By: David Sheward
October 27, 2024: Two upcoming Broadway shows, Smash and Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, have announced specific details on dates, theaters and cast members. Smash, the musical based on the NBC-TV series, will begin previews at the Imperial Theater on March 11, 2025 prior to an April 10 opening. Robyn Hurder (A Beautiful Noise, Moulin Rogue) and Caroline Bowman will head the company as Ivy and Karen, two actresses vying for the lead in a musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe. Bowman will leave the company of Sunset Boulevard where she is standby for Norma Desmond. The cast will also feature Brooks Ashmanskas (The Prom) as Nigel, Krysta Rodriguez (Spring Awakening) as Tracy, John Behlmann (Shucked) as Jerry, Kristine Nielsen (Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike) as Susan, Jacqueline B. Arnold (Moulin Rouge) as Anita, Bella Coppola (Six) as Chloe, and Casey Garvin (Some Like It Hot) as Charlie. Rodriguez is the only cast member to have also appeared in the NBC series as a recurring character, although in a different role. Nielsen did have a guest shot in one episode.
Six-time Tony winner Susan Stroman directs with a book by Bob Martin (Drowsy Chaperone) and Rick Elice (Jersey Boys) and a score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Hairspray) which will comprise of tunes from the series as well as new ones.
Producer Robert Greenblatt said, “Neil, Steven, and I are elated to announce that Smash is definitely coming to Broadway this season, a dozen years after the series ended on NBC! We always knew Shaiman & Wittman’s fantastic score belonged on Broadway, and our show is a clever, funny adaptation of the series — with a few surprises — that we hope will delight die-hard fans as well as anyone who didn’t see the series.”
Neil Meron said, “Working with our incomparable director, Susan Stroman, our first-class bookwriters, Rick Elice and Bob Martin, and our original series choreographer, Josh Bergasse, has been a joy. This dream team has created the quintessential new musical about the rollercoaster ride of creating a new musical. (Very meta!) And it not only sends Broadway up, but sends Broadway a big love letter at the same time.”
Manhattan Theater Club announced that its production of the revue Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, presented in association with Cameron Mackintosh and Daryl Roth will begin previews at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater on March 25, 2025 with an opening set for April 8.
Joining previously announced Broadway legends Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga will be Jasmine Forsberg, Kate Jennings Grant, David Harris, Bonnie Langford (Mel, companion of Doctor #6 and #7 from Doctor Who), Tony Award winner Beth Leavel (The Drowsy Chaperone), two-time Tony Award nominee and Drama Desk winner Gavin Lee (Mary Poppins, SpongeBob Squarepants), Ryan McCartan, multiple Olivier Award nominee Jason Pennycooke, two-time Olivier Award winner Joanna Riding, Jeremy Secomb, Maria Wirries, and Daniel Yearwood. Peters, Salonga, Langford, Lee and Secombe also appeared in the London production of the show. The company will also include Kevin Earley, Paige Faure, Alexa Lopez, and Peter Neureuther. The final co-star will be announced soon.
Cameron Mackintosh said today, “It was Steve’s idea to do a third revue of his work but sadly he died before we had pieced it all together. I always wanted this one to be driven by his greatest melodies. To celebrate his great life and legacy I wanted to put on an all-star gala in London but first I had to finish the hat. Miraculously, in only a few days all the shows, songs, and fun we had enjoyed together fell onto the page in sequence (undoubtedly nudged from above by Steve) and the running order has hardly changed since. The gala was wonderful but more importantly, proved that the material wasn’t just a concert, but the great big Broadway show Steve wanted it to be. For our West End season, Matthew Bourne and I put together an all-star ensemble of old friends, led by Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga, around whom we wove the material as if in a play. I am thrilled that nearly half of our rapturously received London old friends are able to join our brilliant new American friends to bring this show to Broadway. It’s an added delight that I am reunited with Lynne Meadow and MTC, with whom Steve and I did our second revue, Putting it Together, starring the incomparable Julie Andrews. For all of us working on this show it is our love letter and thank you to Steve – a musical genius but also an old friend whose brilliant work and memory will last forever.”
Lynne Meadow and Chris Jennings of Manhattan Theatre Club said, “We are proud that MTC will co-produce the Broadway premiere of Old Friends. We are thrilled to reunite with the brilliant and prolific Cameron Mackintosh, with whom we co-produced Sondheim’s Putting it Together Off-Broadway in 1993; Daryl Roth, with whom we first partnered on our Broadway transfers of Proof and The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife in 2000; and Bernadette Peters, who returned to New York in 1982 to star in MTC’s Off-Broadway production of Sally and Marsha. We are also pleased to be welcoming a fabulous group of actors, many of whom are joining Lea Salonga and director Matthew Bourne in making their MTC debuts, for this production. Stephen Sondheim was an early Board member of Manhattan Theatre Club (1971-1985), and we are honored to pay tribute to this legendary artist.”
Daryl Roth said, “It’s a joy to celebrate Stephen Sondheim’s remarkable legacy, and I’m especially thrilled to work with the legendary Bernadette Peters, the brilliantly talented Lea Salonga, and a fantastic group of actors from Broadway and the West End. Together, we’re honoring a true master whose work will continue to inspire us and enrich the world of musical theatre for years to come.”
2024-25 Broadway/Off-Broadway/Awards Calendar
Fall 2024
Oct. 27–We Live in Cairo (NYTW)
Oct. 29–Another Shot (Signature Theater Center)
Nov. 7–Walden (Second Stage/Kiser)
Nov. 8–Gatz (Elevator Repair Service/Public)
Nov. 10–We Are Your Robots (TFANA/Polonsky Shakespeare Center)
Nov. 10–Strategic Love Play (Audible/Minetta Lane)
Nov. 11–What a Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical (Studio 54)
Nov. 12–Maybe Happy Ending (Belasco)
Nov. 12—300 Patinings (Vineyard)
Nov. 14–Tammy Faye (Palace)
Nov. 14–King Lear (Kenneth Branagh Theater Company/The Shed)
Nov. 17–Elf the Musical (Marquis)
Nov. 18–Shit. Meet. Fan. (MCC Theater)
Nov. 19–Swept Away (Longacre)
Nov. 20—Babe (New Group/Signature Center)
Nov. 21–Death Becomes Her (Lunt-Fontanne)
Nov. 21–The Blood Quilt (LCT/Mitzi Newhouse)
Nov. 25–The Merchant of Venice (CSC/Arlekin Players)
Nov. 26–The Dead, 1904 (IRT/American Irish Historical Society)
Babe (New Group/Signature Center)
This Is My Favorite Song (Playwrights Horizons)
Winter 2024-25
Dec. 4–Annie (Theater at Madison Square Garden) (previews begin; opening TBA)
Dec. 11–All In: Comedy About Love by Simon Rich (Hudson) (previews begin; opening TBA)
Dec. 12–Cult of Love (Second Stage/Hayes)
Dec. 16–Eureka Day (MTC/Samuel J. Friedman)
Dec. 19–Gypsy (Majestic)
Jan. 20–The Antiquities (Playwrights Horizons/Vineyard Theater)
Jan. 23–English (Roundabout/Todd Haimes Theater)
Jan. 25–Henry IV (TFANA/Polonsky Theater Center)
Feb. 13–Redwood (Nederlander)
Feb. 20–Liberation (Roundabout/Laura Pels)
Curse of the Starving Class (New Group/Signature Center)
Dakar 2000 (MTC/City Center Stage I)
A Knock on the Roof (NYTW)
Sumo (Ma-Yi Theater/Public)
2024-25
My Son’s a Queer (But What Can You Do?)
Romeo and Juliet w.Tom Holland/Francesca Amewudah-Rivers (?)
Spring 2025
March 10–Ghosts (LCT/Mitzi Newhouse)
March 18–Vanya (Lucille Lortel)
March 19–Buena Vista Social Club (Schoenfeld)
March 19–We Had a World (MTC/City Center Stage II)
March 20–Operation Mincemeat (Golden)
March 23–Othello (Barrymore)
March 27–The Picture of Dorian Gray (Music Box)
March 30–The Swamp Dwellers (TFANA/Polonsky Shakespeare Center)
March–Wine in the Wilderness (CSC)
Mid-March–Purpose (Hayes)
April 5–BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical (Broadhurst)
April 6–The Last Five Years (Hudson)
April 8–Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends (MTC/Samuel J. Friedman)
April 10–Smash (Imperial)
April 14–John Proctor Is the Villain (Booth)
April 17–Bowl EP (Vineyard Theater/National Black Theater)
April 21–Floyd Collins (LCT/Vivian Beaumont)
April 22–Stranger Things: The First Shadow (Marquis)
April 23–Just in Time (Circle in the Square)
April 24–The Pirates of Penzance (Roundabout/Todd Haimes Theater)
April 27–Real Women Have Curves (Shubert theater TBA)
May 1–Tony Nominations announced
May 20–Goddess (Public Theater)
May–Bus Stop (CSC/NAATCO/Transport Group)
June 2–Theater World Awards (Theater TBA)
June 8–Tony Awards (Radio City Music Hall)
Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp. (Public)
Glengarry Glen Ross
Good Night and Good Luck
Hold Me in the Water (Playwrights Horizons)
The Last Bimbo of the Apocalypse (New Group/Signature Center)
Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole (NYTW)
Lunar Eclipse (Second Stage/Kiser)
Show Boat (Target Margin/NYU Skirball)
2025
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Sugar Daddy
Summer 2025
Twelfth Night (Public Theater/Delacorte)
2025-26
The Queen of Versailles
Fall 2025
Initiative (Public)
The Seat of Our Pants (Public)
Waiting for Godot
2026
Hello, I’m Dolly
Future–Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death; Beaches the Musical; Beat Street; Black Orpheus; Come Fall in Love–The DDLJ Musical; Crazy Rich Asians; The Devil Wears Prada; Ella: An American Miracle; Everybody’s Talking About Jamie; Frida, the Musical; Game of Thrones; The Griswolds’ Broadway Vacation; High Noon; Imitation of Life; The Interestings; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; The Karate Kid; La La Land; The Mousetrap; Nancy Drew and the Mystery at Spotlight Manor; The Nanny; The Normal Heart/The Destiny of Me; Pal Joey; Particle Fever; Purple Rain; The Queen’s Gambit; Rear Window; The Secret Garden; Sing Street; Soul Train; Studio 54; Working Girl.
2024-25 Broadway Season Breakdown
New Plays
All In: Comedy About Love by Simon Rich
Cult of Love
Good Night and Good Luck
The Hills of California
Job
John Proctor Is the Villain
Left on Tenth
MCNEAL
Oh, Mary!
Purpose
The Roommate
Stranger Things: The First Shadow
New Musicals
Boop! The Betty Boop Musical
Buena Vista Social Club
Death Becomes Her
Just in Time
Maybe Happy Ending
Operation Mincemeat
Real Women Have Curves
Redwood
Smash
Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends
Swept Away
Tammy Faye
What a Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical
Play Revivals
English
Eureka Day
Glengarry Glen Ross
Home
Othello
Our Town
Romeo and Juliet
Yellow Face
Musical Revivals
Elf the Musical
Floyd Collins
Gypsy
The Last Five Years
Once Upon a Mattress
The Pirates of Penzance
Sunset Boulevard
Solos/Specialties
The Picture of Dorian Gray
