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Today on Broadway: Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025
00:17:50
‘All In’ Sequel Coming to Broadway Next Season, Cynthia Erivo to Lead ‘Superstar’ at Hollywood Bowl, Exciting ‘L5Y’ Standbys Since 2016, “Today on Broadway” has been the first and only daily podcast recapping the top theatre headlines every Monday thro...
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- [00:02]
Matt Tiamineni
Welcome to Today on Broadway for Wednesday, February 19, 2025. I'm Broadway Radio's Matt Tiamineni and I'm.
- [00:08]
Grace Aki
Tell Me on a Sunday podcast. Grace Aki.
- [00:10]
Matt Tiamineni
Grace, you are back home in the New York City, Greater New York City area. I am back in Orlando for the time being. It has been a kind of a crazy travel day for both of us the last couple days. You made it home okay? Did you get any sleep whatsoever at all?
- [00:24]
Grace Aki
Oh, no, absolutely not. There's no way. But I don't care.
- [00:28]
Matt Tiamineni
That's fine. Yeah, gotta love Southwest Airlines. But anyway, let's dive into the news. Grace, we had, I mean, what really feels like a surprise, but also a no brainer because yesterday, for the second day in a row, I might add, we got word that a show produced on Broadway by Seaview has recouped its initial investment on Broadway and that is all in Comedy About Love. It wrapped up, it's run on Broadway on Sunday. But that's not the surprise. The surprise is though, that next season there will be a sequel to that show. It will be all out comedy about life. This one, like the first one, will be produced by Seaview as well as Lorne Michaels and it will feature essays written by Simon Rich. We don't yet know where it'll be or who will be in it, but we do know that it will be directed by Alex Timbers who also did All In Grace. This just seems like one of those things we talk about all the time where it's like, find a hole in the schedule, put something with some stars in it, keep a house running, keep the crew working, keep more people coming to Broadway and give them something whether it's a residency, whether it's something like this, which is kind of like a semi staged reading type thing. But with the success of all in and what I'm assuming All out will be as well, like, I'd be fine if Simon Rich just penned, you know, put another one of these together from his writing, including some new writing every season. Like, I feel like that would work. Find a two month hole in a schedule somewhere and let's do it.
- [02:05]
Grace Aki
Yeah, I think that the more people understand what these shows are, the better everyone is because the people that know and love Simon's work and also all of these comedians, like they were down to clown with that. And I think a lot of people that were expecting like a full staged production, it wasn't that. But that. It's not, it's not that. And I, and I like these little, you know, one off 12 month run shows. I think it's really smart and sustainable and the fact that they were able to recoup is incredible. I want more of them. So I'm very down for this as well. Maybe they'll do that in their new space. Who knows?
- [02:39]
Matt Tiamineni
Maybe. Steve, you has a new off Broadway space taking over a second stages space here very soon. So we will have to wait and see about that. I did not know anything about Simon Rich before the show. Didn't know his name, didn't know anything about him. Obviously I learned a little bit through I guess he worked at Saturday Night Live. I also learned after I saw the show his father was so it makes a little bit of a. Makes a little bit of sense given the connections to theater because his father is the legendary essayist and theater critic Frank Rich. So I did not realize there was that connection. Frank Rich has also gone on to be a very successful producer on television. You might have heard of the shows he's worked on, Veep and Succession. Maybe you're familiar with either of those things. So it definitely makes a lot of sense, especially knowing what I know now. But we got some other very exciting news, Grace. We talked about the fact that there would be a Hollywood star studded concert of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood bowl this summer. Now we know who will be playing that title character and it will be none other than Oscar nominee. Just an Oscar away from an egot. Cynthia Erivo. This is so smart and so good. Cynthia has actually done Jesus Christ Superstar before. She was a part of that 2020 album, Jesus Christ Superstar. She has risen, which everybody in the show was played by women. She had actually played Mary Magdalene though, like the only named female character in the show. I think it was also like Morgan James was Jesus, Shoshana Bean was Judas. She was in there. Cynthia was in there. Let us see Bridget Everett Orfeh, Debbie Gravett. So it'll be interesting to see Grace what they do with the rest of this cast. Will it be all women? Will it be just Cynthia playing Jesus and then everybody else cast as they traditionally are? I don't know, but this is very cool. I think this is a great idea. The show will only play from August 1st through August 3rd. Sergio Trujillo will direct and choreograph and Stephen Aremus will music direct and conduct. So Grace, in your perfect world opposite Cynthia or Rivo, who would you want to see play Judas? And other than Ariana Grande, which is like the perfect easy answer right now.
- [04:54]
Grace Aki
Is that would someone want Ariana to play Judas?
- [04:58]
Matt Tiamineni
Well, I mean, I think like people will say that, yeah, it is crazy, but people will say that for. For wicked reasons. But who, who do you think would be the perfect Judas opposite her?
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Grace Aki
Oh, you know Billy Porter. Billy Porter did it with Stephen Remus. Like, could we. Wasn't. Wasn't he? Wasn't he. I don't know. I feel like there's, there's like a myriad of options that are just not right in front of my face. Like, wasn't there one where Tim Benchin was in a Jesus Christ Superstar?
- [05:30]
Matt Tiamineni
He played Judas? Yeah, he did the arena. Yeah.
- [05:32]
Grace Aki
Why can't we do that again? Like, where's, where's that? I want, I want to see that boot. I don't know. I have strong feelings. Like famously, the NBC live Jesus Christ Superstar lives rent free in my head for obvious reasons. But I don't know, I feel like it's a really good question that I would also love for people to like at us on social media is about because it's probably right in front of our faces and we need to know what the people think.
- [05:55]
Matt Tiamineni
I do know. Well, speaking of the boot of the bootleg Tim mentioned you don't need a boot. They actually filmed it. It's available to stream in multiple places, so you can watch that. But I do know that just on social media I saw that Samantha Pauley is begging to play Judas. She of course has done Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice shows outdoors before because she played Ava in Evita that is now coming to presumably not with her. So I would be good with that. I think she could nail that part, but it will be interesting and I hope that they do go with an all woman principal cast maybe, because I know in the original concert they did that before the she Is Risen Jesus Christ Superstar album. All of the principal parts were played by women except for Mary Magdalene, because Alex Newell played Mary Magdalene. So I think that would be interesting choice if they did something a little bit different with Mary and had all of the other traditionally male parts played by non male actors. So we'll see what happens with this when we get a little bit more casting as the date gets closer. Now, Grace, we've talked about the fact that they are working to bring a musical based off of the life of businesswoman and inventor Joy Mangano. It had had a previous run at the George street Playhouse in 2022 in which Erica Henningsen played the title role, but now it's going to be coming to New York this summer, but instead bet Wolf will be playing Joy. It is going to be playing the Laura Pelz Theater Off Broadway. It is not a Roundabout Theater Company production, even though that is the Roundabout Theater Company's Off Broadway house. But it will be a rental there. It is produced by Ken Davenport, who also wrote the book. Music and lyrics are by Tony nominee and Maria Milazzo. And the show, interestingly enough, will not be directed by the same person that did the original production a couple years ago. At that point it was directed by Casey Hushen and choreographed by Joshua Bergasse. And Joshua is going to continue to do the choreography, but Tony nominated choreographer Lauren Lotaro will now direct the production. The show is going to run off Broadway beginning on June 21st for an eight week run. It'll officially open on July 20th. This is interesting, Grace. Is this something where you think that they are hoping to get some more interest for a Broadway transfer or is this, hey, let's get it up in New York, let's do a cast album and hope for regional things. What's the thought process behind doing the New Jersey tryout, bringing it off Broadway for a short run with a big star like Betsy? What do you think the trajectory of this one might be?
- [08:35]
Grace Aki
Yeah, I think that both things can be true. Like it would make sense to me if they're, you know, choosing to do this off Broadway in hopes of like, you know, maintaining that buzz and excitement in the city to bring it to Broadway. Also it would make sense to do it, to be able to license it, to do at regional houses. It just I that either way you kind of can't lose that momentum because this is really smart. I love Betsy. I love like the premise of this show because I, I'm a big fan of Joy. I have my steamer, I have the little mop. Like I have all of her stuff. Like I'm obsessed with her whole story. I loved the movie adaptation of her story, so I'm excited about this. And Anne Marie Malazo is like, like a wizard when it comes to music. And like if you've heard or listened to any of the social media they've been putting out, I love that they're doing like a deep dive on this, on the behind the scenes features of it all. And famously Ken Davenport really likes to do that. So I think this is really exciting and smart.
- [09:24]
Matt Tiamineni
Yeah. You mentioned the movie which also serves as a background for this musical that was the David O. Russell written and directed film called Joy, which starred Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, Isabella Rossellini, Virginia Madsen, Diane Lane, Edgar Ramirez. Just a great cast. I didn't really care for it, but to each their own. So we will see what happens with this one this summer. Now, Grace, those are all big things. I think the first three stories that we talked about. But the thing that rocked my world the most on Tuesday had nothing to do with who was gonna be starring in shows on or off Broadway, but as to who will be standing by in a show on Broadway. And that is because the upcoming Broadway revival of the Last Five Years completed its cast by announcing its standbys. Standing by for Nick Jonas as Jamie will be Noah Kaiserman. And standing by for Adrienne Warren as Kathy will be one of our favorites, Nasia Thomas. I first became aware of her in, I guess that was 2021 when she did the out of the Box theatric zoom filmed production of the last five years. And she was absolutely phenomenal. She has gone on to do a bunch of other cool things since then. We saw her on Broadway in six in Caroline or Change. And she has just been one of those incredible talents that I just continue to hope to see more and more from. And I voice my concerns about this production for a number of reasons. But, like, I kind of am a little bit more excited about the standbys than I am the actual stars, despite how much I'm looking forward to seeing it with Nick and Adrian on Broadway at some point this spring.
- [11:03]
Grace Aki
Yeah, I think it was funny that so many people today were talking about the standbys. I think that everyone has been excited to see who because we've known the stars power of the two people in this show for a long time. That knowing that there will probably be at least one leave or call out, et cetera, people have been very anxious to see who those standbys are going to be. I love Naysha Thomas. I think that her performance in the last five years virtually with out of the Box was extraordinary. And a lot of people have been sharing that today. So that's been very cool. But, yeah, I think this is really. It's really cool stuff. I've never, I mean, not. Not since the Norma standbys have I been this amped to see some other people go on as well.
- [11:47]
Matt Tiamineni
I think this is really cool with, like, obviously Caroline as the. As, you know, the standby and then Mandy as the alternate, but you throw that in. You throw this in and you throw, you know, some other things we've seen here in the last couple years, like the fact that we are really starting to get into an era. We are Celebrating understudies and standbys and alternates is very cool, especially because it wasn't that long ago when, like, Cameron McIntosh was forbidding people to talk about when they were going on as understudies and stuff like that. So I think the opportunity to really champion these people is. Is special and something that I hope continues moving forward. All right, this is. I haven't seen a press release or anything with this, but I know that John Cardoza posted it on his social media. He has announced his final date as Christian in Moulin Rouge on Broadway. It's still like a little less than two months away, so you have time to check him out over at the Al Hirschfeld Theater if you want to, but he will be playing that role opposite Solea Pfeiffer through April 13th. He does not say if his contract is up or if he's leaving for something else. He says, quote, I look forward to celebrating my time here and welcoming a new actor into this very special role into the coming weeks. I have heard that the person stepping into that role will be having a little bit of a reunion with Soleah, so we will see about that if that actually ends up happening. But Jon has had a really interesting run, you know, going back to back Notebook into Moulin Rouge. And I think this is just the beginning of. Not the beginning, but just another step early in what should be a really, really great career because I've really enjoyed seeing him on Broadway over this past year and then moving off Broadway. Just before we started recording, the New York Theatre Workshop announced some more cast members for the upcoming production of Emma Weinstein's Becoming Eve that is going to begin performances on March 19th. We'd already talked about the fact that Tommy Dorfman was going to star in the tit role, but man, oh, man, the other folks joining this cast are unbelievable. We have Judy Kuhn, Tedra Millan, Rad Pereira, Justin Perkins, the great West Wing star Richard Schiff, Brandon Uranowitz and Emma Wiseman. I mean, that cast is just insane. But this show is based on the memoir by Abby Shaba Stein, is directed by Tyne Raffaelli. It is currently scheduled to run from March 19 through April 27. And I think a lot of people were excited about this based off the talent who wrote it and are directing it. Then you throw Tommy into the mix. But with the rest of this cast, especially Judy and Tedra and Richard and Brandon Grace, this is another must see show from New York Theater Workshop.
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Grace Aki
I mean, when is there not one? I feel like it's always that with us. You know, between them and mcc, we're just kind of like Taylor Swift stands at this point.
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Matt Tiamineni
Yeah. Yeah, that should be very cool. So looking forward to hearing more about that and hopefully getting a chance to check it out this spring. Another thing that we love all the time, Grace, are box office opening promotions. And we found out that coming out on Tuesday, February 25, the official Broadway box office opening for Real Women have Curves will happen at the James Earl Jones Theater and they are going to have a very special event from 10am to noon on that day where a limited number of tickets will be priced at $19.87, which as you might guess is the year in which Real Women have Curves take place. Those will be sold for all preview performances between April 1st through the 26th, except for Saturday evenings. The tickets, of course, will be first come, first serve basis while the supplies last and a limit of two tickets per customer. We always talk about it. We love these events. Get people there, get people talking, get people excited. In addition to the prices, anybody who purchased tickets on that day will be eligible to rece a window card signed by the composer for the show, Joy Huerta, as well as a gift card from not yout Daughter's Jeans available. While supplies last. Attendees will also be treated to live musical entertainment and complimentary breakfast burritos from Los Tacos. Number one, one of the. I mean, I mean, I think that's probably the go to spot in Times Square for tacos. So again, everybody in charge of these activations of these events, Grace, this is one that hopefully has a, a big impact, not only people there, but also to get people excited for the show. And finally, let's wrap it up. I mentioned her earlier in the show. Solea Pfeiffer stopped by Good Day New York to perform the song Firework from Moulin Rouge. If you have not seen Solea in the role or any of the other videos that she has done or the production has released, you will want to check this one out. Again, not my favorite show, but Soleil is so great. Like I still feel like I probably need to see her in this role. So check out the video in the show notes. Anything we missed, Grace, Anything to look forward to.
- [16:45]
Grace Aki
Coming up tonight, I'm actually going to see the Jonathan Larson project downtown, so I can't wait for that to open and finally talk about it. But that's, that's what I've got on the docket this week. I'm also seeing Othello Invited dress on Saturday. Like there's so much happening. I feel like every show is popping up simultaneously as their first previews. And I love this box office openings, you know, it's just, it's a wild time and I'm really excited about all the new theater.
- [17:11]
Matt Tiamineni
Yeah. And I am heading out to London on Thursday night and we'll see what happens with the show on Friday morning. Depending on when I have to leave, we'll try to figure something out. But an absolutely wild time on both sides of the pond. So stick with us here on BroadwayRadio and head over to patreon.com broadwayradio broadwayradio.com Patreon to get all the news. 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 bradyradio. You can follow me on Instagram @bwwmatt Gray's work. People find you.
- [17:39]
Grace Aki
You can find me at. It's Graceaki.
- [17:40]
Matt Tiamineni
All right, everybody, have a wonderful Wednesday and we'll be back to talk to you tomorrow.