Broadway | ‘Punch’ to stream before closing, a Batman parody musical debuts and more

As “Punch” nears the end of its Broadway run, Manhattan Theatre Club will make James Graham’s drama available to audiences nationwide during its final week via streaming.

A captured live performance of “Punch” will be made available for streaming from Oct. 28 through Nov. 2, coinciding with the end of its limited engagement. After purchasing a ticket, buyers will receive a viewing link that allows them to watch the stream for 24 hours, starting at curtain time.

During the pandemic shutdown, many believed that livestreaming and filmed stage productions would become an essential part of the theater ecosystem. However, that has not broadly materialized, largely due to the cost and complexity involved in securing rights and capturing live performances.

“Punch” marks one of the few instances of a major Broadway nonprofit experimenting with streaming as an audience-access tool.

Adapted from Jacob Dunne’s memoir “Right from Wrong,” the play follows a young man whose impulsive act of violence changes his life and leads to an unlikely connection with the parents of his victim. The cast includes Will Harrison, Victoria Clark, and Sam Robards.

Broadway comedy ‘All Out’ brings star-studded lineup

After scoring a surprise Broadway hit last season with “All In: Comedy About Love” — in which rotating casts of celebrities performed live readings of Simon Rich’s comic short stories — Rich and director Alex Timbers are back with a follow-up.

Their new show, “All Out: Comedy About Ambition,” once again brings Rich’s short stories to life in a minimalist, semi-staged format, with actors reading from scripts. It will begin performances on Dec. 12 at the Nederlander Theatre.

The new lineup includes Jon Stewart, Sarah Silverman, Mike Birbiglia, Ray Romano, Cecily Strong, Jim Gaffigan, Abbi Jacobson, Wayne Brady, Heidi Gardner, Nicholas Braun, Craig Robinson, and Ashley Park, among others. Various combinations of comedians will perform on different dates, reading and riffing on Rich’s stories about ego, envy, greed, and New York ambition.

It will also feature live music by the soul-pop band Lawrence.

Holy show tunes! Batman parody musical to play Joe’s Pub

Superheroes rarely sing onstage. Broadway has only flirted with them — most notably with “It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman” in the 1960s and the ill-fated “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” half a century later. But Batman, the most brooding of them all, never had his own musical.

“Gotham Rogues” changes that, sort of. The one-night-only event at Joe’s Pub on Oct. 27 bills itself as an “Unauthorized Batman Parody Musical,” giving it free rein to play fast and loose with comic book mythology.

Conceived by Paul Iacono and Marc Kudisch, the show reimagines the 1990s cartoon “Batman: The Animated Series” as a cabaret-noir fever dream. Loosely inspired by the episodes “The Trial” and “Almost Got ’Im,” it finds Batman captured and put on trial inside Arkham Asylum, where his rogues’ gallery seizes the mic to sing about their grievances and warped psyches.

Kudisch, a three-time Tony nominee, doubles as co-writer and as the Joker, joined by Brenda Braxton (Catwoman), Lauren Molina (Harley Quinn), Eddie Korbich (Mr. Freeze), and Burke Moses (Batman). Loren Lester, who voiced Robin on the animated series, plays the Penguin.

This isn’t the first time someone has tried to make the Caped Crusader sing. In the late 1990s, “Bat Out of Hell” composer Jim Steinman was developing an official Batman musical, but the project was shelved before it went into production.

Pete Townshend’s ‘Quadrophenia’ will rock City Center

More than 30 years after “The Who’s Tommy” stormed Broadway, guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend is seeing his other great rock opera, “Quadrophenia,” reimagined for the stage — this time through dance rather than song.

“Quadrophenia, A Rock Ballet” will make its U.S. premiere at New York City Center from Nov. 14-16, following performances in London and across the U.K. Directed by Rob Ashford (“Thoroughly Modern Millie,” “Promises, Promises”) and choreographed by the late Paul Roberts, the piece transforms Townshend’s 1973 double album — originally recorded by The Who — into a movement-driven narrative about Jimmy, a troubled mod in 1960s Britain searching for identity and belonging amid rebellion and self-doubt.

The cast includes Ansel Elgort, who played Tony in the 2021 film remake of “West Side Story.” It will use a recorded orchestral version of the score.