More than a million New Yorkers voted during the nine days of early voting, which ended Sunday afternoon after a campaign season filled with more drama than any in memory. How will future dramatists handle it all — “they’re eating the pets,” “childless cat ladies” “floating island of garbage” …”Look, I mean, if the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race,’….” (“The Election Season That Fell Out of a Coconut Tree: Twenty-five stunning moments of the 2024 Presidential campaign…”)
What’s left is anxiety and disbelief in this contest between a twice-impeached, four time-indicted, twice-targeted, felonious ex-president and the first woman of color candidate in a major party who replaced the current (and history’s oldest) president just 107 days before Election Day.
Theatergoing might not provide a distraction, given that the latest Broadway news is a play about a real-life confrontation with an American demagogue, and a Gershwin musical revived at Carnegie Hall last week focused on tariffs and cheesey politicians.
Polls in New York City reopen on Tuesday for Election Day, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Find Your Pollsite and View Your Sample Ballot
Most theater will be closed tomorrow; many Broadway shows are performing today instead:
Election Week Broadway Schedule,
Theater Quiz for October 2024
November 2024 New York Theater Openings (which includes the list of Broadway performers at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade)
The Week in New York Theater Review
In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot
“In The Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot” imagines a dystopian world in the near future as a cautionary pile-up of current-day problems that have all gone past their tipping point. The playwright hasn’t worked out the internal logic of such a world: Much is vague; what few details exist can’t withstand much scrutiny. But the production captures both a growing sense of dread and the characters’ persistent struggle to find hope, maybe even love, or at least joy.
Bad Kreyò
Knowing that Dominique Morisseau’s new play about Haiti is from an American perspective, might we guess that the story would be how an American, after several stumbles, learns things? In truth, Morisseau delivers just such a story, but does so with care and intelligence, both warm-hearted and sharp-eyed.
Strike Up The Band
George and Ira Gershwin wrote the songs for a trio of political satires in the 1930s, the last of which, “Let ‘Em Eat Cake,” was about a president who loses his bid for re-election and, inspired by fascism, tries to overthrow the United States government. The symphonic choir MasterVoices performed a concert version of that musical – presciently — in 2019.
A week before Election Day 2024, MasterVoices performed a one-night concert at Carnegie Hall of the earliest of these political satires, “Strike Up The Band.” Ted Sterling, MasterVoices conductor and director, explains the timing of the production in a program note: “With a tense election just days away, I had a feeling we would all be grateful for a good laugh, some tap dancing, and some gorgeous melodies.”
As it turns out, gratitude was not high up on my list of reactions. Perhaps the tension of the election is simply too great this time around, more than I remember it being in the 2016 or 2020 elections. Whatever the reason, the show didn’t give me many good laughs.
The Week in New York Theater News
More on the Broadway 2024-2025 Season:
Good Night and Good Luck, a stage adaptation of the movie about journalist Edward R. Murrow’s confrontation with Senator Joseph McCarthy, which will mark George Clooney’s Broadway debut as an actor and a playwright, n ow has a venue (Winter Garden Theater) and an opening night (April 3, 2025)
The original 2024 Olivier Award®-winning cast of Operation Mincemeat will reprise their performances on Broadway. Original cast members, David Cumming, Claire-Marie Hall, Natasha Hodgson, Jak Malone and Zoë Roberts will begin preview performances on February 15, 2025 at the Golden Theater, and open on March 20.
Sleep No More has been extended once again, now scheduled to close following the matinee performance on January 5, 2025 — almost an entire year past the original closing date.
Nominations for the 91st annual Drama League Awards, which recognize excellence in both Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, will be announced on April 22, 2025. Winners will be announced at a ceremony on May 16 at the Ziegfeld Ballroom.
Nominations for the 75th Annual Outer Critics Circle Awards, honoring the 2024-2025 Broadway and Off-Broadway season, will be announced on April 28, 2025, winners on May 12, with the private awards ceremony held on May 22.
In Memoriam
Every Broadway theater will dim its lights at 6:45 PM on Thursday, November 7, 2024, in honor of Maggie Smith
Every Broadway theatre will dim its lights on Tuesday, December 3rd at 6:45PM in honor of Gavin Creel. The day before, December 2, there will be a memorial for him at St. James Theater at 4 pm open to the public. “To receive details about admittance to the celebration, please email your name and contact information to: GavinCelebration@BespokeTheatricals.com”
Quincy Jones, 91, 28-time Grammy winning musician, arranger, record producer (e.g. “Thriller”), arranger, one of the most powerful forces in American popular music for more than half a century. He was also a Tony-winning Broadway producer, for “The Color Purple.”
Teri Garr, 79, a very funny actress, mostly on screen (Tootsie, Young Frankenstein), but her appearance at 16 in road company of “West Side Story” led to her film career. And she initially padded her resume w/fake prestige Broadway credits
