B'way Update: Warriors Musical

Eisa Davis and Lin-Manuel Miranda

Warriors, a musical based on the 1979 Paramount Pictures release The Warriors and the 1965 novel by Sol Yorick, will open on Broadway in Spring of 2027. Previews begin in March with an opening in April at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater. Book, music and lyrics are by Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, In the Heights) and Eisa Davis (Bulrusher). Jeffrey Koons directs and Andy Blankenbuehler of Hamilton co-directs and choreographs. The plot follows a NYC gang as they travel from Coney Island to the Bronx and back in an effort to prove their innocence of a murder. The musical originated as a concept album realesed in 2024 and featuring Lauryn Hill, Busta Rhymes, Nas, Billy Porter, Coleman Domingo, and many others.

“With Warriors, we take a fateful journey through New York City full of heart and grit as our characters fight to survive,” said co-writers Miranda and Davis in a joint statement. “Musicalizing such a vibrant world for the concept album has been a thrill, and now we're coming out to play on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne. We can't wait.”

A scene from The Warriors film (1979)

B'way Update: Lin-Manuel Miranda and NY, NY Musical

Liza Minnelli and Robert DeNiro in
New York, New York

Summertime and the livin' ain't easy. We keep getting bulletins about future shows. The latest is a new musical loosely based on the 1977 Martin Scorsese film New York, New York which starred Liza Minnelli and Robert DeNiro. Deadline reports the show which is aimed for Broadway in Spring 2023 will feature an all-star team behind the scenes. Dig this line up. The score will feature songs from the film by John Kander and Fred Ebb including the iconic title song immortalized by Minnelli and Frank Sinatra in separate recordings. New songs will be written by Kander with lyrics by Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. The book will be David Thompson who worked with Kander and Ebb on such projects as The Scottsboro Boys and Steel Pier, and Sharon Washington, who was in the cast of Scottsboro Boys and was seen most recently in the Central Park Richard III. Five-time Tony winner Susan Stroman (helmer of Scottsboro) will direct and choreograph. According to Deadline, the plot will bear little resemblance to that of the original film which followed the rocky relationship of bandleader DeNiro and his lead singer and love interest Minnelli. The new story will be set in 1946 in the title metropolis as it recovers after WWII.

This is probably the production Johnny Olensinski reported about in the New York Post when he wrote there was a Kander and Ebb revue called New York, New York possibly booked for the St. James in the spring.

Tony Winners and Oscar Buzz for tick...tick...Boom!

Andrew Garfield with director
Lin-Manuel Miranda filming
tick...tick..Boom!
at the Strand Book Store
Credit: Netflix

In the last blog post, I listed all the Tony winners and nominees on the first episode of The Gilded Age. (There were no new Tony winners to report in last night's second episode, but Kristen Nielsen as Mrs. Bauer did get to do some sobbing because she owed some tough guy $50.) Before watching that sophomore effort of the HBO Julian Fellowes series, I finally caught up with tick...tick..Boom on Netflix which is also stuffed with Tony recipients and nominees. This adaptation of Jonathan Larson's posthumously-produced autobiographical musical is a top contender for Oscar nominations according to internet buzz. Here is a list (below) of the strong Oscar favorites that I've seen so far. At first, I thought I wasn't going to get caught up in the Academy Awards this year, but then, just like last year, a whole bunch of the potential nominees became available on streaming platforms, so I figured, why not see as many as possible. The Oscar noms will be out Feb. 8.

Don't Call Hamilton Curtain Speech Bullying

Brandon Victor Dixon of Hamilton addresses Mike Pence

The tempest in a teapot over the speech delivered by Hamilton cast member Brandon Victor Dixon to audience member and Vice-President-elect Mike Pence appears to have finally died down. It has elicited a firestorm of comments on both sides of the political aisle. The hashtag #BoycottHamilton trended on Twitter, but it appears the box office has not been significantly affected. A pro-Trump audience member get rowdy at a Chicago performance, but there have not other reports of a major backlash. On a public bus I was standing right next to a group of young people talking about Broadway in general and how difficult it is to get tickets to the hip-hop Tony winning show. "But it may be easier now because some people are calling for a boycott because of the lecture they delivered," said the young man.