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Today on Broadway: Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025
00:21:01
Trump Is Reinventing National Arts Orgs, Cruz Joins ‘Merrily’ Movie, Warren and Jonas in ‘L5Y’ Music Video 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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- [00:02]
A
Welcome to Today on Broadway for Wednesday, February 12, 2025 on Broadway Radio's Matt.
- [00:06]
B
T. And I'm tell me on the Sunday podcast, Grace Hockey.
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A
Grace, I don't even want to banter because we've got to start with, like, stuff and, like, news, news that we have to get into. Earlier this week, I talked about the fact that Trump is trying to recreate the American artistic frontier in his name, image and likeness. Well, we have additional news on both of those fronts coming to us on Tuesday. It first started with the fact that the President of the United States has named Rick Grinnell as the interim executive director for the Kennedy Center. Keep in mind that there is no executive director position for the Kennedy center. So we're not exactly sure what that means. Deborah Rutter is the president of the Kennedy Center. She had announced in January that she plans to step down at the end of this because this year's programming has already been put in place and they are working through it. So she's planning to step down as president at the end of this year. We don't exactly know what the executive director position is, but Rick Grinnell is the former US Ambassador to Germany during Trump's first term. He was also the acting Director of National Intelligence for Trump's first term. He is currently serving as a special envoy for special missions during the current administration. But in a social media post, Trump said, quote, I am pleased to announce that Rick Grinnell will serve as the interim director of the Kennedy Center. Rick shares my vision, which he capitalized for no discernible reason, for a golden age, which he screamed in all caps, of American arts and culture and will be overseeing the daily operation of the center. And the rest of this is screaming in all caps. No more drag shows or other anti American propaganda. Only the best. Rick. What? Welcome to show business. That's what he said. That's what he said. Again, he's kind of just going willy nilly with this. There has not been any official moves to make some of these changes. However, the Kennedy Center's website has now removed all of the trustee members who had been appointed by the Biden administration. And also no longer on the website was the Kennedy Center's chairman. That is David Rubenstein, who is a philanthropist. This is the position that Trump has said he would be moving to appoint himself into. Rubenstein is now listed amongst the Chairman Emeriti for the center. And over the weekend, apparently, Trump defended his plans to reinvent the Kennedy center by saying, I want to make sure it runs properly. Grace, you heard this in real time. I knew you hadn't heard this news today, so you reacted when I read his statement. What are, what are your thoughts here?
- [02:53]
B
You know, famously, like on the, on this show, we, you know, we strive to obviously, obviously offer like, a bipartisan conversation around the arts and whatnot. And I think that even with all of that to be true, like, we always want to hope that the arts, specifically in live entertainment, are constantly a welcoming and open door to any and all art that does not harm others. And I just hope that whatever might come out of any reassignments of any jobs at all, which, God forbid, but at especially things like institutions that are so beloved, like the Kennedy center, that we are not turning away any type of progressive, quote, unquote, art. That statement sounded like it was. But I obviously, you know, me, like, I'm always going to try to see, like a sunny side of, you know, here's. There's something, there's something. There's something. There's hope. So, yeah, I just, it's just really alarming this early in, into an administration to care about this. But, you know, I don't know, I just, we got to take it day by day. But I'm just, I'm more so focused on, like, the regional houses and the independent theaters and all of that that people are continuing to, to do the art that they desire and that those communities deserve.
- [04:12]
A
Well, unfortunately, our next story applies directly to that and not much better, Grace, because yesterday the National Endowment for the Arts posted new guidelines for its grant program for 2026 projects because all the 2025 projects have already had their grants allocated. But under these new guidelines, anybody who applies for an NEA grant needs to, quote, ensure that they are, quote, compliant with all legal, regulatory and policy requirements applicable to your award. This includes any executive order that Trump signs. Specifically, there is a legal note posted on the NEA website which says that people applying for grants should not be operating, quote, any programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion DEI that violate any applicable federal anti discrimination laws in accordance with executive order number 14173. And additionally, the applicants cannot be promoting, quote, gender ideology pursuant to executive order number 14168, defending women from gender ideology, extremism and restoring biological truth to the federal government. These were both signed on Trump's first day in office. And yeah, I mean, I spoke earlier this week of the fact that the Challenge America grants from the NEA have a completely new set of criteria. Generally, those grants are specifically designed to allow arts organizations to reach communities that have been underserved by the arts. That is in many cases geographically underserved just because they're just. They're in more rural areas. There aren't arts organizations from big cities in that area, but also underrepresented communities when it comes to ethnicity, economic status and or disability. That has been completely changed. And the new general grant rules for the nea, as I mentioned the other day, says that the arts projects that are going to be funded need to focus in some way or another on the 250th anniversary of the United States signing the Declaration of Independence. So it's bad, Grace. This is all bad. The NEA funds or at least helps fund so many different arts organizations. Not just theater, obviously, but so many different arts organizations around the country. As you were just talking about those regional theaters, the regional arts orgs that do so much in terms of not only providing art entertainment, but also art education. And unfortunately, it seems like not only are we going to have a Kennedy Center Honors, that's like Ted Nugent, Roseanne Barr, Scott Baio and Kevin Sorbo, but it also is probably going to be even more hard hit in places around the country. They're going to lose arts opportunities, arts education, and the economic impact that arts organizations bring to different cities, towns, villages, communities around the country.
- [07:19]
B
Yeah, I got nothing here. It's just. It just feels bleak. I. I'm just holding out hope. Listen, I, as a person who also applies for things like this and, and all that good stuff, like separately, you know, I'm. I hope that we can all just like, keep moving on, but at the same time, like, these are very real things. We're just going to keep monitoring them and keep reporting on them as they come. But. Yeah, doesn't feel good. I think this is, this is the moment where Grace always says, please support artists if you have the means and funds and also, especially if you've got.
- [07:56]
A
A lot of funds.
- [07:57]
B
Yeah, especially. You know what I mean? And like, even if you don't live in New York City, like, you might, you might live in a city and that city might have a nonprofit or community theater. And if this is, if this isn't forcing you to go to it, I don't know what is.
- [08:11]
A
Doing a complete 1:80. Grace, what was the weather like over the weekend in and around in New York City? I heard there was a lot of snow.
- [08:17]
B
Cold, disgusting. Wet, slushy. Disgusting.
- [08:21]
A
Okay, that plays into the fact that last week's Broadway grosses were down a smidge. Also, it should be noted that they were down two shows on Broadway last week with the closing of Cult of Love and left on 10th and these grosses were impacted by the final week of Broadway week. So keep all of that in mind. Weather closing of two shows Broadway week two for one tickets but in total, Broadway had 27 shows running and they brought in just over $28 million at 28,135,565 bucks. That was down 10% from the previous week, but they were down 7% shows. Actually, attendance, despite a 10% drop in gross, was only down 4% to come in at 247,887 people. That is of course helped by Broadway week. The average ticket price dropped almost $7 to $113.50. Wicked, of course, was the show on top of the heap at $2,324,693. But there was a huge gap between it and the second place Lion King. It was actually $722,210 between first and second place. Lion King came in at 1.6, Gypsy was at 1.56, Hamilton was at 1.53 and Sunset Boulevard was at 1.3. The rest of the shows north of seven figures in descending order are Death Becomes her, the Outsiders, mj, All In, Hell's Kitchen, Aladdin, Cabaret, the Great Gatsby, and Romeo and Juliet. I will note that Redwood did seven previews last week and came in at 856,603 bucks. So just on the cusp of if it had played a full eight show week, that it would have grossed just about $979,000. And I believe Adena was out for one of the shows last week. Again, I was on a cruise ship so I didn't get of the news. But with her out, that is still a pretty good number for that show. So hopefully when that show opens later this week, it will have positive things to talk about. But Broadway Week in general, Grace did help some shows fill seats as 24 of the 27 shows on Broadway played to 90% capacity or more. Wicked and All in were at 100%. The Outsiders was at 100.5. And Romeo and Juliet again continues to lead the pack over at Circle in the Square Theater at 103.37% capacity. All right, Grace, this one is one of those fun things that we're going to be able to talk about here on Today on Broadway for like another 18 years. Because yesterday Deadline exclusively reported that the Richard Linkletter directed film adaptation of Merrily We Roll along has found its Gussie. And that is Hannah Cruz, who starred Grace. And I think I can speak for you when I say that she starred in our collective favorite show that we've ever seen together, the Connector. Right. That's our favorite show we've ever seen together, isn't it?
- [11:21]
B
Meh. We did see it. And Hannah Cruise, incredible, incredible performer. Love her voice.
- [11:30]
A
Me too. Yes, Love her. Did not love the Connector, but she was also great in did we see Only Gold together or. No, I think we both liked it.
- [11:39]
B
We just. No, we didn't see it together, but we both loved it.
- [11:43]
A
We both loved it. And of course she was great in Suffs. She did the Hamilton tour. But she has been cast as Gussie and that means she will join Paul Mescal as Franklin Shepard, Ben Platt as Charlie Kringas, and Beanie Feldstein as Mary. Mallory Bechtel has also been cast, but it is still being defined as an undisclosed role. She's Beth, right? She's gotta be Beth. But as this show plays out over 20 year period, Richard Linkletter, who has been known for filming things over many, many years, including boyhood, which took 12 years, is filming it over the same amount of time. So another 15 or so years, I guess, for us to be talking about Hannah, Ben, Paul, Beanie and Mallory and we'll go from there. But I am very excited about about this one. All right, we've got a bunch of off Broadway news grades. I'm going to run through this fairly quickly. But there's some pretty exciting stuff coming up this spring. And let's start off with the Keen Company's production of Adam Gwan's new world premiere musical, all the World's a Stage. It'll run from March 25 through May 10. And it will star Eliza Pagel, John Michael Reese from A Strange Loop, Matt Roden from the company tour, and the one of the great underappreciated singing actresses of our time, Elizabeth Stanley. She is always fantastic. The musical follows a small town math teacher coaching a misfit student for the 1996 state thespian convention, whose carefully compartmentalized life starts to fray thanks to a devout school secretary sticking off Broadway with new musicals. This one sounds ridiculous in all of the right ways. But the new musical from the new group, the Last Bimbo of the Apocalypse, which was written by the great Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley, has found its cast. And it includes the original Matilda on Broadway, Millie Shapiro, Natalie Walker, who is one of the funniest people and One of the most talented people working off Broadway, Carrie Renee Fuller from six and Sarah Gettlefinger. Most recently seen in Water for Elephants on Broadway along with Luke Islam and Patrick Nathan Falk. The show follows a group of Gen Z sleuths looking for information on an early 2000s one hit wonder who mysteriously vanished. Really looking forward to that. That's a great. That's a really interesting group there, Grace. With Millie Shapiro, Natalie Walker, Carrie Renee Fuller and Sarah Gettlefinger. I think hijinks could be had with that cast.
- [14:17]
B
Oh, it's a stellar cast. And I also want to back up to say on the other front, um, I love Matt Rodin. He is such an incredible performer. He's a great mind. If you don't already follow him, you should. He has a lot of great insight. He's doing a lot of content right now just like about his work in the industry and just like over and just in general, everything he's got in his brain is fabulous. So if you have the opportunity to see Matt in anything, you should go. But yeah, these are both fantastic casts. I love. I loved all the Off Broadway news today, frankly.
- [14:46]
A
All right, we will stick off Broadway and this is exciting on, on a lot of levels. There is a new downtown venue called East Village Basement which is going to be a space where you can have not only productions but readings, showcases, rehearsals, events. Well, they have announced a new production of a show by Ken Urban called Danger and Opportunity that will run from March 27 through April 17. It follows a married gay couple who are in a rut when Margaret, one of the married gay couple members high school girlfriend, gets in touch 20 years. The cast includes Drama Desk winner Juan Castano, Julia Chan who has been a guest here on Broadway radio, and Ryan Spahn. And it is directed by Jack Syrio who has been one of the best directors working off Broadway in terms of these really intimate spaces. He directed the Uncle Vanya in the loft a couple seasons ago that Julia was a member of. So I think this is going to be very exciting and a very intimate space. So looking forward to this one as well. And then sending you over to television. The new documentary Liza A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story will premiere on PBS on April 1st as part of the American Masters series. As always, check your local listings. Of course, it follows the life of Liza Minnelli. It opened in New York and Los Angeles during the final week of January and it is playing select cities around the country. It has so many, so much great footage and interviews and all of those types of things. That you will want to see. So, Liza, a truly terrific, absolutely true story on PBS this spring and then three recommendations. First, Adam Lambert saying I don't care much on the Tonight show with Jimmy Fallon. Amazing. We have a little bit of a Highlight, a minute, 22nd highlight from urinetown with Stephanie Stiles and Jordan Fisher singing follow your heart. And then we have like a music video that was shot out in Brooklyn with a very famous carousel for the last five years where Adrienne Warren sings Goodbye until tomorrow and Nick Jonas sings I could never rescue you. I love this show, Grace. I love Adrienne Warren, but everything they send out makes me less confident that this is going to work. I actually didn't think Nick sounded bad, as, you know, bad. I, I didn't like the last videos they put out. I. I think he sounded fine in this. And I love Adrian, but my thing with her is, is that she's in her late 30s. She's supposed to be in her early 20s. And her voice just always sounds so rich and mature. It sounds so. Her voice just sounds so infused with weight and somberness that like, I miss the. I miss the youthful energy that Kathy is supposed to have in this song. So I hope I'm wrong and I hope that Whitney White, who is a fantastic director, can make this work. But in terms of like, the music that they put out, I just don't. It sounds good, but I don't know that it is right. Does that make sense or am I off base here?
- [18:07]
B
No, I understand. I think, you know, I don't think that Sherri Renee Scott sounded, quote, young. You know what I mean? Like, I, I think that the. What's interesting about this whole campaign thus far is that it's been very heavy and like very sappy. Like, for lack of a better term. And I don't mean that derogatory. I just mean that like, it's been very like satin and like lush and luxury luxurious and like, I think it's my interpretation of the album is that I see so much joy and like love and excitement and funny and humor in it that I'm interested in the choice of it being like very like high stakes, serious drama of a lot of this. Like, even the tone is like blue and dark and like rich and heavy. And I'm just like. So it's a, it's a take. Like, I know that there are, there's a breakup spoiler in the show, but I think that it's just their choosing of it to be that kind of, like, to your point, kind of dramatic. Something is. Is the choice they're making with this production. So I'm curious to see if the production also features, to me, the incredible humor of the piece.
- [19:26]
A
Yeah, to your point. Sherwin Ascot was, I believe, 35 when she did the last five years off Broadway. Adrian Warren is 37 now, so she was essentially the same age, but it's less, to me about age. It's more just, you know, the sound. And I think exactly the way you described the visual tone, the. The. The dark, the depth, the richness is like what I hear in Adrian's voice, which just makes it so different from what Sherry did, from what Betsy did, from what Anna did in those part. That part where it was a little bit more vibrant. I don't know. I. I hope I'm wrong, because I love this show, and I really would love for this to be a great production. I'm gonna enjoy it either way, because anytime I can hear Adrian saying, I'm gonna be happy, but I'm just not sure about this one. 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 at Broadway Reading and follow me on Instagram @bww mattgrace. Where can people find you?
- [20:20]
B
You can find me at Graceaki.
- [20:22]
A
All right, everybody, have a wonderful Wednesday. We'll be back to talk to you. I have been waiting I have been waiting for you I will keep waiting I will be waiting for.