Photos: Rufus Wainwright, Sara Bareilles, Darren Criss & More at OPENING NIGHT

Just last night, Sara Bareilles, Darren Criss, Betsy Wolfe, Patti LuPone, Elizabeth Teeter, and Justin Vivian Bond, gathered at Town Hall for Rufus Wainwright's one-night-only concert presentation of  John Cassavetes’ Opening Night. 

John Cassavetes' Opening Night is the first stage musical with music, lyrics, and orchestrations by Wainwright. It premiered in London at the Gielgud Theater in the spring of 2024. The book and direction were by Ivo van Hove and is based on the 1977 movie Opening Night by American avant-garde director John Cassavetes.

It tells the story of an actress, Myrtle Gordon, who is premiering a play written for her that is about a woman coming to terms with aging. Myrtle does not come to terms with her own aging and rebels against the play and throws the entire production into jeopardy. A young female fan asking her for an autograph at the stage door gets killed by a car as she runs off onto the street. Myrtle is being haunted by the ghost of the young girl. On opening night, she arrives completely drunk but ultimately does what she does best: act and improvise. Part "All About Eve" Opening Night is the story of an actress who risks madness for her truth.  

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski