The peak theater season is upon us and Broadway is abuzz with new shows. There are two long-running old shows that have threatened to upstage the new ones, by way of high-profile replacement casting. The 2019 Tony Award-winning “Best Musical,” Hadestown (Walter Kerr Theatre, open ended), made headlines when it was announced that the production’s Tony-winning Hermes, André De Shields, would be replaced by Broadway’s Lillias White, a Tony winner in her own right (for The Life). It was hard to imagine a woman stepping into De Shields’s distinctively sensuous shoes, but of course, it takes a legend to replace a legend and White has filled the role admirably, making it entirely her own. Hadestown is well worth a revisit with equally stellar new principals Tom Hewitt and Jewelle Blackman rounding out a tight ensemble led by acclaimed original stars Eva Noblezada and Reeve Carney.
Even if you managed to miss that story, there’s no way gay Twitter allowed you to snooze on Jinkx Monsoon as Matron “Mama” Morton in Chicago (Ambassador Theatre, open ended). Of course, the winner of both RuPaul’s Drag Race and RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars has already demonstrated on television and in theaters and clubs all around the world that she possesses many of the skills of a Broadway star. Still, skills are one thing; the presence and charisma to commandeer the stage and galvanize a Broadway audience – and to do it from the limited position of a supporting role – is something else entirely.
Jinkx and Lillias both had me believing in the magic of theater all over again. It was just announced Lea Michele has extended her contract in Funny Girl (August Wilson Theatre, through September 3) through the end of summer and the production will then close. I wish they’d keep it open with Jinkx Monsoon replacing Lea Michele as Fanny Brice and Lillias White replacing Tovah Feldshuh as her mother.
Broadway has no shortage of exciting new productions this season, either. On the heels of causing a sensation at the Public Theater Off-Broadway, the hilarious Fat Ham (American Airlines Theatre, through August 6) hits the big time. James Ijames’s 2022 Pulitzer Prize winner for Drama centers the story of Hamlet, around Juicy, a queer kid from the South. This play packs all the punch of Shakespeare’s plus a cookout! This is one not to miss.
All anyone liked about Martin Scorsese’s 1975 flop was Liza Minnelli and the Kander and Ebb songs. Well, we get those songs and more, plus a pair of new stars, in Susan Stroman’s debut stage production of New York, New York (St. James Theatre, open ended).
Native American playwright Larissa Fasthorse turns our Thanksgiving tradition – and our attempts to be culturally sensitive about it – upside down in her eagerly awaited satire, The Thanksgiving Play (Second Stage, through June 4). With D’arcy Carden, Katie Finneran, Scott Foley, and Chris Sullivan.
Emmy winner Sean Hayes returns to Broadway in Doug Wright’s Good Night, Oscar (Belasco Theatre, through August 27). The younger generation may not be familiar with the musical and witty work of the late Oscar Levant, but word on the street is this show – and Hayes’ performance – could change that.
And if all those stars on stage feel too remote to you, check out New York’s nightlife of cabaret clubs for performances delivered up close and personal.
Cafe Carlyle
Joe’s Pub
54 Below
Chelsea Table + Stage
The Green Room 42
Birdland
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