Top shows to see this spring, plus I'm giving a talk!
DC & NY Spring Preview | "Gay for Stage: Why I Can't Shut Up About Musicals"
Hello, play-goers! It’s that exciting time of year when lots of shows are opening on Broadway. I love opening my email in the morning to see the reviews from “Did They Like It?” (you can sign up, too, right here!). Strong offerings are also available in DC. To help you sort through the options, I’ve collected my top picks for the spring. But first, a special announcement…
Gay for Stage: Why I Can’t Shut Up About Musicals
Friday, May 2. Reception 6:30-7; Talk 7-8p. At the DC JCC, 1529 16th St NW, DC. More info here
I’ve been invited to give a talk about theatre here in DC! If you’re local, please join me. I’m so excited to take this newsletter “off the screen” and into three dimensions with this event, where I’ll share some of what I’ve learned about the art and business of theatre, and why I love it so much!
We’ll cover:
* Where can you see great theatre in the DC area?
* What’re my top picks for shows playing in DC and New York this Spring?
* How to pick a show that you’ll love?
* How does a show get made? Who else besides the actors works on it?
* What tools are available to theatre-makers and how do they use them to tell stories?
* What’s the difference between Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, national tours, and regional theatre?
* What YOU love about theatre!
The event is sponsored by Bet Mishpachah, a congregation for LGBT Jews. This event will have no religious content and is open to all, including non-Jews and non-LGBT people. You’re welcome to stay for shabbat services at 8p or leave after the talk.
Spring Preview: DC
World Pride is coming to DC in June, and with it up to three million celebrants. Several area theatres have programmed queer content surrounding this major event. Arena Stage is mounting a new play from “Moonlight” screenwriter Tarell Alvin McCraney, a queer love story entitled “We Are Gathered” (May 16–June 15).
Three stages will present revivals of queer-focused musicals. Constellation Theatre is putting up the silly and fun Go-Gos jukebox musical “Head Over Heels” (May 1-June 1). I saw this in its pre-Broadway tryout and found the story delightful and the music propulsive. The Keegan Theatre is featuring William Finn’s classic “Falsettos”(May 10-June 15), which takes on a new poignancy since his passing last week. It tells a complex and rich story of a family navigating parenting and new lovers during the AIDS epidemic, set to a terrific score. Over at Signature, the cult classic “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” is getting a very intimate revival in their smaller theatre (April 15-June 22).
While I usually don’t suggest touring productions, I’m making an exception because the two best shows of the 2022-23 Broadway season are coming to us next month: “Kimberly Akimbo” at the National Theatre in DC from May 20 – June 1 and “Some Like it Hot” at the Hippodrome in Baltimore from May 6-11. These are both musical comedies with engaging stories, fantastic scores, and a lot of heart. The latter is also a dance extravaganza!
Spring Preview: New York
The Broadway season truly has something for everyone. For the first time in over six years, all but one of Broadway’s 41 theatres has a show up right now, including classic plays with bold-faced celebrities, zeitgeisty new plays, and a musical for every taste.
I’m always drawn most to original works—stories being told on stage for the first time, as opposed to adaptations. This season has several excellent options in this category. First, “Dead Outlaw” tells the incredible-but-true story of the corpse of an outlaw that toured the country. Its off-Broadway run was met with raves; now it’s a strong contender for the Best Musical Tony. The creative team reunites the folks who created the excellent musical “The Band’s Visit,” including composer-lyricist David Yazbek, whose work I really admire. With Erik Della Penna, they’ve written a “country, rock, and jazz” score to tell this intriguing story.
Another musical based on a true story about an early 20th-Century man is “Floyd Collins,” from the great composer Adam Guettel and writer-director Tina Landau. Jeremy Jordan stars as a cave explorer who becomes trapped underground, attracting a media circus. With a folk/bluegrass score sung by Jeremy Jordan in the lead role, I think this will be a strong production. (The show premiered years ago but is getting its first Broadway outing now.)
The third of the new-and-original-and-based-on-a-true-story shows I recommend is “Operation Mincemeat,” a zany British import about a World War II military operation involving a corpse. (That’s two corpses so far, if you’re keeping track.) The musical has been a sensation in London and got raves when it opened here a few weeks ago. A cast of five—three of which are also the show’s writers—play a cast of many more to tell a wild story with a laugh a minute.
If you’re looking for a play, the one that drew me in the most was “Good Night and Good Luck,” an adaptation of the great 2005 film featuring George Clooney as a journalist-hero fighting the repressive forces of the McCarthy era. “John Proctor is the Villain,”about a group of students reckoning with “The Crucible” in the #MeToo era, just got great reviews, especially for its lead performer Sadie Sink.
Beyond these (my top picks), there’s a little bit of everything else, too. If you like a jukebox biomusical with a great star, head to “Just In Time,” where Jonathan Groff plays Bobby Darin in an intimate setting. If you liked the album “Buena Vista Social Club,” it’s been turned into a musical, which reviewers have said has a wobbly story but fabulous music. If you’ve got kids in tow, “BOOP! The Musical” is a fun choice for a classic Broadway song-and-dance show with a terrific lead performance, dazzling sets, and upbeat songs. And if, like me, you’re still grieving Sondheim’s death these 3.5 years later, a revue of his work featuring Bernadette Peters is available in “Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends.”
There are strong offerings Off-Broadway as well. Creator-performer Whitney White stars in “Macbeth in Stride,” a captivating and original retelling of Lady Macbeth’s story as it applies to an ambitious Black woman (through April 27 at BAM). I loved this when she did it in DC. Andrew Scott plays all the parts in “Vanya,” which has been well-reviewed (through May 11 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre).
If you haven’t been to New York in awhile, don’t forget about some of the other great shows still playing: “Maybe Happy Ending,” another Best Musical contender whose score is on repeat on my Spotify right now (my review here); the incomparable Audra McDonald giving a rousing performance in “Gypsy”; and of course, if you still haven’t seen it, my all-time favorite “Hadestown.”
That’s all for now! See you at the theatre—and maybe at the JCC on May 2nd!