The musical “Harmony,” which was developed by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman over the course of a quarter of a century (with a regional world premiere production dating back to 1997), will end its Broadway run on Feb. 4 following 96 performances and 24 previews.
Despite a high-profile Off-Broadway debut in 2022 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park, the show’s weekly grosses at the Barrymore Theatre have generally been lackluster.
An original bio musical, “Harmony” explores the Comedian Harmonists, an all-male, half-Jewish, half-Gentile, German musical group that enjoyed international fame in the late 1920s and early 1930s up until Hitler’s rise to power.
‘Stereophonic’ to play limited Broadway run
Broadway’s spring season has become even more jam-packed with the announcement that David Adjmi’s new drama “Stereophonic,” which just completed a sold-out Off-Broadway run at Playwrights Horizons, will receive a limited 14-week run on Broadway at the Golden Theatre, with previews beginning April 3.
Over the course of three hours and 20 minutes, “Stereophonic” (which has songs by Will Butler of Arcade Fire) dramatizes the time and labor-intensive recording sessions of a chart-topping rock band in the 1970s, with live musical performances from an onstage, sealed-off recording booth.
Free ‘Shabbat on Broadway’ service set for Saturday
“Shabbat on Broadway,” a free Shabbat service that will combine Jewish prayers with musical theater, will be held at the St. James Theatre (currently home of “Spamalot”) on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 9:30 a.m.
Performers slated to participate include Tovah Feldshuh, Debra Messing, Adam Pascal, Seth Rudetsky, Shoshana Bean, and the Broadway Inspirational Voices. They will be joined by rabbis and cantors from multiple synagogues including Central Synagogue and Temple Emanu-El.
For ticket info, visit shabbatonbroadway.com.
Shaina Taub will lead cast of her musical ‘Suffs’
Shaina Taub, writer of the new musical “Suffs” (which dramatizes the movement for women’s voting rights culminating in the passage of the 19th Amendment), will also play the suffragist Alice Paul, making her the second woman in history to not only write the book, music, and lyrics of a Broadway musical but also take on a leading role.
Taub previously appeared in her own musical adaptations of “Twelfth Night” and “As You Like It,” which were produced by the Public Theater as part of its Public Works program at the Delacorte Theatre.
The cast of “Suffs” will also include Nikki M. James (“The Book of Mormon”), Jenn Colella (“Come From Away”), and Emily Skinner (“Side Show”). It begins previews at the Music Box Theatre on March 26.
High-profile resignations hit the Broadway League
Charlotte St. Martin, who has served as the president of the Broadway League (the trade organization representing Broadway theater owners and producers) since 2006, will step down next month.
During her tenure, St. Martin faced significant challenges involving labor (including the 2007 stagehands strike and threats of strikes by other unions) and the tumult created by COVID-19, including shutting down the industry and then reopening it a year and a half later.
While St. Martin is generally well-regarded in the theater community, she made a faux pas two years ago in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter regarding the Omicron variant, in which she suggested that some new productions had to cancel performances due to a lack of “experienced” understudies and swings. Martin issued a public apology after her remark was widely jeered on social media.
Gennean M. Scott, the Broadway League’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, has also announced her resignation. In an emotional social media post, Scott addressed the challenges of her work and whether it was making a difference in the industry.
“I hope that, during this time of transition, the focus remains on the work and not on any individual. It would be a shame for the hard work that everyone is doing to be overshadowed,” Scott wrote.
