Bob the Drag Queen, the drag performer best known for winning Season 8 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” will make his Broadway debut in “Moulin Rouge! The Musical.” Bob will play Harold Zidler, the flamboyant impresario of the Moulin Rouge, for an eight-week limited run beginning January 27. He will follow Wayne Brady, who leaves the show November 9, and Robert Petkoff, who will step into the role from November 11 through January 25.
‘Dreamgirls’ receives first Broadway revival
“Dreamgirls,” the landmark 1981 musical about the meteoric rise of a Motown-inspired girl group, will return in fall 2026 in its first Broadway revival. Five-time Tony Award nominee Camille A. Brown will direct and choreograph. The show’s producers are also launching a worldwide talent search to cast “The Dreams,” with auditions scheduled in major cities.
The musical was a Broadway sensation when it opened at the Imperial Theatre in 1981 under the direction of Michael Bennett. Featuring powerhouse numbers such as “One Night Only,” the title anthem “Dreamgirls,” and the showstopping “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,” the show won six Tony Awards and set a new standard for the fusion of R&B, soul, and musical theater storytelling. It has since become a cultural touchstone, inspiring countless productions worldwide and a star-studded 2006 film adaptation starring Beyoncé, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, and Jennifer Hudson, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of Effie.
New Orleans musical slated for Broadway transfer
“Let the Good Times Roll: A New Orleans Gumbo,” a new musical conceived and written by veteran Broadway producer and dramaturg Jack Viertel, is planning a Broadway bow for the 2026–27 season following a debut production in Arizona by the Phoenix Theatre Company. The show, which follows a young woman rediscovering life in New Orleans, with the city itself emerging as a central character, features songs made famous by artists such as Bessie Smith, Harry Connick, Jr., and Randy Newman. Viertel is best known as the former artistic director of New York City Center’s Encores! series and for his work on revues such as “Smokey Joe’s Café” and “After Midnight.”
Gavin Creel’s original musical to receive cast album
The original cast recording of Gavin Creel’s “Walk on Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice” will be released digitally on September 30 under the title “Walk on Through: Live at MCC.” The album, recorded live at MCC Theater during the final week of its sold-out 2023–24 run, captures Creel’s debut as a theatrical songwriter. A hybrid of musical theater, concert, and storytelling, “Walk on Through” chronicled Creel’s first encounters with The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Creel, who died on September 30, 2024, at the age of 48, was a Broadway veteran celebrated for his versatility and warmth. He won a Tony Award for “Hello, Dolly!” opposite Bette Midler and earned additional nominations for “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” “Hair,” and “Into the Woods.”
Remember Robert Redford’s early Broadway credits
Robert Redford, who died September 16, 2025, at the age of 89, began his career not in Hollywood but on the Broadway stage. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he appeared in little-remembered plays such as “Tall Story,” “The Highest Tree,” “Little Moon of Alban,” and “Sunday in New York.” His breakthrough came in 1963 as Paul Bratter in Neil Simon’s romantic comedy “Barefoot in the Park,” a role he later recreated in the 1967 film adaptation. His performance earned him a Theatre World Award, but he never returned to Broadway after that success, devoting himself instead to film and becoming a movie star in such works as “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “The Sting,” and “All the President’s Men.”
