Seems like some more felines are headed to Broadway, kinda. This morning, it was announced that production company Seaview will lead a revival of Tennessee Williams’ Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, directed by Tony Award Winner Sam Gold. 

This strictly limited engagement in Spring of 2027 will reunite Gold with Seaview, following their collaborations on An Enemy of the People and Romeo + Juliet. Additional casting and creative team information will be announced at a later date. 

“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is the pinnacle of what the theatre can do. Two of the greatest roles for actors in the cannon, delivered to us by the world’s most original playwright,  at the very height of his poetic powers, exploring themes that feel as shockingly honest and blood boiling today as they did 70 years ago”, states Sam Gold. “I couldn't be more excited to bring this masterpiece back to New York next season.”

“It's been such a gift to be making work with Sam Gold over the last four years,” said Greg Nobile Seaview’s co-founder and CEO. “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof will mark our fifth production together, and I am certain Sam's vision to bring Tennessee's extraordinary and timeless characters to life next season will once again thrill and delight audiences.”

“We’re thrilled to partner with Sam and Greg and their teams on this production,” said Michael Barra, CEO of ILP Theatrical. “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is among Williams’ most iconic works, and as such we’ve taken great care to place it in the right hands for its return to New York after fourteen years. We’re so excited for audiences to see Sam’s vision come to life on Broadway next season!”

At the first preview of Schmigadoon! on Broadway a few weeks back, creator Cinco Paul joked that the show had two out-of-town tryouts, first on Apple TV and then in DC. In a way, he wasn’t wrong. When it first aired on the streaming platform in July of 2021, it made the hearts of musical theatre lovers soar. If you would have told me back then when we were quarantining that this wacky little show about two doctors trapped in a musical would be on Broadway five years later, I don’t know if I would have believed it! 

But the creatives never gave up hope, and thank goodness, because Schmigadoon! has turned into the best new musical of the season. With a book, score, and lyrics by Paul, this loving tribute to the Golden Age of musical theatre is equal parts heart and laughter, and I can’t get enough. 

Directed and choreographed by Christopher Gatelli, the new musical which opened tonight at the Nederlander Theatre follows Josh (Alex Brightman) and Melissa (Sara Chase) who get trapped in the magical world of Schmigadoon, where anything can set off a thrilling musical number, much to the chagrin of Josh. How else can you escape but finding the true meaning of love, of course. 

Paul, who has been ideating this thought of a musical for nearly 30 years, smartly incorporates references and nods to nearly every popular show of the 40s and 50s from Oklahoma! to The Sound of Music to The Music Man and everything in-between. The razor-sharp book that may seem silly on the surface is truly quite deft. One of my favorite moments occurs early in the first act, as Josh is going through the self help books Melissa has purchased for him, one being “Despicable He” — clearly a nod to Paul’s writing on the Despicable Me franchise. 

This is Broadway with a capital B. From gorgeous hand painted sets with no LED screens in sight (thank you Scott Pask) to the most stunning choreography work we have seen in seasons, what more could you ask of a night at the theatre? 

It feels nearly criminal to have funny man Alex Brightman in a musical where his singing is not on display. Josh hates musicals, and will lose almost everything so he doesn’t have to sing. But what we forfeit with that, we gain tenfold with his comedy chops. Brightman has been one of our most versatile leading men, and shines bright thanks to this book. After originating the role of Myrtle in The Great Gatsby a few years back, Chase is back on the boards in a role that feels tailor-made for her. Her impish, comic sensibilities pair wonderfully with a stunning voice that I need on Broadway every season. 

The gaggle of supporting characters from Ana Gasteyer’s Mildred Layton (hilarious) to Ann Harada’s Florence Menlove (hilarious) to McKenzie Kurtz’s Betsy (hilarious) fill the show with bliss and theatricality that we have been yearning for as of late. Max Clayton as Danny Bailey is thrilling as he glides across the stage in his big number to win over Miss Melissa and Isabelle McCalla leading her class of students as Emma Tate brings the house down with a big tap number that is pure Broadway joy. 

Gatelli is putting his ensemble to work with high energy dancing that not only celebrates the golden age, but embraces the very best of what musical theatre can, and frankly, should be. 

While some may toss Schmigadoon! aside as a frivolous night out, Paul has created a world deeply rich in humanity, charm, and musical theatre heritage. Go do yourself a favor and get trapped in Schmigadoon, I think we could all use it right about now. 

Schmigadoon! is now in performance at the Nederlander Theatre on West 41st Street. For tickets and more information, visit here. 

Tracee Chimo, oh how we’ve missed you! 

In the early years of my New York theatergoing, the gifted and highly versatile Chimo was a reliable mainstay across stages big and small. On Broadway, she routinely stole the show in supporting roles, whether as a harried stage manager in Noise Off or four wildly different women in The Heidi Chronicles. But it was off-Broadway where Chimo truly shone, with devastating turns in Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation and, most memorably, Joshua Harmon’s scorching breakout play Bad Jews. As the formidable Daphna, Chimo stalked the shoe-box set of Harmon’s claustrophobic family comedy like a hyena, ready to pounce at the tiniest provocation. 

Chimo has been absent from the New York stage for over a decade. So what a thrill to have her back and stealing scenes once again in Roundabout Theatre Company’s delightful revival of Noël Coward’s 1925 comedy Fallen Angels, opening tonight at the newly renovated Todd Haimes Theatre on Broadway. Chimo is delectably demented as the multi-talented servant Saunders, a raconteur who reveals an improbable array of past clients—master pianists, Dukes, the Red Cross, the Foreign Legion—with each appearance on stage. 

And the show isn’t half bad either. Scott Ellis’ sumptuous staging of this early Coward is highly enjoyable, a sugary bonbon of a production that goes down nice and easy. It’s just the kind of sweet treat we’ve been missing, and so dearly deserve. 

The actual stars of Fallen Angels are a dream duo: Oscar nominee Rose Byrne and Tony Award-winner (plus eight-time nominee) Kelli O’Hara, both having a ball. Byrne and O’Hara plays Jane Banbury and Julia Sterroll respectively, the neglected wives of two fine upper-class gentleman, Willy (Christopher Fitzgerald) and Fred (Aasif Mandvi), who, as the play begins, have left their wives alone for the day to go golfing. 

That morning, Jane and Julia have both received telegrams from a shared lover of their youths: the French lothario Maurice Duclos. Overwhelmed at his possible re-entry into their lives, the two proceed to get utterly soused while awaiting his call. 

Coward’s play was the subject of controversy prior to its 1925 premiere, initially rejected by the censor office of the Lord Chamberlain for lewdness. Today, Fallen Angels could hardly be called either risky or risqué. I suppose there is something refreshing, even now, in Jane and Julia’s unabashed frankness around their energetic sex lives (prior to marriage, of course). But the impetus for bringing back Fallen Angels is hardly timeliness. 

The impetus is fun—daffy, ludicrous, drunken fun. Indeed, fully half of the play is spent watching Byrne and O’Hara get progressively, ridiculously wasted. This is a very entertaining thing to watch, and I was very happy watching it. Byrne and O'Hara are teaching a masterclass in drunk acting, slipping steadily from merriment into near-incoherence. 

Surprisingly, it is O’Hara who gets the most laughs. Her physical work is hysterical, most memorably when O’Hara clutches for dear life to a phone cord that Byrne is pulling away and drags her entire body onto, then fully over, an armchair. 

Byrne is a little shakier to start out, struggling with an exaggerated accent that she is slightly over-pitching. Certain lines got entirely swallowed in Burns’s high-pitched delivery, at least at my performance. (The blame may partly lie with the sound design, by John Gromada, since the vocally precise O’Hara was also occasionally difficult to hear.) 

Still, both are comfortable in their roles. Fitzgerald and Mandvi are similarly at ease, pitching the required cartoonish buffoonery with perfection. David Rockwell’s typically stunning set is not only a wonder to behold, but also a veritable playground filled with delightful toys for the performers to fling about. A moment, also, for Jeff Mahshie’s ravishing costumes, with O’Hara’s vibrant array of louche late-20s dresses an especially standout. 

Coward’s text loses just a little steam towards its conclusion. When Declos does finally arrive, the actor and talk-show host Mark Conuelos (best known for “Live with Kelly & Mark”) proves smartly deployed in the role. His familiarity puts the audience instantly at ease with Declos, while his French accent is so horrendously that it circles all the way back around to hilarious. Still, the construction of Coward’s concluding gag is a little shaky, and the final moments feel like diminishing returns. 

Or perhaps I was just missing my beloved Saunders, who by this point is less present. Chimo, never leave us again!  

Fallen Angels is now in performance at the Todd Haimes Theatre in New York City. For tickets and more information, visit here.