Shaun's Broadway Report #3: Saigon, Sailing Out and Salut!
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Shaun Nolan
It feels like forever and a day since I last sat down to write a Shaun’s Broadway Report and luckily for us, that means a lot of Broadway news has passed us by that we need to catch up on!
To start with, several Broadway shows have played their final performances and made room for new shows to fill their old theatres. DAMES AT SEA starring Matilda alum Lesli Margherita played its final performance at the Helen Hayes Theatre on January 3rd to make way for the Broadway transfer of the off-Broadway smash hit play THE HUMANS. THERESE RAQUIN starring Keira Knightley and Judith Light also closed its doors at Studio 54 on January 3rd to make way for the Roundabout revival of SHE LOVES ME starring Laura Benanti. Other shows that closed on January 3rd include the Broadway revival of SYLVIA starring Annaleigh Ashford and Matthew Broderick to make way for the new musical BRIGHT STAR at the Cort, and HAND TO GOD at the Booth Theatre (before Hand To God heads to London’s Vaudeville Theatre) to make way for Forest Whitaker in Eugene O’Neill’s classic play HUGHIE.
We also got a lot of news regarding London shows heading to Broadway, as well as Broadway revivals and new openings. It was announced that the production team behind CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY here in London are aiming to take the show to Broadway for this Fall season, and Cameron Macintosh announced that MISS SAIGON would be heading to a Shubert theatre on Broadway in Spring 2017 with the option of signing up to be notified about tickets now available. Rumours are also flying around about the possibility of a SMOKEY JOE’S CAFE revival this summer, which hasn’t been seen on Broadway since the show played its original Tony-nominated engagement in 1995 at the August Wilson (which was then known as the Virginia).
A tonne of shows have also opened on Broadway since we last spoke and to save giving you reems and reems of notes on the shows themselves and boring you, here’s a complete and comprehensive list: ALLEIGIANCE at the Longacre, THE COLOR PURPLE at the Bernard B Jacobs, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF at the Broadway, ON YOUR FEET at the Marquis, SCHOOL OF ROCK: THE MUSICAL at the Winter Garden, CHINA DOLL at the Gerald Schoenfeld, THE GIN GAME at the John Golden, KING CHARLES III at the Music Box, MISERY at the Broadhurst, NOISES OFF at the American Airlines, OUR MOTHER’S BRIEF AFFAIR at the Samuel J. Freidman, and A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE at the Lyceum.
Final bits of notable news surrounding the Great White Way include the fact that AMERICAN PSYCHO: THE MUSICAL have announced they will start performances at the Gerald Schoenfeld on March 24th, SCHOOL OF ROCK broke the record of highest grossing week ever at the Winter Garden with over $1.5M and confirmed that their hunt for British children will begin this year for the London transfer, the production team behind GYSPY starring Imelda Staunton have expressed interest in taking the production to New York in the coming year, and the 2014 revival of LES MIZ announced that they will shutter at the Imperial Theatre on September 4th.
If you think I’ve missed out on any major Broadway news, tweet us! @shaunycat and @theatre_direct to let me know – looks like Broadway’s going to have a fantastic 2016!