B'way Update: Blue Man Group; Encores News

Blue Man Group will make its Broadway debut
this holiday season.

Blue Man Group, the three-person performance troupe which had one of the longest runs in Off-Broadway history, will be making their Broadway debut with A New Holiday Surprise at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater. The limited holiday-season engagement will begin previews Nov. 12 with an opening set for Nov. 17 and play through Jan. 3, 2027. The group's run at the Astor Place Theater ended on Feb. 2, 2025 after three decades and more than 17,000 performances. The brainchild of three friends, Chris Wink, Matt Goldman, and Phil Stanton, Blue Man Group had the bald, blue-faced trio pounding drums full of paint, oozing Twinkies from their chests and performing other various oddities. During the course of the run, several actors took over the roles and the franchise expanded to Orlando and Las Vegas. 

"This production marks two exciting milestones: Blue Man Group's first-ever holiday production as well as its Broadway debut," said Marie-Josée Adam, President and CEO of Blue Man Group. "This is exactly how we envisioned the iconic trio would re-enter the New York marketplace: with a brand-new show packed with holiday fun, unexpected surprises, and a few twists that only Blue Man could pull off. We can't wait to welcome a whole new generation of families into the Blue Man world for an unforgettable and wonderfully unpredictable holiday experience."

The show will tour to Chicago and Boston and other cities to be announced.

In other news, Encores has announced the complete cast for its concert staging of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown. SNL veteran Rachel Dratch (The Rocky Horror Show and those homeowner insurance commercials) will play Patty (not Peppermint Patty) and Emmy winner Jeff Hiller (HBO's Somebody Somewhere) will play Schroder. They will join previously announced David Hyde-Pierce as Charlie Brown, Danille Brooks as Lucy, Ha Jin as Linus, and Ayo Edebiri as Snoopy. Sam Pinkleton (Oh Mary!) directs. This indicates they will be using the original script by Clark Gesner and not the one for the 1999 Broadway revival which replaced Patty with Charlie Brown's little sister Sally (played by Kristin Chenoweth who won a Tony for the role.) Charlie Brown will play Feb. 3-14 at City Center.

In addition, Encores' previously announced production of Hallelujah, Baby! will be replaced by a new staging of Let 'Em Eat Cake, the 1933 sequel to Of Thee I Sing. Hallelujah has been postponed for further development--probably meaning updating the book for this 1967 tuner on race in America. Cake (March 17--28) should be interesting. It's a satiric political fantasy depicting a sitting President disputing his loss for re-election and mounting a revolution to regain power. Sound familiar? This sequel by the Gershwins, George S. Kaufman and Morris Ryskind takes a darker tone than its predecessor Of Thee I Sing and only ran 90 performances.

2026-27 Broadway and Off-Broadway Calendar
Fall 2026
Sept. 27--How Shakespeare Saved My Life (Public)
Sept. 28--School Girls or The African Mean Girls Play (MTC/Friedman) 
Sept. 29--Degenerates (Playwrights Horizons)
Oct. 1--creation stories and all the important importants (LCT/Clara Tow) 
Oct. 4--The Hairy Ape (Irish Repertory Theater)
Oct. 4--Slam Frank (Orpheum)
Oct. 9--Good Time Charley (Public)

Oct. 9--A Ghost in Your Ear (Audible/Minetta Lane)
Oct. 11--Fish (Signature Theater Company/WP Theater)
Oct. 13--The Unbelievers (MTC/City Center)
Oct. 14--Anon--a tempest at our kitchen table (MCC)
Oct. 15--Midnight (Daryl Roth)
Oct. 15--Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen (The Night Egg/Culture Club) 
Oct. 18--Other Desert Cities (Hudson)
Oct. 19--King of the Yees (Signature Theater Company)
Oct. 21--The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Public)
Oct. 21--860 (Imperial)
Oct. 22--The Imaginary Invalid (Roundabout/Todd Haimes)
Oct. 22--Magic Mike Live New York 
Oct. 22--2:22: A Ghost Story (Lortel)
Oct. 27--I Become We (Atlantic Theater Co.) 

Oct. 28--In the Heights (Encores!)
Oct. 29--A Few Good Men (LCT/Vivian Beaumont)
Oct. 29--The Heart (Roundabout/Laura Pels)
Nov. 1--Ms. Blakk for President (Vineyard)
Nov. 2--Waiting for Lefty (CSC)
Nov. 3--We'll See (Public)
Nov. 5--The Verge (Public)
Nov. 8--Wanted (James Earl Jones)
Nov. 9--Here There Are Blueberries (Barrymore)
Nov. 9--The Visitors (Second Stage/Signature Center)
Nov. 10--Elektra (Theater for a New Audience) (previews begin, opening TBA)
Nov. 12--The Good Thief (Irish Repertory Theater)
Nov. 15--Downstate (Booth)
Nov. 16--The Fantasticks (Revised Version) (Second Stage/Hayes)
Nov. 17--Blue Man Group: A New Holiday Surprise (Lunt-Fontanne)

Nov. 18--the ripple, the wave that carried me home (Playwrights Horizons)
Nov. 19--Much Ado About Nothing (Winter Garden)
Nov. 23--Seven Guitars (LCT/Mitzi Newhouse)
Nov. 24--Wild Rose (NYTW) (previews begin, opening TBA)
Nov. 24--The Dead, 1904 (IRT/American Irish Historical Society)
Dreamgirls
HOLE! (Playwrights Horizons)
Jackals (New Group/Theater at St. Clements)

Winter 2026-27

Dec. 1--Inter Alia (Music Box)

Dec. 3--Imitation of Life (The Shed/National Black Theater) 

Dec. 6--Galileo: A Rock Musical (Shubert) 

Dec. 7--A View from the Bridge (LaMaMa)

Dec. 13--Finn (Atlantic Theater Co.) (previews begin, opening TBA)

Dec. 14--Wild Rose (NYTW)

Dec. 17--Spring Awakening (Studio Seaview)

Jan. 9--Too Bad for Her (Atlatntic Theater Co. ) (previews begin, opening TBA)

Jan. 13--Honor, An Artist Lecture by Suzanne Bocanegra in Tandem with Lili Taylor (Theater for a New Audience) (previews begin, opening TBA)

Jan. 17--Full Fallop (City Center Stage II)

Jan. 19--Dolly: A True Original Musical (St. James)

Jan. 21--Texas in Paris (Signature Center)

Jan. 27--Mix and Master (Roundabout/Todd Haimes)

Jan. 28--Pretend It's Pretend (LCT/Clara Tow) (previews begin, opening TBA)

Jan. 2027--Awake and Sing (MTC/Samuel Friedman)

Jan. 2027--The Heart Sellers (MCC)

Feb. 3--You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Encores!)

Feb. 11--The Grief Eater Near North Bender (Roundabout/NYTW/Laura Pels)

Feb. 22--Work of Devotion (Second Stage/Signature Center)

Feb. 25--Faydra (MTC/City Center Stage I)

Feb. 28--King Lear (Theater for a New Audience) (previews begin, opening TBA)

Feb. 29--Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (CSC)

Feb. 2027--Three Days of Rain (Shubert theater TBA)

Feb. 2027--Petra (Vineyard Theater)

Feb. 2027--Miles for Mary (Signature Theater Company)

Are the Bennett Girls OK? (Public)

Welcome Table (Public)

Wold Meteor (Playwrights Horizons)

Spring 2027

March 17--Let 'Em Eat Cake (Encores!)

March 18--Small Mouth Sounds (Barrymore)

March 18--Old Actress (Atlantic Theater Co.) (previews begin, opening TBA)

March 25--Evita (Winter Garden)

April 5--Gloria (Second Stage/Hayes)

April 12--Purple Rain (Majestic)

April 15--The Sound of Music (LCT/Vivian Beaumont)

April 18--Paddington the Musical (Al Hirschfeld)

April 25--The Full Monty (Roundabout/Todd Haimes)

April 28--how to roll a blunt (Second Stage/Signature Center)

April 28--Kiss of the Spider Woman (Encores!)

April--Warriors (Lunt-Fontanne)

May 6--Born in the Dirt (LCT/Mitzi Newhouse)

May 24--Wonder! A Woman Keeps a Secret (CSC)

May 27--Push (Atlantic Theater Co.) (previews begin, opening TBA)

May 2027--Angela's Mixtape (Signature Theater Company)

The Annunciation (Playwrights Horizons)

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Damn Yankees

Feast of Rabbits (Playwrights Horizons)

Montauk (MTC/Samuel J. Friedman)

The Vagina Monologues (Roundabout/Laura Pels)

Summer 2027

June 11--Beautiful Jolie Gabor (Transport Group/Theater 555) (previews begin, opening TBA)

June--What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (MCC)

Aug. 17--10 Things I Hate About You (previews begin, opening TBA)

Fall 2027

Annie

Dates TBD

Let the Good Times Roll: A New Orleans Gumbo
Private Lives

MISS STEP (Playwrights Horizons)

Narcissister (Playwrights Horizons)

New work by Monica Bill Barnes and Robbie Saenz de Viteri (Playwright Horizons)

Playing Burton (LCT/Mitzi Newhouse)

Future--Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death; Beat Street; Black Orpheus; Coal Miner's Daughter; Come Fall in Love--The DDLJ Musical; Crazy Rich Asians; Dare To Be Stupid: The Weird Al Yankovic Musical; The Devil Wears Prada; Ella: An American Miracle; Eurovision Song Contest; Everybody's Talking About Jamie; Fahrenheit 451; Fire and Rain: The James Taylor Musical; Frida, the Musical; Game of Thrones; Get Happy; The Griswolds' Broadway Vacation; High Noon; Imitation of Life; The Interestings; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; The Karate Kid; La La Land; The Mousetrap; Nancy Drew and the Mystery at Spotlight Manor; The Nanny; The Normal Heart/The Destiny of Me; Pal Joey; Particle Fever; The Princess Bride; Purple Rain; The Queen's Gambit; Rear Window; The Secret Garden; Sing Street; Slumdog Millionaire; Soul Train; Studio 54; Waking Ned Devine; Working Girl.

2026-27 Broadway Season Breakdown
New Plays
Inter Alia
Mix and Master
Montauk
Paranormal Activity

New Musicals

Dolly: A True Original Musical

Galileo, A Rock Musical

Let the Good Times Roll: A New Orleans Gumbo

Paddington The Musical

Purple Rain

Wanted

Warriors

Play Revivals

Awake and Sing

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Downstate

A Few Good Men

Gloria

Here There Are Blueberries

The Imaginary Invalid

Much Ado About Nothing

Other Desert Cities

Private Lives

School Girls or the African Mean Girls Play

Small Mouth Sounds

Three Days of Rain

Musical Revivals

Damn Yankees

Dreamgirls

Evita

The Fantasticks

The Full Monty

The Sound of Music

Solos/Specialties

860 (Billy Crystal)

Blue Man Group: A New Holiday Surprise

Celebrity Autobiography