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This Week on Broadway for February 5, 2023: The Smuggler @ Irish Rep

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Peter Filichia, James Marino, and Michael Portantiere talk about The Smuggler @ Irish Rep, Solo @ Soho Playhouse, Memorial @ ART / New York, Try Not To Hold it Against Me: A Producer’s Life (book) by Julian Schlossberg, Purlie Victorious will return to Broadway, New York, New York starts rehearsal, & Juliet’s Justin David Sullivan Declines Tony Award Eligibility, George Santos Claims He Produced Broadway’s Spider-Man, and a John Victor Schmidt tribute.

“This Week on Broadway” has been coming to you every week since 2009. It is the longest-running running Broadway and theatrical podcast with hundreds of shows giving thousands of reviews and interviews.

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Panel:

Peter Filichia | [email protected] | Facebook
PETER FILICHIA is a playwright, journalist, and historian with a number of books. His new book,
The Book of Broadway Musical Debates, Disputes, and Disagreements is now available and can be purchased wherever finer books are sold. Peter also has columns at Masterworks BroadwayBroadway Select, and many other places.

So what’s it like to be a theater critic? Is it really fun to attend the theater night after night after night after night? Ask Peter Filichia, who has been attending theater consistently for more than a 60 years, and has been a reviewer from much more than half that time.
You’ll have the chance on two successive Sundays — Feb. 19 and 26 at 4 p.m. at Theater 555 at 555 West 42nd Street.
For reservations for PETE’S THEATRICAL ADVENTURES — email [email protected]

Michael Portantiere | [email protected] | Facebook
MICHAEL PORTANTIERE is a theater reviewer and essayist. He is the founder and editor of
CastAlbumReviews.com. He is also a theatrical photographer whose photos have appeared in The New York Times and other major publications. You can see his photography work at FollowSpotPhoto.com.

Matt Tamanini | [email protected] | Twitter | Instagram
MATT TAMANINI is a theatre, entertainment, and sports journalist who has been covering theatre for more than a decade. He is the news editor for
TheStreamable, the co-managing editor for Land-Grant Holy Land, and is a host and producer for multiple shows on BroadwayRadio.

James Marino | [email protected] | Twitter | Facebook
BroadwayStars

Note: This week we had listeners join us while recording. These listeners are Patreon members who support BroadwayRadio. If you would like to join us in the future, become a supporter at Patreon.com/BroadwayRadio.

Pre:

All the Drama: 1953 Pulitzer Prize Winner “Picnic” by William Inge

Reviews:

Michael Mellamphy in Irish Rep’s 2023 production of THE SMUGGLER – Photo by Carol Rosegg

PF: The Smuggler @ Irish Rep, through February 26, 2023

Beginning performances January 18, 2023, on the W. Scott McLucas Studio Stage will be The Smuggler. Written by Ronán Noone (The Second Girl), directed by Conor Bagley (Two by Friel) and starring Michael Mellamphy (The O’Casey Cycle), The Smuggler will open January 26, 2023, for a run through February 26, 2023.

PF: Solo @ Soho Playhouse

PF: Memorial @ ART / New York

Pan Asian Repertory Theatre presents Memorial
January 19 – February 19, 2023
Written by Livian Yeh
Directed by Jeff Liu

MP: Try Not To Hold it Against Me: A Producer’s Life, book party for Julian Schlossberg @ Sardi’s

Tony Roberts, Marlo Thomas, Julian Schlossberg, Laila Robbins and F.
Murray Abraham @ Sardi’s. Photo by Michael Portantiere

News:

Leslie Odom Jr. Will Return to Broadway With Purlie Victorious Revival This Summer by Logan Culwell-Block
Kenny Leon will direct the Ossie Davis play, which hasn’t been seen on Broadway since its original production in 1962.

New York, New York: A New Musical (show website)

NEW YORK, NEW YORK begins performances on Friday, March 24, 2023 and officially opens Wednesday, April 26, 2023 at Broadway’s St. James Theatre (246 West 44th Street).

It is 1946, the war is over, and a resurgent New York is beginning to rebuild. As steel beams swing overhead, a collection of artists has dreams as big and diverse as the city itself. But do these singers, dancers, musicians and makers have what it takes to survive this place, let alone to succeed? If they can make it there, they can make it anywhere.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK is a spectacular show for a singular city. With a unique blend of dazzling new songs and big band classics (“New York, New York,” “But The World Goes Round”), this jubilant new musical is destined to become the talk of the town.

Be a part of it.

Music & Lyrics by John Kander & Fred Ebb
Written by David Thompson
Co-Written by Sharon Washington
Additional Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Direction & Choreography by Susan Stroman

New York, New York: A New Musical Trailer

& Juliet’s Justin David Sullivan Declines Tony Award Eligibility, Critiques Gendered Performance Categories BY LOGAN CULWELL-BLOCK, DIEP TRAN, MARGARET HALL
“I didn’t feel right being in either category,” the non-binary Broadway performer tells Playbill.

George Santos Claims He Produced Broadway’s Spider-Man Musical. He Didn’t. by Logan Culwell-Block
The latest wild claim from the Long Island congressman brings him to Playbill territory.

John’s Broadway career starts at 5:13,
and the part about his return to NYC and his attendance of BRIGADOON in 2017 starts around 17:08.

Listener Arthur Smith emailed about last week’s query about The Whale:

Re: The Whale. You asked about reviewers who had seen both play and movie. Here is a critic who has interesting things to say about the updates to the play and suggests an answer to Michael’s question about why the religious themes are present (and why the missionary was changed from a Mormon in the play to a evangelical in the movie).

https://www.vox.com/23351293/whale-movie-review-fraser-aronofsky

Here’s the relevant bit.

The Whale is set in a very specific place: Moscow, Idaho, a city whose significance might not hit everyone the same way. Set along the state’s northern border with Washington, it’s a home both to a sizable population of Mormons and to a burgeoning movement of Christian Reconstructionists, an evangelical movement that embraces the idea, in essence, that biblical law ought to be the law of modern America. If you’ve been in conservative Christian circles, you’ve likely heard of the ringleader, Douglas Wilson, pastor of a church in Moscow, most recently famous for being blurbed on the back cover of a book about Christian nationalism published by the right-wing site Gab.

All that’s worth noting because Hunter (with, presumably, Aronofsky’s input) has updated his Obama-era play to be set during the 2016 GOP presidential primaries in Idaho. (In the background, on Charlie’s TV, we can hear Ted Cruz winning over Donald Trump by a sizable margin.) The characters don’t engage in explicit political commentary, but Hunter made another key update — changing the young missionary Thomas from Mormon to evangelical, a member of what sounds like a fairly typical congregation in town called New Life. That church and its teachings, we’re meant to understand, are part of (or perhaps the cause of) a bigger apocalyptic moment in American history.

‘Wait Wait’ for Feb 4, 2023: With Not My Job guest Billy Porter

Peter’s Trivia Section

Michael’s Musical Moments

Angela Lansbury

Music Opener: “Some People”

Music Closer: “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”

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This Week on Broadway Audio Edit for 2/5/23

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