2023-24 Broadway Season Preview - Part Four

The Who’s Tommy 

Let me just start off by saying that not seeing the original Broadway production of The Who’s Tommy remains to this day one of my biggest regrets. Now while I can’t recall the exact reason I managed to avoid seeing it during its acclaimed award-winning two-year run in the early to mid-nineties, I will not make that mistake again. The show, based on the 1969 Peter Towsend film of the same name, is set to make its triumphant return to the Great White Way at the Nederlander Theatre beginning on March 8-2024, with opening night scheduled for March 28-2024. For those of you who are unaware of the show’s synopsis, I have included a brief description of the rock opera from the show’s official press release. "After witnessing his father shoot his rival, the young Tommy Walker is lost in the universe, endlessly and obsessively staring into the mirror. An innate knack for pinball catapults him from reticent adolescent to celebrity savior. ”So, now do you see why I am so eager to see this show after thirty years?

The new production based on the recent critically acclaimed sold-out run at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, is being helmed once again by Des McAnuff, who won a Tony Award for his direction. As of now, no casting information has been announced but I certainly expect most if not all the Chicago cast to transfer to Broadway. Fingers crossed.  

Well, would you look at that? Another musical is set to make its return to Broadway for the very first time in almost forty years. The Wiz, the beloved adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, is scheduled to begin previews at the Marquis Theatre on March 29-2024 with an opening set for April 17-2024. Featuring music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls, a book by William F. Brown, with new material by Amber Ruffin (Some Like It Hot), and directed by Schele Williams, The Wiz is currently on an eleven-city tour that began in Baltimore last month, and that will play through March 3-2024.

Leading the Broadway cast in the title role is none other than Wayne Brady who was last seen in Kinky Boots. Starring alongside him are Nichelle Lewis as Dorothy, Deborah Cox as Glinda, Melody A Betts as Aunt Em and Evillene, Kyle Ramar Freeman as the Lion, Phillip Johnson Richardson as the Tin Man, and Avery Wilson as the Scarecrow. Just like with The Who’s Tommy, I have never seen a live production of this show. Which is why I cannot wait to see what is sure to be a highlight of the season.  

One of my first jobs in the Broadway ticket business was working in the box office at Studio 54, that housed the Tony Award winning 1998 production of Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret. During my time there I must have seen over a half a dozen different Sally Bowles such as Jennifer Jason Leigh, Lea Thompson, Gina Gershon, Mary McCormack, Katie Finneran, and Brook Shields just to name a few, as well as Emmy winner Michael C. Hall who was cast in Six Feet Under based on his electrifying performance as the Emcee. This new immersive production based on the award-winning London production, which is currently still playing at the Kit Kat Club in the West End, is set to star Academy and Tony Award winner Eddie Redmayne, who is reprising his role as the Emcee, and Gayle Rankin as Sally Bowles. Directed by Rebecca Frecknall, Cabaret is scheduled to begin previews at the August Wilson Theater on April 1-2024, with opening night scheduled for April 21-2024.

Now for those of you who have never seen the show and would like a little more info as to what it is all about, I have included a brief description to give you a better idea. "It's 1931 Berlin, and inside the Kit Kat Club, British nightclub singer Sally Bowles keeps the delirious party raging. But no amount of booze, music, and dancing can slow down the ominous march of changing Germany it draws even closer. “Now while I may be familiar with this show based on my previous experience, there is no way I am missing this production. Sounds like we are going to have a heck of a race this season for the Tony Award for Best Musical Revival theatre fans.  

Finally, a play. Just kidding. Mary Jane, by Amy Herzog, who scored a hit last season with her new adaptation of A Doll’s House starring Jessica Chastin, is set to begin previews at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on April 2-2024, with opening night to be announced. The show, which previously played Off-Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop in Fall 2017, will feature Academy Award nominee Rachel McAdams as the title character in her Broadway debut. Directed by Tony Award nominee Anne Kaufman, the play according to the shows press release is a “story of a single mother in an impossible family situation. Faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, Mary Jane relies on unflagging optimism and humor, along with the wisdom of the women around her who have become a makeshift family, to take on each new day. But will inner strength and newfound friendships be enough to see her through?”

Sounds like an incredible night in the theatre to me. Stay tuned to this blog site for further casting information in the coming weeks.  

Well, would you look at that? A classic drama headed to the Great White Way at one of my favorite Broadway theatres. Written by Anton Chekov and translated by Tony Award nominee Heidi Schreck (What the Constitution Means to Me), Uncle Vanya is scheduled to begin previews at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre on April 2-2024, with opening night set for April 24-2024. The last production of this Russian classic was in 2000 starring Sir Derek Jacobi in the title role. Now while no casting has been announced yet, I am sure that Lincoln Center Theatre has a big name up its sleeve for this limited engagement.

So, what is the show all about, you ask? Well, considering I have never read the play or seen the show myself, I will refer to the play’s official website to give you a better idea. “Sonya and her uncle Vanya have devoted their lives to managing the family farm in isolation, but when her celebrated, ailing father and his charismatic wife move in, their lives are upended. In the heat of the summer, the wrong people fall in love, desires and resentments erupt, and the family is forced to reckon with the ghosts of their unlived lives.” I think I just might have to check this one out. After all, who knows when a production of this magnitude will come along again?  

Next up is another Broadway premiere. The Mother Play, written by Pulitzer Prize winner and Tony Award nominee Paula Vogel, is set to begin previews at the Hayes Theatre on April 2-2024, with opening night scheduled for April 25-2024. Directed by Tony nominee Tina Landau (SpongeBob SquarePants the Musical), the new play features an all-star cast in the form of Tony Award winner Celia Keenan-Bolger (To Kill a Mockingbird), Academy and Tony Award winner Jessica Lange (Long Day’s Journey into Night), and Emmy Award winner Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory).

Set in our nation's capital in 1962, Mother Play, according to its official press release tells the story of matriarch Phyllis (Lange) who is “supervising her teenage children, Carl (Parsons) and Martha (Keenan-Bolger), as they move into a new apartment. Phyllis has strong ideas about what her children need to do and be to succeed, and woe be the child who finds their path. Bolstered by gin and cigarettes, the family endures-or survives-the changing world around them. Blending flares of imaginative theatrically, surreal farce, and deep tenderness, this beautiful roller coaster ride reveals timeless truths of love, family, and forgiveness.” Now while I may not be the biggest fan of roller coasters personally, this will be one time that I will be happy to make an exception. Expect multiple Tony Award nominations all around for this highly anticipated drama.  

Last, but certainly not least, is SUFFS. The new Shaina Taub penned musical that played a sold-out run at New York’s Public Theatre in April 2022, will begin previews at the Music Box Theatre sometime in Spring 2024, with opening night scheduled for April 17-2024. 

Directed by Tony Award nominee Leigh Silverman (Violet), the new musical, according to the show's website, is a “musical event one hundred years in the making that brings to life a complicated chapter in the ongoing battle for the right to vote: the American women’s suffrage movement. 

Written by and featuring one of the most exciting new voices in the theatre, Shaina Taub, this epic new musical takes an unflinching look at these unsung trailblazers. In the seven years leading up to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, an impassioned group of suffragists - “Suffs” as they called themselves-took to the streets, pioneering protest tactics that transformed the country. They risked their lives as they clashed with the president, the public, and each other. 

A thrilling story of brilliant, flawed women working against and across generational, racial, and class divides, SUFFS boldly explores the victories and failures of a fight for equality that is still far from other.” Musical event is right. 

As I mentioned, no preview date has been announced or who will be starring in the critically acclaimed new musical. Make sure to check this blog site for further updates.