Now that the Tony Award nominations have been announced, we can all breathe a bit easier knowing that Hamilton will likely sweep every major category… but let’s make room for some of the other successful shows this season, eh? We’ll be offering a peek at some of our favorite moments from the past season, but in the meantime, May brings us some interesting openings worth checking out:
The Vineyard Theatre is on fire this season after Colman Domingo’s DOT. The Off Broadway theatre returns with Indecent by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel (How I Learned to Drive). This new play with music is inspired by the true events surrounding the controversial 1923 Broadway debut of Sholem Asch’s God of Vengeance — a play seen by some as a seminal work of Jewish culture, and by others as an act of traitorous libel. Indecent charts the history of an incendiary drama and the path of the artists who risked their careers and lives to perform it.
Indecent
Vineyard Theatre
108 East 15th Street, NYC
Opening night: May 17
Put on your theatrical thinking cap… with Hadestown, celebrated singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell and inventive two-time Obie Award-winning director Rachel Chavkin (Three Pianos; Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812) transform Mitchell’s “phenomenal concept album” (Rolling Stone) into a bold new work for the stage. This folk opera follows Orpheus’ mythical quest to overcome Hades and regain the favor of his one true love, Eurydice. Inspired by traditions of classic American folk music and vintage New Orleans jazz, Mitchell’s beguiling melodies and poetic imagination pit nature against industry, faith against doubt, and love against death.
Hadestown
New York Theatre Workshop
79 East Fourth Street, NYC
Opening night: May 23
Paramour (Photo: Richard Termine via The Broadway Blog.)
Cirque du Soleil comes to Broadway with this landmark production, that aims to provide a new experience for both traditional Broadway musical theatergoers and Cirque du Soleil’s fans. The show will have many of the elements beloved on Broadway: a timeless love story, live musicians, and professional actors in lead roles; but with the Cirque du Soleil aesthetic integrated throughout the show: visionary production design on a grand scale, world class entertainment, and acrobatic feats that defy the imagination. Hopefully Spider-Man has cleared the building.
Paramour
Lyric Theatre
213 West 42nd Street, NYC
Opening night: May 25
