B'way Update: Ohio Closes; What Will Move into the Belasco or Barrymore?

The cast of How to Dance in Ohio
Credit: Curtis Brown

Another new show has announced its closing. How to Dance in Ohio will join the soon-to-shutter Harmony and play its final performance at the Belasco Theater on Feb. 11 after 27 previews and 72 regular performances. The musical inspired by Alexandra Shiva's documentary on autistic young adults preparing for a dance at their center, opened on  Dec. 10.

"Developing new work is always a risk, but producing this show was an endeavor we eagerly accepted,” said the producers in a statement. “We're incredibly proud that this original, joyful, and life-affirming musical has deeply moved countless audience members at the Belasco Theatre and beyond. Broadway has been changed forever because of How to Dance in Ohio and all the artists involved. We look forward to seeing its legacy continue in new and exciting ways."

In the parts of the real-life autistic young adults featured in the documentary, are a cast of seven autistic actors, all making their Broadway debuts: Desmond Edwards (he/they) as Remy, Amelia Fei [Yi-Hsuan Fei] (she/her) as Caroline, Madison Kopec (they/she) as Marideth, Liam Pearce (he/him) as Drew, Imani Russell (they/them) as Mel, Conor Tague (he/him) as Tommy, and Ashley Wool (she/her) as Jessica.

A scene from Patriots

With Harmony and Ohio closing, that leaves two desirable Broadway houses open--the Barrymore and the Belasco. Will two new shows snap them up before the end of the 2023-24 season? Speculation includes a possible transfer of Appropriate from its limited run at the Hayes, Buena Vista Social Club from the Atlantic, or a transfer from London of Peter Morgan (The Crown)'s play Patriots. The latter has placed an Equity casting notice for understudies and announced an anticipated Broadway opening sometime in 2024. Patriots opened at the Almeida Theater in July of 2022 and transferred to the Noel Coward Theater in the West End in May 2023. The plot concerns Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky and his change in fortune as the Soviet Union collapses and the oligarchs rise. He became friendly with Putin, but later fled to the UK in fear of his life. The London edition starred Tom Hollander (Travesties) as Berezovsky and Will Keen who won an Olivier Award for his supporting role of Vladimir Putin. If Patriots does open before the end of the season, it could make the race for the Tony Best Play very interesting with Stereophonic, Approriate, Mary Jane and Prayer for the French Republic in the running. We still don't know if Appropriate and Mary Jane will be considered new plays since they have been Off-Broadway in earlier, different productions.

2023-24 Broadway/Off-Broadway Schedule and Beyond
Winter 2023-24
Jan. 21--Aristocrats (IRT)
Jan. 24--Once Upon a Mattress (Encores/City Center)
Jan. 26--Oh, Mary (Lortel)
Jan. 28--Days of Wine and Roses (Studio 54)
Jan. 30--Sunset Baby (previews begin; opening TBA) (Signature Theater)

Feb. 1--The White Chip (Frankel Theater/MCC Theater)
Feb. 1--Jonah (Roundabout/Laura Pels)
Feb. 3--Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy (Vineyard Theater)
Feb. 6--The Connector (MCC)

Feb. 11--Hamlet (Solo version with Eddie Izzard) (Greenwich House)

Feb. 13--The Apiary (Second Stage/Tony Kiser Theater)

Feb. 14--I Love You So Much I Could Die (NYTW)

Feb. 21--Jelly's Last Jam (Encores/City Center)

Feb. 22--The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers (New World Stages)

Feb. 22--A Sign of the Times (New World Stages)

Feb. 25--The Seven Year Disappear (The New Group/Signature Center)
Feb. 26--Pericles (CSC)

Feb. 27--The Ally (Public)

Feb. 28--Brooklyn Laundry (MTC/City Center Stage I)
Feb. 29--Doubt: A Parable (Roundabout/AA)

Spring 2024

March 2--Illinoise (Park Ave. Armory)

March 10--Dead Outlaw (Audible/Minetta Lane)

March 11--Corruption (LCT/Mitzi Newhouse)

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

March 12--Teeth (Playwrights Horizons)

March 13--The Effect (The Shed/Griffin Theater)

March 14--The Notebook (Schoenfeld)

March 14--Ibsen's Ghost (Primary Stages/59E59)

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)

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 16--Sally & Tom (Public Theater)

April 17--The Wiz (Marquis)

April 18--Suffs (Music Box)

April 19--Stereophonic (Golden)

April 20--Hell's Kitchen (Shubert)

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 25--The Great Gatsby (Broadway)

April 30--Tony Nominations Announced

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

April--Here There Are Blueberries (NYTW)

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

Summer 2024

June 5--Home (Roundabout/AA)

June 12--The Welkin (Atlantic Theater Company)

June 12--Titanic (Encores/City Center)

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

June--Cats (Perelman Performing Arts Center)

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

2024

Patriots

Sunset Boulevard

Fall 2024

The Counter (Roundabout/Laura Pels)

King Lear (Kenneth Branagh Theater Company/The Shed)

Yellowface (Roundabout/Todd Haimes Theater)

Winter 2024-25

English (Roundabout/Todd Haimes Theater)

Liberation (Roundabout/Laura Pels)

2024-25

Our Town

Smash

Tammy Faye

Spring 2025

The Pirates of Penzance (Roundabout/Todd Haimes Theater)

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; Purple Rain; The Queen's Gambit; Rear Window; The Nanny; The Normal Heart/The Destiny of Me; The Secret Garden; Sing Street; Soul Train; Stranger Things: The First Shadow; 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

Stereophonic

New Musicals:

Back to the Future

Days of Wine and Roses

The Great Gatsby

Harmony

The Heart of Rock and Roll

Hell's Kitchen

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

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?)