Suffs will play its final Broadway performance on January 5, 2025 following 24 previews and 301 regular performances, according to an announcement late Friday night. A national tour will launch in Seattle next September.
The musical about the final seven-year push to win American women the right to vote won two Tony Awards for creator Shaina Taub’s score and book, and was inspiring enough to induce both Hillary Clinton and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai to become first-time Broadway producers. But, although it seemed well-timed, given the historic candidacy of Kamala Harris, that apparently wasn’t enough to sell enough tickets.
There is likely to be some overlap between fans of the show and voters interested in two Broadway-adjacent events today for Kamala Harris: Kamala Dial-a-thon this afternoon, and Broadway Rallies for Kamala this evening.
Today is Indigenous People’s Day, which since 2021 has been officially recognized as a national holiday — not coincidentally on the same day (the second Monday in October) as Columbus Day, which since 1937 has been a federal holiday in the United States, where there are now eleven.
It’s a good day to point out the noticeable increase in theater by Native Americans produced on New York stages, including this month’s Distant Thunder: A New American Musical billed as the first mainstream indigenous musical in New York City, as well as the first-ever Broadway production by a Native American playwright last year, “The Thanksgiving Play” by Larissa FastHorse of the Sicangu Lakota Nation; “Where We Belong,” by Madeline Sayet of the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut, and “Manahatta” by Mary Kathryn Nagle, an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, who for this play about the Lenape in Manhattan in the 17th and 21st centuries interviewed Lenape elders whose ancestors lived on Manahatta hundreds of years ago. There are Native American companies that have been doing theater in New York City for years, including Spiderwoman Theater and Safe Harbors, (sometimes — see above — in non-traditional theater spaces.)
The Week in New York Theater Reviews and Previews
The Counter
Even before the characters reveal their secrets in “The Counter,” a new play by Meghan Kennedy directed by David Cromer…we’re primed to expect a familiar story of two sad and lonely people who find hope in each other. How this happens in “The Counter” is not entirely predictable, but neither is it terribly convincing.
Deep History
Most of us think about climate change in the wrong way, David Finnigan tells us. It is not “this apocalyptic event that’s on its way, and we need to prevent it from hitting,” Rather, “it’s here….we’re in it, and we’ll be in it for the rest of our lives.”..”Deep History” works best as a lecture about climate change – one that is extremely well-timed…
How Sondheim Can Change Your Life
Richard Schoch, a long-time drama professor, one-time theater director and ardent Sondheim aficionado, extrapolates the life lesson he contends is central to each of a dozen Sondheim musicals. One need not accept the novel premise to benefit from this scholar’s erudition, insights and enthusiasms
Letters to a Young Playwright: Practical and Impractical Advice on the Art of Playwriting
What may be most useful about “Letters to a Young Playwright” is indicated by this unintentionally pivotal sentence: “It took me 25 years of writing plays to figure out how to make a sort of living out of it.” “Letters to a Young Playwright” is largely a pep talk, but it’s a persuasive one because it’s well-earned. Adam Szymkowicz makes clear that what matters most to having a life as a playwright – what has worked for him — is persistence.
Fall Puppetry: Festivals, Cabarets, Circuses and Slams in October and November
The Week in New York Theater News
Jonathan Groff, fresh off his Tony Award for “Merrily We Roll Along,” returns to Broadway as singer-songwriter Bobby Darin in “Just In Time,” opening April 24, 2025 at Circle in the Square, Broadway’s only theater in the round, which will be turned into “an intimate, immersive nightclub featuring a live onstage big band. Darren, who was born Walden Robert Cassotto in East Harlem and died in 1973 at the age of 37, produced such hits as “Beyond the Sea,” “Splish Splash,” “Dream Lover,” and “Mack the Knife,” which will be performed in the musical, which will be directed by Alex Timbers, with a book by Warren Leight and Isaac Oliver.
The show marks the 35th with an opening date and venue for the season. Broadway 2024-2025 Season Preview Guide
All 41 Broadway theaters will now dim their lights for a minute for actor Gavin Creel, as well as actress Maggie Smith and Adrian Bailey. All three Broadway veterans died last month.
This is a reversal of the initial dimming decision regarding Creel, who died September 30 at the age of 48, and was originally going to be honored with the dimming of just eleven of the Broadway theaters. (NY Times: Broadway Theater Owners, Facing Backlash, to Dim All Lights for Gavin Creel)
It’s hard to understand the theater owners’ rationale for “partial dimming.” Are they trying to save money (does the dimming cost a lot?) Do they think it necessary to rank the deceased – that it somehow insults a legendary performer to provide the same wattage in tribute to a merely beloved one?
Of the three being honored, only Adrian Bailey’s dimming now has a date: October 17.
A fifteen-time Broadway veteran, Bailey was forced to end his career 16 years ago because of an on-the-job injury.“Over the years, Mr. Bailey has served as an inspiration not only due to his talented performances on Broadway and Touring Broadway stages, but also through his perseverance, positive attitude, and indomitable spirit,” said Jason Laks, Interim President of The Broadway League.
Open captioning will be provided for select seats at EVERY performance of Romeo + Juliet, which opens Oct 24 at Circle in the Square: Captions will be displayed from a permanent screen above the set. Director Sam Goldman long has shown a commitment to making Broadway accessible
The 21st annual Prelude Festival will be presented October 16-19 at the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, featuring works-in-process, critical conversations, and new theater and performance scholarship.
Hugh Jackman will return to the live stage in 2025 with a 12-night residency at Radio City Music Hall – two performances a month starting in January.
The 16th annual Jimmy Awards, honoring high school thespians, will return to Minskoff Theatre in June 23, 2025
