Making Mary: Oh, Mary! stars Escola as a miserable, suffocated Mary Todd Lincoln in the weeks leading up to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Unrequited yearning, alcoholism and suppressed desires abound in this one act play that finally examines the forgotten life and dreams of Mrs. Lincoln through the lens of an idiot (Cole Escola). The show also stars Conrad Ricamora as Mary’s Husband, James Scully as Mary’s Teacher, Bianca Leigh as Mary’s Chaperone, and Tony Macht as Mary’s Husband’s Assistant, with Hannah Solow and Peter Smith completing the cast.
Mrs. Lincoln has been portrayed on Broadway before in more serious vein. In the Broadway season of 1972-73, she was portrayed in three productions by Julie Harris in The Last of Mrs. Lincoln (Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play), Eva Marie Saint in The Lincoln Mask, and Geraldine Page in Look Away.
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Crazy Rich Asians: *
Golden Romeo So we might have two Romeo and Juliets on Broadway in 2024-25. It’s not unprecedented. There were two major simultaneous productions of the play in NYC in 2013: one on Broadway with Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad, and one Off-Broadway at CSC with Elizabeth Olsen and Julian Cihi.
Director Sam Gold said, “With the presidential election coming up in November, I felt like making a show this fall that celebrates youth and hope, and unleashes the anger young people feel about the world they are inheriting.”
The press release explains the story thusly: “The youth are fucked. Left to their own devices in their parents’ world of violent ends, an impulsive pair of star-crossed lovers hurtle towards their inescapable fate. The intoxicating high of passion quickly descends into a brutal chaos that can only end one way.”
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Theater Awards News: “We are particularly honored to executive-produce this year’s Drama Desk Awards which celebrates the tremendous abundance of creativity gracing our New York stages,” said co-Executive Producers Staci Levine and Jessica R. Jenen . “It has been a remarkable season on Broadway and Off, and we are thrilled to honor all nominees who grace our New York stages in this theater industry-inclusive event.” Additional details will be announced shortly.
The Drama Desk Awards are the only major New York City theater awards for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same categories.
As was the case last year, all performance categories will be gender-free. The updated gender-free categories are: Outstanding Leading Performance in a Play, Outstanding Leading Performance in a Musical, Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play, and Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical.
Each of these categories will have twice as many nominees as the former gendered categories and voters will cast two votes for each category. These categories will also have two winners each. If there is a tie, there may be more than two winners in a category.
What sets the Drama Desk Awards apart is that they are voted on and bestowed by theater critics, journalists, editors, and publishers covering theater. The Drama Desk Awards honor all aspects of New York’s professional theater.
The 2023-2024 Drama Desk Nominating Committee is composed of: Martha Wade Steketee (Chair; freelance: UrbanExcavations.com), Linda Armstrong (New York Amsterdam News), Daniel Dinero (Theatre is Easy), Peter Filichia (Broadway Radio), Kenji Fujishima (freelance: Theatermania), Margaret Hall (Playbill), and Charles Wright, ex-officio.
Mary Todd Lincoln is coming to Broadway. After a sold-out, twice extended run at the Lortel Theater Off-Broadway, Cole Escola’s riotous comedy Oh, Mary! starring Escola in the title role, will transfer to the Lyceum Theater this summer. Performances begin June 26 in advance of a July 11 opening for a limited run through Sept. 15.
In other news, Crazy Rich Asians, the hit 2018 romantic comedy based on Kevin Kwan’s novel, is being developed as a musical. The music is by Tony nominee Helen Park (KPOP) with a book by Leah Nanako Winkler (“Schmigadoon”), and lyrics by Tony nominee Amanda Green (Hands on a Hard Body, Mr. Saturday Night) and Singapore songwriter Tat Tong. Jon M. Chu who directed the film will also direct this stage version. A sequel to the film has been announced, but it is still in development.
A new production of Romeo and Juliet is coming to Broadway this fall, but not the one with Tom Holland and Francesca Amewudah-Rivers that is opening in London this May. A totally different Romeo and Juliet, starring Kit Connor (“Heartstopper”) and Rachel Zegler (Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story”) featuring music by Grammy winner Jack Antonoff and direction by Tony winner Sam Gold (Fun Home) has been announced to open this fall 2024. The UK Mail had reported the London R&J, directed by Jamie Lloyd, was planning to transfer to Broadway after its sold-out West End, but this has not been confirmed.
The Drama League and the Outer Critics have had their say, now the Drama Desks will weigh in. Oscar and Tony nominee Kathleen Turner will announce the nominees for the Drama Desk Awards live on WNBC’s Live on New York (Channel 4) during the 11:30 am segment on Mon. April 29.
This year’s awards will be held on Monday, June 10 at The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts (556 LaGuardia Place). Drama Desk co-presidents David Barbour and Charles Wright also announced that the cutoff for this year’s awards is April 25. “We extend our gratitude to Kathleen Turner, a legendary actor who has performed both on Broadway and off, for kicking off what we know will be an exciting Drama Desk Awards period. The sheer number of noteworthy performances this season is extraordinary.”
