.png)
.png)
.png)
%20copy.webp)
.png)
Carl Holder really wasn’t sure whether or not he could do this anymore.
This is write plays, work in theatre, and live in New York doing it. It was late 2023 — a teaching job was about to end, and had they kept him on any longer, he would have qualified for insurance. A friend from graduate school was opening up her family home in Los Angeles for artists to come in and do a residency, but none of his ideas were really clicking with him.
Except one.
“The only thing I knew about the idea was, ‘what if there was something that you made that was pulled out of a bowl, and every time you did it, it was different?’” Holder told Theatrely.
The result? His play Out of Order is now running at East Village Basement through July 22. In the play, Holder picks index cards out of a bowl with tasks varying from random acts of kindness and audience participation, to discussions about the realities of art making, to narratives about farm animals from a childhood story. If he fails to complete every card, he vows to quit theatre forever.
The stakes are high — and for Holder, confronting. He’s been doing theatre since he was five years old. He holds a BFA in Acting from SUNY Purchase, an MFA Dramatic Writing from NYU/Tisch, and won the Goldberg Play Prize in 2020 and was a Finalist for the 2019 Neukom Literary Arts Playwriting Award.
“I've been doing this in some ways for a long time, and by certain conventional standards, there are benchmarks I have not achieved,” Holder said. “A lot of those are financial and then there are these other things that have happened. In some ways, yes, I really am doing the thing I've always wanted to do, but in some ways, I feel so far from actually being where I wanted to be.”
This is the longest period Holder is performing the marathon of a show, but it is far from the first. After the first iteration at his friend’s Los Angeles residency, he did the show in 16 living rooms in nine states.
“I was interested in the contrast of ambition and intimacy,” Holder said. “Like, I'm gonna go to all these states, but it’s always gonna be a max of 20 people. The sort of playful questioning of, ‘why can't that be a tour? Why can't the tour be me going to all these places to perform for, you know, eight to 15 people.’”
The index card form style presented Holder with a creative challenge that was exciting to him. He knew he had to be precise enough in the structure and story that if he showed audiences the piece in any order at all, it would somehow land. It bonds the small audience; they’re the only people who have seen this particular show in this particular order, and have gone on this ride together.
At East Village Basement, he’s collaborating with director and writer Skylar Fox, which he said has made the theme feel sharper and clearer. He hopes to “see how long [he] can keep this up,” after the East Village run, but he isn’t sure what form, exactly, the future of the show will take.
In asking himself the central question — does he really want to do this theatre thing? — every night, he’s learned a lot about himself. Key among the lessons: he can’t pretend he doesn’t love making art.
“I love this to a degree that is comedic and tragic,” Holder said. “Doing this through all the different iterations and all the different challenges each iteration threw at me also gave me a bit of pep in my step, with regard to what I had left in me, what I what I was still capable of, It gave me a new trust in what's possible for me.”
Out of Order is running at East Village Basement on tk in New York City through July 22. For tickets and more information, visit here.
Editor’s note: Editor-in-Chief Kobi Kassal serves as a consulting producer on Out of Order. He was not involved in the reporting, writing, or editing of this article.
.png)
“High school never ends!” Romy & Michele: The Musical will debut Off-Broadway at Stage 42 this fall. Previews will begin on Oct. 14, with an official opening set for Oct. 28.
The show, based on the cult classic film Romy & Michele’s High School Reunion, features a book by the film’s screenwriter Robin Schiff. The music and lyrics to the 80s and 90s-inspired score will be written by Gwendolyn Sanford and Brandon Jay, with orchestrations by Keith Harrison Dworkin. Kristin Hanggi will serve as director. The cast and additional creative team will be announced at a later date.
“Romy and Michele have been icons of friendship, fashion, and individuality from the moment we first met them,” producers Barry Kemp and Stephen Soucy said in a statement. “Bringing their story to the New York Stage is the perfect home for their bold and quirky spirit to be reborn. We can’t wait for audiences to enjoy this hilarious and heart-filled new musical.”
Romy & Michele tells the story of a lot of our worst nightmares: reliving high school. When the titular characters are invited to their ten year high school reunion, Michele envisions the experience as a fun road trip. Romy, on the other hand, very reluctantly agrees to go — but only if they come up with something to impress their classmates.
Romy & Michele: The Musical begin its run at Stage 42 on Oct. 14, with official opening on Oct. 28. Tickets go on sale to the public later this month. For more information, visit here.
.png)
How very! Heathers has extended its run at New World Stages for four additional months. The production has amassed the largest advance sale in New World Stages history. Originally scheduled to play through Sept. 28, Heathers will now run through Jan. 25, 2026.
“The love from our amazing fans is nothing short of very,” director Andy Fickman said in a statement. “This show has always been about defying expectations, and thanks to our incredible cast, crew, and die-hard supporters, we get to keep telling this twistedly heartfelt story. So get out your scrunchies and break out the Corn Nuts — Westerberg High isn’t going anywhere just yet!”
The Off-Broadway revival is currently in previews, with an official opening on July 10. Heathers features book, music and lyrics by Kevin Murphy and Laurence O’Keefe, and is based on the 1989 film of the same name. It tells the story of Veronica Sawyer as she tries to navigate the most lethal place in the world: high school. While she dreams of a better day, she is taken under the wing of the Heathers — three cruel and beautiful classmates who are the most popular girls in school. Just as her dreams of popularity start to come true, she meets J.D., a mysterious teen rebel, who shows her it might kill to be a nobody.
Lorna Courtney and Casey Likes star in the production as Veronica Sawyer and J.D. The Heathers are portrayed by McKenzie Kurtz as Heather Chandler, Olivia Hardy as Heather Duke, and Elizabeth Teeter as Heather McNamara. Broadway veteran Kerry Butler plays Ms. Fleming/Veronica’s Mom, with viral TikTok sensation Erin Morton as Martha Dunnstock.
The cast also features Xavier McKinnon as Ram Sweeney, Cade Ostermeyer as Kurt Kelly, Ben Davis as Ram’s Dad/Big Bud Dean/Coach Ripper, and Cameron Loyal as Kurt’s Dad/Veronica’s Dad/Principal Gowan. Sara Al-Bazali is the standby for Veronica Sawyer and Heather Chandler. The ensemble includes Emma Benson, James Caleb Grice, Louis Griffin, Devin Lewis, Kiara Michelle Lee, Brian Martin, Lav Raman, Syd Sider, and Cecilia Trippiedi.
Heathers runs at New World Stages on West 50th Street in New York City through Jan. 25, 2026. For tickets and more information, visit here.
