B'way Update: Strange Loops Into the Lyceum; Pill Swallowed by COVID

The cast of A Strange Loop
at Woolly Mammoth Theater.
Credit: Marc A. Franklin

Yesterday I posted about the Lyceum becoming available because MacBeth was moving to the Longacre. I speculated about A Strange Loop or Kimberly Akimbo snapping it up. Well, today Strange Loop made the move. The Woolly Mammoth Theater's production of Michael R. Jackson's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical will begin performances at the Lyceum in the spring of 2022. Specific dates and casting are to be announced. The show had a limited Off-Broadway engagement in 2019 at Playwrights Horizons and went on to cop not only the Pulitzer but also the New York Drama Critics Circle and the Drama Desk awards for Best Musical. The autobiographical piece follows a gay, African-American musical theater writer putting together a show about a gay, African-American musical theater writer (hence the loop).

While new shows are being announced, there have been more COVID-related cancellations and one total closing. Jagged Little Pill which reopened at the Broadhurst will not be returning after a series of performances were cancelled. The musical based on Alanis Morrisette's Grammy-winning album played its final performance on Dec. 17. 

2021 Tony Predictions

After a year and a half, the long-delayed Tony Awards will finally be presented tonight. When all the Broadway theaters shut down in March 2020, the accolades were in limbo. The Drama Desks, Outer Critics and Obies decided to honor the achievements of the abbreviated 2019-20 theater season either online or by press release in the late spring of 2020. But the Tonys dithered for months, probably because they wanted to wait until all the theatres could be reopened to maximize the publicity value. I can't really blame the producers and Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League, for this. The COVID shutdown has devastated the industry and they need all the TV coverage they can get to lure a outbreak-weary public back into the seats. I have seen one Broadway show (Pass Over) and a few Off-Broadway ones (Fruma-Sarah, What Happened, The Last of the Love Letters and Sanctuary City) since the shutdown. Everyone has to show a vax card or app and wear a mask. It's still a bit scary because there are reports of even vaccinated people becoming infected with the new variant. 

I can also understand the controversial programming decisions for this weirdest of all Tonys. For the first time in decades, the majority of the awards presentation will be not be available for free on broadcast TV. From 7-9PM EST almost all of the awards will be handed out in a ceremony hosted by six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald on Paramount Plus, CBS's streaming service. Then from 9-11PM, there will be a "Back to Broadway" concert, hosted by Tony winner and Oscar nominee Leslie Odom, Jr. on CBS, celebrating the return of live theater with musical numbers from the nominated and long-running shows. The awards for Best Play, Musical and Play Revival will be distributed during the CBS portion (there are no nominees for Best Musical Revival). Paramount Plus is NOT free, but there is a free seven-day trial period and I'll bet there was a surge of subscriptions made by theater fans like me today. Paramount Plus will probably see a huge number of cancellations within the coming days once every Broadway baby has commented, memorized and hashed over the ceremony.