Off Broadway
Off-Broadway Shows Opening 2023
Get ready for a lot of shows Off Broadway and Off Off Broadway. Here are the shows we are looking forward to.
1/25: Samuel Beckett’s Endgame at theIrish Repertory Theatre. Ciarán O’Reilly directs his cast starring Bill Irwin, John Douglas Thompson, Joe Grifasi and Patrice Johnson, as they tell the story of Hamm, who is unable to stand, and his servant Clov, who cannot sit, wait in a room, outside of which there seems to be nothing at all, joined only by Hamm’s parents, Nagg and Nell, who live in dustbins. The play opens February 2nd.
1/26: The Wanderers from theRoundabout Theatre Company – Laura Pels Theatre. Playwright Anna Ziegler
is directed by Barry Edelstein. The cast stars Katie Holmes, Sarah Cooper, Lucy Freyer, Dave Klasko and Eddie Kaye Thomas Orthodox Jews Esther and Schmuli are newly married, and their future is written in the laws of the Torah. Secular Jew Abe is a famous novelist who believes he can write his own future…until an unexpected email from a movie star puts his marriage to the test and threatens to prove him wrong.
1/28: Lucy at Minetta Lane Theatre. Erica Schmidt directs her own work starring Brooke Bloom, Lynn Collins and Charlotte Surak. Follow Ashling a professional nanny with warmth, experience, and a sunny attitude. But from the moment Mary hires her to look after her young daughter and infant son, things start feeling a little off. Opens February 5th.
2/2: Shedding Load at 59E59 Theater C. On July 13, 1977, lightning struck three times in the New York area causing a city-wide blackout. In the following hours rioters destroyed multiple city blocks, millions of dollars’ worth of property, and the dreams of one Bushwick family. With their store and livelihood burned to the ground, they rely on each other to stay hopeful among the ruins. Shedding Load follows this family, from 1938 to 2014, as they uncover long-kept family secrets, confront generational trauma, and face the fallout of how a singular event can alter a neighborhood forever. Mia Walker directs and the opening is February 7th.
2/4: The Sign In Sidney Brustein’s Window at Brookyn Academy of Music starring Rachel Brosnahan and Oscar Isaac. Set in 1960s Greenwich Village, Lorraine Hansberry paints a portrait of the couple’s marriage, and their progressive circle of friends whose ideals do not always match reality. Will those ideals, which Sidney clings to, cost the couple their marriage? Opens February 23rd, directed by Anne Kauffman.
2/7: the best we could (a family tragedy) at Manhattan Theatre Club – Stage I. A daughter’s road trip with her father becomes a theatrical journey across more than just state lines. Directed by Daniel Aukin, opening March 1st.
1/25: Love at the Park Avenue Armory. This powerful piece of drama—written after a years-long process of community collaboration and immersion, personal interviews, and first-hand accounts—draws attention to the cracks in the welfare system when several families are brought together in a shelter in the lead up to Christmas. The audience is invited to step inside their reality and bear witness to some of the touching, humorous, and profoundly human instances of their combined existence. Opens February 28th.
2/21: Crumbs From The Table Of Joy by Lynn Nottage at Keen Company @ Theatre Row. Set against the social politics of the 1950s, Crumbs From The Table Of Joy follows 17-year-old Ernestine Crump as she adjusts to life after the passing of her beloved mother. In search of spiritual answers, Ernestine’s father relocates the family from Pensacola to Brooklyn where the Crumps must navigate a changing family dynamic, an unwelcoming neighborhood, and a shifting set of American ideals. Opening March 8th.
3/3: Misty at The Shed. Fusing live music, spoken word, and absurdist comedy, Misty is an exhilarating journey through a city in flux, transporting audiences to the streets of gentrifying London in an exploration of the pressures and expectations that come with being an artist in our time. In a performance that is part poem, part concert, part confession, Olivier Award–nominee Arinzé Kene—in his US stage debut—self-consciously wrestles with cultural representation and identity politics as they pertain to a new play he has been commissioned to write. Opens March 9th.
3/9: (pray) by and directed by nicHi Douglas at Greenwich House.A meditation on the necessity and complexity of religion & spirituality for Black American womxn throughout history. Following the form of a Sunday Baptist church service, and embodied by a company of twelve intergenerational Black womxn and femme performers, (pray) seeks to offer joy-filled healing through a dynamic fusion of song, text and dance.
2/16: The Harder They Come at Public Theater/Newman Theater. This is a musical with book by Suzan-Lori Parks, lyrics and music by Jimmy Cliff. Starring Jeannette Bayardelle, Shawn Bowers, Andrew Clarke, Jamal Christopher Douglas, Dana Marie Ingraham, Dominique Johnson, Chelsea-Ann Jones, Dudney Joseph Jr, Dwight Xavier Leslie, Morgan McGhee, Meecah, Jacob Ming-Trent, Alysha Morgan, Ken Robinson, Housso Semon. Meet Ivan, a young singer who arrives in Kingston, Jamaica, eager to become a star. After falling in love and cutting a record deal with a powerful music mogul, Ivan soon learns that the game is rigged, and as he becomes increasingly defiant, he finds himself in a battle that threatens not only his life, but the very fabric of Jamaican society. Opens March 15th.
3/4: Yes, I Can Say That! at 59E59 Theater A. Judy Gold knows the value of a good joke – and the steep price of silencing comedians. Unnerved and infuriated, Judy shares her reverence for the intimacy of collective laughter and her passion for the vital work comedians do to bring us together, make us think, and speak truth to power. Directed by BD Wong, opening: March 21st.
3/15: White Girl In Danger by Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop). Directed Lileana Blain-Cruz at the Tony Kiser Theatre. Starring Liz Lark Brown, Kayla Davion, Latoya Edwards, Jennifer Fouché, Morgan Siobhan Green, Molly Hager, Vincent Jamal Hooper, James Jackson, Jr., Tarra Conner Jones, Alyse Alan Louis, Lauren Marcus, Eric William Morris. Here the citizens of the soap opera town Allwhite face high-stakes drama and intrigue all the days of their lives. But Keesha Gibbs and the other Blackgrounds have been relegated to backburner stories of slavery and police violence for all of theirs. Keesha is determined to step out of the Blackground and into the center of Allwhite’s juiciest stories. Can Keesha handle the Allwhite attention—especially from the Allwhite Killer on the loose? What role do the other Blackgrounds play in Keesha’s Allwhite schemes? And just whose story is this anyway? Opening: April 10th.
3/22: Regretfully, So The Birds Are at Playwrights Horizons/Peter Jay Sharp Theater. Arson. Affairs. Incest. Murder… are only the beginning of problems for the Whistler siblings. Mora’s gotta find her birth mother, Neel’s gotta find himself, and Illy’s gotta keep her piece of the sky… but the birds have other plans.
5/2: King James at Manhattan Theatre Club – Stage I. “King” LeBron James’s reign in Cleveland brings promise, prosperity and renewal to a city in desperate need of all three. It also brings together two unlikely friends in a bond forged by fandom. Told over twelve years (from LeBron’s rookie season to an NBA Championship) King James is an intimate exploration of the place that sports occupy in our lives and relationships. Ensemble member Rajiv Joseph’s clever and fast-paced comedy traces the arcs of two friends whose turbulent relationship is best navigated through their shared love of basketball—and the endless amiable arguments that erupt from that love. All the while, the promise and burden of LeBron’s talent and legacy loom large. Stars Glenn Davis and Chris Perfetti, directed by Kenny Leon. OpensMay 16th.
4/4: Primary Trust atRoundabout Theatre Company at Laura Pels Theatre William with Jackson Harper and April Matthis. Meet Kenneth, a 36-year-old bookstore worker who spends his evenings sipping mai tais at the local tiki bar. When he’s suddenly laid off, Kenneth finally begins to face a world he’s long avoided – with transformative and even comical results.
5/17: Wet Brain at Playwrights Horizons/Mainstage Theater. In a crumbling house in Arizona, a family haunted by addiction — and hardened into smart-asses — wrestles with the alcoholic ruin of its patriarch… who may or may not be repeatedly abducted by aliens. Playwright John J. Caswell, Jr. and director: Dustin Wills are at the helm.
6/3 The Doctor at the Park Avenue Armory. Playwright and director Robert Icke, adapted from Arthur Schnitzler work about an ordinary day, at a private hospital, a young woman fights for her life. A priest arrives to save her soul. Her doctor (Juliet Stevenson) refuses him entry. In a divisive time, in a divided nation, a society takes sides. Opens June 13th after a awards winning run in London.
Off Broadway
Let’s Talk to Lindsay Heather Pearce and Jordan Donica Guest Stars of The New Rock Musical, Exorcistic
Last night the York Theatre Company presented their production of Golden Rainbow, with book by Ernest Kinoy and music and lyrics by Walter Marks, the third offering of the Fall 2023 “Musicals in Mufti” series. Performances continue through Sunday, October 1, 2023.
Jonathan Brody
The show stars Max Von Essen (York’s Tenderloin)
Benjamin Pajak
Benjamin Pajak (Broadway’s The Music Man)
Mara Davi
Mara Davi (Broadway’s Dames at Sea)
Robert Cuccioli
Robert Cuccioli
Robert Cuccioli (York’s Rothschild & Sons)
Danielle Lee Greaves
Danielle Lee Greaves (Broadway’s Parade)
Felipe Barbosa Bombonato
Felipe Barbosa Bombonato (Les Misérables)
Jonathan Brody
Jonathan Brody (The Sorceress)
Nick Cearley
Nick Cearley (The Skivvies),
Jillian Louis
Jillian Louis (York’s The Game of Love),
Gina Milo
Gina Milo (York’s Subways Are for Sleeping)
Maria Wirries
Jillian Louis, Gina Milo, Maria Wirries
and Maria Wirries (York’s Penelope: or How The Odyssey Was Really Written).
Golden Rainbow is directed by Stuart Ross (York’s Enter Laughing), with music direction by David Hancock Turner (York’s Cheek to Cheek and Desperate Measures). The production team includes Lighting Designer Garett Pembrook, Projections/Sound Designer Peter Brucker, Production Manager Aaron Simms, Production Coordinator Noah Glaister, Production Stage Manager Hailey Delaney, Assistant Stage Manager Carson Ferguson, and Company Manager Tori Calderon-Caswell.
Jim Morgan, Producing Artistic Director
Walter Marks and Producer Riki Kane Larimer
The Golden Rainbow cast
Jim Morgan, Walter Marks, Director Stuart Ross
Walter Marks, Benjamin Pajak
Director Stuart Ross, Benjamin Pajak
the Golden Rainbow Cast
Robert Cuccioli
The band
Robert Cuccioli, Benjamin Pajak, Max Von Essen
Robert Cuccioli, Max Von Essen
Walter Marks, Benjamin Pajak, Producer Riki Kane Larimer, Director Stuart Ross
Jim Morgan, Walter Marks, Benjamin PajakProducer Riki Kane Larimer, Director Stuart Ross
Lee Roy Reams, Lorna Dallas, Max Von Essen
Jim Morgan, Lee Roy Reams, Lorna Dallas, Max Von Essen, Jamie deRoy
Jillian Louis, Max Von Essen, Gina Milo, Maria Wirries, Robert Cuccioli
Gina Milo, Jillian Louis, Nick Cearley, Maria Wirries
Jim Caruso, Max Von Essen, Nicholas King
Jim Morgan, Joan Ross Sorkin, Producer Riki Kane Larimer and the York board
By Jacqueline Parker
Nature’s reward for enduring a spate of rain and gloomy weather is a rainbow. The York has delivered just that in their latest production in their Mufti series, Golden Rainbow. This musical from the late 60s is always mentioned among aficionados of this art form with wistful smiles and fond remembrances. The York has brought it back to life in a version that features some new lyrics by original composer/lyricist Walter Marks that carry the storyline into this century.
Robert Cuccioli , Max Von Essen
Photo Credit: Rider R. Foster
From the opening notes of the Jule Styne-esque overture to the rousing finale, the audience was toe-and-finger tapping along to the sounds so evocative of the time when most of us were very young. The story itself is touching—a single father of a boy on the brink of teenhood must wrestle with the choice of saving his livelihood or letting his son move to the other side of the country with his aunt. The connection between father and son is made clear through several songs delivered touchingly by dad Max Von Essen and son Benjamin Pajak.
Mari Davis Photo Credit: Rider R. Foster
The arrival under a false pretense of Mara Davi as Aunt Judy sets the plot spinning and allows Robert Cuccioli as mobster Carmine Malatesta and Danielle Lee Greaves as Jill to play their part in the resolution with songs hilarious and touching.
Max Von Essen and Mara Davis Photo Credit: Rider R. Foster
If the story seems familiar it’s because it is taken from the film “A Hole in the Head,” based on the same source material, that starred Frank Sinatra and Eddie Hodges singing the Oscar-winning song High Hopes. Golden Rainbow opened in 1968 starring Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme in the leads. They were household names at the time, based on their talent and popularity from television appearances and cabaret performances.
Max Von Essen and Benjamin Pajak
Photo Credit: Rider R. Foster
Perhaps most impressive in this production was Von Essen’s version of the hit song “I Gotta Be Me.” It was haunting as it built in intensity and left the audience almost breathless at the end of Act 1.
Benjamin Pajak
Photo Credit: Rider R. Foster
Pajak, familiar to all from his recent appearances in Oliver! and The Music Man was astounding in his ability to project the at times heartbreaking and lovingly joyous emotions of his character.
Mari Davis Photo Credit: Rider R. Foster
Mara Davi’s character has her own roller coaster ride of emotions, which she transmits with style and conviction.
Robert Cuccioli Photo Credit: Rider R. Foster
Robert Cuccioli was hilarious as a mobster singing Taste,
Danielle Lee Greaves Photo Credit: Rider R. Foster
and Danielle Lee Greaves delivered two of the new songs, making me hope for a new recording of this terrific show soon.
Max Von Essen and Benjamin Pajak
Photo Credit: Rider R. Foster
The clock is ticking on this gem of a show – it closes Sunday, October 1st. Get your tickets at yorktheatre.org and find your own pot of gold at the end of this rainbow.
Max Von Essen and Mara Davis Photo Credit: Rider R. Foster
Broadway
Theatre News: Here We Are, Some Like It Hot, A Beautiful Noise, All The Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented The Villain and The Laramie Project
The curtain rose last tonight on the first performance of the final Stephen Sondheim musical. Here We Are, the new musical from David Ives and Sondheim, is on stage at The Shed’s Griffin Theater (545 W. 30th Street), with an Opening Night on Sunday, October 22, for 15 weeks only.
Directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello, the cast of Here We Are will feature Francois Battiste, Tracie Bennett, Bobby Cannavale, Micaela Diamond, Amber Gray, Jin Ha, Rachel Bay Jones, Denis O’Hare, Steven Pasquale, David Hyde Pierce, and Jeremy Shamos. The understudies for Here We Are are Adante Carter, Lindsay Nicole Chambers, Bradley Dean, Mehry Eslaminia, Adam Harrington, and Bligh Voth.
Here We Are is inspired by two films, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and The Exterminating Angel, by Luis Buñuel.
Here We Are will include choreography by Sam Pinkleton, set design and costume design by David Zinn, lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by Tom Gibbons, orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, musical supervision and additional arrangements by Alexander Gemignani, hair & make-up design by Wigmaker Associates, and casting by The Telsey Office.
Tickets are on sale on TheShed.org.
For each performance, a limited number of $25 tickets will be available via a weekly lottery, which will open for entries on the TodayTix app each Sunday at 12:01 AM for the coming week’s performances and will close at 12:00 PM on the day before each performance. Winners will be notified by push notification and email between 1 – 4 PM on the day before their selected show, and will have 30 minutes to claim their tickets in the app. Entrants may request 1 or 2 tickets, and entry is free and open to all.
Via TodayTix’s mobile rush program, a limited number of $40 same-day rush tickets will be available for that day’s performance of Here We Are at 9:00 AM each day on a first-come, first-served basis. Users can download the app and “unlock” rush tickets by sharing the program on social media ahead of their desired performance day.
The most award-winning musical of the 2022-2023 season, Some Like It Hot, will play for 13 more weeks through Saturday, December 30, 2023, at Broadway’s Shubert Theatre (225 West 44th Street) before launching a national tour and West End production.
Awarded Best Musical by The Drama League, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle, Some Like It Hot received over 20+ major awards throughout the 2022-2023 season, including four Tony Awards for Best Lead Actor in a Musical (J. Harrison Ghee), Best Choreography (Casey Nicholaw), Best Orchestrations (Charlie Rosen & Bryan Carter) and Best Costumes in a Musical (Gregg Barnes). J. Harrison Ghee made history as the first non-binary performer to take home the Tony Award in their category.
A national tour will launch in September 2024 and a West End production will follow in 2025, produced by The Shubert Organization and Neil Meron in partnership with Ambassador Theatre Group.
At the time of the final performance, the production will have played the Shubert Theatre for over a year, for a total of 483 performances.
Will Swenson and the cast. Photo by Julieta Cervantes.
Will Swenson, who is electrifying audiences with his star turn in A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical, will play his final performance as ‘Neil Diamond – Then’ at the Broadhurst Theatre (235 West 44th Street) on Sunday, October 29. Casting for the role of ‘Neil Diamond – Then’ will be announced at a future date.
The unofficial commencement of “spooky season” takes place this Friday, September 29, when Tony Award® Nominee and Grammy Award® Winner Patrick Page returns to the New York stage in All The Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented The Villain, a new work created and performed by Mr. Page, based on the villains of William Shakespeare. Directed by Simon Godwin, the solo show will play the DR2 Theatre (103 E 15th Street) beginning Friday, September 29, with an Opening Night set for Monday, October 16, for 14 weeks only.
Tickets are now available at allthedevilsplay.com, Telecharge or by visiting the DR2 Theatre box office (103 E 15th Street).
Julie White
Julie White and Brandon Uranowitz will join Ato Blankson-Wood in a staged benefit reading of The Laramie Project. Moises Kaufman and the Members of Tectonic Theatre Project’s The Laramie Project, will bedirected by Dustin Wills (Wolf Play, Wet Brain). The event, which will raise funds to support the work of The Trevor Project, will take place on Monday, October 16th at 7:00 PM at Peter Norton Symphony Space, and is being produced by District Productions. Additional casting is soon to be announced. For tickets and more information, visit https://www.symphonyspace.org/events/vp-the-laramie-project-a-benefit-staged-reading
Pulse Theatre will be presenting Chasing Happy a new comedy by Michel Wallerstein (Flight, Five Women Waiting, Off Hand). Directed by Pulse Theatre co-Founder Alexa Kelly (Strings Attached).
Video by Magda Katz
The company of Chasing Happy features Spencer Aste (Wake Up, Axis Theatre), Jenny Bennett (City of Ladies, Pulse Theatre), Schyler Conaway in his Off-Broadway debut, Christopher James Murray (The Falling Season, Theatre Row), and Elizabeth Shepherd (Relatively Speaking and Conduct Unbecoming on Broadway; War and Peace and Inherit the Wind in London’s West End).
T2C talked to Michel Wallerstein and Spencer Aste to learn more.
Chasing Happy is a modern comedy about personal identity, love, acceptance …and the elusive pursuit of happiness. Nick is in love with another man’s boyfriend. (Oops.) Nick’s mother says George Clooney wants to date her (Really?). Nick’s ex-wife says she has to have surgery.( Now?) …It’s a laugh a minute on an unexpected merry-go-round when you’re chasing happy.
The limited engagement will play a five-week limited engagement, October 11 through November 11, at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street, NYC). Opening night is Thursday, October 19 at 7PM. Tickets are now on sale at TheatreRow.org or by calling the box office, 212-714-2442 ext. 45.
For more information visit www.ChasingHappyOffBroadway.com.
Events For October
Ken Fallin’s Broadway: Musical Director Ian Niederhoffer
New York Film Festival to Host Cinephile Game Night
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Broadway3 days agoBarry Manilow’s and Bruce Sussman’s Harmony Meets The Press
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Broadway2 days ago
Barry Manilow’s and Bruce Sussman’s Harmony Meets The Press Part 2
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Entertainment3 days ago
The Mayor of Times Square Interviews Billionaire John Catsimatidis on The Motivation Show Podcast
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Broadway2 days ago
Theatre News: Here We Are, Some Like It Hot, A Beautiful Noise, All The Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented The Villain and The Laramie Project
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Food and Drink4 days ago
Ubah Hassan and Serafina Launch the Sizzling Hot Pizza of the Season
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Cabaret3 days ago
My View: Barrington Stage Co. on 42nd Street Oct. 30 For Its Gala at Green Room 42
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Off Broadway3 days ago
Meet Michel Wallerstein and Spencer Aste of Chasing Happy
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Celebrity4 days agoThe Glorious Corner
