Posted: 10/1/23 at 12:23am
While I realize there are “events” Ala bette in hello Dolly and there are events ala lea Michele in funny girl. Or the revival of merrily we roll along. I’m curious what people are predicting will be the next “event” of Broadway… a star cast, or star in a particular role? A revival ? A new musical? Is there something. Confirmed or rumored that people are looking forward to ? Hopeful of?
Posted: 10/1/23 at 1:24am
It seems like all the shows that can become "events" now are pretty much only based on casting, unless we get another lightning strike like Hamilton. I supposed both Back to the Future and Moulin Rouge did pretty good business outside the usual theater crowd when they first began (though I think we can already see BTTF coming down in the grosses, possibly due to the mixed word of mouth), though they weren't quite the sensation that the other shows you mentioned have been. I'm terrible at guessing what kinds of IP have pull with with general audiences, but I wonder if a stage version of recent popular movie musicals like The Greatest Showman and La La Land could have that kind of status, though I think it'll still all come down to casting (and fwiw I think putting La La Land on stage would defeat the whole purpose of the movie).
Posted: 10/1/23 at 9:44am
Right now the buzziest off-Broadway show is Hell's Kitchen, which sold out both its original dates and it's extension before anyone has seen anything. I got a ticket after finding one YouTube video of Maleah Joi Moon. On the Public's website they have the cast all listed alphabetically; so even though she plays the main character, right now she's almost hidden 3/4 of the way down the page. After seeing that one video on YouTube, I can see that she could have the potential to be NYC's next "It girl." People may go in for the Alicia Keys music, but might come out clamouring for more Ms. Moon. Time will tell.
Of course the Public has had a long history of shows that looked good on paper, but turned out to be disappointments. In 2014 I flew in to see Michael Friedman's take on Jonathan Lethem's Fortress of Solitude. Yikes! That was a bummer. Andre de Shields had one number where he came out & tore down the house and then the show went back to being a frigging mess. I was actually shocked that it got a cast recording. That same weekend I saw a funny show at the Atlantic that equally went nowhere. But, less than 6 months later the Public premiered Hamilton. When they released their season announcement in summer 2014 LMM's name may have piqued some interest...but an adaptation of a 1000 page political biography...really??? Who knew!
Posted: 10/2/23 at 10:57pm
I feel like every decade is capped by a show - Early 200s we had Wicked, 2010s we have Hamilton, so I'm not sure what the next big thing will be.
But it is interesting because at least last season Kimberly had already been announced and was about to open and that was the front runner. So not sure what is going to come out of this season. But "Hell's Kitchen" sounds promising.
Posted: 10/3/23 at 1:49am
I am guessing that the best chance, based on what I know is likely to open, could be Cabaret. Great musical that has had prior huge (at an event level???) success on Broadway, a new production that got enormous press when it opened in London and won a lot of awards, Oscar-winning lead, etc.
Of course, Redmayne’s career luster isn’t what it used to be (or maybe he won’t even be in it) and the last revival closed less than 9 years ago. So, who knows.
I do acknowledge the occasional production that came from nowhere and became an event when the reviews came out. For the old-timers, I would venture that a really good example would be A Moon for the Misbegotten with Dewhurst and Robards. Was only scheduled for a 5 week run. A somewhat obscure Eugene O’Neill play ended up being the must-see of the season. Those are pretty rare, however.
