B'way Update: Queen's Gambit Musical

Anya Taylor-Joy in 
The Queen's Gambit on Netflix.
Credit: Phil Bray/Netflix

The Queen's Gambit, Walter Tevis' best-selling novel about Beth Harmon, a female prodigy who takes on the male-dominated world of championship chess and served as the basis of a hit Netflix limited series, is in development as a Broadway musical and has just announced its creative team. Academy Award-nominated singer-songwriter Mitski will write the music & lyrics, playwright Eboni Booth (Primary Trust, Paris) will write the book of the musical, and Obie Award-winner Whitney White (Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, On Sugarland) will direct.  Joining Tony & Anthem Award-winning mini-studio Level Forward (POTUS, How to Dance in Ohio) on the producing team are Tony Award-winning actress and advocate Adrienne Warren (Tina), Prince Fellowship recipient Lawryn LaCroix (POTUS, Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man & The Pool), and Tony Award-winning producer Mara Isaacs (Hadestown). The Queen's Gambit was Netflix's most watched series, reaching an audience of over 62 million viewers in the fist month alone.

Eboni Booth, Whitney White and Mitski

Credit: Michaelah Reynolds

“Before Level Forward even brought the idea of making a musical of The Queen’s Gambit, I was a fan of the Netflix show, and an even greater fan of the original novel. So I was already determined to be a member of this team,” says composer & lyricist Mitski. “And then I met Eboni and Whitney, and my determination grew tenfold! I absolutely had to be a part of this! I am ecstatic to get to work with all of these amazing creatives, who’ve each built beautiful and unique repertoires of their own.”

 
“The Queen's Gambit is a wholly original story about yearning for connection and finding your way in life, no matter the barriers,” says book writer Eboni Booth. “I couldn't be more thrilled to explore this world in the company of such extraordinary artists. Musicals are one of my first loves, and I feel so lucky to be tasked with the challenge of bringing Beth Harmon's haunting and inspiring journey to the stage.”
 
“Everyone has desires, hopes, aspirations, and ideas about who they are and what they can offer the world. The Queen’s Gambit takes us into a story of a brilliant young woman on the hunt for all these things,” says director Whitney White. “It is a story that feels like mine and I’m excited to be a part of this exceptional team creating it anew for the stage.”
 
The producers add, “The Queen’s Gambit connects us all in the universal pursuit of becoming the person we are meant to be. Part of our journey is to bring this beloved story to the musical stage, and provide three revelatory artists – Mitski, Eboni Booth, and Whitney White, all at the top of their craft – with a chance to share the captivating world of Beth Harmon with live audiences.”
 

2023-24 Broadway/Off-Broadway Calendar
Fall 2023
Nov. 15--Scene Partners (Vineyard Theater)
Nov. 16--Monty Python's Spamalot (St. James)
Nov. 19--Hell's Kitchen (Public)
Nov. 20--The Gardens of Anuncia (LCT/Mitzi Newhouse)
Nov. 24--Lone Star (Ruth Stage/Theater Row)

Nov. 30--Spain (Second Stage/Terry Kiser)

Nov.--Sad Boys in Harpy Land; Amusements; School Pictures (solo shows performed in repertory at Playwrights Horizons)

Winter 2023-24

Dec. 5--Manhatta (Public)

Dec. 10--How To Dance in Ohio (Belasco)

Dec. 11--Madwomen of the West (Actors Temple)

Dec. 12--Buena Vista Social Club (Atlantic Theater Company/Linda Gross)

Dec. 17--The Night of the Iguana (La Femme Theater Prods./Signature Center)

Dec. 18--Appropriate (Second Stage/Hayes)

Jan. 9--Prayer for the French Republic (MTC/Friedman)

Jan. 17--Public Obscenities (previews begin; opening TBA) (TFANA/Polonsky Center)

Jan. 21--Aristocrats (IRT)

Jan. 28--Days of Wine and Roses (Studio 54)

Jan. 30--Sunset Baby (previews begin; opening TBA) (Signature Theater)

Feb. 6--The Connector (MCC)

Feb. 8--Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy (Vineyard Theater)

Feb. 15--The Ally (Public) (previews begin; opening TBA)

Feb. 21--Teeth (previews begin; opening TBA) (Playwrights Horizons)

Feb. 26--Pericles (previews begin; opening TBA) (CSC)

Feb. 29--Doubt: A Parable (Roundabout/AA)

TBA--Brooklyn Laundry (MTC/City Center Stage I)

TBA--I Love You So Much I Could Die (NYTW)

TBA--The Seven Year Disappear (The New Group/Signature Center)

Spring 2024

March 11--Corruption (LCT/Mitzi Newhouse)

March 12--My Son's a Queer (But What Can You Do?) (Lyceum)

March 14--The Notebook (Schoenfeld)

March 18--An Enemy of the People (Circle in the Square)

March 19--Fish (previews begin; opening TBA) (Keen Co./Theater Five) 

March 21--Water for Elephants (Imperial)

March 24--Philadelphia, Here I Come (IRT)

March 28--The Who's Tommy (Nederlander)

March 28--Sally and Tom (Public) (previews begin; opening TBA)

April 2--Mary Jane (previews begin; opening TBA) (MTC/Friedman) 

April 2--Orlando (previews begin; opening TBA) (Signature Theatre)

April 5--Macbeth (an undoing) (TFANA/Polonsky Center)

April 11--The Outsiders (Jacobs)

April 11--Jordans (Public) (previews begin; opening TBA)

April 12--Staff Meal (previews begin; opening TBA) (Playwrights Horizons)

April 14--Lempicka (Longacre)

April 17--The Wiz (Marquis)

April 18--Suffs (Music Box)

April 20/21--Cabaret (August Wilson)

April 22--The Heart of Rock and Roll (James Earl Jones)

April 24--Uncle Vanya (LCT/Vivian Beaumont)

April 25--Mother Play (Second Stage/Hayes)

April 30--Tony Nominations Announced

April 30--Three Houses (previews begin; opening TBA) (Signature Theatre)

May 2--Wine in the Wilderness (previews begin; opening TBA) (CSC)

June 16--Tony Awards (David Koch Theater/Lincoln Center)

June--Cats (Perelman Performing Arts Center)

TBA--All of Me (The New Group/Signature Center)

TBA--Here There Are Blueberries (NYTW)

TBA--Home (Roundabout/AA)

TBA--Jonah (Roundabout/Laura Pels)

Fall 2024

King Lear (Kenneth Branagh Theater Company/The Shed)

2024-25

Our Town

Smash

Spring 2025

Show Boat (Target Margin/NYU Skirball)

Future--Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death; Beaches the Musical; Black Orpheus; BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical; Come Fall in Love--The DDLJ Musical; Death Becomes Her; The Devil Wears Prada; Ella: An American Miracle; Everybody's Talking About Jamie; Frida, the Musical; Game of Thrones; The Great Gatsby; The Griswolds' Broadway Vacation; High Noon; Imitation of Life; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; The Karate Kid; La La Land; Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil; The Mousetrap; Nancy Drew and the Mystery at Spotlight Manor; Pal Joey; The Queen's Gambit; Rear Window; The Nanny; The Normal Heart/The Destiny of Me; The Secret Garden; Sing Street; Soul Train; What a Wonderful World; Working Girl.

2023-24 Broadway Season Breakdown:
New Plays:
The Cottage
Grey House
I Need That
Jaja's African Hair Braiding
Mother Play
Prayer for the French Republic
The Shark Is Broken

New Musicals:

Back to the Future

Days of Wine and Roses

Harmony

The Heart of Rock and Roll

How to Dance in Ohio

Lempicka

The Notebook

Once Upon a One More Time

The Outsiders

Suffs

Water for Elephants

Play Revivals:

Appropriate

Doubt: A Parable

An Enemy of the People

Home

Mary Jane

Purlie Victorious

Uncle Vanya

Musical Revivals:

Cabaret

Gutenberg! The Musical

Here Lies Love

Merrily We Roll Along

Monty Python's Spamalot

The Who's Tommy

The Wiz

Solos/Specialties:

Alex Edelman: Just for Us

Melissa Etheridge: My Window

My Son's a Queer (But What Can You Do?)