On Broadway and beyond, a curtain can rise as quickly as it can fall; a star can be swapped as easily as Bernie Telsey can say, “That’s enough.” Theater is the beating heart of New York show business and, if you want to make it here, it’s crucial you’re up to date on incoming projects, latest castings, and other industry news. Don’t worry, Broadway baby, Backstage has your back. Every week, we’re rounding up the can’t-miss stories no thespian should live without, so you can focus on important matters like hitting your high C. Curtain up and light those lights!
Is Broadway ready for this jelly?
A Destiny’s Child musical may be en route to Broadway—but it won’t be arriving without some controversy. “Survivor: The Destiny’s Child Musical” is currently in development under Matthew Knowles, the girl group’s former manager and father to Beyoncé Knowles. The musical will, in fact, be told through his perspective. No official timeline has been set, but it’s expected to have a premiere at some point in 2020 in Houston, Texas.
“Moby” is moving.
The “Moby-Dick” musical, the much-anticipated follow-up from “Great Comet” collaborators Dave Malloy and Rachel Chavkin, has announced its first stop. The piece will have its world premiere as part of the 2019–20 season at the Boston-area American Repertory Theater (where “Comet” also premiered), running Dec. 3–Jan. 12, 2020. Based on the novel by Herman Melville, the piece has not yet announced any casting (so keep your eyes peeled for a casting notice right here on Backstage!). Other notable productions in the season will include the U.S. premiere of “Six,” which has been selling out in London, and the Gloria Steinem play “Gloria: A Life.”
If you’re a bird, then I’m a bird, because…
Also announcing its season this week, Vassar and New York Stage and Film has unveiled its (stacked) lineup for its 35th powerhouse season. Most notably among the lineup will be the first staged reading of the musical adaptation of “The Notebook,” featuring a score by Ingrid Michaelson and book by “This Is Us” writer Bekah Brunstetter. Additionally, Rachel Chavkin will also be debuting “Annie Salem: An American Tale,” pulling double duty as both director and book-writer. Pulitzer Prize winners Martyna Majok and Tom Kitt, Tony winner Michael Mayer, and several others are also among the titans who will be represented throughout the summer.
I hope someday you’ll join us—on Broadway?
John Lennon may be coming to Broadway—kind of. “Nowhere Boy,” the 2009 biopic following the music legend’s teen years, is currently in development as a musical for the stage. The piece, as in the film, will depict Lennon in his pre-Beatles days, and follow his relationship to the two most seminal women in his life: Julia Lennon, his mother who abandoned and then returned to him, and his older sister Mimi Smith, who ultimately raised him. No creative team has been set at this time, as the project is still in early development.
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