 |
Lea Michele (right on Glee) will
replace Beanie Feldstein (left)
in Funny Girl. |
It was one of the worst kept secrets in recent Broadway history, but now it's official. Lea Michele will be taking the lead role of Fanny Brice from Beanie Feldstein in the current revival of
Funny Girl. In addition, Tony nominee and Drama Desk winner Tovah Feldshuh will take over for Jane Lynch as Fanny's mother. Both will begin performances Sept. 6 at the August Wilson Theater. Beanie Feldstein, currently playing Fanny was initially slated to leave the show on Sept. 25, but that was moved up to July 31 with Feldstein announcing her departure on Instagram. Standby Julie Benko will play the lead from Aug. 2 through Sept. 4 and will continue for Thursday performances starting Sept. 8.
Michele was last on Broadway in Spring Awakening. During her tenure on six seasons of Glee, she often performed songs from the Funny Girl score and at one point there were rumors she would star in a production which never came to fruition. Glee cast member Samantha Marie Ware has accused Michele of creating a toxic work environment on that series. She tweeted her displeasure with the casting news.
Feldshuh was last seen on Broadway in the Pippin revival and she has been nominated for four Tonys (Golda's Balcony, Lend Me a Tenor, Sarava, Yentl) and won two Drama Desks (Golda's Balcony, Lend Me a Tenor). But I remember her most for playing Peter Pan at Philadelphia's Playhouse in the Park.
 |
Jordan E. Cooper in his play
Ain't No Mo.
Credit: Joan Marcus |
An announcement of a new Broadway production was made the same day as the
Funny Girl news and got somewhat overshadowed.
Ain't No Mo, Jordan E. Cooper's satiric comedy which played the Public Theater in 2019, will move to Broadway, with Oscar nominee Lee Daniels (
Precious, The Butler) and Brian Anthony Moreland as lead producers. Cooper and Daniels worked together on the BET sitcom
The Ms. Pat Show. Previews begin at the Belasco Theater on Nov. 3 with an opening set for Dec. 1. The play is a fantastic spoof imagining a future where the US government offers descendants of slaves free transportation to Africa. Coopers plays Peaches, a flight attendant administering the "reparations flight" at Gate 1619, an ironic reference to the year slavery began in America. There follows a series of sketches and vignettes examining African-American life. Stevie Walker-Webb who directed the Off-Broadway production remains with the show. Additional casting will be announced. With the Belasco snapped up, it looks like
To Kill a Mockingbird will not be returning to Broadway. The Harper Lee adaptation had announced it would re-open at that venue after closing at the Shubert. But
Girl from the North Country took the spot for a limited run to remind Tony voters of its exitsence during the voting period.
In other news, Paradise Square has posted a closing notice at the Barrymore Theater. Despite an amazing performance at the Tony Awards by Joaquina Kalukango who won the Best Actress in a Musical prize, the box office never recovered from multiple shutdowns due to COVID outbreaks. The final performance is July 17 and Paradise will have run 108 performances and 23 previews.
 |
Joaquina Kalukango in
Paradise Square.
Credit: Kevin Berne |
On the critical side of things, Helen Shaw, theater critic for New York Magazine's Vulture, will join the New Yorker on Aug. 22 as a staff writer covering theater. She has also written for Time Out New York, 4Corners.org, Artforum, Art in America, and The Village Voice. Shaw is a member of the New York Drama Critics Circle and co-won the 2017-18 George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism.
2022-23 Broadway/Off-Broadway Schedule
July 21--The Kite Runner (Hayes)
Aug. 25--Kinky Boots (Stage 42)
Aug. 30--As You Like It (Delacorte)
Sept. 19--The Piano Lesson (St. James) (previews begin; opening TBA)
Sept. 19--Death of a Salesman (Hudson) (previews begin; opening TBA)
Sept. 22--Sesame Street: The Musical (Theater Row)
Sept. 24--Baldwin and Buckley at Cambridge (Public Theater) (previews begin; opening TBA)
Sept. 27--A Raisin in the Sun (Public Theater) (previews begin; opening TBA)
Oct. 2--Leopoldstadt (Longacre)
Oct. 6--1776 (Roundabout/AA)
Oct. 20--Topdog/Underdog (Golden)
Oct. 26--Straight Line Crazy (The Shed/Griffin)
Oct. 28--Where We Belong (Public Theater) (previews begin; opening TBA)
Oct. 30--A Man of No Importance (CSC)
October--Catch as Catch Can (Playwrights Horizons); Downstate (Playwrights Horizons)
Nov. 2--Where the Mountain Meets the Sea (MTC/City Center Stage I)
Nov. 3--Almost Famous (Bernard Jacobs)
Nov. 4--Plays for the Plague Year (Public Theater) (previews begin; opening TBA)
Nov. 10--Kimberly Akimbo (Booth)
Nov. 17--& Juliet (Sondheim)
Nov. 20--KPOP (Circle in the Square)
Dec. 1--Ain't No Mo (Belasco)
Dec. 4--A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical (Broadhurst)
Dec. 11--Some Like It Hot (Shubert)
Dec. 20--The Collaboration (MTC/Freidman)
February--The Trees (Playwrights Horizons)
March--Regretfully So the Birds Are (Playwrights Horizons)
April 13--Camelot (Lincoln Center/Vivian Beaumont)
May--Wet Brain (Playwrights Horizons)
Fall 2022 (no dates yet)
Between Riverside and Crazy (Second Stage/Hayes)
the bandaged place (Roundabout/Underground)
Camp Siegfried (Second Stage/Tony Kiser)
Cost of Living (MTC/Friedman)
Summer, 1976 (MTC/City Center Stage II)
2022-23 (no dates or theaters yet)
Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death, Black Orpheus, Cinderella, Come Fall in Love--The DDLJ Musical, Dancin', The Ohio State Murders, Pal Joey, Square One
Winter 2022-23
Dark Disabled Stories (Public)
The Wanderers (Roundabout/Laura Pels)
Spring 2023
Prime Facie (a Shubert theater TBA)
The Thanksgiving Play (Second Stage/Hayes)
Good Bones (Public)
Poor Yella Rednecks (MTC/City Center Stage II)
Shadow/Land (Public)
2023 and Beyond
Game of Thrones, The Great Gatsby
Future--Good Night, Oscar; The Devil Wears Prada; The Griswolds' Family Vacation; The Karate Kid; Back to the Future; Our Town; The Nanny; The Normal Heart/The Destiny of Me; Sing Street; Smash; Soul Train; The Who's Tommy
No comments:
Post a Comment