This Week on Broadway for April 20, 2025: John Proctor is the Villain

BROADWAYRADIO

04/20/25

James Marino,Jena Tesse Fox,Michael Portantiere,Peter Filichia

This Week on Broadway for April 20, 2025: John Proctor is the Villain

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Sadie Sink and Amalia Yoo in John Proctor is the Villain Photo by Julieta Cervantes

Peter Filichia, Jena Tesse Fox, James Marino, and Michael Portantiere talk about John Proctor is the Villain, Smash, Vanya @ Lucille Lortel, and 54 Sings Coco by Alan Jay Lerner and André Previn

“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. Peter’s new day-by-day desk calendar – A SHOW TUNE FOR TODAY – 366 Songs to Brighten Your Year – has been released! Peter also has columns at Masterworks Broadway, Broadway Select, and many other places.

Show Tune for Today is: Marathon from Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris

Jena Tesse Fox | Twitter | Instagram
JENA TESSE FOX has written about theater for many publications, including Playbill Magazine, BroadwayWorld, Time Out New York and HowlRound. She is a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women and the Drama Desk, and is a contributor to BroadwayRadio

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.

— Michael regarding Boop feedback from listener (B&W to Color)

AN EVENING WITH SANDY DUNCAN at the Laurie Beechman Theatre at the West Bank Cafe on Tuesday, May 13 at 7pm

The beloved Broadway, television, and film star Sandy Duncan will be the focus of an exclusive interview/audience Q&A program that will feature video clips of some of her greatest performances on Tuesday, May 13 at 7:00pm in the Laurie Beechman Theatre at the West Bank Café (407 West 42nd Street). The event will be moderated by longtime Drama Desk member Michael Portantiere (BroadwayStars.com). Admission for the general public is $19.70 (including service fee) plus a $25 food/drink minimum per person.

Sandy Duncan made some of her earliest NYC appearances in several shows at New York City Center in the 1960s, going on to debut on Broadway in The Canterbury Tales (1969). She won a Drama Desk Award and received a Tony Award nomination for her performance in the 1970 Broadway revival of The Boy Friend, and her many other honors include further nominations by those organizations for her critically acclaimed, audience-favorite performance in the title role of Peter Pan (1979). Her TV credits include starring roles in the series Funny Face and The Hogan Family, plus countless appearances in musical specials, variety shows and talk shows, including more than one stint as a guest of The Muppets, while movie audiences love her for her work in The Million Dollar Duck, The Cat from Outer Space, and the animated film The Fox and The Hound.

For more information and/or to reserve tickets, go to https://www.showclix.com/event/lbt25-sduncan-250513

James Marino | [email protected] | 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.

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Pre:

Reviews:

Sadie Sink in John Proctor is the Villain Photo by Julieta Cervantes

PF + JTF + JM: John Proctor is the Villain @ Booth Theatre, through July 6, 2025

In John Proctor is the Villain, five young women – fueled by pop music, optimism, and fury – clash with their school, their Georgia town, and the stories they’ve been instructed to believe. As their class dissects The Crucible, they begin to question who we deem heroic, who we call a villain, and who gets burned in the process. With biting humor and a beating heart, this explosive new play – “one of the most anticipated of the season” (The New York Times) – shines a blazing spotlight on the eternal fight to claim your own narrative in a world that’s still stuck in the past.

The creative team for John Proctor is the Villain includes scenography by AMP featuring Teresa L. Williams; costume design by Sarah Laux; lighting design by Natasha Katz; sound design and original composition by Palmer Hefferan; projection design by Hannah Wasileski; hair & makeup design by J. Jared Janas; movement direction by Tilly Evans-Krueger; intimacy coordination by Ann James; voice, text and dialect coaching by Gigi Buffington; dramaturgy by Lauren Halvorsen; production stage management by Kamra A. Jacobs; and casting by Taylor Williams.

John Proctor is the Villain Cast Photo by Julieta Cervantes

(left to right) Robyn Hurder (Ivy Lynn), Caroline Bowman (Karen), and Bella Coppola (Chloe) in SMASH; CREDIT: Matthew Murphy, 2025

PF + MP + JTF + JM: Smash @ Imperial Theatre

SMASH, inspired by the TV series, is a hilarious behind-the-scenes rollercoaster ride about the making of a Marilyn Monroe musical called Bombshell, with all the iconic songs, kick-ass choreography, and backstage pandemonium that make Broadway the beloved institution it is today.

(left to right) Nicholas Matos (Scott), Jacqueline B. Arnold (Anita), John Behlmann (Jerry), Krysta Rodriguez (Tracy), Bella Coppola (Chloe), Brooks Ashmanskas (Nigel), and Kristine Nielsen (Susan Proctor) in SMASH; CREDIT: Matthew Murphy, 2025

MP: Vanya @ Lucille Lortel Theatre, through May 11, 2025
Direct from a sold-out run in London, Andrew Scott (Ripley, All of Us Strangers) brings to life multiple characters in Tony Award® winner Simon Stephens’ (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) radical new version of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya.

MP + PF: 54 Sings Coco by Alan Jay Lerner and André Previn, April 14, 2025

News:

Patrick Adiarte, Actor in ‘The King and I,’ ‘Flower Drum Song’ and ‘MAS*H,’ Dies at 82
A native of the Philippines — he and his family were imprisoned during World War II — he guest-starred on ‘The Brady Bunch’ and, mentored by Gene Kelly, danced on ‘Hullabaloo.’

“The Younger Generation” from FLOWER DRUM SONG film:

Fresh Paint and a Renewed Spirit: How the West Bank Café and Laurie Beechman Theatre Were Saved From Closure By Logan Culwell-Block
After a change in ownership, and a remodel, the New York theatrical institution is reopening with plenty of Hirschfeld drawings.

Next Week:

Peter’s Brainteaser:

Change one letter in the name of a currently occupied Broadway theater so that you’ll get the last name of a character in a comedy that ran on Broadway for more than 1,000 performances.

Michael’s Musical Moments

Music Opener:

OPENER: “Let Me Be Your Star,” from SMASH (TV version)