Carrie Coon & Namir Smallwood in BUG - December 2025 at MTC Friedman- Page 2

[Musigamist]

Posted: 8/25/25 at 12:14pm

African Queen2 said: "Has anyone received the under 35 email? I’m going to the box office later today to see what’s up"

I'm still waiting for the Punch email; anyone get that one yet?

[RUkiddingme]

Posted: 8/25/25 at 12:16pm

ColorTheHours048 said: "MTCtransferred Time Stands Still and Venus in Fur to commercial runs in recent-ish memory, "

2010 and 2011 are hardly recent-ish!

Did anyone else see Bug off broadway 20 something years ago?  It was totally forgettable.  I hope it's gotten better over the past few decades.

[MidWestTheater]

Posted: 8/25/25 at 1:09pm

I saw this production at Steppenwolf back in early 2020 and I was blown away. The Thriller/Horror genre is so difficult to pull on stage and David Cromer did it with this production. Carrie Coon as always is amazing. I remember just being totally wowed by her monologue. But the real secret weapon of this production is Namir Smallwood, who IMO, is one of Chicago's best actors. I've seen him in so many shows and he has always delivered, even if the show is not great. I'm actually about to see him in Mr. Wolf in a few weeks. He's only been broadway once I believe, in Passover, with Jon Michael Hill. I'm so happy him and the rest of the Steppenwolf cast are transfering with is what is now a star-lead production.

I'm not surprised there are cell-phone pouches being used for it's broadway run, there is a very long full-frontal nude scene of both actors in the first act. 

Also when I saw it, Tracy Letts was in front of me in line at the bar.

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 8/25/25 at 1:19pm

"Did anyone else see Bug off broadway 20 something years ago?  It was totally forgettable." 

While I think that we can go back and forth about the quality of the writing in Bug... it's shaken me to my core that someone has described it as "totally forgettable." 

The graphic violence. The lengthy full nudity. The scene change at intermission. The dynamite performance of Shannon Cochran and  the star-making performance of Michael Shannon (both of which received raves) and Brantley calling it "the theater season's wildest ride." Again, I've not always been sure it's a great bit of writing but "totally forgettable" is insane, in my little opinion. 

[RUkiddingme]

Posted: 8/25/25 at 2:15pm

KJisgroovy said: "". it's shaken me to my core that someone has described it as "totally forgettable."
 

 

Wow!  A stranger's comment on a theater chat can do all that!?!?  LOL

[Bwaygurl2]

Posted: 8/25/25 at 2:26pm

KJisgroovy said: ""Did anyone else see Bug off broadway 20 something years ago? It was totally forgettable."

While I think that we can go back and forth about the quality of the writing in Bug... it's shaken me to my core that someone has described it as "totally forgettable."

The graphic violence. The lengthy full nudity. The scene change at intermission. The dynamite performanceof Shannon Cochran and the star-making performance of Michael Shannon (both of which received raves) and Brantley calling it "the theater season's wildest ride." Again, I've not always been sure it's a great bit of writing but "totally forgettable" is insane, in my little opinion."

Yeah, they seem like a troll who says things for attention. 

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 8/25/25 at 3:49pm

"Wow!  A stranger's comment on a theater chat can do all that!?!?  LOL"

Yes, my comment employed hyperbole for comedic effect. I'm glad it got a laugh. 

 

[Birdie Boy]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 3:02pm

Do we know how long this is running for?  Are they looking to transfer or something? Anyone got the scoop?

[TheatreMonkey]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 3:54pm

...transfer where? It's already in a Broadway house.

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 4:00pm

It's a short, non-profit run. Transfer to a for-profit house or extend under a standard contract.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/15/25 at 11:33am

Tickets are finally onsale for this. Cheapest seats seem to be $100.50

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 10/15/25 at 11:48am

Yeah, that starting price is high.  Any discounts around?

[Cockeyed Optimist]

Posted: 10/15/25 at 11:49am

I’m waiting for the 30 under 35 email to be sent 

[steven22]

Posted: 10/27/25 at 9:57am

Cockeyed Optimist said: "I’m waiting for the 30 under 35 email to be sent"

Any guesses when this will come? I’m waiting patiently as I’m excited to see Carrie Coon live. 

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 10/27/25 at 10:03am

steven22 said: "Cockeyed Optimist said: "I’m waiting for the 30 under 35 email to be sent"

Any guesses when this will come? I’m waiting patiently as I’m excited to see Carrie Coon live."

The 30 under 35 code usually comes out a few weeks before the first preview- like for Punch it was the middle of August. Bug starts previews December 16, so I would think mid-November or Thanksgiving week for the code?

[AccountSuspended1761688891]

Posted: 10/28/25 at 11:36am

I emailed them about it, they said the code will come out mid November. 

[LooseTapScrews]

Posted: 11/14/25 at 9:23pm

I assume this was just a mistake by both podcasters… but last week, while listening to The Ankler’s Prestige Junkie with Katey Rich, she interviewed Tracy Letts. In her introduction (which sounded like it was recorded separately and not with him in the room), she mentioned that he would be directing his play Bug on Broadway.

 

I literally paused, rewound, and replayed it because I thought, “Wait—did Cromer drop out? Maybe he left for Gatsby?” But nothing online reflected that. Cromer was still listed everywhere.

 

Then today, I was half-listening to Broadway Breakdown, and Matt Koplik also casually mentioned Tracy Letts directing Bug on Broadway. And at that point I thought, Okay, this clearly must be true. What are the odds they’d both flub the exact same detail?

 

So again I went straight to the internet: the MTC page, Playbill, BroadwayWorld, Wikipedia… and Cromer is still credited as director across the board.

 

Finally, I asked ChatGPT to look into it… and nope. No sign anywhere that Letts is directing or co-directing this production.

 

It was such a weird case of déjà vu — I reacted the exact same way both times: pause/ rewind / confirm what I heard / then the whole due-diligence loop of Google / MTC /Playbill / BWW /Wiki /ChatGPT. And every single time, the answer is the same: Cromer is directing, not Letts. It just seemed odd that both said the exact same thing… 

 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 11/14/25 at 10:40pm

LooseTapScrews said: "I assume this was just a mistake by both podcasters… but last week, while listening to The Ankler’s Prestige Junkie with Katey Rich, she interviewed Tracy Letts. In her introduction (which sounded like it was recorded separately and not with him in the room), she mentioned that he would be directing his play Bug on Broadway.



I literally paused, rewound, and replayed it because I thought, “Wait—did Cromer drop out? Maybe he left for Gatsby?” But nothing online reflected that. Cromer was still listed everywhere.



Then today, I was half-listening to Broadway Breakdown, and Matt Koplik also casually mentioned Tracy Letts directing Bug on Broadway. And at that point I thought, Okay, this clearly must be true. What are the odds they’d both flub the exact same detail?



So again I went straight to the internet: the MTC page, Playbill, BroadwayWorld, Wikipedia… and Cromer is still credited as director across the board.



Finally, I asked ChatGPT to look into it… and nope. No sign anywhere that Letts is directing or co-directing this production.



It was such a weird case of déjà vu — I reacted the exact same way both times: pause/rewind /confirm what I heard /then the whole due-diligence loop of Google /MTC /Playbill /BWW /Wiki /ChatGPT. And every single time, the answer is the same: Cromer is directing, not Letts. It just seemed odd that both said the exact same thing…

"

Or maybe the second guy had listened to the first one -- and didn't bother to fact check?  Wouldn't that be a much simpler explanation than diving headfirst into the conspiracy theory wormhole?

 

[veronicamae]

Posted: 11/15/25 at 1:40am

LooseTapScrews said: "I assume this was just a mistake by both podcasters… but last week, while listening to The Ankler’s Prestige Junkie with Katey Rich, she interviewed Tracy Letts. In her introduction (which sounded like it was recorded separately and not with him in the room), she mentioned that he would be directing his play Bug on Broadway.



I literally paused, rewound, and replayed it because I thought, “Wait—did Cromer drop out? Maybe he left for Gatsby?” But nothing online reflected that. Cromer was still listed everywhere.



Then today, I was half-listening to Broadway Breakdown, and Matt Koplik also casually mentioned Tracy Letts directing Bug on Broadway. And at that point I thought, Okay, this clearly must be true. What are the odds they’d both flub the exact same detail?



So again I went straight to the internet: the MTC page, Playbill, BroadwayWorld, Wikipedia… and Cromer is still credited as director across the board.



Finally, I asked ChatGPT to look into it… and nope. No sign anywhere that Letts is directing or co-directing this production.



It was such a weird case of déjà vu — I reacted the exact same way both times: pause/rewind /confirm what I heard /then the whole due-diligence loop of Google /MTC /Playbill /BWW /Wiki /ChatGPT. And every single time, the answer is the same: Cromer is directing, not Letts. It just seemed odd that both said the exact same thing…"

Cromer is directing. Letts wrote it. 

This is how rumors start - someone hears something, repeats it out of laziness, and now here we are, someone dot-dot-dotting a post about it, suggesting the erroneous info could be true. Siiiigh.

Also, don't use ChatGPT for anything, and especially not for fact-checking. 

More interestingly, HERE is a very intriguing teaser posted by MTC yesterday. (I'll also give you 5 cents if you correctly  guess who it says the creatives on this production are).

Updated On: 11/15/25 at 01:40 AM

[LooseTapScrews]

Posted: 11/15/25 at 3:19am

Okay, maybe my original post read differently than I meant it to. I was not trying to start a rumor, stir anything up, or imply Tracy Letts suddenly decided to direct his own play. I know Cromer is directing. I know Letts wrote it. That was never the question.

 

What I was pointing out is that it is genuinely strange when two different industry people, both of whom usually know what they are talking about, casually repeat the same wrong detail a week or so apart. That is all. It felt like a weird little deja vu moment. I heard Katey say it, I paused and replayed it, checked the usual places, and moved on. Then I heard Matt say the exact same thing, and my brain went, okay, twice? Really?

 

So I checked the normal sources again. MTC. Playbill. BWW. Google. Wiki. After that, I tossed it to ChatGPT because I am already knee-deep in my own dramaturgical research and running on fumes. I was not using ChatGPT as a breaking news source. I simply asked it to confirm something I already knew. I was not creating a conspiracy theory. I was pointing out a strangely repeated mistake from people who should know better.

 

As for the whole “joined today” thing, that is not me reinventing myself. That is just BWW’s login system running on whatever ancient Hotmail, Yahoo, and Encarta 98 code is still rattling around under the hood. People on iOS and Android are getting kicked out every time they click to a new page. This is a site glitch, not a rebrand.

 

Anyway, that is all I meant. No drama. No deep theories. Just a bizarrely repeated error that caught my ear. And now I am going to smoke my caviar gold jay and silent bob Snoogans indica infused preroll and pass the f out . Good night.

 

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 11/15/25 at 5:21am

LooseTapScrews said: "
As for the whole “joined today” thing, that is not me reinventing myself. That is just BWW’s login system running on whatever ancient Hotmail, Yahoo, and Encarta 98 code is still rattling around under the hood. People on iOS and Android are getting kicked out every time they click to a new page. This is a site glitch, not a rebrand.
"

Why are you the only person this glitch is happening to? I had to login again but my join date isn't suddenly today. 

[Peronista]

Posted: 11/15/25 at 10:05am

Saw this at Steppenwolf.  Fantastic production.  But can’t imagine it in a Broadway size house - the claustrophobic aspects are a crucial part of the story.  Pay the money to sit up close.  And speaking of being up close, the nudity in this production is the most naturalistic, absolutely organic handing of nudity I’ve ever seen on a stage.  And that is a rare achievement.

[LooseTapScrews]

Posted: 11/15/25 at 2:22pm

iluvtheatertrash said: "LooseTapScrews said: "
As for the whole “joined today” thing, that is not me reinventing myself. That is just BWW’s login system running on whatever ancient Hotmail, Yahoo, and Encarta 98 code is still rattling around under the hood. People on iOS and Android are getting kicked out every time they click to a new page. This is a site glitch, not a rebrand.
"

Why are you the only person this glitch is happening to? I had to login again but my join date isn't suddenly today."

Sorry, I did make a new account after not being able to log in for weeks saying my email and/or password is wrong. I can’t access that email anymore to even change passwords. That’s on me. The glitch of having to log back in every 5 minutes that others are experiencing as well is what officially caused me to lose access to my old account. (FosseTharp).

Updated On: 11/15/25 at 02:22 PM

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 11/15/25 at 2:41pm

Thanks for explaining. Some of the trolls on here have been a lot.

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 11/20/25 at 12:22pm

30 under 35 now available, code is BUG35

Also Telecharge says the show will use Yondr pouches