Today on Broadway: Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025

Summary

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BroadwayRadio – Today on Broadway: Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025

Hosts: Matt Tammanini and Grace Aki
Date: October 22, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode of Today on Broadway offers an inside look at the latest happenings in the Broadway world, focusing on critical labor developments with the Broadway musicians’ union, surprising casting news in major productions, a deep dive into box office grosses, and noteworthy Off-Broadway updates. Matt and Grace deliver the news with their signature mix of enthusiasm and industry insight, offering listeners context, personal reflections, and sharp observations on the state of the theater scene.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Spotlight Interview & Little Shop of Horrors Production

• [00:38] Matt recaps his interview with Broadway veteran Ruby Lewis, recently starring as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors at Riverside Theater, Vero Beach, FL.
  • Ruby discusses:
    • Crafting her own take on Audrey’s voice.
    • The excitement and surprise of playing Audrey when she thought she'd aged out of the role.
  • Matt highlights Nicholas Ward’s performance as Audrey II’s voice and strongly recommends the production.
• Notable Quote:
  • “Everybody in the cast was great. … Everything was fantastic in that production. I highly recommend, if you’re anywhere near it, to head over to Vero and check it out.” — Matt [01:18]

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2. Broadway Musicians Union (Local 802) Mediation and Strike Threat

• [01:40] Local 802, AFM—the Broadway musicians’ union—is negotiating with the Broadway League. Mediation is scheduled for October 22.
  • President Bob Sutman warns that without a new contract by Thursday morning, members are prepared to strike immediately.
  • Strike would only affect Broadway theaters on production contracts, not nonprofit venues (e.g., Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout, Lincoln Center Theater).
• Matt notes the seriousness of the situation and draws parallels to the recent Actors’ Equity resolution.
• Notable Quote:
  • “…if we do not have a new contract by Thursday morning, we are prepared to strike immediately. We are hopeful that we can reach an agreement.” — (Quoting Bob Sutman) [02:15]

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3. Chicago’s Surprising New Casting

• [03:47] Major casting news:
  • Kate Baldwin (two-time Tony nominee) to play Roxie Hart starting November 10.
  • Alex Newell (Tony Award winner) joins as Matron Mama Morton one week later.
• Matt expresses continued surprise at Chicago’s ever-evolving cast:
  • “…I will never ever understand how Chicago does its castings because they have so many people coming in from so many different areas… But for whatever reason, they all seem to work.” [04:20]
• This excitement comes ahead of the show’s 30th anniversary.
• Grace describes the theatrical community’s loud reaction:
  • “Everyone that I was around when I saw that announcement screamed so I think that that is positive. But yeah, it's pretty insane. Great stuff.” — Grace [05:33]

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4. Broadway Box Office Grosses & Chess Phenomenon

• [05:43] Recap of last week’s grosses:
  • 32 shows, grossing $38.19 million—a 3% dip due to the prior week’s holiday.
  • Attendance rose by ~1,100 to 277,744; average ticket price dropped 4% to $137.50.
  • Top grossers: Hamilton, Wicked, The Lion King, Waiting for Godot, Art.
  • Chess makes a remarkable debut with $1.2 million over just 4 performances (extrapolated to ~$2.4 million over a full week).
• Matt draws a comparison with Merrily We Roll Along’s redemption story and wonders if Chess could enjoy a similar trajectory.
• Full-capacity standouts: Ragtime, Chess, Oh, Mary, Waiting for Godot, Wicked, and others.
• [08:51] Matt asks Grace what’s driving Chess’s popularity: Is it Lea Michele and Aaron Tveit, or audience curiosity?
  • Grace attributes it to star power (especially Tveit’s loyal fanbase and Michele’s Funny Girl resurgence) and curiosity about a lesser-known show presented with powerful performances.
  • Notable Quote:
    “…with this incredible cast and all the amazing footage they've been putting out, I'm dying to go…” — Grace [11:55]

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5. Off-Broadway Updates & Recommendations

• [10:06] Slam Frank extends through November 16 at Asylum NYC. Co-creator Andrew Fox remains in the cast.
  • Audience reactions have been “gobsmacked…in both good and bad ways.”
• [10:58] Heathers the Musical releases a music video for “Freeze Your Brain” with Casey Likes and Lorna Courtney, filmed in a real 7-Eleven.
• [11:30] Previews for City Center Encores’ production of Bat Boy begin October 29 at Lincoln Center, with cast videos featured in the show notes.
  • Grace won’t be able to attend due to scheduling but expresses her “bucket list” desire to see it.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Union Situation:
  “Hopefully we have a good resolution like we did with Actors Equity. But this is becoming more real now that there is a much more hard and fast deadline that 802 has put on the table.” — Matt [02:50]
• On Chicago’s Casting Odds:
  “Every single casting announcement they have is a surprise to me. But for whatever reason, they all seem to work so incredibly excited for Kate and Alex.” — Matt [04:28]
• On Chess’s Enthusiasm:
  “I actually think they have a lot to gain from the fact that people don’t know the show…so why not go see it with some impactful, incredible performances And I think that's what's happening here. It’s curiosity.” — Grace [09:16]
• On Slam Frank: “…gobsmacked is certainly a word that I would use to describe their reactions in both good and bad ways.” — Matt [10:18]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Ruby Lewis Interview & Little Shop recap: [00:38]
• Local 802 Union Mediation & Strike Threat: [01:40]
• Chicago’s New Casting (Kate Baldwin & Alex Newell): [03:47]
• Broadway Box Office & Chess Success: [05:43]
• Grace Analyzes Chess Fan Base: [08:51]
• Slam Frank Off-Broadway News: [10:06]
• Heathers Musical Video Release: [10:58]
• Bat Boy Previews and Grace's Connection: [11:30]

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Closing Thoughts

The October 22, 2025, episode of Today on Broadway offered a whirlwind tour of the current Broadway landscape, blending major labor news with headline-making casting announcements and box office surprises. The energetic interplay between Matt and Grace, along with their focus on both industry mechanics and theatrical fandom, makes this a must-listen for anyone seeking to stay informed and entertained by the latest from Broadway.

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Transcript

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[B]

For Wednesday, October 22, 2025. I'm Broadway Radio's Matt Tammanini and I'm.

[C]

Tell Me on a Sunday podcast, Grace.

[B]

Augie Grace in the podcast feeds, first in Patreon, then in the regular feed yesterday I had an interview with Broadway vet Ruby Lewis, who made her Broadway debut in Cirque du Soleil's Paramore on Broadway and has since done a ton of things around the country, done a number of national tours. She was one of the stars of the Las Vegas show Baz, which was like a Baz Luhrmann jukebox musical. Typ. She is currently playing Audrey down at the Riverside Theater in Vero Beach, Florida that I saw over the weekend. It was tremendous. Everybody in the cast was great. Also, somebody who you might know in the show, Nicholas Ward, who has like eight different Broadway credits under his belt, is doing the voice of Audrey too. Everything was fantastic in that production. I highly recommend, if you're anywhere near it, to head over to Vero and check it out. But we had an interview with Ruby. She talked about everything from how she landed on her own version of Audrey's voice, why she is so excited to do this production when she kind of thought she'd already aged out of playing Audrey. But either way, fantastic interview, fantastic production. If you want more information, it is in both of those podcast feeds. Less exciting though, Grace Yesterday we got word on how things are going for Local 802, the Broadway musicians Union. They are getting ready to head into a mediation session with the Broadway League Today and Local 802 President Bob Sutman said, quote, the Broadway musicians represented by Local 802 AFM are going into mediation on Wednesday, October 22. If we do not have a new contract by Thursday morning, we are prepared to strike immediately. We are hopeful that we can reach an agreement. Now, of course, this is not necessarily guaranteeing that they will strike on Thursday morning. If they don't have an agreement by then. If things are progressing well and they like the process, they could push that date back. But they are prepared to do so in the event that they don't feel like they are in a situation where a deal is eminent. So keep in mind that if a strike does happen, that will just cover Broadway theaters that are on production contracts. So that does not include any of the not for profit theater companies. So Manhattan Theater Club, Roundabout, the Second Stage or Lincoln Center Theater. So those that are owned by those organizations will not be impacted. But theaters that are owned by the Schuberts, Drew Jamson, atg, Nederlanders, things like that, those are the ones that'll be impacted, Grace. So hopefully we have a good resolution like we did with Actors Equity. But this is becoming more real now that there is a much more hard and fast deadline that 802 has put on the table.

[C]

Of course. And I think that obviously with all of these conversations, a lot of people were most, you know, noisy about the Actors Union situation. And it's been a little bit more quiet on the 802 front, but I think it's far more likely, you know, in my opinion, they did just mention it. So I'm curious what might happen there.

[B]

Yeah, certainly not an ideal situation, but hopefully they'll come to some sort of conclusion so the show can continue to go on. We want the show to go on because this is an announcement. Honestly, Grace, that floored me and I thought maybe it had to do with people needing to get some insurance weeks. I'm not sure. But in a fairly startling Broadway casting announcement yesterday, it was revealed that two time Tony nominee Kate Baldwin will join the Broadway production of Chicago as roxie hart on November 10th. And then one week later, Tony Award winner Alex Newell will join the production as matron Mama Morton. I will never ever understand how Chicago does its castings because they have so many people coming in from so many different areas, whether it is film and television, reality tv, broadcast, they just kind of keep moving through these phases. And every single casting announcement they have is a surprise to me. But for whatever reason, they all seem to work so incredibly excited for Kate and Alex. And this might be the thing that gets me back into the Ambassador Theater, Grace. Because those are two incredible talents in a show that I actually like but never really seem to put it on my schedule because I've seen it at tours and there's so many new things. But having Kate Baldwin and Alex Newell in Chicago is certainly an interesting move. No word on how long they will be there, but this is like the 30 getting ready for the 30th anniversary of the show right around that time. So. Great. Awesome. Love it. Hopefully everybody can go over and check it out.

[C]

I mean, everyone that I was around when I saw that announcement screamed so I think that that is positive. But yeah, it was. It's pretty insane. Great stuff.

[B]

Yeah, it's just so weird and so strange, but good for them. Get those. Get those insurance weeks and that paycheck in there and hopefully get some more butts in the seats at the Ambassador as well. Speaking of butts in seats, let's talk about last week's Broadway grosses. In total, we had 32 shows on the boards last week, up from 31 over the previous week. But because the week before included the long weekend for Indigenous Peoples Day, the grosses were down 3% to come in at $38,189,430. Although the attendance did tick up just about 1100 people to 277,744 people, the average ticket price dropped 4% to come in at $137.5. Hamilton was not above $4 million this week, but still did a very healthy $3,764,180, followed by Wicked at 2.27 and The Lion King at 2 million dol, Waiting for Godot in fourth place at 1.8 and Art at 1.79. This was a second week in a row, actually where Art did nine performances. So there will need to be some corresponding seven show weeks or even six show weeks, depending on how they want to balance that out. Then we had Mamma Mia. Death becomes her just in time. Mj. Oh, Mary maybe. Happy ending. Chess, more on her in a second. Aladdin, Buena Vista Social Club, the Outsiders, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Moulin Rouge, Ragtime and the Great Gatsby. All north of seven figures. I mentioned chess because that was in four performances. So chess did $1.2 million in its first four previews, meaning that if you can do the math extrapolated over 8, it would put it at $2.4 million, an absolutely bonkers total for the first couple performances of a show. Hopefully they can keep that going. I would love to see this kind of get. You know, I've gotten Merrily on my mind because I got my tickets to go see it in the movie theaters here on Tuesday. So I don't know that this show is ever going to be compared to Merrily in terms of quality, but I would like to see it have kind of like that redemption arc that we saw with Merrilee a couple seasons ago. And it certainly seems like the audience is there at least to start things off. But in total, 22 of Broadway's 32 shows saw capacity at 90% or above. Ragtime, Chess, oh Mary, Waiting for Godot, wicked, all at 100%. Mamma Mia, Hadestown, maybe happy ending are all above 100%. Hamilton at 101.51. And then just in time including me at 103.17. Grace, what is it about this production of Chess that you think is driving people there? Is it the celebrity of Lea Michele, Aaron Tveit? Is it, I don't know, theater fans loving the score or what is it about that show that is doing so well?

[C]

I can, I can always guess. I know that they probably have the data to prove like who is responding most to what. Obviously Aaron Tveit has a massive fan base in from I mean his years and years and years of credits. But also his Moulin Rouge base is quite loyal and they are able to go see shows. Leah, because of her resurgence in Funny Girl, you know, revitalizing another older Broadway musical revival, this makes sense for that core audience base that she had just built up that had record breaking ticket success. And so I think that with the, the combined thing of this is a new thing, a lot of people don't know what Chess is. I actually think they have a lot to gain from the fact that people don't know the show. And so they are genuinely getting to go to say, hey, this is a thing that has been done, but I never got to see it, so why not go see it with some impactful, incredible performances And I think that's what's happening here. It's curiosity.

[B]

Yeah, certainly. I think like depending on your level of, you know, Broadway allegiance, like you know some of the songs, maybe you know one of the songs. But there's also people who know none of the like the more standout theatrical songs, but know One Night in Bangkok, which is, which was a pop hit in the 80s 80s as well. So we'll love to continue to see how that shakes out and hopefully I will get to see this when I'm in town in mid November. All right, Grace, one real quick bit of show and casting news. I previously talked about the fact that Slam Frank had extended off Broadway and it has now announced that it will add two more weeks to its run at Asylum NYC. It will now play through November 16th. The show's co creator, Andrew Fox will continue to be a part of the cast. He jumped in after for the original extension because the original actor in those roles was not able to continue. So I've had friends go and see it and gobsmacked is certainly a word that I would use to describe their reactions in both good and bad ways. So certainly if you are interested in this show, you have extra time to check it out. And now, Grace, we've got a couple of recommendation videos that I want to send out. Heather's the Off Broadway musical, put out a new official music video for Freeze youe Brain that was filmed with Casey Likes and Lorna Courtney in an actual 7 11, which is brilliant. And of course, they all look the same. From Las Vegas to Boston. You never know which linoleum aisle that you'll love to get lost in. So check out that video. And then on Tuesday we had the press rehearsal previews for For City Center Encore's production of Batboy. So we've got a number of videos from that that I will put in the show notes including, you know, the entire cast. We also have Gabby Karuba and Kerry Butler singing. So Getting Close. This one will begin performances at Lincoln center on October 29th. Just in time for for Halloween. But are you going to have an opportunity to go check that one out? Grace?

[C]

I think because of when it's running, I don't know if I can make it in time. But I have had this on a bucket list since I saw it in high school. There was a competing one act competition show that did Bat Boy the Musical in the Georgia Thespian Conference. And so for that reason I have always wanted to see it. And obviously with this incredible cast and all the amazing footage they've been putting out, I'm dying to go, but I.

[B]

Don'T know if I'm going to make it.

[C]

These next three weeks are really packed for me.

[B]

Yeah, certainly a very, very busy time for you both personally and professionally. So I'm not going to be in town for it, but I am looking forward to hearing what everybody has to say when it begins. Performances at the end of the month. All right, everybody, that is all that we have for today. Thanks for listening to Today on Broadway. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram BroadwayRadio. And if you want more Broadway radio, head over to patreon.com broadwayradio Grace, where can people find you?

[C]

You can find me at Grace Aki.

[B]

All right, everybody, have a wonderful Wednesday. We'll be back to talk to you tomorrow.

[D]

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