Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil - Broadway?

[mitchern]

Posted: 7/23/25 at 9:43am

Is it still coming in this year as originally teased? Does anyone know the latest? 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/23/25 at 9:56am

Don’t know, but it feels like one of those shows where its ONLY road to even a half-respectable run is winning Best Musical. And that’s not a great strategy.

At one point I heard it was being budgeted at north of $20 million, which is a staggeringly high sum for a niche story/property that is not going to appeal to everyone everywhere.

[Ensemble1753189756]

Posted: 7/23/25 at 11:32am

Is it coming to Broadway? I heard Broadhurst Theatre.

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 7/23/25 at 11:37am

Producers are still aiming for this season. Whether they can get the proper funding and a theater is the question. In an ideal world, I feel like this is a show that should open early fall so it has more breathing room to establish itself before the scene is flooded with new musicals in the spring. Then again, given the current financial market, we may not see as many new musicals debut this season, so perhaps the spring won't feel as jam packed as in previous years. In either case, this doesn't feel like a mass-appeal type of show, so it likely has an uphill battle no matter when it opens.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/23/25 at 12:39pm

The problem with an early fall opening is the show has to survive eight months till the Tonys. If it gets MAYBE HAPPY ENDING level reviews that helps it (but doesn’t guarantee financial success). If it gets LEMPICKA level reviews that means it’s gone before Valentines Day.

Have they done substantial work & readings on the piece since the out of town? Its reviews were not great, with the one consistent standout (JHG) being someone who brings immense talent but no value to the box office.

Hal Luftig’s track record is a lead producer is as mixed as any major figure, but he also has that pesky lawsuit/bankruptcy looming over him. And while he has a lot of trust within the industry, the legal stuff does not HELP anything. 

Updated On: 7/23/25 at 12:39 PM

[Bwaygurl2]

Posted: 7/23/25 at 12:48pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "The problem with an early fall opening is the show has to survive eight months till the Tonys. If it gets MAYBE HAPPY ENDING level reviews that helps it (but doesn’t guarantee financial success). If it gets LEMPICKA level reviews that means it’s gone before Valentines Day.

I realize conventional wisdom is to open in the spring so you don't have to tough out the winter months. And I'm sure that still makes sense. But last season it seems like the shows that opened in April were hurt because the narrative has already solidified and Real Women and Outlaw just couldn't get any traction/ have enough time to build WOM. At least that's how some perceive what happened, so I'm seeing more and more people wish shows would open in the fall (even though that goes against conventional wisdom). 

 

[KrupYou]

Posted: 7/23/25 at 1:10pm

I was told it was having big trouble raising the money. No stars and author with rough financial history. Tough sell. 

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 7/23/25 at 1:25pm

Historically, the spring has been a better period to open in if you're chasing Best Musical due to the voters' perceived "recency bias." However, the majority of best Musical winners this decade have opened outside of April.

Last year, the Best Musical lineup was already decided before April got here. Maybe Happy Ending and Death Becomes Her opened in the fall and solidified their status as contenders. They didn't have as much competition opening around them, and voters were able to sit with their viewing experiences of these musicals for many months. Buena Vista and Mincemeat opened in March, later in the season, but still avoiding the mad rush at the end of April. All four shows are wildly different in style and themes. That left one slot open and it went to Dead Outlaw, because voters were likely already familiar with it from downtown, and due to the pedigree of the writers. 

Boop, Smash, Old Friends, Just in Time, and Real Women Have Curves all tried to come in right at the end of the season and score that final Best Musical slot. All of them were screwed from the start. And the only one of those shows still kicking is the one led by a major Broadway name. Opening at the end of the season is no longer a way to guarantee a Best Musical nomination. How was Real Women supposed to build up consensus? Nominators saw it once, in the very busy last week of eligibility, and then had to vote a few days later. It's a tall order for any musical to come in that late and say "this is one of the 5 best of the season" when nominators have been secure in their thoughts about a bunch of other quality musicals for months.

I'm very excited for Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. But it is a very tough sell for commercial Broadway. And I maintain that opening in the fall, with a really captivating marketing strategy, would be their best bet at both a Best Musical nomination and long-term survival. This is a show that needs breathing room to establish itself. If they open at the end of April, it will absolutely be gone by July.

[verywellthensigh]

Posted: 7/23/25 at 1:27pm

For those who saw it, is the Jim Williams role a powerhouse to perform vocally?  If they could nail down a star (Robert Downey Jr, Josh Charles, Sean Hayes--Tony Goldwyn apparently did a reading of it years ago , etc), this could move forward.  Hope so, because it sounds really good. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/23/25 at 1:34pm

Opening in April is more about survival, IMO. A new musical opening in the fall has to have confidence (and, hopefully, $$$) to last 6-8 months including through winter, Broadway’s toughest period of the year. It’s doable. But not every show can survive an early opening.

The Tony nominating committee has demonstrated that they aren’t too swayed by recency, which is great, though if a show is closed it makes it hard to crack Best Musical. (I maintain that Hal Luftig’s HERE LIES LOVE could have had a better run with awards and audiences by opening in the springtime.)

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 7/23/25 at 1:47pm

verywellthensigh said: "For those who saw it, is the Jim Williams role a powerhouse to perform vocally? If they could nail down a star(Robert Downey Jr, Josh Charles, Sean Hayes--Tony Goldwyn apparently did a reading of it years ago, etc), this could move forward. Hope so, because it sounds really good."

I haven't seen the show, but was thinking the same thing. It might be a good opportunity for a name who can sing-ish. My first choice would be Matt Bomer with Chris Pine an option as well. Also Michael C. Hall now that Dexter is back in the public eye. 

[quizking101]

Posted: 7/23/25 at 1:47pm

Knowing someone who is a producer on the show, don’t expect anything soon. With Ghee doing Saturday Church Off Broadway and however those prospects turn out for a future run, this show may be dead in the water as Ghee as their biggest star on deck.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/23/25 at 5:59pm

Stars in new musicals are rare and challenging to secure. MHE is the exception, not the norm. It’s a vulnerable thing to choose to do a musical that has no track record and no guarantee of being good. As opposed to a revival where you know the quality of the writing going in. Someone like Tony Goldwyn (who has worked with Rob Ashford before) feels like a best case scenario, but also adds close to nothing to the box office. 

Updated On: 7/23/25 at 05:59 PM

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 7/23/25 at 7:08pm

The reviews in Chicago were mixed, leaning negative. From what I remember, the consensus was that by putting so much focus on the supporting role of Lady Chablis (G. Harrison Ghee), the main storyline of Jim Williams became secondary and the whole show was too much of a hodgepodge. I think they were trying to capitalize on our newfound celebratory attitude towards transness (as well as Ghee’s recent Tony win), and ended up telling too many stories at once. I have actually been slowly making my way through the book, and although I understand the temptation to make the musical adaption a tapestry of characters, based on the reviews anyway, that was not the best choice.

[theatreguy]

Posted: 7/23/25 at 8:21pm

I saw this in Chicago. I enjoyed it overall though it could definitely use some cutting and streamlining - there are SO many side characters, some get a quick few lines, some get entire songs. Not all those who get songs are able to justify their inclusion.

That said, I thought elevating the role of Lady Chablis provided an interesting contrast with Jim Williams - two queer people navigating 80s Savannah in very different ways (and, of course, with very different outcomes). Also, Ghee was electric. In the first scene, Tom Hewitt is talking to the audience and Ghee saunters onstage. Hewitt says something like "Lady Chablis, what are YOU doing here?" (they're in a graveyard) and Ghee responds "I'm here to steal the show!" And they did. An absolutely fantastic performance which completely justifies making the role a co-lead. If this does get to Broadway, Ghee will be an immediate frontrunner for the Tony.

I wouldn't say Jim Williams is a "powerhouse" role vocally, as far as I remember, but he definitely needs to be able to sing well. I really liked Tom Hewitt and would be sad to see him replaced by a name, though obviously between him and Ghee they are going to dump him first if they have to.

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 7/24/25 at 10:12am

If they’re going to keep the focus on Chablis they’ll have to write her a proper story and character arc. In Chicago we just had two+ hours of her telling us how fabulous she was. She could have been the Velma to Jim’s Roxie. But they rarely interacted. The book kept her in a separate show.
 

The film found a way to get her in the court room. 

Updated On: 7/24/25 at 10:12 AM