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Chiara Aurelia Leads John Proctor is the Villain on Broadway Starting Tonight

Broadway.com Staff — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 15:15:38 +0000

Chiara Aurelia makes her Broadway debut in John Proctor is the Villain at the Booth Theatre on July 15. She takes on the lead role of Shelby Holcomb for its final weeks on Broadway, replacing original star Sadie Sink, who played her final performance as Shelby on July 13. The show runs through August 31.

John Proctor is the Villain also features Nihar Duvvuri as Mason Adams, Tony Award winner Gabriel Ebert as Carter Smith, Molly Griggs as Bailey Gallagher, Maggie Kuntz as Ivy Watkins, Hagan Oliveras as Lee Turner, Morgan Scott as Nell Shaw, Tony nominee Fina Strazza as Beth Powell and Amalia Yoo as Raelynn Nix. Rounding out the cast as understudies are Noah Pacht, Fiona Robberson, Shian Tomlinson, Garrett Young and Victoria Vourkoutiotis.

Aurelia is widely known for her starring role as Jeanette Turner in the Freeform series Cruel Summer, for which she received a Critics Choice Nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She was recently seen in the off-Broadway play Dilaria.

Written by Kimberly Belflower and directed by Danya Taymor, John Proctor is the Villain earned seven 2025 Tony Award nominations, including Best Play and Best Direction of …

Brenda Pressley Begins Her Run in Tony-Winning Best Play Purpose

Broadway.com Staff — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Brenda Pressley begins her Broadway run in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning play Purpose on July 15. She takes over the role of matriarch Claudine Jasper, replacing the production's original Tony-nominated Claudine, LaTanya Richardson Jackson.

Pressley began her theatrical career in And Still I Rise, written and directed by Maya Angelou, and has performed on Broadway in the original company of Dreamgirls, as well as in The Lyons opposite Linda Lavin, Richard Greenberg’s The American Plan and Cats. Pressley joins the current acclaimed ensemble of Purpose, which includes Jon Michael Hill, Harry Lennix, Glenn Davis, Alana Arenas and Kara Young.

Set in the home of a powerful Black family, Purpose follows the return of the youngest son—and an unexpected guest—that forces the Jaspers to confront faith, identity and the echoes of Black radicalism. The production earned six 2025 Tony Award nominations, with nods for Hill, Lennix, Davis and Jackson, and wins for Best Play and for Young's featured performance (her second consecutive Tony win).

Directed by Phylicia Rashad, Purpose will run at the Hayes Theater through August 31.

Aisha Jackson on Playing The Great Gatsby’s ‘Complex Girly’ Daisy Fay Buchanan on Broadway

CQ Quintana — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 16:18:22 +0000

Aisha Jackson is proud to break barriers on Broadway yet again with her nuanced portrayal of Daisy Fay Buchanan in The Great Gatsby, the musical adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s canonical Jazz Age novel, now running at the Broadway Theatre. In the musical, with music by Jason Howland, lyrics by Nathan Tysen and a book by Kait Kerrigan, the romance lives front and center, with an emphasis on the raucous love triangle between Daisy, her husband Tom and long-lost love, Jay Gatsby. Still, with stirring solos “For Better or Worse” and “Beautiful Little Fool,” Jackson captures Daisy’s longing and mines the humanity of the often-divisive character.

When Jackson auditioned for the national tour of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, she booked the swing on Broadway and has been gracing Broadway stages ever since, joining the original casts of Waitress and Frozen—and making history in the latter as the first Black woman to play the role of Anna on Broadway. The effervescent Georgia native, who was last seen on Broadway as The Notebook’s Middle Allie and recently starred opposite Anika Noni Rose in Encores! Wonderful Town, stays mindful of her roots and mentors, especially the brilliant …

Elaine Paige on Sunday Delivers Barn-Raising Summery Show Tunes!

Broadway.com Staff — Sun, 13 Jul 2025 14:00:00 +0000

Olivier-winning actress Elaine Paige is giving Broadway.com listeners a chance to hear her BBC Radio 2 show Elaine Paige on Sunday. This week, Paige has a hot-to-trot selection of barn-raising summery show tunes. Plus, all the latest stage and screen news, and your Break A Leg messages. Catch the full episode by clicking the link below!

Odds & Ends: Wicked TV Special Sets Airdate, Joe Locke to Make West End Debut and More

Broadway.com Staff — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 17:02:54 +0000

Here's a quick roundup of stories you might have missed.

Live Wicked Musical TV Special, Featuring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, Will Air in the Fall
Ahead of the November 21 release of Wicked: For Good in cinemas, the previously announced live Wicked TV special, featuring the movie's stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, will air on NBC on November 6, streaming the following day on Peacock. The special will feature Erivo, Grande, their castmates and special guests at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, performing numbers from Wicked: Part One and, according to a release, "maybe, just maybe" material from the upcoming film.

Milo Manheim and Raúl Esparza Join Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl
Milo Manheim (Zombies, Little Shop of Horrors) and four-time Tony nominee Raúl Esparza (Company, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) have joined the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl. Manheim will play Peter while Esparza takes on the role of Pontius Pilate. As previously announced, Tony winner Cynthia Erivo will lead the production as Jesus, with Adam Lambert co-starring as Judas. Tony Award winner Sergio Trujillo directs and choreographs the production, running at the outdoor venue from …

Bring on the 'Champagne Problems,' The Great Gatsby's New Backstage Vlog Hosted by Samantha Pauly

Broadway.com Staff — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 16:45:53 +0000

The Great Gatsby's Jordan Baker dwells among the new money of West Egg, a world of blinding parties and dark secrets. But it's all "Champagne Problems" for original cast member Samantha Pauly, who's popping some bubbly for the fans itching to get a look behind the curtain at the Broadway Theatre.

For six weeks beginning July 18, Pauly will show us how the Roaring Twenties come to glittering life on stage. She'll catch up with castmates, check in with the unsung heroes of the crew and give us a peek inside the daily routine of a high-belting, quick-changing Broadway actress. Buckle up, old sport. The party stops for no one.

Episodes premiere weekly on Friday. You can also catch highlights on The Broadway Show with Tamsen Fadal.

With London's Evita and Waiting for Godot on the Way, the Sun Never Sets on Jamie Lloyd

Hayley Levitt — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 16:00:00 +0000

Jamie Lloyd’s simultaneously stripped down and amped up production of Sunset Boulevard, playing its final Broadway performance on July 20, walked away from this year’s Tony Awards with the coveted prize for Best Revival of a Musical. Even so, the show’s greatest distinction would still have to be its unrivaled standing as the most memeified production of the season. When Broadway becomes the chatter of TikTok, you know you’ve hit a vein.

Lloyd gained throngs of fans this season for his dark aesthetic, rebellious sensibilities and view of a theater’s four walls as light suggestions. And good news for his new acolytes—there’s plenty more where that came from. His moody, youthful Evita, starring Rachel Zegler, is lighting up the London stage as we speak; and we’re just a few months out from his take on the Beckett classic Waiting for Godot, starring Bill & Ted besties Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter.

See Lloyd in conversation with Broadway.com Managing Editor Beth Stevens as he looks ahead to the next projects bound to set the stage—and the internet—on fire.

Walk to Work with Krystal Hernandez, SIX's Queen of Confidence

Hayley Levitt — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 19:00:00 +0000

Krystal Hernandez is SIX's Anna of Cleves, the unflaggingly self-possessed fourth wife in Broadway's histo-remix. By the way she gets down at the Lena Horne Theatre with the abandon of Cardi B (her queen-spo), you'd never guess that Hernandez nearly skipped the open call that led to her Broadway debut. Fortunately, the voices telling her "you might as well just try" won the day.

Hear how Hernandez ascended the throne and more as she takes a walk to work with Broadway Show correspondent Charlie Cooper.

Tony Awards Administration Committee Announces 2025-26 Season Nominators

Broadway.com Staff — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 16:35:48 +0000

The Tony Awards Administration Committee has announced the Nominating Committee for the 2025-26 Broadway season, comprising 64 actors, directors, writers, designers and other members of the Broadway community. The Nominating Committee attends all productions during the Broadway season and meets on a date designated by the Administration Committee to determine, by vote, the Tony Award nominees for that season. Members of the committee serve a three-year term.

The 2025-26 Nominating Committee includes:

Bob Balaban – Actor / Producer / Director / Writer
Dani Barlow – Theatre Administrator
Mark Benett – Sound Designer**
Sarah Benson – Director
Rob Berman – Music Director**
Jocelyn Bioh – Playwright**
Jeremy Blocker – Creative Director / Executive Producer for Audible Theater**
Rick Boynton – Creative Producer, Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Brian Harlan Brooks – Director / Choreographer / DEI Director
Dr. Jamie Cacciola-Price – Theatre Educator / Director
Kevin Cahoon – Actor / Director
Jade King Carroll – Director / Producing Artistic Director, Chautauqua Theater Company**
Adam Chanler-Berat – Actor / Playwright
Victoria Clark – Actor / Director / Educator
Jordan E. Cooper – Playwright / Actor / Director / Producer
Will Davis – Choreographer / Director**
Ty Defoe – Interdisciplinary Artists / Writer / Storyteller …

Floyd Collins Pushes Broadway Cast Album Release to August

Hayley Levitt — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 16:19:33 +0000

Floyd Collins will release its original Broadway cast recording digitally on August 8, with a physical CD due September 5. The album was previously scheduled to be released both physically and digitally on July 11.

Floyd Collins, which played its final performance at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on June 22, features music and lyrics by Adam Guettel, and additional lyrics by Tina Landau, who also wrote the book and directed. The musical is based on the true story of a cave explorer in Kentucky, 1925, who becomes a tourist attraction when he gets trapped 200 feet underground.

Jeremy Jordan starred in the title role alongside Jason Gotay as Homer Collins, Sean Allan Krill as H.T. Carmichael, Marc Kudisch as Lee Collins, Lizzy McAlpine as Nellie Collins, Wade McCollum as Bee Doyle, Jessica Molaskey as Miss Jane, Taylor Trensch as Skeets Miller and Cole Vaughan as Jewell Estes. Rounding out the ensemble are Kevin Bernard, Dwayne Cooper, Jeremy Davis, Charlie Franklin, Kristen Hahn, Happy McPartlin, Kevyn Morrow, Zak Resnick, Justin Showell, Colin Trudell and Clyde Voce.

First produced off-Broadway in 1996, the Broadway production opened April 21, earning six Tony Award nominations including Best Revival of a Musical.

How Isa Antonetti’s Broadway Debut in Buena Vista Social Club Taught Her to Enter Rooms Voice First

Rebecca Salzhauer — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 16:00:00 +0000

Age: 23

Hometown: Rochester, NY

Current Role: Isa Antonetti plays Young Omara, a singer learning to harness the power of her voice in 1950s Havana, in Marco Ramirez’s Tony-nominated new musical Buena Vista Social Club, directed by Saheem Ali.

Credits: Prior to making her Broadway debut in Buena Vista Social Club, Antonetti was in the ensemble of Evita at New York City Center. She is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s musical theater program.

Isa Antonetti in "Buena Vista Social Club"
(Photo: Matthew Murphy)

The Family Band
When Isa Antonetti was 13, her father decided it was time for her to start singing in the family band. He and her grandfather and uncles had been performing around upstate New York as the Latin band Orquestra Antonetti since before she was born. Isa knew all of the melodies—he’d been singing since before she could walk—but she didn’t know the lyrics. They were all in Spanish. Her father pushed her to try learning a song, so she chose “Usted Abusó” by Celia Cruz and sang it for him. “I was like, ‘This is what I’ve got. This is the extent of what I can do.’ And he was like, ‘That’s …

History Gets Sexypants: Top 25 Broadway Shows That Really Happened

Darryn King — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 21:04:56 +0000

Of all the art forms, theater may be the best at making the distant past feel immediate. In the right storytelling hands, even long-dead characters and stories can come vividly to life. Perhaps that’s why the stuff of history books has a natural and regular home on the stage. Plus, history is filled with compelling stories—from Tudor queens and plucky newsboys to presidents and revolutionaries—filled with themes that resonate today.

As part of Broadway.com's 25th anniversary celebration, we've looked back at major trends and milestones, memorable Tony moments, outstanding opening numbers and all things British. Now, here’s a look back at some of the retold history that's graced Broadway stages in the past quarter century. Listed in no particular order (because how could we play favorites?), revisit the stories that textbooks just couldn't contain.

Lin-Manuel Miranda in “Hamilton” (Photo: Joan Marcus)

1. Hamilton
In between the off-Broadway and Broadway runs of In the Heights, composer Lin-Manuel Miranda picked up Ron Chernow’s doorstop of a book on the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton—and couldn’t put it down. A suitably loquacious portrait of a man of not-so-few words laced with rap, contemporary R&B and pop, performed by an …

Odds & Ends: Dilaria Extends, The Devil Wears Prada 2 Recruits Broadway Talent and More

Broadway.com Staff — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 20:15:05 +0000

Here's a quick roundup of stories you might have missed.

Dilaria, Starring Ella Stiller, Extends Off-Broadway
The world-premiere production of Julia Randall’s darkly comic new play Dilaria, starring Ella Stiller in the title role, has extended off-Broadway. The play, centering on a young woman's obsession with social media, will run at the DR2 Theatre until August 8. As previously reported, Tessa Albertson joins the cast on July 15, replacing departing actress Chiara Aurelia.

Helen J Shen and Conrad Ricamora Join The Devil Wears Prada 2
Seems like the casting director for The Devil Wears Prada 2 enjoyed the 2024-25 Broadway season. Helen J Shen (Maybe Happy Ending) and Conrad Ricamora (Oh, Mary!) have joined the cast of the upcoming sequel, slated for release on May 1, 2026. They appear alongside returning stars Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci as well as newcomers Lucy Liu and Justin Theroux. Meanwhile, The Devil Wears Prada: The Musical is now playing, starring Vanessa Williams as Miranda Priestly, at the Dominion Theatre in London.

Bridgerton Star Luke Newton to Lead House of McQueen Off-Broadway
Luke Newton, best known as Colin in Netflix's Bridgerton, will play …

Call Me Izzy Star Jean Smart on the Role That Pulled Her Back to Broadway

Beth Stevens — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 16:00:00 +0000

Jean Smart is back on Broadway for the first time in 25 years in Call Me Izzy, Jamie Wax’s solo play about a woman in rural Louisiana whose life has been shaped by poverty and violence. Izzy writes poetry in private, never planning to share it. When her words do reach others, things begin to shift.

“I thought it was an extraordinarily unique piece of writing,” Smart told Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek on The Broadway Show with Tamsen Fadal. “This woman who got married at 17, lives in a trailer park, and this stunning poetry just pours out of her, but she has to hide it. I thought everything about it was unique and wonderful. I just fell in love with her.” Izzy sometimes even writes her poems with eyeliner on scraps of toilet paper, using whatever she can find to get her thoughts down.

Smart is a Tony nominee, a six-time Emmy winner and a Golden Globe winner. She is best known for her work on Hacks, Frasier, Watchmen and Designing Women. She made her Broadway debut in Piaf in 1981 and earned a Tony nomination for her performance in The Man Who Came to Dinner …

Maybe Happy Ending's Helen J Shen, Call Me Izzy's Jean Smart and More on The Broadway Show

Broadway.com Staff — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 14:05:27 +0000

When it's summer in the city, there's no better way to beat the heat than with a Broadway show. See what's treading the boards in the latest episode of The Broadway Show with Tamsen Fadal.

Tony nominee and six-time Emmy winner Jean Smart is back on Broadway in Jamie Wax's one-woman play Call Me Izzy. See her sit down with Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek to discuss her stage return.

Watch Maybe Happy Ending leading lady Helen J Shen talk to host Fadal about her exciting journey with the Tony Award-winning Best Musical.

SIX standout Krystal Hernandez channels Cardi B every night as Broadway's Anna of Cleves. Join her and correspondent Charlie Cooper for a walk to the Lena Horne Theatre where Hernandez talks about her time atop the throne.

There's no rest for Sunset Boulevard director Jamie Lloyd, who recently mounted a West End production of Evita and has a Broadway-bound Waiting for Godot on his docket. Hear all about Lloyd's new projects in a conversation with Broadway.com Managing Editor Beth Stevens.

Enjoy two-time Tony nominee Eva Noblezada’s powerful rendition of “Maybe This Time” from Cabaret in the Broadway.com studio.

And finally, take a look back …

Helen J Shen on Her Year of Maybe Happy Ending: 'This Is Beyond Anything I Could've Ever Dreamed'

Hayley Levitt — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 19:00:00 +0000

Maybe Happy Ending is the reigning Tony-winning Best Musical—an accolade that seemed all but assured going into the June 8 ceremony. But a year ago, when Helen J Shen had just booked her Broadway debut as retired Helperbot Claire in Hue Park and Will Aronson’s futuristic musical, nothing about this little-show-that-could felt like a sure thing. “Needless to say,” Shen tells Broadway Show host Tamsen Fadal now, “it’s been quite the year of dream coming true after dream coming true.”

Watch their full conversation below.

Lencia Kebede on Being Wicked's New Green Girl: 'My Soul Is Singing Right Now'

Kathy Henderson — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 16:00:00 +0000

Sometimes, if an actor is lucky, the role she is playing reflects the kind of person she aspires to be off stage. Lencia Kebede, the first full-time Black Elphaba in the Broadway company of Wicked, puts it more poetically, declaring in her program bio that the green witch represents nothing less than an opportunity “to continue living out her soul’s purpose on the Gershwin [Theatre] stage.” In a Broadway debut performance of strength and honesty, Kebede is carrying on the tradition of the charismatic, big-voiced actresses who have brought Elphaba to life for more than two decades.

“This role feels so aligned with who I am,” reflects Kebede, who joined Wicked in March after several years on the road, first as Joanne in Rent and then as Angelica in Hamilton. “I have the opportunity, especially as the first full-time Black actress in the role, to positively affect kids, adults—anyone who has ever felt different. It feels like I’m doing something important, something that makes people question themselves and the world around them in a healthy way. So, yes, my soul is singing right now.”

As the daughter of immigrants and a first-generation Ethiopian-American, Kebede identifies with …

James Monroe Iglehart Joins Broadway's & Juliet This August

Hayley Levitt — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 14:47:01 +0000

Tony Award winner James Monroe Iglehart will join the Broadway cast of & Juliet at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre this August, playing a limited 13-week engagement as Lance from August 5 through November 2. The show's current Lance, Joey Fatone, will play his final performance on July 31.

Iglehart was most recently seen on Broadway as Louis Armstrong in A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical, a role for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. His other Broadway credits include Hamilton, Spamalot and his Tony Award-winning performance as Genie in Aladdin.

In addition to Fatone, the current Broadway company of & Juliet includes Gianna Harris as Juliet, Alison Luff as Anne, Drew Gehling as Shakespeare, Liam Pearce as Romeo, Michael Iván Carrier as May, Jeannette Bayardelle as Angélique and Nathan Levy as François. Gabe Amato, Daniel Assetta, Reese Britts, Nicholas Cooper, Charli D’Amelio, Jhailyn Paige Farcon, Makai Hernandez, Joomin Hwang, Elsa Keefe, Alaina Ví Maderal, Daniel J. Maldonado, Mackenzie Meadows, Alejandro MullerDahlberg, Cassie Silva, TJ Tapp, Zalah Vallien, Darien Van Rensalier and Romy Vuksan complete the cast. TikTok star Cheryl Porter makes her Broadway debut …

Montego Glover to Star in Broadway’s Gypsy at Sunday Matinees All Summer

Hayley Levitt — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 16:54:36 +0000

Montego Glover's turn as Gypsy's Rose isn't over yet. Following her weeklong run earlier this month during Audra McDonald's vacation, Glover will continue to perform the role at the Majestic Theatre for Sunday matinee performances in July and August beginning July 20.

Glover earned a 2010 Tony nomination for her performance in Memphis. Her other Broadway credits include Les Misérables, It Shoulda Been You, The Color Purple, Hamilton (Chicago company) and the 2022-23 revival of Into The Woods. On screen, her credits include The Blacklist, Inventing Anna, Bull, Evil, Black Box, The Following, Hostages, Smash, The Good Wife, among others.

Directed by five-time Tony winner George C. Wolfe with choreography by four-time Tony nominee Camille A. Brown, the Broadway cast of Gypsy additionally features Danny Burstein (Herbie), Joy Woods (Louise), Jordan Tyson (June), Lesli Margherita (Tessie Tura), Lili Thomas (Miss Mazeppa), Mylinda Hull (Miss Electra) and Kevin Csolak (Tulsa).

First produced on Broadway in 1959 with Ethel Merman in the lead role, Gypsy is loosely based on striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee's 1957 autobiography, focusing on her mother, Rose, whose character has come to define the quintessential stage …

For Adi Roy, Starring in Broadway’s Aladdin Means Growing Alongside the Role

Darryn King — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 16:00:00 +0000

Adi Roy and Agrabah’s wiliest street rat go way back. Before joining the Broadway production of Aladdin in the title role in June 2024, he spent two years playing the part on the North American tour. Long before that, he was the star of his middle school’s production of Aladdin Junior in eighth grade. Now, having just celebrated his one-year anniversary on Broadway as the diamond in the rough, the recent Broadway.com vlogger and even more recent N.Y.U. Data Science grad opened up about approaching acting with a mathematical mind, how his performance has evolved, his love of Disney and more.

It’s quite a journey you've been on with this show. What’s it like to be playing a character you first took on as a kid? You must have all sorts of thoughts about the passage of time, how far you’ve come, what’s changed and what’s stayed the same.

The first time I was introduced to Aladdin was about 10 or 11 years ago. I was a young boy, and at that point, I just kind of did it because all my friends were doing it. My mom likes to say I wasn't even acting then; I was literally just …