‘Be More Chill’ will transfer to Broadway
“Be More Chill,” a new Off-Broadway musical with an unusually devoted fan following among teenagers and on social media, will transfer to Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre in February. Its sold-out Off-Broadway run ends on Sept. 30. Based on Ned Vizzini’s 2004 novel, with a pop-rock score by Joe Iconis (“Things to Ruin”) and book by Joe Tracz (“The Lightning Thief”), “Be More Chill” is a high school teen comedy combined with elements of sci-fi and video games. The show’s cast album, which debuted after the musical’s world premiere in New Jersey in 2015, has been streamed more than 100 million times. “We can’t believe that our celebration of misfits, losers and underdogs gets to take up residence on 45th Street,” Iconis said in a statement.
‘Gettin’ the Band Back Together’ sets closing date
The reunion was short lived. The new pop-rock “Gettin’ the Band Back Together,” about a 40-year-old investment banker who loses his job, moves back home to New Jersey and brings together his old high school friends to compete in a battle of the bands contest, will close on Sept. 16 following a run of 30 previews and 40 performances. The show, which was developed through group improvisation, received uniformly negative reviews when it opened last month. On his blog, producer Ken Davenport, who has regularly made pre-curtain speeches at performances, wrote about his decision to close the show and his disappointment. “Honestly? I never expected to get rave reviews with this type of show (even though we got good ones out of town), I just didn’t expect so many of them to be so . . . well . . . mean,” Davenport said.
Sutton Foster to headline ‘My One and Only”
Two-time Tony winner Sutton Foster will headline a one-night-only performance of the 1983 musical comedy “My One and Only” on Nov. 12 at Stephen Sondheim Theatre, serving as a benefit for the Roundabout Theatre Company. Rob Ashford (“Promises, Promises”) will direct and choreograph. “My One and Only,” which originally starred Tommy Tune and Twiggy, was the first Broadway musical in which classic Gershwin songs were inserted into a new book. That model has since been followed by “Crazy for You,” “Nice Work If You Can Get It” and “An American in Paris.”
‘12 Angry Men’ to get all-female reading
Amateur groups have often performed Reginald Rose’s classic courtroom drama “12 Angry Men” with casts comprised of both men and women, often with an updated title like “12 Angry Jurors.” On Sept. 16, the play will receive a reading at Theatre Row with an all-female Broadway cast including Geneva Carr (“Hand to God”), Jenn Colella (“Come From Away”), Ariana DeBose (“Summer”), Cady Huffman (“The Producers”), Dale Soules (“Orange is the New Black”), Jill Paice (“An American in Paris”) and Chilina Kennedy (“Beautiful”). In a statement, producer Lauren Class Schneider noted that “Rose wrote the original teleplay in 1954, some 19 years before women could serve on juries in all 50 states.”
Spotted . . .
Bill and Hillary Clinton at “Little Rock” . . . Amy Adams, Alex Borstein and Betty Buckley at “Head Over Heels” . . . Billie Jean King at “The Band’s Visit” . . . Dr. Ruth Westheimer at “Fiddler on the Roof” in Yiddish . . . Andre De Shields at “Gettin’ the Band Back Together”
