This week, GBH Executive Arts Editor Jared Bowen brought a rundown of what’s happening on Broadway to Morning Edition. While the shows are in New York City for now, Bowen says that “eventually we will see these shows in Boston,” so be sure to keep an eye out!
“Company”
Now playing at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in New York City through July 31
This revival of a Sondheim musical comedy, directed by Marianne Elliott, tells the story of a 35th birthday party. While the original run featured protagonist Robert, Elliott wanted to revive the musical with a twist. Working with Sondheim before his death, the two tweaked Company to be about Bobbie, a 35-year-old woman whose friends ask her why she has yet to get married.
As Bowen explains, the “significant change” is that “one couple has been turned into a [...] same-sex relationship, which changes the dynamic” between the characters, but that “Sondheim was aboard for all of these changes.” This run of Company also features Patti LuPone, who performs the “powerhouse number” of the musical, “The Ladies Who Lunch.”
“A Strange Loop”
Now at the Lyceum Theatre in New York City through Nov. 13
“A Strange Loop” by Michael R. Jackson follows Usher, a Disney musical usher who, unhappy with his job, writes a musical about... a character who is not happy with his job. While Jackson says that “this is not necessarily autobiographical, [...] it is very self-referential” to Jackson’s experiences — who unhappily worked as an usher while writing “A Strange Loop.”
The show is both “hilarious and searing,” exploring what it means to be a fat, Black, queer man in the United States. It received a number of Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and Jackson won a Pulitzer Prize for the piece.
“Plaza Suite”
Now playing at the Hudson Theatre in New York City through July 10
This revival of Neil Simon’s 1969 play stars real-life couple Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick. The pair play three fictional couples who all stay in a suite at the Plaza Hotel, vignettes that show couples in vastly different stages of their relationship: the first nearing its end, the second reuniting and the third attempting to convince their daughter to go to her own wedding.
The stars of the show were interviewed for Open Studio before the pandemic, and Bowen says that, after finally seeing the show this year, “Sarah Jessica Parker really, really shines” in the production. “She’s hilarious, but of course the two together bring out their great, extraordinary chemistry.”
What shows are you hoping to see come to Boston? Tell Jared about it on Facebook or Twitter!
