys that will be taking over that venue. So instead we have the Queen of versailles at the St. James Theater. It will begin performances on October 8th, 8th. With an opening on November 10th, of course, stars Kristin Chenoweth and F. Murray Abraham. We don't know any of the other people that are going to be involved with this production on Broadway, although I would imagine that the vast majority of folks that did it out of town in Boston will be joining this production. It features a book by Lindsey Ferrantino and a score by Stephen Schwartz. Obviously, Chenoweth worked with Schwartz famously on Wicked. Michael Arden is directing. So obviously Grace, this is one that a lot of people saw in Boston. But you didn't. I didn't. But with the people that are on stage with this, the people that are off stage with this one, and a lot of the people that we assume will be a part of it when the entire cast is announced. This is a dynamite group of creative people. And I'm interested the fact that it's coming in the fall because we often think of like, the big best musical contenders are going to be spring releases. But I almost feel like they're planting a flag and being like, this is our season. If you want to beat us for some of these awards or for the box office, you're going to have to deal with the fact that we are already out and going to establish as early as humanly possible.
- [07:06]
Grace Ake
I think this is great. Like the fact that we, we had the, the announcement of Sunset Boulevard and like the wrapping up of this like kind of exciting production and then giving that a beat so that there is, you know, excitement around those ticket sales and all those things and then giving some allowances. Because the worst thing to me is like whenever there's like the announcement of like, hey, this is ending on a really good note. Like it's not like premature or anything. It actually extended a week and then we've got this announcement of the next show coming in. It's so nice to know what's ahead and there's no need for a rumor mill. This is the right way to do it. So I'm very excited about the show. I've been a fan about this documentary for years. My mom and I have been obsessed with her. I'm really pumped to see whatever the hell is happening with it and what the story that they are telling because there are so many different stories and narratives that happen within that documentary about like the housing crisis in America, about like classism, about the relationship dynamics between the husband and wife. There's so much at play that I'm curious to see, like what all they are pulling because there's only so many stories that you can tell in one musical, which I'm very excited to see.
- [08:12]
Matt Tammini
And the house, like the Versailles they were building in the documentary is only about 45 minutes from where I live. So I feel like I'm going to have to go and check it out before I see the show this fall. So. Looking forward to that. All right. Moving from Broadway to off Broadway, we now know who is going to be the new crazy kooky character leading Titanique off Broadway because we found out that Amber Ardellino is going to be taking over the role of Celine Dion beginning in just a week and a half on March 21. Dee Racioli, one of the longest tenured Elphabas in the history of Wicked Dots musical will end her run on March 16. Ardellino most recently was seen on Broadway in Trisha Paytas one night only show and before that really kind of had her big principal debut in a Broadway musical as Marcia Murphy in a beautiful Noise. She will be joining a cast that is just absolutely stacked with Cassidy Pope as Rose, Max Jenkins as Jack, Leah Delaria as Ruth, Andrew Keenan Bolger as Victor Garber, Lisa Howard as Molly Brown, Callum Francis as Cal and Kyle Remar Freeman as the the iceberg. They continue to do great casting over there. Amber Ardelino. As you know, Grace has a huge social media following and while she might not have the belting bonafides of Dee Racioli or Jackie Burns who have played this role before, she certainly will bring a lot of excitement for a demographic that I think would probably really, really like Titanic if they didn't know it already.
- [09:44]
Grace Ake
Yeah, they continue to be smart. They continue to push it and get those young people in. I love whole casting process for this show. I think it's just been like one hit after the other. Similar to like how we talk about Little Shop where I'm like, I wouldn't have thought of that. Love this. So I think this is really fun and I'm very curious to see her Celine Dion. I'm very, very pumped.
- [10:09]
Matt Tammini
Yeah, absolutely. All right. Yesterday we found out about two new Broadway shows that are going to be making tickets accessible at much lower prices. The first we'll talk about was announced early in the morning and that was Boop the Musical, which has changed its name. I noticed it used to Boop the Betty Boop Musical and now it's just Boop the Musical. I think they've always changed. They've also changed how they are capitalizing Boop, but that's another thing here or there. Anyway, as performances begin on March 11, which is today, Digital Rush for the show will be available via Telecharge and you can sign up for Rush tickets. You can get two of them. They will be $45 a piece, but there are also other options available in addition to the Digital Rush. The first one will be an in person Rush but beginning at 10am over at the Broadhurst Theater and 12 noon p.m. on Sundays beginning on April 13 after opening, anyone who shows up can purchase tickets for $40 each and for theater goers under 30 years old, you can get tickets for $30. So very cool that Boop is making tickets available at $30, $40, $45 in a variety of different ways that not only can benefit people who are able to be there in person, but also awesome. The other show that announced some ticket initiatives is Good Night and Good Luck. They will be starting a digital lottery. It'll run one day before the performance and winners will be announced both at 10am and 3pm the day before the show. You can buy up to two tickets for $49 apiece. Rush tickets will also be available at the box office on the day of the performance for $49 each. Again, you can get two tickets per person and there will Also be standing room tickets that'll be available based whether or not the show is a sellout or not. Those tickets will be $69 a piece. All right, Grace, we have some videos that I want to talk about here that are some recommendations. Apparently the TV show Night Court tonight on NBC Tuesday night is going to be having an all musical episode. It is titled A Little Night Court Music and we've got a couple videos. It looks like a bunch of the theater sites got their own exclusive videos. The first one that Playbill has is called A Boy from the that is being sung by John Larroquette. And then Melissa Rauch, who plays the judge on the show. She has a song called All Rise. Your boy Richard Kind is going to be appearing in this episode. He is apparently a regular guest star on that show. So this is fun. You seem like a John Larroquette kind of gal, Grace.
- [12:48]
Grace Ake
Oh, I absolutely am. How did you know? I also just enjoy like the conceit of Night Court. It's funny to me as a person who grew up in court. So I. And I've had friends that have had to be attorneys on behalf of the state at Night Court. So the shenanigans are very funny to me. But when I saw this promo, I forget what I was watching this weekend, but maybe it was snl, but I, I saw this promo for the musical episode and I said, have we talked about this? So I'm glad that you mentioned I.
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Matt Tammini
Didn'T know anything about it until. Until I saw these videos. So that is very fun. All right, Grace, a couple more things. This one I know you will love. We have a new little clip from Smash, or not even a clip.
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Brad
It's a.
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Matt Tammini
It's a recording studio video of the song Don't Forget Me in which both Robin Herder and Caroline Bowman sing in this one. This is very fun. Love seeing all of this content that they're putting out ahead of tonight's first preview. And then the other one is a music video for the song Make It Work from the new Broadway musical Real Women have Curves. Performances for that one began in just a few weeks on April 1st. So it's that time of year, Grace. Lots of content, lots of videos, lots of things to help us get excited about new shows that are going to be taking to the stage in the next few weeks. All right, that's all that we have for today. Thanks for listening to Today on Broadway. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at Broadway Radio. You can follow me on Instagram @bww. Matt Grace. Where can people find you?
- [14:10]
Grace Ake
You can find me at. It's Grace Hockey.
- [14:12]
Matt Tammini
All right, everybody, have a wonderful Tuesday. We'll be back to talk to you tomorrow.
- [14:23]
Brad
When the Moore family ditched cable Internet and switched to Zigly Fiber, they got so much more. Mr. Moore got more upload speed for next level gaming and livestreaming to the masses. With reliable service, Mrs. Moore is no longer her family's IT guru, leaving her more time to stream games into overtime.
- [14:38]
Grace Ake
Let's go.
- [14:39]
Brad
And young Mason Moore got more done quickly uploading HD product demos and video conferencing. Without freesight, the numbers look good.
- [14:46]
Grace Ake
Brad, you're on mute.
- [14:47]
Brad
Switch from cable Internet to Ziply Fiber and get more of what you love for $65 less per month than cable@ziplyfiber.com.