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[0:00] Jeff Malone: Welcome to Half Hour with Jeff and Richie, the podcast where we explore the latest shows we see, sharing our insights and opinions on the performances, storylines, and everything in between.

[0:08] Richie Grasso: In today's episode, we're bringing you a new theater chat episode for the week ending March 30th, 2025.

[0:14] Jeff Malone: As a reminder, every Monday, we'll release an episode recapping current topics happening in the theater industry.

[0:19] Richie Grasso: So join us as we dive into these hot topics and don't forget to share your thoughts with us.

[0:23] Jeff Malone: I'm Jeff.

[0:24] Richie Grasso: And I'm Richie, and we're thrilled to be your hosts for this episode.

[0:27] Jeff Malone: But before we get started, let's take a quick moment to hear from our sponsors.

[0:32] Richie Grasso: So welcome everyone to a new episode of Theater Chat for the week ending March 30th.

[0:36] Jeff Malone: So let's start things off this week with Noël Coward's Private Lives, which will get a Broadway revival in 2026.

[0:44] Richie Grasso: Exciting. Tell us a little bit more about that.

[0:46] Jeff Malone: The work, which premiered on Broadway in 1931, follows a divorced couple who get a surprise reunion when they find themselves on an adjoining hotel balcony on their respective honeymoons. Coward and Gertrude Lawrence led the original production that has been subsequently revived seven times. This was last seen on Broadway in 2011 with Kim Cattrall and Paul Gross. This is a very popular play. I think this is gonna land well. It's interesting that we're getting the announcement so early, but you do see this play a lot. It's well written, it's well acted.

[1:17] Richie Grasso: Yeah, so Noël Coward is a great playwright, and it just lands. And when you're talking about a divorced couple in the 1930s, I mean, think that that was the subject matter then. Did you ever see this play?

[1:30] Jeff Malone: No, but I've heard a lot of productions about it, so it'll be my first time seeing it. I would actually be very intrigued to see who they slate into these roles as well.

[1:37] Richie Grasso: Yeah, it will be interesting.

[1:39] Jeff Malone: Right. So we'll see how that can be. Kim Cattrall, I mean, last in this role. I mean, Hugh Jackman and Sonia Friedman Theatrical Partnership sets their off-Broadway debut.

[1:49] Richie Grasso: Audible and together, the new theatrical partnership led by Sonia Friedman and Hugh Jackman, are partnering on a new series of plays, readings, panels, and workshops at Audible's Minetta Lane Theater, April 28th to June 18th. The partners will also be participating in a collaboration with TDF to welcome the widest possible audience to their collaboration.

[2:09] Jeff Malone: We love opening audiences up to the wide networks that there are. The collaboration will include two plays directed by Ian Rickson and presented in repertory. The New York premiere of Hannah Moscovich's Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes, starring Ella Beatty and Hugh Jackman, will run April 28th to June 18th.

[2:26] Richie Grasso: So actually pretty soon.

[2:27] Jeff Malone: Yeah. And Jen Silverman's new adaptation of August Strindberg's Creditors, starring Liev Schreiber, Maggie Siff, and Justice Smith, will run May 10th to June 18th.

[2:37] Richie Grasso: This is exciting. I think this is really, really good stuff. What do you think about this?

[2:41] Jeff Malone: I agree. I think it's exciting. I think it's going to be a hard ticket because we know what Hugh Jackman was like in The Music Man. So, I mean, we're slating some stars in here now of people that are frequent on the Broadway stage recently as well. I really like Audible Theater. It's kind of small, though.

[2:57] Richie Grasso: And it's downtown, it's small. It's good that they're partnering with TDF.

[3:02] Jeff Malone: Yeah. But I think like if the ticket prices are expensive and they're hard tickets to get, I wish it was a bigger venue or maybe a more midtown-centric venue, but I understand the mission and I get it. I think that's good.

[3:15] Richie Grasso: Yeah, I mean, obviously small off-Broadway theaters are still gonna want to do things as well. And this also could be a launching point, I would say, for some of these shows. This is where Dead Outlaw was when it was at Audible Theater, and now that's going to Broadway. So we'll see. Good stuff, good stuff.

[3:30] Jeff Malone: All right, cool. John Krasinski to star in Angry Allen Off-Broadway.

[3:35] Richie Grasso: So we have Emmy nominee John Krasinski from The Office and A Quiet Place, who will return to the New York stage later this spring in Penelope Skinner's dark comedy, Angry Allen. The inaugural production of Off-Broadway Studio Seaview. The strictly limited engagement will run May 23rd to August 3rd with an official opening on June 11th.

[3:52] Jeff Malone: Tony nominee Sam Gold is set to direct. The production will be the first in the venue, formerly Second Stage's Tony Kiser Theater. Production company Seaview announced its takeover of the space earlier this year.

[4:02] Richie Grasso: So off-Broadway space, getting a new owner, new management here, a new play coming in. John Krasinski, very well known. I think this is great. I mean, a lot of off-Broadway news this week. And it's nice that while we're kind of pretty saturated in the Broadway scene right now with Tony Award season, it's nice to hear what's coming down the road for off-Broadway and that there are plans in place for some pretty big work coming up.

[4:22] Jeff Malone: And especially for the spring and summer where they're not competing with the new Broadway shows that are all opening right now. We still see things that are off-Broadway right now that are opening, and I say, how are they doing it?

[4:34] Richie Grasso: I know. I mean, obviously they have to continue, and these theaters want something in there. But this is, I think, interesting for Seaview. I mean, that's a name that we've been hearing a lot. They were the ones that just did Romeo and Juliet on Broadway.

[4:46] Jeff Malone: Yeah. And I think they were, are they also doing The Last Five Years?

[4:52] Richie Grasso: They might be, I forget. But yeah, they're good as well. Because I feel like that was a rumor that we heard buzzing around in the theater world that maybe that was going to move to that theater. So, but that could be after its Broadway run. And this, that's why this is a strictly limited engagement. So we'll see what happens there.

[5:10] Jeff Malone: Yeah, I like that. Paper Mill Playhouse just announced their 87th season for the 2025-2026 year. This will feature five musicals: Bill Durham, which will kick things off, Disney's Frozen, Come From Away, 1776, and West Side Story.

[5:28] Richie Grasso: I mean, I think the Bill Durham being the, you know, based on the film, a new, you know, Mark Bruni's directing that, Joshua Bergosi's choreographing that baseball-themed musical, cool. Like I think that's awesome. All the other shows seem very run-of-the-mill, like almost like summer stock to me. Like we're getting Frozen, Come From Away, 1776, West Side Story, all good productions. I'm sure they'll get some Broadway names in there, which is good too.

[5:50] Jeff Malone: Um, but nothing like the new works or like, you know, anything different. So I guess it's just a standard season. I wonder if Paper Mill is going with a different approach by putting this at the start of their season.

[6:04] Richie Grasso: This is very like a la Great Gatsby that that year that they put that in the fall as well. They had Gun and Powder at a certain point, which I think was around this time last year.

[6:14] Jeff Malone: Yeah. And then see, does that, you know, take the show and move it to Broadway? Um, we'll see what happens. They just had Mystic Pizza. I know that they don't, not everything is original. So this is probably a bunch of shows that they want to get in, pump them out, because I think they're doing the renovations soon.

[6:34] Richie Grasso: I think so, and that's time for them. So they're probably getting a big, maybe they're getting some moneymaker shows in there, you know, Frozen and West Side Story to name a few.

[6:41] Jeff Malone: Uh, Kiss of the Spider Woman film that is starring Jennifer Lopez will hit the movie theaters this fall. That was just announced. Jennifer Lopez is starring in the adaptation of the 1993 musical, and it's written and directed by Bill Condon. We know this is a Kander and Ebb show. It's very dark, a great musical.

[6:56] Richie Grasso: It's Cheetah's role.

[7:00] Jeff Malone: Oh, yeah, because a couple people I know saw it at some film festivals and said that Jennifer is very good in this role.

[7:06] Richie Grasso: Okay.

[7:07] Jeff Malone: And she's playing the Cheetah character. Um, and there's some great numbers, and I've heard some good things. And I believe someone asked Jennifer Lopez recently on a red carpet for this, what's happening to that Bye Bye Birdie TV musical? You were supposed to play the Cheetah character in that too. And she said, and she made a comment, something like, oh, who knows? We'll see, maybe. It would be cool to see her go into that too. Musical theater could be a Jennifer Lopez thing. I don't know, maybe.

[7:30] Richie Grasso: I don't know. I don't really see her, you know, doing a stint on Broadway, but you never have to.

[7:36] Jeff Malone: I could in a way. I don't know, maybe. It depends on the role.

[7:39] Richie Grasso: Yeah. But this is good for her. So no, I'm guessing Spider Woman's such a great, and the score is so good. I'm excited for that one.

[7:45] Jeff Malone: Yeah, that's a good one. But that's gonna compete with Wicked for good.

[7:49] Richie Grasso: True.

[7:50] Jeff Malone: We'll have two movie musicals here.

[7:52] Richie Grasso: Yeah, which is exciting, I guess. And I wonder how well received a film like this, with not such a known name other than in the theater community. So it's a big sell.

[8:00] Jeff Malone: It might be a hard sell.

[8:02] Richie Grasso: Yep. And it's time for this part of the episode where we discuss the Broadway grosses and trends from Cody Lason's roundup on LinkedIn. We had Broadway seeing another strong week with $441.1 million in grosses, up 9.75 percent from last week, and a notable 44.15 percent increase over the same week last season.

[8:26] Jeff Malone: So this is a big deal. Attendance rose to 298,176 with houses playing to 95.66 percent capacity, and an average admission of $137.88. When you think average being almost $140, times that by two or three or four people in your group, drinks, parking, dinner, train. This is a thousand-dollar night for a family of four to go to a Broadway show.

[8:54] Richie Grasso: Um, and that's the average.

[8:55] Jeff Malone: Yeah. It's interesting, right? And that the week's revenue per available seat was $131.86. That was up from the week previous, which was $124.05. I mean, it's really interesting to kind of see these. Obviously, there are a lot of stars on Broadway right now that are bringing in this average. And I don't know what this is going to do for Broadway in a good way, because I mean, I think it's going to keep pricing people out.

[9:25] Richie Grasso: But at the end of the day, you have to look at it, and you're saying, okay, the people are buying the tickets at these prices. And I do say there's so many, you can go to the box office and save a lot of money in fees. You can do rush, you can do lottery, you can do so many things. You could buy way in advance and plan and save. I mean, you know, but it is, it's almost like going to a Broadway show is like a little mini investment now, in a way.

[9:48] Jeff Malone: I mean, because when you look at the highlights here, Good Night and Good Luck grossed a massive $3.3 million in previews. Um, that's an average ticket price of $303.

[9:59] Richie Grasso: It's a lot of money.

[10:00] Jeff Malone: And Othello had $2.8 million, and the highest ticket price there is $338. O'Marry, now with Titus in it, we expected this, grew $327,000 with the week ending. That's the biggest increase there. And The Picture of Dorian Gray, which is in previews right now, um, had a $164 average ticket price. The Last Five Years posted a near sellout preview week with 100 percent attendance and a $151 average ticket in a 968-seat house.

[10:32] Richie Grasso: So, yes, the stars are aligning, I should say, I guess, and they are aligning to come and kind of take over Broadway a little bit here. And I think this does play interesting, you know, eventually, and I will say something, a lot of these shows are limited runs. There is a lot, so it's creating the demand for people to want to see it before it closes. I mean, with Othello and Good Night and Good Luck, and The Last Five Years, it's like even Operation Mint Meet, which we just saw, is a strictly limited engagement. Guess what? The theater was packed.

[11:04] Jeff Malone: And I think what's different this year that was not happening last year is we were not getting these strictly limited engagements, and we were not getting stuff that was really sticking with the audiences, but they were just opening and closing. And that happened in the fall this year. It's not happening in the spring.

[11:19] Richie Grasso: And it's interesting because you have people who got gift cards for the holidays or for Broadway shows and are using them now, or you have people who are getting ready to spend money to go see them closer to Tony Awards. But it'll be interesting to see what gets announced for the fall. We only have a small handful of things that are officially announced for the fall.

[11:36] Jeff Malone: Fall can be tough. But last year we even had job openings in the summer. We had Once Upon a Mattress opening in the summer. So summer can be a good time for some new shows to come through too.

[11:45] Richie Grasso: Broadway, I would love to see a perfect world where 12 months of the year is a hard time to get a ticket to a show in a way. It used to be like September was really light, January was really light, and now I'm finding that like, yeah, some shows are lighter than others, but when Lion King is still pulling in $2.5 million on the dead of winter, let alone the summer, it's pretty impressive stuff.

[12:08] Jeff Malone: But I think with spring breaks this year, this is the year of like March and April is just full of them. So we're getting the tourist groups in at this time. There was really no dead season coming back from the holidays with late January, February, and now March being very popular.

[12:26] Richie Grasso: Um, it's an interesting thing to watch. And we have so many shows that are starting previews in the next two weeks and opening in the next four weeks that are going to keep bringing this number up higher. And then you see off-Broadway kind of a little quieter right now, but that's like we had said earlier in this episode, kind of going to pick up by the summer. Oh, well, the late spring into the summer for sure. Good stuff.

[12:50] Jeff Malone: Well, that does wrap up our theater chat episode. We hope you enjoyed this quick little dive into the week ending March 30th, 2025.

[12:57] Richie Grasso: Yes. Remember, we want to hear from you. Continue the conversation with us on Instagram at Half Hour Podcast. And drop us a comment on Spotify and let us know your thoughts on the topics of this week.

[13:06] Jeff Malone: If you enjoyed our show, please leave us a review. Your feedback helps us bring more theater to you. And remember, you can listen to past episodes and stay tuned for the many upcoming ones as well.

[13:14] Richie Grasso: Until next time, I'm Jeff.

[13:15] Jeff Malone: And I'm Richie saying ta ta for now.

[13:17] Richie Grasso: Bye.