A second group of Broadway musicals has returned to in-person performances, as New York’s stages begin to reopen and welcome back audiences after 18 months in the dark. Last night, Tony winners Chicago, Hamilton, The Lion King, and Wicked joined Waitress and Tony-winner Hadestown, which reopened September 2. Next up is Six, which begins previews September 17 in anticipation of an October 3 opening. The following week will see Come from Away and Little Shop of Horrors on September 21, Moulin Rouge! on September 24, and Aladdin on September 28.
Below are Hamilton creators Lin-Manuel Miranda and Alex Lacamoire (on keyboards) leading company members from the Broadway casts of Hamilton, The Lion King, and Wicked for a #Ham4Ham performance of the classic Kander & Ebb song “New York, New York” outside the Richard Rodgers Theatre.
Nine-time Tony-winning producer Elizabeth McCann died Thursday in the Bronx. McCann, who presented more than 60 New York productions, was born March 29, 1931, in Manhattan. At 14, she saw her first Broadway show, Cyrano de Bergerac, and was hooked on theater. She earned a bachelor’s from Manhattanville College (1952) and master’s from Columbia (1954), but was frustrated with her lack of advancement after a decade in theater administration, so she earned a law degree from Fordham (1966).
She briefly worked for a Manhattan firm, but soon returned to theater production as managing director of the Nederlander Organization, where she met Nelle Nugent. The two women co-founded a general management firm in 1976. The following year, they began producing. Their first show, Dracula (1977), brought them a Tony. They repeated that feat each of the next four years with the plays The Elephant Man (1979), Morning’s at Seven (1980), Amadeus (1981), and Nicholas Nickleby (1982).
Their first musical was the 1984 Off-Broadway revival of Pacific Overtures. Their second was the original Broadway production of Leader of the Pack (1985), which earned them a Tony nomination. Below are Patrick Cassidy, Dinah Manoff, and company at the 1985 Tonys. The show’s investors sued after the show failed to recoup its investment, but a federal jury found McCann and Nugent not guilty of fraud. Later that year, though, the partnership ended, shortly after they opened the musical revue Tango Argento.
During the following decade, McCann met disappointment with the short-lived Broadway revue Flamenco Puro (1986) and musical Nick & Nora (1991) but saw success Off-Broadway with the Pulitzer-winning play Three Tall Women (1994). She rebounded on Broadway with Tony-winning productions of the plays A View from the Bridge (1998), Copenhagen (2000), and The Goat (2002). In the early 2000s, McCann also produced six Tony Awards telecasts, three of which won Emmys.
In the late 2000s, she produced her last two Broadway musicals: the original Passing Strange (2008), which brought her a Tony nomination, and a revival of Hair (2009), which earned McCann her final Tony Award. Below are Stew, Daniel Breaker, de’Adre Aziza, and Passing Strange company at the 2008 Tonys, and Gavin Creel and the Hair company at the 2009 Tonys.
McCann’s last producing credit was the play Hangmen, which had been scheduled to open March 19, 2020, on Broadway but closed because of the pandemic. Below is Linda Winer’s 2002 interview with McCann for the League of Professional Theatre Women’s “Women in Theatre” series.
Last night, the Off-Broadway revival cast of Little Shop of Horrors inaugurated “Broadway Week” on The Tonight Show. The Urchins (Salome Smith, Joy Woods, Aveena Sawyer) began with the opening title song and were joined by Seymour (Jeremy Jordan), Audrey (Tammy Blanchard), and the ensemble for “Skid Row.” The musical resumes performances at the Westside Theatre on September 21, when original revival cast member Christian Borle will return as Orin Scrivello, along with returning members Tom Alan Robbins as Mushnik, Aaron Arnell Harrington as Audrey II, and ensemble members Eric Wright, Teddy Yudain, Stephen Berger, and Chelsea Turbin. The remaining musicals visiting Jimmy Fallon on his late-night show this week include Tina (September 14), Dear Evan Hansen (September 15) with a special appearance by Ben Platt, Six (September 16), and Wicked (September 17).
Netflix has released the first official trailer of its film version of the new Broadway musical Diana. The show was shot live onstage at the Longacre Theatre without an audience in summer 2020, featuring the original Broadway cast, led by Jeanna de Waal (Diana), Roe Hartrampf (Prince Charles), Erin Davie (Camilla Parker Bowles), and Judy Kaye (Queen Elizabeth). The show’s creative team includes Joe DiPietro (book, lyrics), David Bryan (music, lyrics), Christopher Ashley (direction), Kelly Devine (choreography), David Zinn (sets), William Ivey Long (costumes), Natasha Katz (lights), Gareth Owen (sound), Paul Huntley (wigs), Angelina Avallone, (makeup), John Clancy (orchestrations), and Ian Eisendrath (musical supervision, arrangements). The production had begun its Broadway previews March 2, 2020, with a planned opening of March 31, but on March 12, pandemic measures forced all of New York’s theaters to close. The production will resume previews on November 2, 2021, with an opening night set for November 17.
The final of three 2021 Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremonies was held last night, and The Queen’s Gambit holds the lead with nine wins going into next weekend’s Primetime Emmy Awards, while The Mandalorian and Saturday Night Live are tied for second with seven wins each. Netflix took 34 trophies in all, followed by Disney+ with 13 and HBO/HBO Max with 10. An edited version of the ceremonies will air September 18 at 8 p.m. on FXX. The Primetime Emmys will air live September 19 on CBS and Paramount+.
Among musical entries, Bo Burnham took home three awards for his Netflix variety special Bo Burnham: Inside, including writing, directing, and music direction. Below is a clip of Burnham’s “Welcome to the Internet.” Other multi-winning programs include the live-performance capture of David Byrne’s Broadway concert American Utopia (HBO), which won for lighting and sound mixing, and the original Christmas on the Square (Netflix), which brought Dolly Parton the prize for best television movie and Debbie Allen the prize for choreography.
Derek Hough picked up a trophy for his choreography to Dancing with the Stars (ABC), while Carpool Karaoke (Apple TV) brought James Corden a win for short-form series. The live-performance capture of Hamilton (Disney+) took home the statue for its technical direction, and Black Is King(Disney+) won for its costumes.
Composers earning honors include Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez for their original music and lyrics to “Agatha All Along” in WandaVision (Disney+), which you can watch below, and Blake Neely for the original main title theme music for The Flight Attendant (HBO Max). Wins for dramatic score went to Carlos Rafael Rivera for The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix), Ludwig Göransson for The Mandalorian (Disney+), and Steven Price for David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet (Netflix). The prize for music supervision went to Ciara Elwis and Matt Biffa for I May Destroy You (HBO).
Film critics have given mixed to negative reviews to the screen adaptation of the 2015 Tony-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen, which premiered September 9 at the Toronto International Film Festival and is scheduled for wide release on September 24. Directed by Stephen Chbosky, the screenplay is by the stage show’s librettist Steven Levenson, with songs by the show’s composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. The remaining creative team includes Brandon Trost (cinematography), Anne McCabe (editing), Beth Mickle (production design), Brittany Hites (art direction), and Lance Totten (set decoration).
The Broadway show’s star Ben Platt reprises his performance in the title role. The cast also includes Julianne Moore (Heidi Hansen), Kaitlyn Dever (Zoe Murphy), Amy Adams (Cynthia Murphy), Danny Pino (Larry Murphy), Colton Ryan (Connor Murphy), Amandla Stenberg (Alana), and Nik Dodani (Jared).
Deadline (Valerie Complex): Dear Evan Hansen could have been enjoyable, but there are too many glaring problems that can’t be ignored for the sake of entertainment. … It is an irreparably problematic piece of work that manipulates the audience by forcing them to feel sympathy for a pathological liar whose own mental illness is exploited. … The story is convinced it’s making a bold statement about mental illness, finding community and class structures, but it feels inauthentic and shallow. … This film won’t inspire empathy or sympathy but disdain and indifference.
Empire (Ian Freer): A nexus of millennial hot-button topics. … Stephen Chbosky’s adaptation tackles these ideas with sensitivity through a clutch of great tunes, by turns funny and touching, but emerges too dramatically inert to truly satisfy. … When it moves away from the music, Dear Evan Hansen feels on less certain ground. … [Platt] gives a strangely stage-y performance; he also simply looks too old to be a convincing teenager (he’s 27). He’s strong in song, not so much elsewhere — much like the movie as a whole. 3 out of 5 stars
Hollywood Reporter (Michael Rechtshaffen): The production boasts its share of tenderly crafted moments. But … a weakness for the formulaic, combined with a noticeably weighty running time, continually bumps up against the film’s many fine points. … The absence of a more cohesive unifying tone is noticeable in director Chbosky’s nonmusical renderings, which also occasionally struggle to find an agreeable balance between the theatrical and the melodramatic. Despite the pesky distractions, Platt and company still manage to deliver the right message at precisely the right time.
IndieWire (Tina Hassannia): The film should be a hit. … Unfortunately, Stephen Chbosky’s poor directorial choices cancel out the rousing success Dear Evan Hansen was on stage, with a cascade of glaring distractions that continuously point out the artificiality of the genre. … Dear Evan Hansen would have been a much more well-rounded mainstream movie about mental health if the writers had abandoned the original’s artifice and adapted it for a more realistic genre, like a dramedy. But then it wouldn’t have been as exciting or life-affirming without the Oscar-bait songs, right? … right. Grade: D
Variety (Peter Debruge): In a year with a well-above-average number of musicals, … Dear Evan Hansen is the farthest below average in terms of actual merit: a curve-crashing after-school special, dressed up with so-so songs. … Dear Evan Hansen rubbed me wrong onstage, and it doesn’t sit well with me now, despite a few smart improvements to the material. Baked into its DNA are three of the sins I find most irksome about young-adult entertainment. … The team behind the film haven’t necessarily fixed all that was wrong with the show, but they’ve been listening, at least, and that’s a start.
The Wrap (Steven Pond): If you have a heart and any kind of tolerance for musicals, at some point you will surrender to Dear Evan Hansen, to Ben Platt and to a sterling cast of actors. … It’s messy at times and melodramatic at others, and its treatment of mental health issues is not the most nuanced, but those feel like quibbles given the joy you can find in its best moments. … Even if you go in with reservations, even if you don’t succumb to its most extravagant moments, it sneaks up on you. Go ahead, smile or ache or shed a tear — you are not alone.
Each year, the Dramatists Guild Foundation recognizes achievement in the theater by presenting several awards to playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists, including the Legacy Playwrights Initiative Award, Madge Evans & Sidney Kingsley Awards, Flora Roberts Award, and Kirkwood Award to established artists — as well as the Georgia Engel Comedy Playwriting Prize, Stephen Schwartz Award, Thom Thomas Award, and Benjamin Indick Award to promising writers. Three promising musical theater creators were among this year’s winners.
The Thom Thomas Award, given since 2016 with support from his longtime friends Iris Rainer Dart and Helen Lee Henderson, honors an alum of the DGF fellows program. The 2021 honoree is Avi Amon, a Turkish-American composer, sound artist, and educator who is currently resident composer at the 52nd Street Project. Below are Amon and co-writer Julia Gytri with singers Caesar Samayoa, and Sharone Sayegh at the 2019 Larson Grant ceremony, performing “Sing to Me” from Salonika (starting 6:40 in the video).
Emily Gardner Xu Hall received the 2021 Stephen Schwartz Award, a $10,000 prize given since 2019 to a musical theater writer whose voice is seen as critical to the continued success of the craft. Gardner Xu Hall writes feminist musicals inclusive to people of color, including Cymbeline, Mei-Do (Ars Nova), Nascent Phase (Bushwick Starr), Nomad Motel (Atlantic), Ruth (Goodman), The Cardinal (Cornerstone), and Black Is Beautiful… (Public Theater). Below are Gardner Xu Hall with singers Jordan Tyson, Isabella Dawis, Charlie Oh, Rachel Duddy, and Jason Weisinger at the 2019 Larson Grant ceremony, performing “The Man in Paris” from Untitled Cherry Orchard Musical (starting 2:40 in the video).
The Benjamin Indick Award is DGF’s newest award, honoring a mid-career lyricist, librettist, or book writer for musical theater. The inaugural winner is Paulo K Tiról, a composer, lyricist, and book writer from Manila. His work includes On This Side of the World (Prospect), Called, and Love Songs (Rattlestick). Below are Albert Guerzon, Joanne Javien, Jaygee Macapugay, Diane Phelan, Michael Protacio, and Kevin Schuering performing “Ay, Amerika” from On This Side of the World, recorded at Prospect Theater’s 2020 Ignite Series Concerts at Greenwich House Theater.
The West End premiere of Frozen, originally set to open April 14, officially opened September 8 at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane and has received generally favorable reviews from stage critics. The musical, based on the 2013 animated Disney film, is a slightly revised version of the 2018 Broadway adaptation. The creative team includes Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (score), Jennifer Lee (book), Michael Grandage (direction), Rob Ashford (choreography), Christopher Oram (sets, costumes), Neil Austin (lights), Peter Hylenski (sound), Finn Ross (video), Jeremy Chernick (special effects), Michael Curry (puppets), and Stephen Oremus (arrangements).
The production stars Samantha Barks (Elsa), Stephanie McKeon (Anna), Obioma Ugoala (Kristoff), Craig Gallivan (Olaf), Oliver Ormson (Hans), and Richard Frame (Weselton), with Mikayla Jade and Ashley Birchall alternating as Sven. Minaii.K, Sasha Watson-Lobo, Freya Scott, and Tilly-Raye Bayer are the Young Elsas, while Kanon Narumi, Asanda Masike, Ellie Shenker, and Summer Betson are the Young Annas.
Evening Standard (Nick Curtis): Fans of the hit 2013 Disney film will doubtless love it, but this musical stage adaptation of Frozen left me cold. On the plus side it’s full of dazzle and wit, with powerhouse central performances. … And despite several new songs, Michael Grandage’s production strives to emulate the film without adding substantial theatrical oomph. … Let it go? I probably could. At least it goes at a cracking pace. … I imagine Disney wouldn’t allow much deviation from the winning film formula. Which may be why this stage version feels lukewarm. 3 out of 5 stars
The Guardian (Arifa Akbar): A mega-successful animation does not always translate into a stage hit. … Does this adaptation live up to that hefty legacy? Yes, and perhaps it even exceeds it. This is a show every bit as magical as the animation … with some charming inventions and a few new songs. … The messages at this story’s core may be typically saccharine Disney ones — that it is vital to embrace your own magic and that love can thaw the coldest of hearts — but they are nevertheless true and important for the army of young Elsas and Annas out there. 5 out of 5 stars
iNews (Sam Marlowe): There’s no doubting the might of the 2013 blockbuster animated Disney film — but can this 2018 Broadway musical ever match it for charm or fairytale magic? Michael Grandage’s production tries too hard to do just that. … When the show cuts loose from the original, it sparks into life … yet there’s an awful lot of uninspired marching about, dramatic intensity trickling away as the musical’s mechanics grind reliably towards its sunlit happy ending. Not everyone’s heart will melt, but legions of little fans are unlikely to find fault. 3 stars out of 5
London Theatre (Suzy Evans): Frozen seems to have found its ideal home in the West End, where it deserves to stay for many years to come. … The entire affair is much bigger than its initial Broadway outing … with the addition of new set pieces, songs, and, of course, magic. … The new music particularly benefits Elsa … and really levels up the storytelling. … After what feels like a veritable ice storm of a year (or two) … it’s nice to remember that the gates will open, the sun will shine on, and we’ll stand in the light of day again. 5 out of 5 stars
London Theatre 1 (Chris Omaweng): While the film is done and dusted in 102 minutes, the stage musical takes considerably longer to tell the same story. I’m not convinced all the padding that goes on is strictly necessary. Still, expectations are high, and the production must, I suppose, do its best to give its audiences the best possible return on their investment. … There are some icy patches, so to speak, but for the most part, this is a decent and wholesome experience. 4 out of 5 stars
Time Out London (Andrzej Lukowski): Grandage’s musical version of Disney’s animated enormo-smash is almost identical to the film in terms of plot beats. … But adults will note that it’s more serious, sadder and wiser. … It’s a more satisfying arc, and the largely melancholic or narrative-centric new songs … further deepen the sisters’ relationship. … This isn’t Frozen for adults … but it’s a thoughtful, attractive and human spin. … If the film is a pre-school classic, the musical is maybe a couple of years more grown-up. But its most magical moments will wow every age group. 4 out of 5 stars
Critics have given generally favorable reviews to the live recording of the 2017 Broadway musical Come from Away, available for streaming September 10 on Apple TV+. The creative team for the film includes Irene Sankoff and David Hein (book, music, lyrics), Christopher Ashley (direction), Kelly Devine (musical staging), Ian Eisendrath (music supervision, arrangements), Beowulf Boritt (sets), Toni-Leslie James (costumes), Howell Binkley (lights), Gareth Owen (sound), and August Eriksmoen (orchestrations).
The film cast includes original Broadway cast members Petrina Bromley (Bonnie), Jenn Colella (Beverley, Annette), Joel Hatch (Claude), Caesar Samayoa (Kevin J, Ali), Q Smith (Hannah), Astrid Van Wieren (Beulah), and Sharon Wheatley (Diane), as well as De’lon Grant (Bob), Tony Lepage (Kevin T), Emily Walton (Janice), Jim Walton (Nick, Doug), and Paul Whitty (Oz).
Movie Nation (Roger Moore): The gloriously sentimental 9/11 musical Come from Away comes to Apple TV with all its Canadian cuddliness intact. This filmed version of the Tony-winning show captures the charms of this folksy production. … It’s an old-fashioned show, not remotely as hip as the Lin-Manuel Miranda musicals that have turned such folksiness into antiques. But … Come from Away reminds us of time when people gathered together and did the right thing, and those they were doing it for appreciated them for it. 3 out of 4 stars
Paste (Amy Amatangelo): Its message, focused on what can be achieved when people come together for a collective life-affirming goal, is timeless. Perhaps now, when we are smack dab in the middle of another crisis, Come from Away can be an escape, a ray of light, a salve. … Often, filming a stage version cannot quite capture the magic of an in-person performance. That doesn’t happen here. Come from Away may be the best filmed version of a musical I have seen. … Beauty from tragedy is the foundation of Come from Away. An enduring message for us all.
San Francisco Chronicle (Lily Janiak): To see Come from Away onscreen now … is to see a path to mercy and compassion off in the distance and wonder if we can still get there — or if it’s too late for us. … The camera uncovers a whole new layer of meaning. You can see the worry lines on actors’ faces. You can see the deep care they put into listening to their scene partners. You can see the private moments of joy and whimsy they steal. … The film of Come from Away might offer a model for how digital and in-person theater can co-exist: how one might whet the appetite for the other, how TV might broaden the reach of an essential story at the moment we most need it.
St. Louis Dispatch (Bruce R. Miller): Come from Away was filmed before an audience. In the production, you get to see Christopher Ashley’s creative direction. … It’s Ashley’s Tony-winning direction that allows Come from Away to accomplish so much. … Come from Away provides such a release of emotions — in a good way — it should be required viewing for everyone who lived through that dark, dark day in American history. … Come from Away shines long after it’s over.
The Wrap (Alonso Duralde): It’s the kind of piece that makes one wish “a triumph of the human spirit” weren’t such an irredeemable cliché. … [Ashley] dynamically translates the material from stage to streaming. … There are, of course, countless prisms through which to examine the events of 9/11 and their lingering impact, but Come from Away offers one that is stirring and funny, moving but never mawkish. It’s a story that provides hope without turning its eyes from despair.
Critics have given generally favorable reviews to the upcoming film musical Cyrano, based on the 2019 Off-Broadway stage musical adapted from Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac. The movie was screened September 2 at Telluride Film Festival and is scheduled for release December 31. Joe Wright directs the screenplay by musical librettist Erica Schmidt, whose take on Rostand’s work is to emphasize the title character’s height rather than his nose. The remaining creative team includes Aaron and Bryce Dessner (music), Matt Berninger and Carin Besser (lyrics), Seamus McGarvey (cinematography), Valerio Bonelli (editing), Sarah Greenwood (production design), Katie Spencer (set decoration), and Massimo Cantini Parrini (costumes).
Peter Dinklage and Haley Bennet, who headline the film cast as Cyrano and Roxanne, also starred in Goodspeed Opera House’s 2018 workshop of the stage musical. Jasmine Cephas Jones played opposite Dinklage in the show’s Off-Broadway premiere. The film cast also features Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Christian), Ben Mendelsohn (De Guiche), and Bashir Salahuddin (Le Bret). Below is a clip of Dinklage singing “Madly” in the Off-Broadway production.
Deadline (Pete Hammond): MGM in its golden era was the movie musical factory. … Cyrano is worthy of that tradition — and then some. … I have no doubt that Peter Dinklage, transforming brilliantly here into the heart and soul of this man, will find his just rewards as well. He certainly deserves to. … [Schmidt] and Wright also masterfully have made a musical where characters break from dialogue into song with such ease it doesn’t intrude at all, but rather feels natural, which is no easy feat.
IndieWire (David Ehrlich): Is it good? In parts! Is it intoxicated with the same demented bravado that its namesake embodies? … Absolutely. And that’s plenty to sing about. … Dinklage, Harrison, Bennett and the rest can carry a tune and then some, but only a cameo appearance … compels the movie to serve up a meatier song. It’s an outlier in a movie that swirls together too many strong ingredients for any one of them to leave much of a taste. Any one of them except for Peter Dinklage. Grade: B-
The Playlist (Gregory Ellwood): Dinklage and Bennett both appeared together in the musical workshops of Schmidt’s version, and it’s easy to recognize the natural chemistry they have on screen. … What hinders their performances and the film itself is some atrociously clumsy dialogue that pops up at the most inopportune times. … This version of Cyrano feels less fresh or contemporary than it wants to be. Something is missing either in the songs, the staging, or, more likely, the screenplay. [B-/C+]
Variety (Peter Debruge): Wright’s splendid new adaptation presents Cyrano as 21st-century MGM musical. … Dinklage truly merits leading-man status, and while his singing voice leaves something to be desired, Schmidt’s bespoke script plays to many of the star’s unique strengths — it’s a love letter the likes of which Rostand would no doubt approve. … Brilliant though Schmidt’s script may be, Cyrano would be the first to admit, “Words can only get me so far.” Wright’s direction does the rest.
The Wrap (Monica Castillo): Cyrano … is the latest stab at the story, but it’s one that arrives with a decidedly mixed result. … It’s admirable that Wright, Schmidt, Dinklage, Bennett and the rest of the crew and crew aimed so ambitiously high in their attempt to create a version of Cyrano de Bergerac that’s unlike any other adaptation in the way it ditches the nose and adds musical numbers. … Perhaps it’s why this version of Cyrano felt so bittersweet, leaving the audience with a sense of what might have been.
A second group of Broadway musicals has returned to in-person performances, as New York’s stages begin to reopen and welcome back audiences after 18 months in the dark. Last night, Tony winners Chicago, Hamilton, The Lion King, and Wicked joined Waitress and Tony-winner Hadestown, which reopened September 2. Next up is Six, which begins previews September 17 in anticipation of an October 3 opening. The following week will see Come from Away and Little Shop of Horrors on September 21, Moulin Rouge! on September 24, and Aladdin on September 28.
