Mike Birbiglia's The New One coming to Broadway

[little_sally]

https://deadline.com/2018/09/mike-birbiglia-broadway-the-new-one-1202471633/

[Call_me_jorge]

That has to be one of the tightest turnarounds From announcement to open, right?

I hope they film this for a Netflix special.

[little_sally]

They probably will, given that his other shows were streamed.

[ilysespieces]

I'm super excited for this, I love Mike Birbiglia and haven't seen him live in ages.

[Bwayfan292]

Is it too much to ask for another musical this season

However, I think its great how many plays are coming in, more theatre goers are going to be exposed to theatre outside of musicals.

[vampire musical]

I imagine recording it and streaming it was the main motivation behind the transfer. Was just speculating the other day about what was next for the Cort. Seems as though that theatre's biggest box office successes are star-studded plays or solo-comedy shows. 

[boonanas]

...why?

I saw this at the Cherry Lane Theater and while it was an overall good night, I see no reason for this to go on Broadway.

[little_sally]

boonanas said: "...why?

I saw this at the Cherry Lane Theater and while it was an overall good night, I see no reason for this to go on Broadway."

Agreed. It's not as strong as his previous works like Sleepwalk With Me.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Is it too much to ask for another musical this season 

There are slated to be 9 new musicals this season. Why more? 

[Bwayfan292]

BroadwayNYC2 said: "Is it too much to ask for another musical this season

There are slated to be 9 new musicals this season. Why more?"

Theres also 19 plays this season, I feel like you can never go wrong with too many musicals.

[SomethingPeculiar]

boonanas said: "...why?"

Because it's probably dirt-cheap to produce, and it's better than having a theatre sit empty for three months?

[Call_me_jorge]

BroadwayNYC2 said: "Is it too much to ask for another musical this season

There are slated to be 9 new musicals this season. Why more?"

To be more specific. I think we need more musical revivals to come in this season.

[dramamama611]

Too many musicals?   This is how many are ready to come in.   I'm thrilled with the plays overrunning my cup.  I wish more people took chances to see them. Even many of my own drama students turn up their noses at plays.  

[Sauja]

A great use of a theater for a couple months when it wouldn't have had time to book something bigger. 

[rg7759]

SomethingPeculiar said: "boonanas said: "...why?"

Because it's probablydirt-cheap to produce, and it's better than having a theatre sit empty for three months?"

No, it's not better if the theater requires urgent renovation. You're right, all they care about is money. They don't give a single f*** about any of their patrons

[JBroadway]

Is the Cort that desperate for renovations? So much so that delaying renovations is a sign that’s they don’t care about their patrons? I’ve never noticed anything especially wrong with it in all the times I’ve been there. And granted, I wasn’t paying very close attention, but neither does the average patron, I imagine.

Genuinely curious to hear what work people feel needs doing.

[Miles2Go2]

dramamama611 said: "Too many musicals? This is how many are ready to come in. I'm thrilled with the plays overrunning my cup. I wish more people took chances to see them. Even many of my own drama students turn up their noses at plays."

Agree. Due to the poverty of new musicals and revivals that appealed to me in June (I had previously seen The Band’s Visit, Helllo, Dolly!, Come From Away, Sweeney Todd, Waitress, and Dear Evan Hansen in June plus Hello, Dolly! again in February) I saw 8 productions with only three being musicals. This was the first time I had seen more plays than musicals and I’m so glad I did. Angels in America, Three Tall Women, and The Iceman Cometh were my favorite theatrical experiences of the trip with The Boys in the Band and Skintight also providing pleasure. Of the three musicals, only Spongebob provided a fun time while My Fair Lady and Once on This Island ultimately disappointed. So I think part of this disappointment in this thread relates not so much to the limited number of new and revived musicals compared to new and revived plays so much as the poverty of quality musicals. Granted, we don’t know how the yet-to-open musicals will be, but we know Pretty Woman, HOH, and GTBBT are not high standards to measure the rest of the season against. Only Tootsie, Beetlejuice, and Kiss Me, Kate (and maybe The Prom?) seem to contain some hope of quality. King King could surprise, but it could just as likely be the Spider-man of the season. But the good news is there are a lot of plays I’m intrigued by. The bad news is since plays tend to have limited runs, I will not make it back before they close. 

[The Distinctive Baritone]

I love Mike Birbiglia. Sleepwalk With Me, My Secret Public Journal, and especially My Girlfriend's Boyfriend are brilliant, and I have listened to the audio recordings of them countless times. I was not a fan of Thank God For Jokes, in which he did what felt like a 180 from his previous work, which were made up of deeply personal stories that were alternately hilarious and very moving, and instead did more standard "stand up comic" shtick. He is really most effective when he is being an actor/storyteller instead of a comedian. I hope The New One is more like his earlier works, because those really were incredible.

[LightsOut90]

The New One is VERY PERSONAL and thats all I will say

[NYactor85]

Was fortunate to see this at Cherry Lane and would put this up there with Sleepwalk with Me.

Will not reveal anything about this show. The surprises are beautiful

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Lights Out -

Glad to hear this. I posted on his FB page asking him to bring it to Phoenix when he was touring it in its early gestation period, but he never came. Hopefully he will continue to tour it after the Broadway run. I really want to see him live, and if this is the one that finally brought him to Broadway, it must be pretty good.

[haterobics]

Just got this note from Mike's email list, if anyone is interested: "Just wanted to let you know that tomorrow (Friday) at noon I'm going to walk from the Cherry Lane Theatre, where I performed The New One Off-Broadway, all the way up to our new Broadway home the Cort Theatre on 48th street. If you want to join me I'd love to have you. It might be 10 of us, it might be 10,000. But either way it should be a fun way to kick off the box office opening."