This Week on Broadway for February 11, 2024: The Connector @ MCC

BROADWAYRADIO

02/11/24

James Marino,Michael Portantiere,Peter Filichia

This Week on Broadway for February 11, 2024: The Connector @ MCC

Subscribe: RSS

Peter Filichia, James Marino and Michael Portantiere talk about The Connector @ The Newman Mills Theater at the Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space, A Chorus Line @ Argyle Theatre, Munich Medea: Happy Family @ The Women’s Project, The New York Pops – Jazz, Love, and Gershwin: A Century of Rhapsody in Blue, The Following Evening @ Perelman Performing Arts Center, and the Kleban Prize Ceremony

“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.

Subscribe to BroadwayRadio in Apple Podcasts by CLICKING HERE.

Support BroadwayRadio on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/broadwayradio

Patreon listeners get This Week on Broadway first, on Sunday afternoon before it is released to the general public on Sunday evening.

Panel:

Peter Filichia | [email protected] | Facebook
PETER FILICHIA is a playwright, journalist, and historian with a number of books. His new book, Brain Teasers for Broadway Geniuses, is now available wherever finer books are sold. Peter also has columns at Masterworks Broadway, Broadway Select, and many other places.

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.

54 Loves Cast Albums! 2nd Edition
March 7, 2024
People love cast albums! Join us as we celebrate more than 80 years’ worth of recordings of some of the most beloved musicals ever written, showcasing performances by honored musical theater veterans and rising stars in the second edition of 54 Loves Cast Albums!

Featured in the cast of our show will be Karen Akers (Nine, Grand Hotel), Jay Aubrey Jones (Cats, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying), Gerard Alessandrini (creator of Forbidden Broadway, Forbidden Sondheim, etc.), Christine Pedi (a frequent star of the Forbidden Broadway series), Robbie Rozelle (A&R Director of Center Stage Records), and John Griffin and George Anthony Papas from the 2022 production of Guys & Dolls at the historic St. George Theatre on Staten Island. 54 Loves Cast Albums! will be co-hosted by Michael Portantiere and Charles Kirsch, with Matthew Martin Ward as musical director/pianist.

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:

BroadwayRadio had a Jan Simpson Saturday!

All The Drama: “The Teahouse of the August Moon” by John Patrick, 1954 Pulitzer Prize Winner

Stagecraft: Sarah Gancher, Playwright of “Russian Troll Farm”

STARLIGHT EXPRESS IS A GERMAN LANDMARK NOW by GORDON COX
How Andrew Lloyd Webber’s roller skating train musical has run for 35 years—and counting—in a German town you’ve probably never heard of

Tell it to the World by David Savran from Oxford University Press
The Broadway Musical Abroad
Features a groundbreaking look at the lesser-studied globalization of musical theatre
Includes in-depth studies of masterpieces of South Korean and German theatre which are not available elsewhere in English
Demonstrates that some of the most innovative, beautiful, and exciting musical theatre is being made outside the United States, though the Broadway-style musical has become their template

Charlotte St. Martin To Retire As President Of Broadway League
Charlotte St. Martin, whose 18-year leadership of the Broadway League has included both good times – record-setting revenue – and bad – the historic 18-month Covid shutdown – will step down from her role as President effective February 16.

Actors’ Equity Association Authorizes Development Strike Against the Broadway League
In 2019, Equity Led Its First Strike in 50 Years on This Agreement
New York – The National Council of Actors’ Equity Association, the labor union representing more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers in live theatre, has voted unanimously to authorize a strike against The Broadway League for work on the Development Agreement. This step does not begin a strike, but it empowers Equity to call one should it become strategically necessary.

The Amazons musical

The Super Bowl is the equivalent of the Tony Awards for Football.

A friend of mine has two tickets for the Super Bowl, both box seats! He paid $2,500 each but he didn’t realize last year when he bought them, it was going to be on the same day as his wedding. If you are interested, he is looking for someone to take his place…It’s at Holy Cross Church, on Lake Ave at 3 pm. The bride’s name is Nicole, she’s 5’4″, about 115 lbs, good cook too…She’ll be the one in the white dress
https://www.reddit.com/r/dadjokes/comments/sahurk/asking_for_a_friend_a_good_friend_of_mine_has_two/

Reviews:

PF: The Connector @ The Newman Mills Theater at the Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space, through March 17, 2024

Commercial Transfer Of Best-Selling Broadway Play Prompts Questions by Marc Hershberg

MP: A Chorus Line @ The Argyle Theatre Babylon, NY, through March 24, 2024

PF: Munich Medea: Happy Family @ The Women’s Project, a co-production with PlayCo, through February 25, 2024
Written by Corinne Jaber
Directed by Lee Sunday Evans

MP: The New York Pops – Jazz, Love, and Gershwin: A Century of Rhapsody in Blue, February 9, 2024 Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage

PF: The Following Evening @ Perelman Performing Arts Center

MP: Kleban Prize Ceremony

Rona Siddiqui and Lisa Loomer Receive 2024 Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre by Margaret Hall
The prize awards $100,000 to a promising librettist and lyricist working in the American musical theatre.

News:

My Son’s A Queer (But What Can You Do) Postpones Broadway Debut BY MARGARET HALL
Rob Madge’s solo show was scheduled for a 16-week Broadway run at the Lyceum.

Michael Paulson: Tyne Daly Withdraws From ‘Doubt’ on Broadway, Citing Health

NYCGMC “HARMONY” GALA:
https://e.givesmart.com/events/zky/

The NYCGMC is saddened to learn the news of Chita’s passing in January 2024. She broke barriers and shattered glass ceilings from stages to screens, leading a generation of performers behind her. We will continue to honor CHITA RIVERA and celebrate her legacy at our upcoming gala event, Harmony.

More than just a fundraiser, Harmony is a celebration of the power that music has to bring people together, build community, celebrate diversity, advocate for change. Together, we will enjoy a three-course dinner, open bar, and performances from the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus, Youth Pride Chorus, and our friends from Broadway! With live and silent auctions, this will be the event of the season.

Monday, February 19, 2024 at 6:00 PM
Location: The Edison Ballroom

IN DAHOMEY at 54 Below
54 SINGS IN DAHOMEY, FEAT. KIMBERLY MARABLE & MORE!
FEBRUARY 18, 2024
This performance will also be livestreamed. For tickets and more information, click here.

Before The Color Purple, Dreamgirls, The Wiz, and even Shuffle Along, there was In Dahomey. Come and celebrate Black history with us as 54 Below pays homage to Broadway’s first full-length musical to be both written and performed by Black artists.

Known for featuring the legendary comedy duo of Bert Williams and George Walker, treat yourself to a rare opportunity to be swept up in the groundbreaking, and largely forgotten 1903 score that blended opera with ragtime. With music by Will Marion Cook and lyrics by Paul Laurence Dunbar, In Dahomey was unlike anything Broadway audiences had ever seen before.

Co-produced by Caseen Gaines and Pier Lamia Porter and featuring an all-star cast, 54 Sings In Dahomey is the perfect way to celebrate an unsung gem of American musical theater. This show is presented as part of the Make Them Hear You series. Music direction by Gary Mitchell, Jr. and hosted by Lance Roberts.

Next Week:

Peter’s Brainteasers:

A female character in a 20th century Tony-winning musical could be described as deft, intelligent, musically literate, and abstemious. Who is she?

Michael’s Musical Moments

Maury Yeston

Music Opener:

Overture delle Donne / Spa Music from NINE