The train ride is over. “In Transit,” an original musical depicting a variety of New Yorkers who take the subway with a score sung a cappella and meticulous vocal engineering, will fold on Sunday after a four-month run on Broadway. In similar news, the sweet and sour comedic drama “Significant Other” has moved up its closing date to April 23.
‘Sweat’ wins Pulitzer for Drama
Lynn Nottage’s timely drama “Sweat,” which just opened on Broadway following a short run earlier this season at the Public Theater, won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Drama on Monday. In “Sweat,” the shutdown of a factory in Reading, Pennsylvania, leads to the breakdown of friendship and family and a devastating cycle of violence, prejudice, poverty and drugs. Nottage also won a Pulitzer in 2009 for “Ruined.” Finalists for this year’s award included Sarah DeLappe’s “The Wolves” and Taylor Mac’s “A 24-Decade History of Popular Music.”
English/Farsi ‘Hamlet’ to play Off-Broadway
A duel language (English/Farsi) production of “Hamlet” set in early 20th century Persia will play the Sheen Center for Thought and Culture in the East Village next month. The cast will include Broadway veterans Arian Moayed (who will be the first Iranian-born Hamlet in a U.S. professional production), Sherie Rene Scott and Micah Stock. “This company of immigrants and first generation Americans is offering us a perspective on this seminal play that we simply haven’t seen before,” director Tom Ridgely said in a statement.
‘Spamilton’ to open around the corner from ‘Hamilton’
Every day I see a bunch of people waiting on the cancellation line outside of “Hamilton.” Beginning in June, they will have the option of walking one block down to the 47th Street Theater and purchasing tickets instead to “Spamilton,” the off-Broadway parody of the hip-hop musical and its ambitious creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. “Spamilton” premiered in September at the Triad, a nightclub space on the Upper West Side. The show is the creation of “Forbidden Broadway” mastermind Gerard Alessandrini, who has promised to update it to reflect the new Broadway season.
‘Harry Potter,’ ‘Groundhog Day’ score at Olivier Awards
“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” the two-part London sensation that is set to come to Broadway next season, won a record-breaking nine Olivier Awards on Sunday including Best New Play. “Groundhog Day,” now in previews on Broadway, won Best New Musical. Andy Karl, who is currently playing weatherman Phil Connors in “Groundhog Day” on Broadway, won Best Actor in a Musical.
Spotted…
Hillary Clinton at “War Paint”… Matthew Broderick and Holly Hunter at “Sweeney Todd”… Hugh Jackman at “Sunday in the Park with George”… Billy Eichner at “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812.”
