Ketanji Brown Jackson will make her Broadway debut, with a one-night-only walk-on role in the Broadway musical “& Juliet“ on December 14, after which she will participate in a talkback.
Why “& Juliet”? Who knows. But the producers make a great case for Justice Brown appearing on Broadway somewhere, by quoting a line from her memoir Lovely One, in which she wrote about her applying to Harvard: “I, a Miami girl from a modest background with an unabashed love of theater, dreamed of one day ascending to the highest court in the land—and I had said so in one of my supplemental application essays. I expressed that I wished to attend Harvard as I believed it might help me ‘to fulfill my fantasy of becoming the first Black, female Supreme Court justice to appear on a Broadway stage.’”
She is reportedly the first Supreme Court justice of any race or gender to appear on a Broadway stage — although in 2016 Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg did appear on a stage in Washington D.C. to portray the non-singing role of the Duchess of Krakenthorp in the Washington National Opera’s production of La fille du régiment.
The Week in Theater (and Movie) Reviews
The Books of Jacob” is a work of theater unlike any I’ve ever attended, a production more ambitious than any I can remember, one that is almost too complicated to explain. The performances, presented for free this weekend on stage at La MaMa ETC and simultaneously at theaters in five other countries, as well as online as a live stream and in Virtual Reality were inspired by the fascinating Old World historical figure of Jacob Frank.
A Real Pain. Jesse Eisenberg’s film and his 4 Off-Broadway plays that led to it.
Janet Planet: Polarizing playwright Annie Baker makes a movie
The Week in New York Theater News
“Swept Away” will close on Dec 15, after 20 previews and 32 regular performances. I wondered in my review when this musical about a shipwreck opened on November 19th whether, despite its magnetic performances & stunning stagecraft, it was too bleak for Broadway.
Top 10 theater closing soon
“Sleep No More” is closing after almost 14 years, “Blue Man Group” after almost 34 years and more than 17,000 performances. The longevity of these shows strikes me as reason enough to catch them before you can’t. The other eight shows closing soon that are on my list had much shorter runs – some just weeks. But they are shows I’m glad I saw, and sorry if you’d miss, even the ones that other theatergoers more fully enjoyed.
Poll: Best Broadway* Cast Recording of 2024?
The top choices (as of now): The Outsiders, followed by Stereophonic, and, in a tie for third place, Suffs and Lempicka.
The 16th annual Fire This Time Festival will be at the wild project January 23-February 2, 2025. Six 10-minute plays by writers of African and African-American descent
Cast for Encores’ Urinetown, Feb 5 – 16 at New York City Center: Jenni Barber (Little Becky Two Shoes, Mrs. Millenium), Josh Breckenridge (Senator Fipp), Yeman Brown (Billy Boy Bill), Kevin Cahoon (Old Man Strong, Hot Blades Harry), Pearl Scarlett Gold (Little Sally), Greg Hildreth (Officer Barrel), Jeff Hiller (Mr. McQueen), Tiffany Mann (Soupy Sue), Daniel Quadrino (Robby the Stockfish), Graham Rowat (Ensemble, Officer Lockstock on Feb 14), Myra Lucretia Taylor (Josephine Strong), Rainn Wilson (Caldwell B. Cladwell), and John Yi (Tiny Tom), join previously announced cast members Jordan Fisher (Bobby Strong), Taran Killam (Officer Lockstock), Keala Settle (Penelope Pennywise), and Stephanie Styles (Hope Cladwell).
Cast for Just in Time, opening at Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theater on April 23: Cast for Just in Time, opening at Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theater on April 23: Jonathan Groff (Merrily We Roll Along, Hamilton) will be joined by Michele Park, Joe Barbara, Lance Roberts, Caesar Amaya, Christine Cornish, Julia Grandin, Valeria Yamin, John Tracy Egan, Tari Kelly, Matt Mgnusson, Khori Michelle Petinaud, and Lrkin Reilly.
“Prima Facie,” starring, Jodie Comer, will stream on National Theatre at Home beginning December 12
Jason Laks has been named the new president of The Broadway League, thus making his interim appointment permanent. “I think we are doing a remarkable job of coming back postpandemic, but it’s an important moment for the industry — we’re not back to where we were in 2019, but I think our mission has to be more than to make it 2019 again,” Laks said. “We need to continue to work to grow and diversify our audiences and get people into the city to see our shows.” (NYTimes)
Adam Siegel, long-time administrator at Lincoln Center Theater, has been appointed the new executive director of Second Stage Theater, joining new artistic director Evan Cabnet, with whom he had served at Lincoln Center. As Managing Director of LCT since 2012 and General Manager from 2002 to 2012, Siegel was a three-time Tony Award-winner (Oslo, A View From the Bridge, The King and I), who produced and oversaw over 100 plays and musicals
“Somebody Somewhere” ended on Max last night. But might Bridget Everett re-create it… on Broadway? She tells Vulture: “Their lives go on, they live in my head…and maybe one day we’ll get to explore that in a movie, or a Broadway musical — that’s actually not a bad idea.”
