B'way Update: No Tony Broadcast, Enemy, Nancy Drew

News flash: First COVID and now the writers' strike. The 2023 Tony Awards will not be broadcast on Pluto and CBS as planned on June 11. The producers of the ceremony had hoped to be granted a waiver by the union but it has been denied. What happens now? Either the awards will be delayed till the end of strike (unlikely since the labor action could drag on for months) or the awards will be presented in a small non-televised event so the winning shows can at least announce their Tony status in advertising. The Tony Management Committee will hold an emergency meeting on Mon. May 15 to decide how to move forward. This is a potentially devastating blow to several shows who count on the national exposure the Tonys provide and to the Broadway industry in general since audience levels are still not at pre-pandemic levels. Many productions could close prematurely because of a lack of Tony TV attention. Bob Fosse's Dancin' and Bad Cinderella, which did not receive any Tony recognition, have already posted closing notices.

Jeremy Strong

Strong in Ibsen's Enemy: Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG Award winner Jeremy Strong (Succession) will star on Broadway in a new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People by Amy Herzog who is also represented by her version of Ibsen's A Doll's House with Jessica Chastain now at the Hudson Theater. The production will begin in early 2024. Tony winner Sam Gold (Fun Home) will direct. A theater, cast, and design team will be announced at a later date. This will be the 11th Broadway production of Ibsen's drama about a Norwegian doctor who becomes a pariah in his community after revealing the town spa and main source of income is toxic. Broadway audiences first saw it in 1895 and most recently in 2012 with Boyd Gaines. In between, the lead role of Dr. Stockman has been played by Walter Hampden, Frederic March, and Stephen Elliott. 

Strong, best known as his role for Kendall Roy on HBO's Succession, previously appeared on Broadway in 2008's revival of A Man for All Seasons. He also appeared in Herzog's play The Great God Pan Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons. 

Drew Musical: A new musical based on the beloved girl detective Nancy Drew is in development with an

Beloved teen detective Nancy Drew
will be the inspiration for a new musical.

all-star creative team. Nancy Drew and the Mystery at Stoplight Manor will feature music by EGOT winner Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid), lyrics by Tony nominee Nell Benjamin (Mean Girls), book by Oscar winner Sarah Kernochan (Best Documentary, Marjoe) and directed by Pulitzer and Tony winner James Lapine (Into the Woods). The plot will involve the teen sleuth attending a performing arts camp and wherever Nancy goes, mystery follows.

“After 175 Nancy Drew mysteries that span from her small town of River Heights to exotic locales around the world, the teen detective is about to tackle perhaps the most exotic locale of all to her: a musical theater camp, Spotlight Manor.  Alan, Nell, Sarah and I have been having a ball letting Nancy and her pals take to the stage and sing for the first time,” said Lapine.

2023-24 Broadway/Off-Broadway Schedule 

May 16--King James (MTC/City Center Stage I)
May 16--Outer Critics Winners announced
May 19--Drama League Awards (Ziegfeld Ballroom)

May 22--Chita Rivera Awards (NYU Skirball Center)

May 23--Bernarda's Daughters (New Group/Signature Center)

May 25--Primary Trust (Roundabout/Laura Pels) 

May 25--Outer Critics Circle Awards (Bruno Walter Auditorium/Lincoln Center Library)
May 30--Grey House (Lyceum)

June 4--This Land Was Made (Vineyard Theatre)

June 5--Days of Wine and Roses (Atlantic Theatre Company) 

June 6--Wet Brain (Playwrights Horizons/MCC)

June 6--Drama Desk Awards (Sardi's)
June 11--Tony Awards (United Palace)
June 22--Once Upon a One More Time (Marquis)

June 26--Just for Us (Hudson)
June 28--Hamlet (Delacorte/Shakespeare in the Park) 
July 9--Orpheus Descending (TFANA/Polonsky Shakespeare Center)
July 20--Here Lies Love (Broadway)

July 20--Flex (Mitzi Newhouse/LCT)
July 24--The Cottage (Hayes)
Aug. 3--Back to the Future (Marquis)

Aug. 10--The Shark Is Broken (Golden)

Aug. 20--El Mago Pop (Barrymore)
Sept. 19--Merrily We Roll Along (begins previews; opening TBA) (Hudson)
September--Here We Are (The Shed Griffin Theater)

September--The Refuge Plays (Roundabout/NYTW/Laura Pels)

October--I Need That (Roundabout/AA)

Nov. 13--Harmony (Barrymore)

Summer 2023

Purlie Victorious

Fall 2023

Jaja's African Hair Braiding (MTC/Friedman)

I Can Get It for You Wholesale (CSC)

Poor Yella Rednecks (MTC/City Center Stage I)

Winter 2023-24

An Enemy of the People

I Love You So Much I Could Die (NYTW)

Pericles (CSC)

Spring 2024

Here There Are Blueberries (NYTW)

Home (Roundabout/AA)

Jonah (Roundabout/Laura Pels)

Wine in the Wilderness (CSC)

The Wiz

Fall 2024

King Lear (Kenneth Branagh Theater Company/The Shed)

2024-25

Smash

2024 and Beyond

Game of Thrones, The Great Gatsby, Frida, the Musical, High Noon, The Mousetrap

Future--Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death; Black Orpheus; BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical; Come Fall in Love--The DDLJ Musical; The Devil Wears Prada; Ella: An American Miracle; Everybody's Talking About Jamie; The Griswolds' Broadway Vacation; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; The Karate Kid; La La Land; Lempicka; Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil; Nancy Drew and the Mystery at Spotlight Manor; Our Town; Pal Joey; The Nanny; The Normal Heart/The Destiny of Me; The Secret Garden; Sing Street; Soul Train; Water for Elephants; What a Wonderful World; The Who's Tommy; Working Girl