Broadway

You might think a play set in a factory would be dank and depressing. But when you have Dominique Morisseau as the playwright, the factory doesn't just come alive; it literally dances.Morisseau's play <a href="/show/skeleton-crew" target="_blank">Skeleton Crew</a> is set in a car parts factory. And instead of showing the whirring and grinding of an assembly line, Morisseau does something more ingenious: She has a dancer (a dynamic Adesola Osakalumi) pop and lock to a soundtrack of machinery. Osakalumi's movements are sometimes fluid, other terms jerky. It's a visual reminder to the audience: The motor that keeps the engines of America running isn't machines, it's people.Skeleton Crew was first produced off Broadway at <a href="/theatres/atlantic-theater-company" target="_blank">Atlantic Theater Company</a> in 2016, in a critically acclaimed run. Morisseau's tautly crafted play, with just five characters, is now on Broadway with Manhattan Theatre Club. It has only grown in power and potency since 2016.Skeleton Crew is set in Detroit (Morisseau's hometown) in 2008, in a stamping plant for automobiles. The factory workers have been there for years, some decades, and the play takes time to show the familial bond between them. The matriarch is Faye (<a href="/actor-profile/phylicia-rashad" target="_blank">Phylicia Rashad</a>), the most senior of the bunch, who has worked on the line for 29 years. The older brother figure is Reggie (Brandon J. Dirden), who used to work on the line and is now a supervisor. Then there's the younger ones: Dez (Joshua Boone) and Shanita (Chanté Adams), whose will-they-won't-they flirtations give the play its moments of much-needed levity.Conflict arrives when Reggie tells Faye that the plant is about to shut down. The characters' moral code is tested: Do they side with the factory, which represents stability, or each other, their work family? When shit goes down, do you try to save everyone or just yourself?The cast is new for the Broadway production, though Ruben Santiago-Hudson (who directed Skeleton Crew Off-Broadway) returns to direct.At first glance, Rashad might be a curious choice for the role of Faye, a woman whose hands are rough, and who speaks simply and directly: "If it's one thing I always known, it's cars and women," she tells her coworkers (Faye is also a lesbian). Most viewers might associate Rashad with a more refined sensibility. Yet Rashad has transformed herself into the grittier Faye. Her voice is more gruff. Even down to the way the character walks, slightly bent over and in a shuffle, as if she's carrying a heavy load on her back.Rashad herself also carries a warm, maternal energy. This helps the audience to understand why Faye would care more about how the closures affect the younger people around her than herself. And why she is so prideful that she doesn't disclose her old difficult circumstances to anyone.As Reggie, Dirden plays a man torn between the white-collar promise of the bosses upstairs and his loyalty to the crew he came from. It's difficult initially to trust Reggie — he is management, after all. But Dirden has a natural charisma that just begs for your sympathy (who can say no to that melodic voice?). When he is finally given a monologue in the second act, in front of Rashad's Faye, Dirden makes a meal of it. The two of them together in one scene is an acting masterclass. (In a sign of just how small the theatre community can be sometimes, Dirden's brother Jason was in the original Off-Broadway production of Skeleton Crew.)What Morisseau skillfully does with Skeleton Crew is create a portrait of the lower working class that isn't bleak, hopeless, or condescending. The characters in Skeleton Crew&nbsp;are in a dire, unfair situation, but that situation does not define them. These are not, in the unfortunate words of New York Mayor Eric Adams, "low skill workers."When Shanita (a warm, affable Adams) talks about why she takes pride in her job — saying, "I'm building something that you can see come to life at the end. Got a motor in it and it's gonna take somebody somewhere" — it is moving and commands your respect.That is perhaps why Skeleton Crew hits more potently now than it did in 2016 for me. When society shut down in 2020, we all saw who the true essential workers are. They are not the CEOs or people who worked in glass high-rises. They are the people stocking grocery store shelves, delivering packages, making cars. And they are disproportionately people of color.Society has now caught up with Morisseau's play. In Skeleton Crew, Morisseau makes us see the line that divides the blue collar and white collar workers as what it really is, a man-made structure that must be dismantled, because it is that line that keeps all of us from realizing our true power.<a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/skeleton-crew" target="_blank">Skeleton Crew is at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre to February 20. Get Skeleton Crew tickets on New York Theatre Guide.</a>Photo credit: Brandon J. Dirden as Reggie and Phylicia Rashad as Faye in Skeleton Crew. (Photo by Matthew Murphy)

'Skeleton Crew' review — a moving portrait of the true essential workers of America

Skeleton Crew

Skeleton Crew on Broadway - NYC

Skeleton Crew on Broadway

Skeleton Crew is at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre to February 20. Get Skeleton Crew tickets on New York Theatre Guide.

Skeleton Crew Starring Phylicia Rashad Review | New York Theatre Guide

What were they on when they cleared this show for take-off? That cloudy thought pops up regularly during <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/flying-over-sunset">Flying Over Sunset</a>, the movie-star handsome but exasperating Lincoln Center musical that imagines celebrated writer Aldous Huxley, actor Cary Grant, and author Clare Boothe Luce uniting to drop acid together in the 1950s. Sure, it's original, but that goes just so far. Waiting for an insightful takeaway is akin to sitting on the tarmac for 2 3/4&nbsp;hours only to be deplaned. The trippy spectacle of an LSD-high Grant singing, "I am a giant penis rocket ship! Zoom! Kaboom!" —&nbsp;yes, really —&nbsp;can't keep this from being a trek to nowhere.It's dispiriting considering the proven potency of the creative team. Writer and director James Lapine's sensitivity and perceptiveness have shown through in Sunday in the Park with George. Composer Tom Kitt's music gave Next to Normal its pulse. Lyricist Michael Korie's work in Grey Gardens is as evocative as it comes. That was then. This is now.The production is a head-scratcher from the get-go as the ensemble parades single file, doing loop-de-loops around the stage. Footsteps are loudly amplified, presumably to suggest the heightened sensory impact of LSD, but who knows. What's clear is that the actors go in circles and so does the show. The second half restates what's already been said in the first act, but with splashier visual effects. Songs drift in and out, etching vaporous impressions while they're at it. The pretty title song emerges as the most vivid.Three appealing leads make the most of what they've got, including <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/actor-profile/harry-hadden-paton">Harry Hadden-Paton</a> (My Fair Lady), who plays Brave New World&nbsp;author Huxley; <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/actor-profile/tony-yazbeck">Tony Yazbeck</a> (On the Town) as film icon Grant; and <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/actor-profile/carmen-cusack">Carmen Cusack</a> (Bright Star) as playwright and ambassador Luce. A quick Google search reveals that the late celebrated figures individually experimented with LSD.&nbsp;In a drugstore, alongside his ailing wife Maria (Laura Shoop) and gay friend Gerald Heard (Robert Sella), who's essentially an LSD docent, Huxley turns on and sees visions from a beloved Botticelli painting. Grant, reeling from a shaky marriage, experiments with the hallucinogen at a therapist's office and encounters his dad (Nehal Joshi) and his troubled young self Archie Leach (Atticus Ware). At her home, Luce takes a dose and envisions her daughter (Kanisha Marie Feliciano) and mom (Michele Ragusa), who each died in car wrecks.&nbsp;Not long before intermission, they all meet at the Brown Derby restaurant, where the topic of LSD drops into the conversation. Luce asks, "Wouldn't it be interesting if we three did this together with Gerald as our guide?" Actually, not so much, as dreamed up in Act II in Malibu. Sexy Sophia Loren dances into Grant's mind, while Huxley is fixed on Maria. Luce's vision of her daughter presents itself like horror, while her mother's fate plays like a weird joke. In the end, the value of human connection is appraised.The show's real star is its elaborate production. Toni Leslie-James's costumes are mid-century mouthwatering. Beowulf Boritt's sets, glamorously lit by Bradley King, summon a drugstore, airy homes, a shrink's office, and a Malibu beach, and are crisp and beautiful. Projections by 59 Productions are out of this world. All that can't make this musical take flight. But when a show sputters you look for a lift anywhere you can find it.<a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/flying-over-sunset">Flying Over Sunset is at the Vivian Beaumont Theater through Feb. 6, 2022. Get&nbsp;Flying Over Sunset&nbsp;tickets on New York Theatre Guide.</a>Photo credit: Tony Yazbeck, Harry Hadden-Patton, and Carmen Cusack in Flying Over Sunset. (Photo by Joan Marcus)

'Flying Over Sunset' Broadway review — the high-concept musical doesn't take off

Flying Over Sunset

Flying Over Sunset on Broadway [21004]

Flying Over Sunset on Broadway

The traditional Broadway revival is dead, and good riddance. Over the last few years, classic musicals like Oklahoma and West Side Story have been reimagined for the Broadway stage to critical acclaim in order to engage new audiences and add current nuance and perspective to the shows' original books. &nbsp;<a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/company">Company</a>, now at the <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/bernard-b-jacobs-theatre">Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre</a>, is the latest production to reinvent a classic musical. The late Stephen Sondheim's bold musical is about Bobby, a single man who tussles with the concept of love and marriage on the cusp of his 35th birthday. Under the imaginative direction of Marianne Elliott, the genders are swapped, Bobbie's name now ends with an "ie," and the story becomes an overstuffed whimsical blend of the false reality of The Bachelorette and the mystified adventure of Alice in Wonderland.Look, casting Bobbie as a woman makes sense and offers the plot more relatability for the women in 2021 who unequivocally recite Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" as their national anthem. For better or worse, American women today are waiting longer to marry than they did in 1969, the year Company was originally written. There are many reasons for that: school, career, dreadfully waiting for "the one,"&nbsp;or just simply choice. If Company were repurposed for today's audience and left in its original glory, the musical wouldn't be as believable as it was in the '60s when an unmarried man over 30 was considered bad for business.&nbsp;These days the unhitched bro is respected and deemed lucky. While the story serves the influence of its updates, Bobbie — played by former The Band's Visit it girl, <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/actor-profile/katrina-lenk">Katrina Lenk</a> — works in parts, but she often proves to be disinterested and detached. It's hard to tell if Bobbie is content in her singledom or feeling guilty for&nbsp;what her life has become as she enters her mid-thirties.&nbsp;She affirms "I'm not avoiding marriage, it's avoiding me" one moment, then questions if her married friends regret their nuptials. What helps move this story beyond one life-sized Maker's Mark television ad for the lonely 30something, is the superb ensemble cast that include the comical brownie-stuffing, calorie counting Sarah (Jennifer Simard), the sassy vodka-drinking, bodycon dress-wearing Joanne (<a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/actor-profile/patti-lupone">Patti LuPone</a>), and the nervous "not getting married today" Jamie (Matt Doyle). Every one of Bobbie's friends offers a forecast&nbsp;of what her life could be outside of her chosen singleness (happy marriage, divorce, children, or all of the above); however, Bobbie never truly connects with anything past her own emptiness and self-inflicted loneliness. With every note she sings, the feeling inside the melodies of "Marry Me a Little" and "Being Alive," arguably two of Sondheim's greatest songs, tend to evaporate like the uninterested men she attracts.The dreamlike set design by Bunny Christie, when working, beautifully plays on the coming-of-age search for self, inspired by the childlikeness of Alice In Wonderland. Bobbie's home is contained in a box that emulates the bite-sized square footage of real NYC apartments. Colors are limited and stick to mosaics of white, black, and gray, except for Bobbie's signature red jumpsuit and exquisite lighting design by Neil Austin that adds on additional hues of purple&nbsp;and blues.&nbsp;For the single women attending this show, it's impossible not to feel something deeply for this story. I am just like Bobbie, single by choice and moving into my 34th year of living. The pressures of life and family to marry for love, or company, exist. Any time you turn on ABC on a Tuesday evening for an episode of The Bachelorette or log onto any popular dating app you can catch a woman approaching her 30s trying to beat the marriage clock she built for herself. This vibrant reinvention is welcome and authentic, but Bobbie needs stronger conviction to make us truly care.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/company" target="_blank">Company is at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. Get Company Tickets on New York Theatre Guide.</a>Photo credit: Katrina Lenk (Photo by Matthew Murphy)

'Company' review — a welcome reinvention of the classic musical

Photo credit: Katrina Lenk (Photo by Matthew Murphy)

Company on Broadway - NYC 

Company on Broadway

What it lacks in fresh laugh-out-loud moments, honest-to-goodness heart, and sonic earworms you can't wait to hear again, the new Broadway musical <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/mrs-doubtfire">Mrs. Doubtfire</a> tries hard to make up for with cranked-up performances and a busy, busy, busy tone. No such luck. For all of the calories burned, it's still low-impact.&nbsp;The show retraces a 1993 Robin Williams big-screen blockbuster, and that iconic star turn inevitably looms large at the <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/stephen-sondheim-theatre">Stephen Sondheim Theatre</a>. As musical comedies go, there's little doubt this one opens on a downbeat note: The Hillard family falls apart in their San Francisco home."What's wrong with this picture?" a daughter asks as her father, Daniel (Rob McClure), a self-centered man-boy actor, botches best-laid plans for a family portrait. Daniel's fed-up, long-suffering wife, Miranda (Jenn Gambatese), a rising designer, files for divorce and he's out of the picture.&nbsp;Daniel enlists his brother Frank (Brad Oscar), a makeup artist, and his husband Andre (J. Harrison Ghee), along with a ton of latex for a mask and bodysuit, to create a disguise. He poses as a Scottish nanny to stay close to his children Natalie (Avery Sell), Christopher (Jake Ryan Flynn), and Lydia (Analise Scarpaci). Mrs. Doubtfire is a prim caregiver who calls people "poppet" and sticks to the rules —&nbsp;the opposite of Daniel.The always nimble McClure (Chaplin) gamely throws himself into the nutty nanny's antics and brrr-ing brogue. He's arguably the hardest-working actor on Broadway right now as he channels Williams and ping-pongs madly between Mrs. D and Daniel, whose masquerade makes him a better man. Still, there's the nagging feeling that you've seen it all before. <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/tootsie">Tootsie</a>, the 1982 film turned 2019 Broadway musical, had the same issue.The book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell smartly preserves movie sight gags involving a vacuum cleaner and cake frosting, but comes up short in terms of much original zing. After discovering his dad's disguise, Christopher gets the best line: "You look like Grandma kinda crossed with Shrek." It's true. Aside from helping to set the story in the present, the remark preempts questions about Mrs. D's unusual face. Tommy Kurzman designed the makeup and prosthetics.The score by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick is varied and summons pop, disco, and power ballads to nudge the story along. The songs are more capable than catchy. Missing is the hummable fun the Kirkpatricks came up with for tunes in their 2015 Broadway show, Something Rotten!Director Jerry Zaks, the seasoned and reliable pro who guided the ace 2017 revival of <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/hello-dolly">Hello, Dolly!</a>, appears to have given the entire cast the same note: Perform BIGGER! But even a farce can go overboard. With everyone pushing so hard, it drives away the audience. More isn't necessarily more.That holds true for hyper production numbers choreographed by Lorin Latarro: "Easy Peasy," when Daniel cooks a spatchcocked chicken; "Playing With Fire," when Daniel's court liaison Wanda (Charity Angél Dawson) issues a warning; "Big Fat No," when Mrs. D undermines Miranda's boyfriend Stu (Mark Evans);&nbsp;and "The Mr. Jolly Show," when we meet a wacky TV host (Peter Bartlett). And there's more.Mrs. Doubtfire calms down just in time for an evergreen teachable moment. Mrs. D gently reminds that families come in all varieties, which brings the story full circle. But by then you've had to get through "Make Me a Woman," a stereotype-stuffed number covering Daniel's transformation.In the end, the less said the better about the pivotal moment when Daniel's ruse is fully exposed. Wearing little more than blobby flesh-toned padding, McClure recalls a raw oversized spatchcocked chicken. You can't unsee that, poppets.<a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/mrs-doubtfire">Mrs. Doubtfire is running at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. Get tickets to Mrs. Doubtfire on New York Theatre Guide.</a>

'Mrs. Doubtfire' review — bigger is not always better, poppets

Mrs. Doubtfire

Mrs. Doubtfire on Broadway [19299] 

Mrs. Doubtfire on Broadway

Food for thought is on the menu, along with lots of laughs and a few tears in Lynn Nottage's <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/clydes" target="_blank">Clyde's</a>, a richly entertaining and timely play set in a truck stop sandwich shop along a nowhere stretch of Berks County, Pennsylvania. It's roughly the same GPS of the author's Sweat, which focused on grim aftershocks of a factory lockout and won a Pulitzer Prize in 2017. Eight years earlier, she won the same award for Ruined, about women in the Congo scarred by war.Clyde's, commissioned by the Guthrie Theater where it premiered in 2019, is a lighter slice of life than those weightier works, but it still has the power to stay with you. The program&nbsp;for the <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/hayes-theater" target="_blank">Second Stage Theater</a> production describes the roadside restaurant as a liminal space — in other words, an in-between locale. It's a fitting place for folks to seek second chances. It also provides wiggle room, perhaps, to merge reality with metaphor.&nbsp;It's where four ex-cons struggle to put their criminal pasts behind them as they work together as line cooks in the sandwich dive. One wrong move can land them back in the joint. World-battered single mom Letitia (Kara Young) did time because she robbed a pharmacy to help her special-needs daughter. Sweet-natured Rafael (Reza Salazar) held up a bank armed with a BB gun. Jason (Edmund Donovan, deeply affecting), a loner with a face covered in racist tattoos inked in prison, unleashed his violence and fury&nbsp;on a man with a baseball bat. His story summons a pivotal moment from Sweat.&nbsp;Montrellous (a quietly magnetic <a href="/actor-profile/ron-cephas-jones">Ron Cephas Jones</a>), who&nbsp;reveals he went to prison as an act of brotherly love, is the foursome's senior member. He's a kitchen philosopher who urges co-workers to step outside limitations and to devise the perfect sandwich. You can't turn back time. You can't undo a crime. You can aspire and escape drudgery through creativity. As characters share visions of dream eats —&nbsp;a tuna melt with chopped lemongrass on toasted black rye; a Cubano sandwich with jalapeno aioli and sweet onions; a grilled halloumi masterpiece —&nbsp;your mouth may water.&nbsp;Clyde (<a href="/actor-profile/uzo-aduba">Uzo Aduba</a>), the abusive and exploitative boss at the namesake joint, typically turns up her nose. "You're all losers, felons," she says. "Don't disappoint me by having aspirations... I'll make sure you go back to whatever hell you came from." One could argue that the script lays things on too thick at times — and this is one of them. On the other hand, Clyde may be intentionally drawn to be larger and more satanic than life and be a stand-in for society as a whole.&nbsp;Directed by Kate Whoriskey, the author's go-to collaborator, the production cooks on all burners. Orange Is the New Black Emmy winner Aduba slyly brings out Clyde's devilish streak. Young is thrilling as the take-no-b.s. Tish. The physical production is also deft thanks to Jennifer Moeller's character-defining costumes, Takeshi Kata's realistic working kitchen, and Christopher Akerlind's moody, shifting lighting.&nbsp;A final rebellious communal act of creativity turns out to be liberating for the kitchen crew. You can take the ending literally or poetically —&nbsp;either way it works, and it satisfies. Chalk that up to Nottage's theatrical 'wichcraft.&nbsp;<div><a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/clydes" target="_blank">Clyde's is at the Hayes Theater to January 16. Get Clyde's tickets on New York Theatre Guide.</a></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Photo credit: Clyde's (Photo by Joan Marcus)</div>

'Clyde's' review — Uzo Aduba is devilishly good in Lynn Nottage's dark comedy

Photo credit: Clyde's (Photo by Joan Marcus)

Clyde's on Broadway - NYC

Clyde's on Broadway

I once asked a famed Tony-winning Broadway director, what is the point of a revival? Is it to tell us how far we've come or to tell us how far we have to go? The answer that the director gave me was a simple yes. If the same question was asked about the glorious revival, and belated Broadway debut, of Alice Childress's play <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/trouble-in-mind">Trouble in Mind</a>,&nbsp;the answer would definitely be a resounding yes. Though the play was written in 1955, it pulsates with such vitality that it feels like it was written yesterday, showing the audience that while some things have changed in 66 years, others have stayed maddeningly the same.&nbsp;In 1955, Childress's play Trouble in Mind&nbsp;premiered off Broadway and was well-received critically. The play was optioned for Broadway with a caveat: Childress had to tone down her play about racism in the American theatre&nbsp;and make it more comfortable for the ostensibly white audience that would be seeing it. Childress refused, and Trouble in Mind&nbsp;was relegated to the footnotes of American theatre&nbsp;history, never achieving the kind of mainstream success that it deserved. Until now, when&nbsp;it has been given its much-delayed Broadway debut 66 years later.&nbsp;Childress's contemporaries included Lorraine Hansberry and her play A Raisin in the Sun.&nbsp;While Hansberry's play dealt with the overt, capital-R racism of housing discrimination, Childress's dealt with a common, insidious form of racism, that of well-meaning liberals — those who Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called the white moderates, "more devoted to 'order' than to justice."&nbsp;Trouble in Mind&nbsp;is a workplace comedy, about a group of Black actors and two white actors gathering, in Arnulfo Maldonado's shabby chic set, to rehearse a new Broadway play about a lynching in the American South. The intentions are valid: to move the white audience into sympathizing with the Black experience. Except the play is written by a white playwright and overseen by a white director, and all of the Black characters are servants and stereotypes that only scrape and bow to their white employers.&nbsp;Trouble in Mind&nbsp;doesn't mention microaggressions but that is exactly what happens during this rehearsal process,&nbsp;such as how the white actress Judy (an authentically oblivious Danielle Campbell) never hangs up her own coat and always gives it to one of the Black actors, or when director Al Manners (played by Michael Zegen, at his most unlikeable) keeps on interrupting Black actress Wiletta (an electrifying <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/actor-profile/lachanze">LaChanze</a>) when she's speaking.The audience sees the actors rehearse the fictional play, pushed by the abusive Al to find the "truth" and motivations of their characters. Except the Black characters were written by a white man. Trouble in Mind&nbsp;asks whether it is possible to authentically play something that is inherently inauthentic, and whether doing so is actually upholding the racism that these artists say they want to abolish.The play-within-a-play concept means that director Charles Randolph-Wright has a particular challenge: make the characters in the narrative seem human while making the play-within-a-play realistic to the period without falling into pastiche and encouraging the audience to laugh at the Black actors. Randolph-Wright threads that needle finely;&nbsp;the audience are charmed by the actors and their interpersonal dynamics. Then when rehearsals start for the play-within-a-play, it is clear where the characters have had to compromise themselves, so moments when the Black actors have to play stereotypes, the discomfort is pronounced.&nbsp;Trouble in Mind&nbsp;runs at 2&nbsp;hours and 10 minutes, but once it gets going, Randolph-Wright keeps it moving briskly like a runaway train. And when the inevitable crash comes, it is breathtaking.&nbsp;At the center of the play is LaChanze's Wiletta, who is tired of playing the maid and wants to be a legitimate actress. Dressed in Emilio Sosa's sumptuous period costumes, LaChanze's natural magnetism means that it is even more offensive when Wiletta is forced to be sidelined in the narrative. Wiletta's frustrations are a slow build but when she inevitably breaks into an earth-shattering monologue in the second act, it's not only earned, but necessary.The rest of the characters are not as fully developed as Wiletta, which is a shame. But the cast is so dynamic that even when they are in the background, you want to look at them and take in the entire tableau — particularly Chuck Cooper and Jessica Frances Dukes, who are skilled at conveying depth, even contempt, in just looks and small actions.Childress wrote Trouble in Mind&nbsp;because of her frustrations at the lack of substantive roles for Black actors. Today, Black actors, and actors of color, are still trying to go beyond playing stereotypes on stage and on screen. Those same actors have come together to release the We See You, White American Theatre letter last year. In a time when Broadway is going through its own reckoning with its history of erasure, this revival of Trouble in Mind&nbsp;asks, how far have we truly come? Perhaps if the play had gotten its Broadway premiere 66 years ago, it would have become the American classic it deserved to be. And we would have tackled the conversation around representation, stereotypes, cultural appropriation, and liberal hypocrisy even sooner, and perhaps moved past them.Trouble in Mind&nbsp;may have come to Broadway 66 years too late, but in a time when the American public is currently leaning towards comfort and wanting to hide America's racist past from the classroom, the play is holding up a mirror to society, especially the sector that considers itself progressive. Sixty-six years ago, society chose to look away. Perhaps the play's premiere on Broadway is a sign we are finally ready to truly look at ourselves.<a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/trouble-in-mind">Trouble in Mind is at the American Airlines Theatre through January 9. Get tickets to Trouble in Mind on New York Theatre Guide.</a>Photo credit:&nbsp;LaChanze, Chuck Cooper, and Michael Zegen in Roundabout Theatre Company's Trouble in Mind. (Photo by Joan Marcus)

'Trouble in Mind' review — the kind of good trouble Broadway needs

trouble in mind-1200.jpg

An enduring global icon nearly 25 years after her death, Princess Diana's fractured fairytale story has been mined extensively and spun into books, TV shows, and movies. It was only a matter of time before it was churned into a Broadway bio-musical. Too bad what awaits for subjects of the Great White Way is <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/diana-the-musical">Diana: The Musical</a>, a vacant and vapid royal rehash.Besides lacking a compelling point of view to make this familiar tale fresh, the slick musical retread tends to take a campy approach as it chronicles Diana's tumultuous marriage to the ever-unfaithful Prince Charles. That includes a cameo and commentary by her step-grandmother, romance novelist Barbara Cartland, gushing and gabbing in an explosion of Pepto Bismol pink. Diana's 11 o'clock ditty about how she'll "light the world" doesn't balance the scales.Handling Diana's story with kitsch gloves seems an odd choice from director Christopher Ashley, who won a Tony Award for the warm, feel-good 9/11-themed musical <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/come-from-away">Come From Away</a>. Diana's life was packed with exploitations, rocky romances, and scandals, yes, but the woman died an agonizing death in a Paris car wreck in 1997. Nothing cartoonish in that.The show's creators —&nbsp;Joe DiPietro, who wrote the book and shares credit for lyrics with composer David Bryan —&nbsp;don't seem interested in getting more than skin deep. Instead, this team, which also made Memphis, cherry-picked Wikipedia-worthy moments and raided Diana's closet for famous outfits recreated here by William Ivey Long. Massive wedding gown? Check. Nice sheep sweater? Check. Naughty little black dress? Check —&nbsp;more on that in a minute.While pop-rock rhythms and melodies actually feel right for the People's Princess, the score is larded with limp lyrics and predictable rhymes. Each song offers up its own evidence, but the banality is distinctly center stage when Diana, who knew the power of designer fashion, famously uses it to turn the tables on Charles as he goes public about his long-running affair with married Camilla Parker Bowles.&nbsp;"When a girl needs to express," Diana belts, "her proper state of distress, revenge looks best in a f--k you dress. A f--ckity, f--ckity, f--ckity, f--ckity, f--ck you dress." Brazen and cheeky AF? Not so much.With the exception of the opening number in which Diana steps forward to reflect on how she was "Underestimated," this musical bio takes a typically snoozy chronological approach. Here's Diana as: 19-year-old kindergarten teacher; depressed newlywed with a cheating husband; tabloid prey of trenchcoated paparazzi; glamour icon; doting mother; defiant cheater herself with British army officer James Hewitt (Gareth Keegan). Diana's humanitarian efforts offer a rebuke to Charles' assertion: "Your life's greatest achievement —&nbsp;you married me."&nbsp;To their credit, the cast maintains their dignity. As Prince Charles, Broadway rookie Roe Hartrampf is charming and caddish and too handsome by half. He's also game for anything, including a manic doozy of a dance number where Diana daydreams about their incompatibilities and tastes in music. Grey Gardens&nbsp;alum Erin Davie adds a stalker vibe as Camilla. Judy Kaye doubles up as Queen Elizabeth, who reflects on her own experience late in the show, and the larger-than-life Cartland.In the title role and, of course, a signature Diana coif, Jeanna de Waal hits her marks and notes and, as this clothes-conscious production requires, makes a fine mannequin. During the pandemic, Diana was captured for Netflix. On film and on stage, the show doesn't sing.<a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/diana-the-musical">Diana,&nbsp;The Musical is running at the Longacre Theatre. Get&nbsp;Diana, The Musical&nbsp;tickets on New York Theatre Guide.</a>Photo credit: Roe Hartrampf, Judy Kaye, and Jeanna de Waal in Diana, The Musical. (Photo by Matthew Murphy)

'Diana: The Musical' review — 'a vacant and vapid royal rehash'

Diana the Musical

The moment Princess Diana stepped into the spotlight, the world fell in love. Now, this sensational new musical comes to Broadway to celebrate a life unlike any other.

Diana: The Musical on Broadway [19829]

Diana: The Musical on Broadway

Some performances tell an entire story unto themselves. <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/actor-profile/sharon-d-clarke">Sharon D&nbsp;Clarke</a> delivers one such stunning star turn in this revival of <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/caroline-or-change">Caroline, or Change</a>, propelled onto Broadway by her acclaim in its previous London run. With an earth- and rafter-trembling embodiment of the title character, Clarke animates a curious — and at times troubling — musical with undeniable life.When Caroline, or Change first premiered at <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/public-theater">The Public Theater</a> in 2003, a white creative team spinning a narrative that purportedly centers a Black woman may have raised fewer eyebrows. After all, Dreamgirls had done it times three. But from the moment young Noah Gellman (played by Jaden Myles Waldman at the performance reviewed) refers in the opening number to "Caroline, our maid," it's clear whose perspective the story actually inhabits.That would be a young Tony Kushner, for whom Noah is a clear stand-in. The musical, presented here by Roundabout Theater Company, was inspired by Kushner's boyhood in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and impressions of his family's Black maid. With a genre-blending score by the always-inventive Jeanine Tesori, Kushner offers a characteristically oblique skewering of middle-class Jewish liberalism&nbsp;via a family who considers their Black help through the lens of how much she needs them."Change" is a double reference to the loose scratch Noah leaves in his pockets, at first absent-mindedly and then deliberately, for Caroline to find in the laundry. It's also a gesture to what's on the horizon of the Civil Rights Movement&nbsp;and Caroline's seemingly stubborn obstinance toward advancing her station.&nbsp;"How come you're so sad/and angry all the time?" Noah asks her. We're meant to cringe, at least a little, at the boy's insensitive naivete. But it's not clear the story has particularly convincing insights on that question.&nbsp;Caroline, who expresses herself mostly in troubled backstory, certainly needs money. Her kids, including the eldest, a radiant Samantha Williams, and two young boys, adorably played by Alexander Bello and Jayden Theophile at the performance reviewed, very much like to buy things. Caroline is also proud. She had a great love, but he all-too-predictably resorted to violence and left her alone.Except, of course, for the inanimate objects that are Caroline's frequent companions, puzzlingly personified as Black through song. There's the radio (Nasia Thomas, Nya, and Harper Miles) and washing machine (Arica Jackson) in the dank basement where Caroline spends her days, the bus (Kevin S. McCallister) that carries her tired body home at night, and the moon (N'Kenge) that washes over her sorrows.&nbsp;All are gorgeously sung here, welcome vehicles for immensely talented performers, and of a piece with the musical's unconventional glow of childlike wonder at the world. But where Noah and the Gellman family, including his reticent, clarinet-playing father (John Cariani)&nbsp;and self-consciously well-meaning mother (Cassie Levy), telegraph human subjecthood, Kushner's Black characters are primarily built from penury, weariness, or plastic, metal, and dust.Caroline's spirited daughter, beautifully played by Williams, would be a more impactful exception were she central to the story rather than circling its periphery; her epilogue insisting "you can't hold on, you Nightmare Men" feels like a hasty coda.Director Michael Longhurst's production does well to allow Clarke to blaze at its center, on a too-literal upstairs-downstairs set by Fly Davis, whose costumes do more impressively imaginative work, both in simple understatement and in opulent drape and shimmer. The onstage orchestra, raised at either side, swells the bayou setting with a rich and humid atmosphere.Caroline's greatest sorrow, it turns out, is eventually losing her temper on a privileged boy who treats her like the family dog. Clarke knocks the musical's 11 o'clock number, "Lot's Wife," absolutely past the Milky Way and into another plane of being. However stirring the lament, Caroline still had every right to put the little punk in his place.It may be just as well to close your eyes, at least for a moment, as Clarke's performance outstrips the story, to imagine a world where Caroline can breathe — and do more than just count her coins — in peace.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/caroline-or-change">Caroline, or Change runs at Studio 54 through January 9, 2022. Get Caroline, or Change&nbsp;tickets on New York Theatre Guide.</a>Photo credit:&nbsp;Adam Makké as Noah Gellman and Sharon D Clarke as Caroline Thibodeaux in Roundabout Theatre Company's Caroline, or Change. (Photo by Joan Marcus)

‘Caroline, or Change’ review — Sharon D Clarke shines in an updated revival

Caroline, or Change

According to the burlesque dancers in the musical Gypsy, the secret to success is having a gimmick. But entertaining as their words are, one wonders if a coup de théâtre can sustain an evening-length performance, particularly when the one-trick pony involves lip-syncing?&nbsp;The answer is absolutely if you're the legendary drag artist Lypsinka ― who uses lines from classic Hollywood films to scintillating campy effect. That said, lip-synching lends itself well to bizarre and comedic entertainment; so what do you get when it's used to unearth the horrors of state sanction sexual assault? Under the incisive direction of Les Waters, a scalding masterpiece that reveals how willingly our legal system caters to violent bullies.That's the essence of <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/dana-h">Dana H.,</a> which recently debuted on Broadway at the <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/lyceum-theatre">Lyceum Theatre</a> after having previously astounded Off-Broadway audiences at the <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/vineyard-theatre">Vineyard Theatre</a>&nbsp;in early 2020 before Covid-19 shuttered the industry. As was the case two years ago, the show's secret weapon is Deidre O'Connell, who channels the horrific, real-life story of Dana Higginbotham's months-long kidnapping, abuse, and repeated rapes in this documentary play.At the top of Dana H., O'Connell enters the stage, which has been designed by Andrew Boyce to resemble a simple budget motel room. She sits in a chair that has been placed at center stage, where she is outfitted with an earpiece by a stagehand. After giving him thumbs up that everything is okay, she blinks and transforms into a world-weary survivor attempting to convey a sense of calm that will never be sincere.&nbsp;We see it in the way that she crosses her arms while holding onto a printed manuscript of her story, as if it might shield her from life's capricious, concussion-inducing punches to her head. It's a subtle shift, though the true alchemical transformation begins after we hear the recorded sounds. Initially, one imagines that there is something wrong with the sound system ― that's how uncannily specific O'Connor's choreographed performance is in matching up with what we hear. But we soon realize that she is simply embodying Higginbotham's recorded words as if they were emanating from her body.&nbsp;This includes the sounds of patting a chair, shuffling papers, or jangling her bracelets; that's how perfectly in-sync O'Connor is with the sound of Higginbotham. This is more than mere mimicry or precise facial expressions; this is a full body experience that transcends imitation.Higginbotham originally recounted her ordeal to the writer Steven Cosson, who recorded their conversation. That interview was reconfigured by her son, playwright Lucas Hnath, into Dana H. Through his ears, we hear his mother's harrowing account of survival as well as a devastating indictment of the complicity of men who failed to help her, despite the clear evidence in her bleeding, tortured, and broken face that everything was wrong.&nbsp;These men were not only civilians ― they were often police officers, who according to Higginbotham's testimony conducted the mental calculus of going up against a member of the violent Aryan Brother gang of south Florida and determined that her sacrifice was more important than doing their jobs if it meant maintaining an unstable peace.The plot of Dana H. is simple: The play revolves around a former chaplain who details her in-plain sight kidnapping and enslavement by a former patient who latches onto her. More than the horror of Higginbotham's experience, the play makes clear that this could and likely does happen to millions of women across the country who lack the resources to protect themselves.&nbsp;During one particularly disgusting moment, a police officer informs Higginbotham that it is simply her word against her abuser's, despite her bruises. Though her eventual escape gives one joy, that it occurs through luck rather than design of our legal system is equally revolting.As Higginbotham explains, and which O'Connor embodies with an air of reluctant defeat, she had no money or support from the people around her. Her story is far from unique. One hopes that by speaking it to Broadway audiences, many people will hear her and harangue their elected officials to pass long-pending, common-sense, domestic violence laws so that victims and survivors are given the assistance they deserve to escape their cycle of suffering and death.I recently reviewed a show and declared that talk business does not belong onstage. Dana H. has forced me to eat my words and to accept that there are no absolutes in theatre, particularly when the story is horrifically affecting and spectacularly executed as this show is.&nbsp;Dana H. should be required viewing for legal scholars, law enforcement officers, and aspirants across the country, if only to remind them that depravity reigns when they fail to do the right thing.<a href="/show/dana-h">Dana H. is at the Lyceum Theatre. Get Dana H. tickets on New York Theatre Guide.&nbsp;</a>Photo credit: Deidre O'Connell&nbsp;in&nbsp;Dana H. (Photo by Chad Batka)

'Dana H.' review - an affecting, 'spectacularly executed' work

Photo credit: Dana H. (Photo by Chad Batka)

Dana H. on Broadway - NYC

Dana H. on Broadway

Read our review of Dana H. on Broadway at New York Theatre Guide.

Dana H. on Broadway Review | New York Theatre Guide

Pricking up your ears —&nbsp;and your peepers —&nbsp;in a state of streaming delight goes with the territory at <a href="/show/david-byrnes-american-utopia">American Utopia</a>, David Byrne's dazzling concert production back on Broadway for an encore joy jolt.The show returns with triumphant signs of its success, including a shiny special Tony Award for its four-month sold-out run that wrapped in February 2020. There's also a filmed live-capture performance directed by Spike Lee, who was in the audience (doing research, perhaps?) when I sat rapt at the production for the first time in October 2019.Two years down the road, the world has changed in dramatic ways. American Utopia, based on the former Talking Head frontman's 2018 album and tour of the same name, remains essentially unchanged.&nbsp;But, as it's said, it's all in the timing. Byrne acknowledges that the script, though the same as before, may land a bit differently now than in the pre-pandemic "old world." Case in point: his exuberant welcome to the audience in the opening moments.&nbsp;"Thank you for coming ... Thank you for leaving your homes," he says. The bit got giggles before, and still sparks laughs, but for different reasons. After all, masked theatergoers leaving home still grapple with an ongoing global health crisis that plunged them into lockdown.&nbsp;Unrestricted movement, or the opposite of lockdown, underpins this theatrical experience. "We don't have any cable or wires attached to us in these shows, attaching to gear or equipment or any of those kinds of things," Byrne says. "We're completely untethered ... It's very liberating." &nbsp;And completely captivating.&nbsp;"Here" gets the show up and running. Unspooling over 100 unbroken minutes the set list covers new and old songs and fan favorites and lesser-known music from Byrne's career. Listen up for "Every Day Is a Miracle," "Slippery People," "Once in a Lifetime," and "Burning Down the House." A rendition of Janelle Monae's protest song "Hell You Talmbout," along with brief allusions to local elections, lends a bit of political heft.The soundscape is gorgeous, lyrics landing with bell-like clarity —&nbsp;even "I Zimbra"'s "bim blassa galassasa zimbrabim," drawn from a nonsense poem. Of course, you expect a concert staging to be an earful. This one is, and then some. You can feel the insistent throbbing drumbeats in a way that only emanates from a live performance.The fact that the show is visually thrilling is all the more remarkable considering its stripped-back, monochromatic production design. The stage is naked, just like the feet of the shoeless cast uniformly dressed in grey suits. Countless grey-silver dangling chains create walls on three sides of the stage.Grey matter figures into the show's loose narrative, too. Early on Byrne strikes a Hamlet-y pose, holding a prop brain and pondering why babies "have hundreds of millions more neural connections than we do as adults."&nbsp;Where do those connections go? He eventually reveals his theory, if not his hope. Perhaps they "somehow get kind of reestablished, only now instead of being in our heads," he says, "they're between us and other people."Byrne's essential onstage connections are 11 other ace performers who handle vocals, drums, strings, keyboard and movement so polished, tight and precise it could make a marching band or a rhythmic gymnastics squad each swoon.&nbsp;The choreography and musical staging are by Annie-B Parson. Moulin Rouge! The Musical Tony winner Alex Timbers, who knows his way around moving parts and kinetic spectacle, is a production consultant.In a happy and hummable final thought, this Broadway trip concludes with "Road to Nowhere." Byrne and company offer a journey that's not to be missed.&nbsp;<a href="/show/david-byrnes-american-utopia">American Utopia is playing the&nbsp;St. James Theatre. Get American Utopia tickets on New York Theatre Guide.</a>Photo credit: David Byrne's American Utopia (Photo by Matthew Murphy)

'David Byrne's American Utopia' review - an unmissable encore run sparks joy

Photo credit: David Byrne’s American Utopia (Photo by Matthew Murphy)

David Byrne's American Utopia on Broadway - NYC [23644] (NEW)

David Byrne's American Utopia on Broadway

Read our review of the 2022 encore run of David Byrne's American Utopia on Broadway at New York Theatre Guide.

David Byrne's American Utopia on Broadway Review 2022 | New York Theatre Guide

Happy Pride! Across the world, people celebrate Pride month throughout the month of June, honoring the history of the LGBTQ+ community and celebrating its continued survival. With states nationwide introducing anti-LGBTQ laws, this year's Pride Month is an especially important time to support LGBTQ stories and, in the theatre in particular, celebrate the work of queer artists.

The contributions of LGBTQ+ writers, directors, performers, choreographers, and so much more appear in so many shows on stage this month. All these stories are worth uplifting and celebrating, and most of them happen to be pure fun. Check out these plays and musicals this Pride month — everyone is welcome at these theatres.

![fat ham broadway-1200x600-NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/4ZhzLE1qhWKeFBZZ7t9Zqz/8f9e84ed08ca74fc9b67eb731d1738fd/fat_ham_broadway-1200x600-NYTG.jpg)

## *Fat Ham*

Everyone's invited to this cookout — but only through July 2, when *Fat Ham* ends its limited Broadway run. In his Pulitzer-winning and Tony-nominated play, James Ijames mashes up the classic plot of *Hamlet* with the sensibilities of a modern-day queer Black student, Juicy. Like Hamlet, he's tasked with killing his murderous uncle, but does Juicy really want to kill anyone? Is there another way that doesn't continue the cycle of violence? Is being sensitive and "soft" to such things really that bad?

Ijames, who also [grew up Black and queer in the South](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/interviews/james-ijames-shares-the-ingredients-from-his-life-that-make-up-fat-ham), explores these themes with humor, heart, and hot barbecue. Plus, Juicy's not the only character on stage exploring their identity and trying to access their truest self.

Get [*Fat Ham* tickets](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/27141-fat-ham-tickets) now.

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![3 some like it hot-1200x600-NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/2jrcIPZ0ssP6aFpBOPB9U4/af86078c84c12ef262d7289716e3b6f1/3_some_like_it_hot-1200x600-NYTG.jpg)

## *Some Like It Hot*

If you're thirsty for a fresh update to a classic film that celebrates finding your most authentic self, *Some Like It Hot* delivers. Based on the 1959 Marilyn Monroe movie, this musical follows musicians Joe and Jerry as they escape the mob with an all-female traveling band, themselves disguised as women.

For Jerry, their identity as Daphne ends up being the part of themselves they didn't know they truly needed. Among *Some Like It Hot*'s 13 Tony nominations, including Best Musical, is one for [J. Harrison Ghee](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/interviews/j-harrison-ghee-contains-multitudes-in-some-like-it-hot-on-broadway). As one of the first non-binary actors to receive a Tony nomination, it means the most to them that "there's so many trans and queer and non-binary people at the stage door who are like, 'I've been struggling, and now I have more language; thank you for this visibility,’” said Ghee.

Get [*Some Like It Hot*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24262-some-like-it-hot-tickets) tickets now.

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![4 shucked-1200x600-NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/2A88TTJg0pds5UEOWzjQde/ef28d6d61e4aa6265901b3dfdae57a25/4_shucked-1200x600-NYTG.jpg)

## *Shucked*

Alongside Ghee in this year's ranks of Tony nominees is Alex Newell, also one of the first non-binary Tony nominees for acting. See them onstage as Lulu in *Shucked*, a "farm-to-fable" about a rural town that learns to embrace the outside world when their beloved corn crop starts dying, and they need to branch out to find help.

*Shucked* also features an all-queer lead creative team: book writer Robert Horn, songwriters Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, and director Jack O'Brien. They're all 2023 Tony nominees, proving that *Shucked* is nothing short of golden.

Get [*Shucked*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26987-shucked-tickets) tickets now.

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![& juliet pride-1200x600-NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/5xtq29vxJl4jOY1JRY0HVS/52775bdbed16f61071a04978ec319bcd/__juliet_pride-1200x600-NYTG.jpg)

## *& Juliet*

It's gonna be you that sees *& Juliet* this June. In this nine-time Tony-nominated musical, Juliet — of *Romeo & Juliet* fame — decides not to die when Romeo does but instead ditches Verona for Paris in search of a new life and love.

*& Juliet* features characters old and new, and among the new characters is May, Juliet's non-binary pal who finds a star-crossed love of their own with the romance-challenged Francois. Not only is the show a celebration of all kinds of love, but it's simply a party. *& Juliet* is set to 30 chart-topping hits by songwriter/producer [Max Martin](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/news/how-max-martin-shaped-and-juliet-on-its-road-to-broadway) (the man behind "...Baby One More Time," "Since U Been Gone," "I Want It That Way," and much more) and electric dancing by queer, two-time Tony-nominated choreographer [Jennifer Weber](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/interviews/choreographer-jennifer-weber-proves-her-versatility-on-broadway). What more could you ask for in a larger-than-life Pride musical?

Get [*& Juliet*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25598-and-juliet-tickets) tickets now.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25598-and-juliet-tickets)

![marla titanique 2-1200x600-NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/CKK1sCrTf9ZWnX8DwRcSf/ccf70b44938c0668f011fffcf1881e87/marla_titanique_2-1200x600-NYTG.jpg)

## *Titanique*

Shall we go for it? This campy parody musical is a kooky retelling of James Cameron's film *Titanic* through the character of Celine Dion, set to Dion's catalog of timeless hits. Multiple queer actors have appeared in *Titanique*, including *RuPaul's Drag Race* star Rosé, and it's by an all-queer writing team of Tye Blue, Constantine Rousouli, and Marla Mindelle.

Jack and Rose may be a straight couple, but *Titanique* is a love letter to the LGBT+ community, with plenty of references to queer pop culture, updated regularly as new trends go viral. But everyone will find something to love in this joyful, energetic comedy.

New York Theatre Guide's [four-star review calls *Titanique*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/reviews/titanique-off-broadway-review) "as much a love letter to the *Titanic* movie as it is to the people obsessed with that movie: pop culture-savvy, queer theatre kids, or so the creators presume from experience. [ ] Older and/or less theatre-obsessed audiences will find more of their enjoyment in the recreations of all the major *Titanic* movie moments and the Dion hits that score the show."

Get [*Titanique* tickets](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25241-titanique-tickets) now.

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![seven sins pride-1200x600-NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/5aFRRFa53aZKdUcGXK0xeg/3bc7be76192e53733f63737bd79b37ea/seven_sins_pride-1200x600-NYTG.jpg)

## *Seven Sins*

*Seven Sins* is a burlesque variety show based on the biblical tale of Adam and Eve. People don't often associate biblical stories with LGBT themes, but as our critic pointed out in a [five-star review](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/reviews/seven-sins-off-broadway-review), "What makes *Seven Sins* stand out, in particular, is its deliberate and gleeful queering of its source material."

"The show may end on a somber note, in keeping with the ancient story," our critic continues, "but the real takeaway from *Seven Sins* is that sometimes, what's considered sinful outside the theatre's four walls is actually worth indulging in — and unapologetically celebrating. Pleasure. Self-expression. Confidence. Beauty."

Get [*Seven Sins* tickets](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/20950-seven-sins-tickets) now.

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![cocktail magique-1200x600-NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/XRKCaiw85wKF2UycjfwKl/b2ea44f7ab7eb4610edbe1593eaf7704/cocktail_magique-1200x600-NYTG.jpg)

## *Cocktail Magique*

For even more burlesque fun, go right across the street from *Seven Sins* to *Cocktail Magique*, a variety show that combines magic, mixology, and more. 
Performers of all genders serve up circus-like entertainment, intoxicating illusions, and plenty of libations. Yes, you get to drink along; every ticket type includes at least one cocktail distributed throughout the performance. Everyone gets a few snacks and access to plenty of water, too. 

Get [*Cocktail Magique* tickets](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26141-cocktail-magique-tickets) now.

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![love science-1200x600-NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/6txNiE1twARoHv4nY2MKi6/f9a9c573422c3aecaf398709de806876/love_science-1200x600-NYTG.jpg)

## *Love + Science*

Bring the tissues for this drama. *Love + Science* occurs at the onset of the AIDS crisis, when two gay medical students fall in love in the lab — and watch their community quickly succumb to the disease. The play makes the widespread epidemic searingly intimate and human, showing the possibilities for love and hope amid crisis.

*Love + Science* also reminds audiences that the history of Pride has a somber side, and just as important as celebrating LGBT people's lives is honoring the lives lost.

Get [*Love + Science*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/28528-love-science) tickets now.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/28528-love-science)

## *Moulin Rouge! The Musical*

"No matter your desire, you're welcome here, for this is more than a nightclub. The Moulin Rouge is a state of mind." These lines from this musical's opening number set the tone immediately: Everyone can escape the outside world when they enter the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, transformed into the iconic French hotspot, and be free to be their most authentic selves. Pleasure, glamour, and fabulosity are the name of the game at this 10-time Tony-winning Best Musical adapted from Baz Luhrmann's film.

See the timeless love story of the writer Christian and showgirl Satine in 1899 Paris, set to more than 40 pop hits by artists ranging from Elton John to Lady Gaga. There's no better time than Pride Month to see a story that celebrates true love persisting against all odds.

Get [*Moulin Rouge! The Musical*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/15911-moulin-rouge-the-musical-on-broadway-tickets) tickets now.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/15911-moulin-rouge-the-musical-on-broadway-tickets)

See these New York theatre shows for Pride month

& juliet pride-1200x600-NYTG

Many of these Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals and plays feature LGBTQ+ stories and artists, and others simply celebrate inclusivity, acceptance, and joy.

This season, several shows premiered on the West End before coming to Broadway, including [*& Juliet*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25598-and-juliet-tickets), the jukebox musical featuring hit songs from powerhouse music producer/songwriter [Max Martin](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/news/how-max-martin-shaped-and-juliet-on-its-road-to-broadway)’s catalog. . *& Juliet*, featuring a book by David West Read, flips the script on Shakespeare’s tragedy *Romeo & Juliet* and reimagines the classic tale for a modern audience. In this feminist version, Juliet drops the dagger and chooses to live. The eponymous heroine ventures from fair Verona to Paris with her girlfriends, confidently stepping into a new chapter post-Romeo. 

*& Juliet* opened at the Manchester Opera House in 2019 before transferring to the West End in 2020. Then, it went to Toronto and Broadway in 2022, receiving nine Tony Awards nominations, including for Best Musical. For the show’s transfer to Broadway, the creative team honed in on the narrative storytelling and the audience experience through design elements.

For Gareth Owen, the show’s Tony-nominated sound designer, the transfer across the pond allowed the sound team to fine-tune the design. “*& Juliet* Broadway is a more polished, refined version of the London production as far as sound is concerned,” said Owen. 

The team pushed boundaries in London and tried several techniques for sound design. The team scrapped the failures for the Broadway iteration and further improved the successes. “The result is a much more cohesive overall picture — a sonic landscape that threads through the show from one end to the other with a definite purpose, as opposed to London, where we were often trying to be clever simply for the sake of it,” conceded Owen.

![2 & juliet-1200x600-NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/4uRxS4JCAwq28qRsfLQYse/a3e7a49d37437ce5ce8b0c37b59d75ed/2___juliet-1200x600-NYTG.jpg)

Dominic Fallacaro and Bill Sherman, nominated for Best Orchestrations, tuned up the storytelling for the Broadway transfer. “There were some small musical tweaks and upgrades, from cutting a few bars here to changing a string line there,” said Fallacaro. “Ultimately, it's about serving the narrative the best and thinking about all the creative musical ways you can amp up the storytelling.”

The show features chart-toppers from the past few decades, including “...Baby One More Time,” “Since U Been Gone,” and “I Want It That Way,” which cleverly lend themselves to a new storyline of empowerment, self-acceptance, and love.

Sherman added, “The creative team definitely tightened some narrative screws before Broadway, including song cuts and character refinement. In addition, we continued to find new ways to bring Max Martin's music to life.”

One noticeable change was with the showstopping number “Can’t Stop the Feeling,” which closes the show. The entire creative team worked together to drive the show home. “Along with our choreographer, [Jennifer Weber](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/interviews/choreographer-jennifer-weber-proves-her-versatility-on-broadway), we workshopped hits and breaks into that number to maximize the explosive choreography and leave the show on an extra high note,” said Fallacaro. (Not just one, but two explosive confetti cannons extend that high note further.)

*& Juliet*’s lighting designer Howard Hudson also earned a Tony nomination. “Being able to work again on the show, having opened it in the West End, let us add another whole layer of detail,” said Hudson.

“Lighting-wise, when you leave a show, there’s always things with hindsight you think to yourself that you’d wish you’d done, and of course, we were able to make all those changes,” he said. “Broadway definitely feels more immersive as we tried to bring the piece into the auditorium more and really embrace the audience in the world of the show.” 

For the entire creative team, the experience of bringing some of the greatest pop songs to the stage, and bringing the audience into the fun, has been gratifying. “Working on this project has brought me to the West End in London, Abbey Road, Manchester, Toronto, and now to Broadway, with some of the most talented creatives and artists, and I've loved it,” effused Fallacaro.

Get [*& Juliet* tickets](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25598-and-juliet-tickets) now.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25598-and-juliet-tickets)


How the ‘& Juliet’ creative team fine-tuned the Broadway design

& juliet review-1200x600-NYTG

Contains some strong language. Recommended for ages 6+. Children age 4 and under will not be admitted into the theatre. Everyone must have a ticket, regardless of age.

& Juliet on Broadway - NYC 

& Juliet on Broadway

The creative team behind Broadway's *& Juliet* shares how the show transformed from London's West End with amped-up choreography, sound, and lighting design.

The [American Airlines Theatre](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/american-airlines-theatre) will be renamed for Todd Haimes, the late former artistic director and CEO of Roundabout Theatre Company.

Haimes joined Roundabout in 1983, and he led the charge to restore and rename the venue, originally called the Selwyn Theatre, in the 1990s. The American Airlines theatre is now the flagship venue of Roundabout, which operates two other Broadway houses — [Studio 54](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/studio-54) and the [Stephen Sondheim Theatre](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/stephen-sondheim-theatre) — and the Off-Broadway [Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/harold-and-miriam-steinberg-center-for-theatre).

Plans to rename the American Airlines were actually in the works before Haimes's death at 66, as American Airlines's sponsorship of the theatre is set to end in 2024.

The renaming will take place during the 2023-24 Broadway season at a date to be confirmed.

Through July 2, the theatre is currently showing [*Fat Ham*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/27141-fat-ham-tickets), James Ijames's Pulitzer-winning and Tony-nominated play.

Get [*Fat Ham* tickets](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/27141-fat-ham-tickets) now.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/27141-fat-ham-tickets)

*Photo credit: Todd Haimes. (Photo by Teddy Wolff)*

American Airlines Theatre to be renamed for Todd Haimes

haimes-1200x600-NYTG

Haimes, who died in April, was the longtime artistic director of Roundabout Theatre Company, the nonprofit organization that operates the Broadway venue.

It’s the summer of 76! 

Not [*Summer, 1976*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25993-summer-1976-tickets) — that’s the Tony-nominated David Auburn play — but the 76th annual Tony Awards on June 11. Tony host Ariana DeBose may not march on stage with 76 trombones in tow (*The Music Man* was last season, after all), but it does seem fitting that the 76th Tony Awards are taking place in the same season as Roundabout’s gender-flipped [*1776*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24270-1776-tickets) revival and Manhattan Theatre Club’s world premiere of *Summer, 1976*. 

Seventy-six isn’t the only notable number attached to this year’s ceremony, though. Read on to discover some of the exciting, historic firsts among the nominees and more fast facts on the 2023 Tony Awards by the numbers.

## 76 years of the Tonys

The very first Antoinette Perry Awards took place in 1947 in the Grand Ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. (It took another two decades until the ceremony was broadcast on national television in 1967.) Awards were given in eight categories: 

- Actor in a Play
- Actress in a Play
- Best Performer in a Musical
- Outstanding Newcomer
- Director
- Choreographer
- Costume Designer
- Composer

The winners, including director Elia Kazan (*All My Sons*), composer Kurt Weill (*Street Scene*), actress Ingrid Bergman (*Joan of Lorraine*), and choreographer Agnes DeMille (*Brigadoon*), received gendered prizes by today’s standards. The women got engraved jewelry or compacts, while the men got engraved money clips or cigarette lighters. Two years later, the Tonys began awarding medallions to the recipients instead. 

![united palace-1200x600-NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/5fVs6gar9E47dbFcCw3mKX/e2cd678dea5fcb7dc10663a9a318f8e9/united_palace-1200x600-NYTG.jpg)

## 1 new venue

For the first time, the Tonys will take place at the United Palace theatre in Washington Heights. It is Manhattan’s fourth-largest theatre, with nearly 3,500 seats. In some ways, the Tony Awards are going back to their roots by happening there — Harold Rambusch, who designed the Waldorf Astoria, also designed the interior of the United Palace theatre.

Over the past 76 years, the Tonys have been held at 19 different venues, including other hotels like the Plaza, Broadway theatres like the [Winter Garden](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/winter-garden-theatre) and [Shubert](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/shubert-theatre), and iconic New York landmarks like the Rainbow Room and [Radio City Music Hall](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/radio-city-music-hall). Radio City has hosted the most Tony Award ceremonies of all time: 20.

## 3 modified ceremonies (in 3 years)

The pandemic shook up the past two Tony Awards ceremonies. The combined 2020 awards ceremony actually took place in 2021 after pandemic delays. And several of the 2022 Tony winning shows actually began performances just prior to the Broadway shutdown on March 12, 2020, and would have been considered among that year’s nominees had they not been shuttered as quickly as they opened.

The 2023 ceremony is also being modified, this time amid an ongoing strike by the Writers Guild of America, which writes material for televised broadcasts like the Tonys. While the ceremony will still be broadcast as planned on June 11, it won’t contain any original scripted material. The ceremony will consist almost entirely of awards presentations and performances from the nominated shows.

![ny ny 2-1200x600-NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/76uUS8WipVTT9QVHVh4amf/1bea349f9046dbe852c66037faa9e88d/ny_ny_2-1200x600-NYTG.jpg)

## 38 eligible shows

There were 38 total shows in the 2022-2023 Broadway season, and all were considered eligible for nominations. Of those, 27, or 71% of the eligible shows, received at least one nomination.

## 26 competitive award categories

Having come a long way since 1947, the Tony Awards now award performers, directors, writers, choreographers, and designers, with most categories split by play or musical. There are also multiple special Tony honors, a different number each year, awarded to educators, regional theatres, administrators, and artists celebrating lifetime achievement.

![3 some like it hot-1200x600-NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/2jrcIPZ0ssP6aFpBOPB9U4/af86078c84c12ef262d7289716e3b6f1/3_some_like_it_hot-1200x600-NYTG.jpg)

## 13 *Some Like It Hot* nominations

[*Some Like It Hot*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24262-some-like-it-hot-tickets) is this year’s most nominated show, receiving 13 nominations in 12 categories. [Christian Borle](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/stars-on-stage/christian-borle) and [J. Harrison Ghee](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/interviews/j-harrison-ghee-contains-multitudes-in-some-like-it-hot-on-broadway) were nominated for their work on the new musical in the same category: Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical.

There is a three-way tie for second place: The musicals [*& Juliet*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25598-and-juliet-tickets), [*Shucked*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26987-shucked-tickets), and [*New York, New York*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26043-new-york-new-york-tickets) all received nine nods. [*Leopoldstadt*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26003-leopoldstadt-tickets), [*Ain’t No Mo’*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25907-aint-no-mo-tickets), and [*A Doll’s House*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26989-a-dolls-house-tickets) also tied three ways for the most play nominations with six each.

![jordan 1200 NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/2ZIzHupXCcEaU9Rq9HsgzB/f16227aa0fa3b54816165487442fccf6/jordan_1200_NYTG.jpg)

## 8 double nominees

8 nominees were either nominated in the same category for two different shows they worked on this season, or they were nominated in two different categories for their work on the same show. Here are all the double nominees this year:

- Playwright/performer Jordan E. Cooper ([*Ain’t No Mo’*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25907-aint-no-mo-tickets))
- Choreographer [Jennifer Weber](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/interviews/choreographer-jennifer-weber-proves-her-versatility-on-broadway) ([*& Juliet*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25598-and-juliet-tickets) and [*KPOP*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24236-kpop-tickets))
- Costume designer Emilio Sosa ([*Ain’t No Mo’*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25907-aint-no-mo-tickets) and [*Good Night, Oscar*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26390-good-night-oscar-tickets)) 
- Director/choreographer Casey Nicholaw ([*Some Like It Hot*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24262-some-like-it-hot-tickets))
- Bookwriter/lyricist David Lindsay-Abaire ([*Kimberly Akimbo*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25458-kimberly-akimbo-tickets))
- Set designer Scott Pask ([*Shucked*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26987-shucked-tickets) and [*Some Like It Hot*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24262-some-like-it-hot-tickets))
- Sound designers Ben and Max Ringham ([*Prima Facie*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25983-prima-facie-tickets) and [*A Doll’s House*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26989-a-dolls-house-tickets))
- Lighting designer Natasha Katz ([*Some Like It Hot*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24262-some-like-it-hot-tickets) and [*Sweeney Todd*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26216-sweeney-todd-on-broadway-tickets))

[Read our feature spotlighting this year's double Tony nominees.](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/news/meet-the-broadway-artists-nominated-for-two-tonys-this-season)

## 60 first-time Tony nominees

Of note, Weber and Cooper, both among the double nominees above, made their Broadway debuts this season. Additionally, all the performers in the Best Featured Actress and Actor in a Musical categories, with the exception of Ruthie Ann Miles, are first-time nominees.

![4 shucked-1200x600-NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/2A88TTJg0pds5UEOWzjQde/ef28d6d61e4aa6265901b3dfdae57a25/4_shucked-1200x600-NYTG.jpg)

## More historic firsts at the 2023 Tony Awards

The 76th Tony Awards already made history with this year’s nominees, and pivotal moments could happen when the winners are announced. 

[*Some Like It Hot*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24262-some-like-it-hot-tickets)’s Ghee and [*Shucked*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26987-shucked-tickets)’s Alex Newell are the first openly non-binary performers to be nominated in their categories. Ghee plays a gender-expansive character, and Newell plays a cisgender woman, but both performers were able to choose whether they wanted to be considered eligible in the Actor or Actress category.

Katy Sullivan ([*Cost of Living*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25892-cost-of-living-tickets)) is the first female amputee to perform on Broadway and the first to be nominated for a Tony Award.

Although the current [*A Doll’s House*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26989-a-dolls-house-tickets) revival is the 14th Broadway production of the famous Ibsen play, 2023 Tony nominee [Amy Herzog](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/interviews/tony-nominee-amy-herzog-flips-the-script-with-a-dolls-house) is the first woman to adapt the work for Broadway. And since she newly adapted it, not just translated it, she’s eligible for the Best Revival of a Play award, which is usually reserved for producers.

Jordan E. Cooper became the youngest Black American playwright in Broadway history when his play [*Ain’t No Mo’*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25907-aint-no-mo-tickets) opened this past fall. And now, he’s the youngest Black American playwright ever nominated!

Helen Park is the first female Asian composer/lyricist on Broadway and the first to be nominated for a Tony. She is, in fact, the first female Asian writer to be nominated for a Tony in any of the writing categories. If Helen Park were to win Best Score for her work on [*KPOP*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24236-kpop-tickets), she would be the first woman of color to do so in her category. 

Similarly, if either Amber Ruffin (*Some Like It Hot*) or Sharon Washington ([*New York, New York*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26043-new-york-new-york-tickets)) wins Best Book of a Musical, they will be the first non-white woman to ever receive the award for writing or co-writing the book of a musical. In fact, no non-white woman has ever won a Tony Award in either writing category (Best Book or Best Score). The closest exception is Yasmina Reza, a playwright of half-Central Asian descent who has won two Tonys for Best Play.

![kimberly akimbo-1200x600-NYTG 4](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/O3Pvd2E5ymYHMwRNNCeBO/2b8326d3df40952dadec774a363299fe/kimberly_akimbo-1200x600-NYTG_4.jpg)

## 66-year age range of nominees

*Kimberly Akimbo*’s Justin Cooley is this year’s youngest nominee at 19 years old. He’s up for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for starring in Kimberly Akimbo. In a close second, the youngest nominated woman is 23-year-old Best Featured Actress in a Musical nominee Julia Lester, who made her Broadway debut with [*Into the Woods*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25770-into-the-woods-tickets) last summer as Little Red Ridinghood.

At 85 years old, playwright Tom Stoppard is the oldest nominee at this year’s Tony Awards. His show [*Leopoldstadt*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26003-leopoldstadt-tickets) is up for Best Play.

![cost of living review-1200](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/5vCMxlC40yg6rktYgluAhk/bf7cf191ea6fc694206328651906640a/cost_of_living_review-1200.jpg)

## 6 Pulitzer Prize-winning plays

No matter what happens, they’re already winners! Three of this year’s Best Play nominees have already won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama: [*Between Riverside and Crazy*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26311-between-riverside-and-crazy-tickets) by [Stephen Adly Guirgis](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/interviews/the-real-life-friendship-that-led-to-between-riverside-and-crazy) (2015), [*Cost of Living*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25892-cost-of-living-tickets) by Martyna Majok (2018), and [*Fat Ham*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/27141-fat-ham-tickets) by James Ijames (2022). 

Additionally, three plays that got revived this year won Pulitzers when they premiered: [*Death of a Salesman*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25459-death-of-a-salesman-tickets) (1949), [*The Piano Lesson*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24256-the-piano-lesson-tickets) (1990), and [*Topdog/Underdog*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25558-topdog-underdog-tickets) (2002). 

![8 sweeney-1200x600-NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/5d6m9eAI4F4cba33znc9mk/90fae9ace6c029c58d525e5a2f124ca4/8_sweeney-1200x600-NYTG.jpg)

## Which nominee has the most career Tony nominations?

Lighting designers are not often household names, but if you don’t know the name Natasha Katz, you should. Katz has received a whopping 17 Tony nominations for designing Broadway plays and musicals, including last year’s MJ. She has won the award seven times – four for musicals (*MJ*, *Aida*, *Once*, and *An American in Paris*) and three for plays (*The Coast of Utopia*, *The Glass Menagerie*, and *Long Day’s Journey into Night*).

This year, she is doubly nominated for her work on two musicals: [*Some Like It Hot*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24262-some-like-it-hot-tickets) and [*Sweeney Todd*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26216-sweeney-todd-on-broadway-tickets).

![ohio state review-1200x600-NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/7LYP2CqsoFdBdjjLnIvDcd/8cf87c36cc284ed9ecba5618b3d717af/ohio_state_review-1200x600-NYTG.jpg)

## Which nominee has the most career Tony wins?

Audra McDonald holds that record. She is one of only five performers to have been nominated in all four acting categories and is the only person who’s won all four acting categories. She has won six competitive awards; Julie Harris is the only other person in history with that many wins, but one of hers is a special award.

This year’s nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Play for [*Ohio State Murders*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24218-ohio-state-murders-tickets) is her 10th to date, tying her with Harris and Chita Rivera as the most nominated performer ever. If McDonald wins in 2023, she will become the performer with the most awards ever: seven.

The 2023 Tony Awards by the numbers

Tony Awards

Read on to learn fun facts and stats about the nominees, venue, and historic firsts associated with the 76th annual theatre awards ceremony, hosted on June 11.

The new musical [*Some Like It Hot*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24262-some-like-it-hot-tickets) has garnered 13 Tony Award nominations — the most this season — for its swinging score, hilarious book, and brilliant cast. The nods include Best New Musical and four first-time nominations for co-writer Amber Ruffin and cast members J. Harrison Ghee, NaTasha Yvette Williams, and Kevin Del Aguila. 

Inspired by the 1959 Marilyn Monroe-led film of the same name, the musical features a book by Matthew López and Ruffin, and a score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. The musical sees two musicians, Jerry and Joe, escape the mob by disguising themselves as women and joining a traveling all-female swing band, where they learn a lot about their own truths and identities. *Some Like It Hot* incorporates everything you’d expect in a Broadway mega-musical: ensemble numbers, plenty of tap dancing, and marvelous set pieces.

The stage adaptation is more inclusive and openly celebratory of LGBTQ themes than its predecessor, which was groundbreaking at the time but limited in what the story could and couldn’t include due to censorship in the film industry. Below, the three nominated cast members shared their journey with the heartwarming show and how it feels to receive recognition for their performances.

Get [*Some Like It Hot* tickets](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24262-some-like-it-hot-tickets) now.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24262-some-like-it-hot-tickets)

![3 some like it hot-1200x600-NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/2jrcIPZ0ssP6aFpBOPB9U4/af86078c84c12ef262d7289716e3b6f1/3_some_like_it_hot-1200x600-NYTG.jpg)

## Creating a safe space

[J. Harrison Ghee](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/interviews/j-harrison-ghee-contains-multitudes-in-some-like-it-hot-on-broadway), who previously played Lola in *Kinky Boots*, another show celebrated for its inclusivity, touched on the heartfelt interactions with *Some Like It Hot* audiences.

“[I’ve had] moments at the stage door with a parent of a trans kid who's like, 'Thank you for showing my child that their existence matters,'” said Ghee. “There's a part of them living on stage.”

Williams, who plays Sweet Sue, the leader of the all-female swing band, shared how the show creates a sense of community. She hopes audiences see the show and realize they don’t have to be isolated. Instead, she wants them to think, “I have to reach out and embrace others and have others embrace me so that we can move forward.”

In addition to creating a safe space for audience members to feel accepted for who they truly are, *Some Like It Hot* gives people a joyous respite from difficulties in their everyday lives. “People go to theatre to escape, feel, and see a spectacle," said Ghee. “They want to see something beyond normalcy sometimes. We're giving them that, but in such a beautiful way that’s grounded in truth.”

![1 some like it hot-1200x600-NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/60bl9xOY63DGZIq7srVBNo/cde27655be206d00abb379cb8539a5de/1_some_like_it_hot-1200x600-NYTG.jpg)

## Living your truth

Both the movie and the musical explore the theme of identity. By the end of the story, all the characters transform in some way, having learned something crucial about themselves. In developing these characters, each of the nominated performers brought a piece of themselves to their roles.

“The whole show is about identity, right?” says Del Aguila. “You have this idea of who you are inside, but the world tells you that you must be something else. You have to figure out how to live your truth in this world that may not see that.”

Kevin Del Aguila plays Osgood, a millionaire infatuated with Daphne, and brings part of himself to the role. While recording a demo for the musical, Matthew López said he wanted to make Osgood half-Mexican, a departure from the film portrayal. “Everyone in the show could have this dual nature that they're trying to figure out,” said Del Aguila, who is half-Peruvian.

For her part, Williams found it most special to celebrate strong maternal figures through her character Sweet Sue, who builds her band from the ground up and watches over its members as if they were her daughters. For her portrayal, Williams drew upon inspiration from strong women in her own life, such as her aunt and mother.

“What an honor to mirror some of the women in my life who pushed me and said, ‘We don't have to take that; we can go do our own thing,’” she said. “I knew who Sue was. So it was an honor to be able to just slice off people in my life and make them come to life.”

For Ghee, taking on this role was important for the message they could send to other gender-expansive people. “[This role] met me where I am in my life of being able to, as I say, free myself to see myself,” said Ghee. “To allow life and circumstances to expand me beyond my own labels, limits, and boundaries.”

They made history this year as one of the first non-binary actors to receive a Tony nomination, alongside *[Shucked](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26987-shucked-tickets)*'s Alex Newell. 

“It is not something I take lightly, especially in this climate of legislation against queer and trans and nonbinary beings,” Ghee said of their historic Tony nomination. “It is something I care for with pride. I live with intention and purpose and love. And for that to be honored in this work is truly incredible.”

![2 some like it hot-1200x600-NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/2Tw6BBa1k8OK21tSASJS5Z/940b9a1a33392e8a89336dc34aecc1f3/2_some_like_it_hot-1200x600-NYTG.jpg)

## Welcome back to Broadway

*Some Like It Hot* feels pertenint to this moment in history. Broadway reopened in September 2021, but it has taken some time for the world of live theatre to fully transition back to what it was before the pandemic. 

“This show has been everything that I think anybody needs coming out of the pandemic,” said Williams. “We have the opportunity to come together to laugh, to be with people in the space that says there's room for you here and you belong here. There’s no better place to be.”

“Broadway is back in such a bold, brassy way, and we're doing that at the [Shubert](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/shubert-theatre),” added Ghee. “It's wonderful to feel audiences every night receive that [message] and also be taken places they didn't expect in our journey. It's beautiful.”

Echoing his castmates, Del Aguila said it’s hard not to feel alive while performing. “You're surrounded by all these people tap dancing in this giant band just swinging these songs,” he said. “The joy, the vibrancy, the life has all come back in this incredibly big, glorious musical.”

Get [*Some Like It Hot* tickets](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24262-some-like-it-hot-tickets) now.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24262-some-like-it-hot-tickets)

*Photo credit: Some Like It Hot on Broadway. (Photos by Marc J. Franklin and Matthew Murphy)*


First-time Tony nominees in ‘Some Like It Hot’ celebrate the milestone

some like it hot-1200x600-NYTG 1

Recommended for 12 + Children under the age of 4 are not permitted in the theatre.

Some Like It Hot on Broadway - NYC

Some Like It Hot on Broadway

*Some Like It Hot* led to first-time nominations for cast members  J. Harrison Ghee, NaTasha Yvette Williams, and Kevin Del Aguila. 

This is good news, no doubt about it! Roundabout Theatre Company will present the first Broadway revival of [*Doubt: A Parable*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/30042-doubt-a-parable-tickets) in February 2024, starring Tony and Emmy Award winner Tyne Daly and Tony and SAG Award winner Liev Schreiber.

Daly is a Tony Award winner for *Gypsy* and a nominee for *Mothers and Sons* and *Rabbit Hole*. She makes her Roundabout debut with *Doubt*. Schreiber has performed in *Betrayal* and *Moonlight* with Roundabout, and he received a Tony for *Glengarry Glen Ross*.

In John Patrick Shanley's play, Daly and Schreiber play Sister Aloysius and Father Flynn, respectively. Aloysius is the fearsome principal of an all-boys' Catholic school who wrestles with her morals and doubt when she suspects unseemly relations between Flynn and one of her students.

Scott Ellis directs the production, *Doubt*'s first since 2005, at the [American Airlines Theatre](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/american-airlines-theatre). Additional casting, creative team, and exact performance dates have yet to be announced.

*Doubt: A Parable* completes [Roundabout's 2023-24 season](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/news/danny-devito-to-lead-i-need-that-on-broadway-2023-24-roundabout-season-announced), which also includes the previously announced *I Need That*, starring Danny DeVito, on Broadway and *The Refuge Plays*, *Covenant*, and *Jonah* off Broadway.

Tyne Daly, Liev Schreiber to star in first 'Doubt' Broadway revival

doubt-1200x600-NYTG

Doubt on Broadway - NYC

Doubt on Broadway

John Patrick Shanley's play completes Roundabout Theatre Company's 2023-24 season, and it will play at the American Airlines Theatre from February 2024.

Joshua Harmon's [*Prayer for the French Republic*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24257-prayer-for-the-french-republic-tickets) will premiere on Broadway this winter with Manhattan Theatre Club, two years after the company produced its Off-Broadway premiere. Performances begin at the [Samuel J. Friedman Theatre](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/samuel-j-friedman-theatre) on December 19 ahead of an opening night on January 9, 2024.

In *Prayer for the French Republic*, a Jewish couple in Paris awaits news of their missing relatives in 1944. Seventy years later, their descendants, also in Paris, wonder about their own safety in this epic connecting generations and shows the lasting effects of anti-Semitism through the years.

The show won the 2022 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play. A [four-star *Prayer for the French Republic* review](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/reviews/prayer-for-the-french-republic-review-manhattan-theatre-club) on New York Theatre Guide reads, "In a dramatic feat, the play does not collapse under its own weight. Instead, *Prayer for the French Republic* is a breathtaking work that skillfully balances the humanity of its characters with sprawling history."

The play is by Joshua Harmon, the author of other acclaimed plays like *Bad Jews* and *Significant Other*. David Cromer, who staged the Off-Broadway production, returns to direct.

Casting and additional creative team have yet to be announced.

*Photo credit: Prayer for the French Republic off Broadway. (Photo by Matthew Murphy)*

'Prayer for the French Republic' to premiere on Broadway

Prayer for the French Republic

In 1944, a Jewish couple in Paris desperately awaits news of their missing family.

Prayer for the French Republic - NYC

Joshua Harmon's drama about a Jewish family premiered with Manhattan Theatre Club, which is producing the Broadway show, off Broadway in the winter of 2021.

Julie Benko will join the cast of [*Harmony*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24995-harmony-tickets) on Broadway, the new Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman musical coming to the Barrymore Theatre this fall. Performances begin October 18 ahead of a November 13 opening.

Benko is known for her breakout role as the alternate Fanny Brice in the current Broadway revival of *Funny Girl*, playing the role once a week in place of Lea Michele. Her performance earned her the 2023 Theatre World Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theatre.

Benko will play Ruth in *Harmony*, joining a cast that also includes the [previously announced](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/news/initial-casting-set-for-harmony-on-broadway) Chip Zien as Rabbi, Sean Bell as Bobby, Danny Kornfeld as Young Rabbi, Zal Owen as Harry, Eric Peters as Erich, Blake Roman as Chopin, and Steven Telsey as Lesh. All but Benko reprise their roles from the musical's 2022 Off-Broadway premiere.

*Harmony* tells the true story of the Comedian Harmonists, a German Jewish choral group who reached their heyday in the 1920s and 30s, but were soon rocked by the rise of the Nazi regime. Manilow composed original songs for the musical, which also features a book and lyrics by Bruce Sussman and direction and choreography by Warren Carlyle.

New York Theatre Guide's [four-star review of *Harmony*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/reviews/harmony-off-broadway-review) off Broadway reads, "*Harmony* hits all the right notes."

Check back for information on *Harmony* tickets on New York Theatre Guide.

*Photo credit: Julie Benko. (Photo courtesy of production)*

Julie Benko joins 'Harmony' Broadway cast

julie benko-1200x600-NYTG

Harmony: A New Musical on Broadway - NYC

Harmony: A New Musical on Broadway

The actress is known for her breakout role as the alternate Fanny Brice in the current Broadway revival of *Funny Girl*, receiving a Theatre World Award.

You didn't get the invite to the United Palace for the 2023 Tony Awards, but that doesn't mean you can't party like Broadway royalty. It's Tony season, so it's time to gather your bosom buddies and raise a glass of bubbly to the biggest night on Broadway. Cheer on your favorites as you watch the June 11 ceremony at 8 p.m. on CBS while enjoying themed snacks and drinks. And the award for Best Party Host goes to... you!

Learn more about the [2023 Tony nominees](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/news/2023-tony-award-nominees-announced) and [how to watch the 2023 Tony Awards](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/news/tony-awards-guide-how-to-watch-nominees-and-more).

<h2>Build a pre-show playlist.</h2>Jam to Tony-nominated scores as your guests arrive. We'd recommend a playlist of 11 o'clock numbers to kick off the night. Cue the <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/hadestown" target="_blank">Hadestown</a> swinging lamps!<h2>Put together a themed menu.</h2>Come up with a list of&nbsp;Tony nominee-inspired cocktails&nbsp;for your guests to sip on, like Tequila Mockingbirds or <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/actor-profile/adam-driver" target="_blank">Adam Screw-Drivers</a>. But make sure you don't drink on an empty stomach. We suggest putting together a cheese plate with the following cheeses: <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/what-the-constitution-means-to-me" target="_blank">What the Constitution Means to Brie</a>, <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/the-ferryman" target="_blank">Ferrymanchego</a>, <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/burn-this" target="_blank">Brandon Urano-Swiss</a>, and <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/tootsie" target="_blank">Santino Fontina</a>.<h2>Decorate.</h2>Theatre is one of the most delightfully over-the-top art forms, so don't be afraid to let your party camp it up. Put this season's playbills on prominent display on a cute clothesline and build your own step-and-repeat. Or even roll out a red carpet if you're feeling especially extra. Don't forget balloons and streamers. Think Beth Leavel and Brooks Ashmanskas <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/the-prom" target="_blank">building a prom</a> and going for the most over-the-top aesthetic possible.<h2>Prepare voting ballots.</h2>Some people like to do Fantasy Football drafts or March Madness brackets, but in our world, the only league we care about is the Broadway League. No Tony watch party is complete without some healthy competition, so make sure you have ballots for all your guests to fill out with their predictions. Make things a little interesting by pooling together some cash, which will go to the person with the most correct predictions at the end of the night.<h2>Play a drinking game (responsibly).</h2>We would say take a drink every time host James Corden makes a niche musical theatre joke, but you have a liver to preserve. Start with something simple, like a Hollywood actor introducing an award by talking about how much theatre means to them. Then again, that could get dangerous too... come up with your own rules, and play at your own risk.

How to plan the perfect Tony Awards party

You didn't get the invite to Radio City Music Hall, but that doesn't mean you can't party like Broadway royalty. It's Tony season, so it's time to gather your bosom buddies and raise a glass of bubbly to the biggest night on Broadway.

How to plan the perfect Tony Awards party | NewYorkTheatreGuide.com

Read our tips for getting together the best decorations, food, music, and more to have the best, most fun bash on the biggest night of the Broadway season.

The Drama Desk has announced the winners of the 67th annual Drama Desk Awards, recognizing excellence in Broadway, off-Broadway, and off-offBroadway productions during the 2022-23 season. The Drama Desk Awards ceremony, co-hosted by Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody, will take place on June 6 at Sardi’s Restaurant in New York City. 

This year, all performance categories are gender-free and award two winners. A group of journalists, editors, and publishers covering theatre vote on the nominations put forth by a nominating committee. Top winners include *[Some Like It Hot](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24262-some-like-it-hot-tickets)* with eight wins and *[Life of Pi](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26712-life-of-pi-tickets)* with four. 

In addition to the competitive awards, the Drama Desk bestowed the Harold Prince Lifetime Achievement Award to Stephen McKinley Henderson, the Ensemble Award to the cast of Soho Rep’s Public Obscenities, and the Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award to Ryan J. Haddad, for his writing and performing in *Dark Disabled Stories* and *american (tele)visions.*

Read the full list of 2023 Drama Desk Award winners and nominees below. The winners are denoted with an asterisk.

Get *[Some Like It Hot](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24262-some-like-it-hot-tickets)* tickets now.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24262-some-like-it-hot-tickets)

__Outstanding Play__
- *A Case for the Existence of God*, by Samuel D. Hunter
- *[Fat Ham](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/27141-fat-ham-tickets)*, by James Ijames
- *[Leopoldstadt](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26003-leopoldstadt-tickets)* by Tom Stoppard *
- *Love* by Alexander Zeldin
- *[Prima Facie](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25983-prima-facie-tickets)* by Suzie Miller
- *Wish You Were Here* by Sanaz Toossi

__Outstanding Musical__
- *[& Juliet](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25598-and-juliet-tickets)*
- *Between the Lines*
- *F*ck7thGrade*
- *[Shucked](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26987-shucked-tickets)*
- *Some Like It Hot* *
- *White Girl in Danger*

__Outstanding Revival of a Play__
- *A Raisin in the Sun*
- *Death of a Salesman*
- *Endgame*
- *The Piano Lesson* *
- *Ohio State Murders*
- *Wedding Band*

__Outstanding Revival of a Musical__
- *A Man of No Importance*
- *Into the Woods*
- *Merrily We Roll Along*
- *[Parade](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26500-parade)*
- *[Sweeney Todd](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26216-sweeney-todd-on-broadway-tickets)*

__Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play__
- Hiran Abeysekera: *Life of Pi*
- Kyle Beltran: *A Case for the Existence of God*
- Will Brill: *A Case for the Existence of God*
- Brittany Bradford: *Wedding Band*
- Jessica Chastain: *[A Doll’s House](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26989-a-dolls-house-tickets)* *
- Sharon D. Clarke: *Death of a Salesman*
- Sean Hayes: *Good Night, Oscar* *
- Denise Manning: *Amani*
- Audra McDonald: *Ohio State Murders*
- Wendell Pierce: *Death of a Salesman*
- John Douglas Thompson: *Endgame*
- Kara Young: *Twelfth Night*

__Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical__
- Annaleigh Ashford: *Sweeney Todd* *
- Nicholas Barasch: *The Butcher Boy*
- Sara Bareilles: *Into the Woods*
- Andrew Burnap: *Camelot*
- Micaela Diamond: *Parade*
- Andrew Durand: *Shucked*
- Callum Francis: *Kinky Boots*
- J. Harrison Ghee: *Some Like It Hot* *
- Jonathan Groff: *Merrily We Roll Along*
- Somi Kakoma: *Dreaming Zenzile*
- Lindsay Mendez: *Merrily We Roll Along*
- Anna Uzele: *New York, New York*

__Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play__
- Emily Bergl: *Good Night, Oscar*
- Danielle Brooks: *The Piano Lesson*
- Amelda Brown: *Love* 
- Ray Fisher: *The Piano Lesson*
- K. Todd Freeman: *Downstate* 
- Francis Guinan: *Downstate* 
- Nick Holder: *Love* 
- Arian Moayed: *A Doll’s House*
- Brian Quijada: *Wolf Play* 
- Miriam Silverman: *The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window* *
- Brandon Uranowitz: *Leopoldstadt* *
- Kara Young: *Cost of Living*

__Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical__
- Kevin Cahoon: *Shucked*
- Kevin Del Aguila: *Some Like It Hot* *
- Robyn Hurder: *[A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24254-a-beautiful-noise-tickets)*
- Mark Jacoby: *A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical*
- Tarra Conner Jones: *White Girl in Danger* 
- [Julia Lester](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/interviews/julia-lester-on-growing-up-with-into-the-woods): *Into the Woods*
- Alex Newell: *Shucked* *
- Daniel Radcliffe: *Merrily We Roll Along* 
- Phillipa Soo: *Into the Woods*
- Mare Winningham: *A Man of No Importance* 

__Outstanding Direction of a Play__
- Zi Alikhan: *On That Day in Amsterdam* 
- Shayok Misha Chowdhury: *Public Obscenities* 
- Miranda Cromwell: *Death of a Salesman*
- Adam Meggido: *[Peter Pan Goes Wrong](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/27336-peter-pan-goes-wrong-tickets)*
- Max Webster: *Life of Pi* *
- Alexander Zeldin: *Love* 

__Outstanding Direction of a Musical__
- Jeff Calhoun: *Between the Lines*
- John Doyle: *A Man of No Importance* 
- Maria Friedman: *Merrily We Roll Along* 
- Thomas Kail: *Sweeney Todd* *
- Jack O’Brien: *Shucked*

__Outstanding Choreography__
- Andy Blankenbuehler: *Only Gold* 
- Tislarm Bouie: *the bandaged place*
- Edgar Godineaux: *The Harder They Come* 
- Casey Nicholaw: *Some Like It Hot* *
- Susan Stroman: *[New York, New York](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26043-new-york-new-york-tickets)*
- [Jennifer Weber](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/interviews/choreographer-jennifer-weber-proves-her-versatility-on-broadway): *KPOP*

__Outstanding Music__
- Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally: *Shucked* *
- Michael R. Jackson: *White Girl in Danger*
- Tom Kitt and AnnMarie Milazzo (vocal designer): *Almost Famous*
- Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson: *Between the Lines*
- The Kilbanes: *Weightless*

__Outstanding Lyrics__
- Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally: *Shucked*
- Jonathan Hogue: *Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical*
- Michael R. Jackson: *White Girl in Danger*
- Adam Schlesinger and Sarah Silverman: *The Bedwetter*
- Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman: *Some Like It Hot* *

__Outstanding Book of a Musical__
- Jonathan Hogue: *Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical*
- Robert Horn: *Shucked*
- Matthew López and Amber Ruffin: *Some Like It Hot* *
- Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli, and Tye Blue: *Titanique*
- David West Read: *& Juliet*

__Outstanding Orchestrations__
- Bruce Coughlin: *A Man of No Importance* 
- Jason Howland: *Shucked*
- Charlie Rosen and Bryan Carter: *Some Like It Hot* *
- Kenny Seymour: *The Harder They Come*
- Daryl Waters and Sam Davis: *New York, New York*

__Outstanding Music in a Play__
- Ben Edelman, Zane Pais, and Sinan Refik Zafar: *Letters from Max, a ritual*
- Mauricio Escamilla: *the bandaged place*
- Suzan-Lori Parks: *Plays for the Plague Year* *
- Ian Ross: *Wuthering Heights* 
- Daniel Schlosberg: *Montag*

__Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play__
- Jason Ardizzone-West: *Wedding Band*
- Beowulf Boritt: *Ohio State Murders*
- dots: *Public Obscenities*
- Tim Hatley: *Life of Pi* *
- Natasha Jenkins: *Love*
- John McDermott: *Chains*

__Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical__
- Beowulf Boritt: *New York, New York* *
- David Korins: *Only Gold*
- Scott Pask: *Shucked*
- Walt Spangler and Brendan McCann (production props): *Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical*
- Michael Yeargan: *[Camelot](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/25210-camelot-tickets)*

__Outstanding Costume Design of a Play__
- Kara Branch: *According to the Chorus*
- Enver Chakartash: *Public Obscenities*
- Qween Jean: *Wedding Band*
- Sarah Laux: *Wish You Were Here*
- Emilio Sosa: *Ain’t No Mo’* *
- Roberto Surace: *Peter Pan Goes Wrong*

__Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical__
- [Gregg Barnes](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/news/costume-designer-gregg-barnes-on-fashioning-the-1930s-in-some-like-it-hot): *Some Like It Hot* *
- Tilly Grimes: *Shucked*
- Jennifer Moeller: *Camelot*
- Clint Ramos and Sophia Choi: *KPOP*
- Anita Yavich: *Only Gold*
- Donna Zakowska: *New York, New York*

__Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play__
- Isabella Byrd: *Epiphany*
- Jiyoun Chang: *The Far Country*
- Natasha Chivers and Willie Williams (video): *Prima Facie* *
- Allen Lee Hughes: *Ohio State Murders*
- Cha See: *On That Day in Amsterdam*
- Japhy Weideman: *The Piano Lesson*

__Outstanding Lighting Design of a Musical__
- Ken Billington: *New York, New York*
- Jeff Croiter: *Only Gold*
- Heather Gilbert: *Parade*
- David Grill: *Bob Fosse’s Dancin’*
- Natasha Katz: *Sweeney Todd* *

__Outstanding Projection and Video Design__
- Simon Baker: *Wuthering Heights*
- Andrzej Goulding: *Life of Pi* *
- Caite Hevner: *Between the Lines*
- Josh Higgason: *White Girl in Danger*
- Nicholas Hussong: *On That Day in Amsterdam*
- Johnny Moreno: *Public Obscenities*

__Outstanding Sound Design of a Play__
- Justin Ellington: *Ohio State Murders*
- Tom Gibbons: *Hamlet*
- Josh Anio Grigg: *Love*
- Lee Kinney and Daniel Kluger: *You Will Get Sick*
- Ben & Max Ringham: *A Doll’s House* *
- Mikaal Sulaiman: *Fat Ham* 

__Outstanding Sound Design of a Musical__
- Peter Hylenski: *Almost Famous*
- Scott Lehrer and Alex Neumann: *Into the Woods* *
- John Shiver: *Shucked* *
- Joanna Lynne Staub: *Weightless*
- Jon Weston: *Parade* 

__Outstanding Wig and Hair__
- Campbell Young Associates: *Almost Famous*
- Cookie Jordan: *The Piano Lesson*
- Mia M. Neal: *Ain’t No Mo’* *
- Earon Nealey: *Twelfth Night*
- Mitsuteru Okuyama: *Chushingura 47 Ronin*
- Luc Verschueren: *A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical*

__Outstanding Solo Performance__
- Jodie Comer: *Prima Facie* *
- David Greenspan: *Four Saints in Three Acts*
- Jessica Hendy: *Walking With Bubbles*
- Anthony Rapp: *Without You*
- Tracy Thorne: *Jack Was Kind*

__Unique Theatrical Experience__
- *Asi Wind’s Inner Circle*
- *Peter Pan Goes Wrong* *
- *Plays for the Plague Year*
- *Zephyr*

__Outstanding Fight Choreography__
- B.H. Barry: *Camelot* *
- Rocio Mendez: *Día Y Noche*
- Rocio Mendez: *How to Defend Yourself*
- Unkledave’s Fight-House: *soft*

__Outstanding Adaptation__
- *A Doll’s House* by Amy Herzog *
- *Arden of Faversham* by Jeffrey Hatcher and Kathryn Walat
- *black odyssey* by Marcus Gardley
- *Oresteia* by Robert Icke
- *Wuthering Heights* by Emma Rice

__Outstanding Puppetry__
- John Leader: *Wuthering Heights*
- James Ortiz (design), Kennedy Kanagawa (as Milky White): *Into the Woods*
- Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell: *Life of Pi* *
- Kirjan Waage: *The Immortal Jellyfish Girl*


2023 Drama Desk Award winners announced

Life of Pi - 1

LIFE OF PI - Hiran Abeysekera, Richard Parker (Fred Davis, Scarlet Wildeernik, Andrew Wilson) - by Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman for Murphy Made

*Some Like It Hot* and *Life of Pi* are the top winners of the 67th annual Drama Desk Awards.

Read the latest New York Broadway theatre reviews on New York Theatre Guide. Discover more about Broadway shows playing right now and find out more about Broadway theatre in New York City. New York Theatre Guide employs multiple critics to cover a wide range of Broadway shows in order to ensure a diversity of opinion. Scroll through recent and past Broadway show reviews from New York Theatre Guide below.


Broadway Reviews List Index Editorial - New York Theatre Guide

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