First Down - 2022 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 6

One of the most effective things the musical gains by moving from page to screen to stage is permission to reframe the story without betraying it. By leaning harder into the Curtis brothers as the emotional spine, the musical clarifies a distinction that’s always been present in the text but rarely foregrounded this explicitly: Darry, Soda, and Ponyboy are family by blood, bound by obligation and grief; while the Greasers are family by choice, bound by loyalty and survival.

The show is proving to be hugely popular with those that lu-huv’ed those summer nights as well as those fond of pointing out its inconsistencies and continuity challenges. A large group of Berkshire County residents traveled down to see VAPE together recently. You too can enjoy “Green Lightning”, “Hopelessly Gaslighted by You”, “Look at Me in Agony”, and more in VAPE: The Grease Parody at Theatre 555 in New York City where it continues with performances through January 4. Visit: https://vapethemusical.com for tickets and more information.

Scottsdale Public Art's newest exhibition, “Modern Messages: Ahchipaptunhe and Jacob A. Meders,” running January 9 through March 31, 2026, at Scottsdale Civic Center Library, tells the stories of Native people with contemporary artwork that invites conversation and rejects tropes. 

The Paris revival remains polished and efficient, but once again raises a familiar question: has Chicago become more concert than theatre?

Today’s subject Maisie Posner is currently living her theatre life onstage at Round House Theatre sharing the role of Emma with Avery Harris in Rules for Living.  The production runs through January 4th and marks her Round House Theatre debut. 

The biggest issues with the musical adaptation of 'Water for Elephants' is that it doesn’t seem to know what it’s trying to be, and the choreographic and performance talent in this tour would be better served by stronger material.

Today’s subject Julie Benko is currently living her theatre life onstage at Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) playing the iconic musical theatre role of Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls. The show runs through January 8th, but Ms. Benko will be departing the show on December 28th. Read on to see what her next project is.

The world premiere of All Out: Comedy About Ambition by Simon Rich, with direction by Tony Award-winner Alex Timbers, begins performances on December 12 at the Nederlander Theatre. Meet the cast of All Out here!

Soho Theatre has announced the 2026 submissions launch for the Verity Bargate Award, the UK’s longest established playwriting prize sponsored by Character 7.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company has announced Reggie D. White as its next Artistic Director. White becomes only the third artistic leader in Woolly’s 46-year history, following the seven-year tenure of Maria Manuela Goyanes.

The Muny will embark on an extensive overhaul of its nearly 11,000-seat auditorium at the end of the 2026 season, upgrading aging seats, replacing deteriorating concrete and improving stormwater drainage.

New Perspectives Theatre Company will present a benefit reading of two short plays by Joanna Pickering, THE ENDGAME and DON’T HARM THE ANIMALS, in support of its Women’s Work Project.

For ten years, Ground Floor Theatre has been one of Austin’s most intentional and boldly inclusive arts organizations, committed to producing theatre for everyone by centering stories and artists from underrepresented communities.

Three-time Tony Award winner Nathan Lane, two-time Tony Award winner Laurie Metcalf, and Christopher Abbott will return to Broadway in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.

“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” took on a new meaning in Vancouver this week as MJ THE MUSICAL debuted at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Tuesday for its opening night. The touring production arrived with sharp focus on the making of the 1992 Dangerous World Tour, showing how Michael Jackson (or MJ) shaped every beat and detail.

This new approach to the storytelling of Hadestown helped make me appreciate some of the compromises on the tour. And to further appreciate what they still maintained from the first tour and Broadway production. The set’s slightly modified (Hades’ door is more centered, for one), but we get to keep the band onstage. We get that dingy café feeling through the layout. We hold on to the iconic props – the rose, the candle, the guitar, the lamps – as well as the steampunk design of the costumes. The Workers are still a core five that inhabit both worlds and create their own, unspoken storylines through their movement and couplings. And the characters themselves are still the same, timeless figures that make Hadestown always feel like a new experience every time.

Every once in awhile you go to see a show not knowing what the final product is going to be. The epic musical Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 was one of those musicals that was very specific to its original staging because of it’s tent location. It was totally immersive. When the show moved to Broadway, it didn’t have the same effect.

Jinkx Monsoon will play Judy Garland in a strictly limited run of Peter Quilter's END OF THE RAINBOW, at Soho Theatre Walthamstow next year. Learn more here!

Vanessa Leuck, Ethan Popp and Skeleton Key Entertainment are bringing back their sold-out, one-man experiential adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol to Greenport's iconic Sapan Greenport Theater.

The Actors' Gang is presenting the World Premiere of Children of the Winter Kingdom – The Bonkers Adventures of Holly and Spruce, an original family-friendly fantasy fairy tale for the theater written by Adam Dugas and Mary Eileen O’Donnell and directed by Dugas for a limited three-week engagement from December 4 to 20 at the Actors’ Gang in Culver City.

54 BELOW will celebrate the happiest time of the year with an incredible lineup of performances by Tony winner Christine Ebersole with Billy Stritch, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” star Darius de Haas, and more.

From the new Jonas Brothers Christmas special to musical classics like White Christmas, take a look here to find out which holiday streaming titles will bring a Broadway fan some extra joy this year.

At first glance, SOME LIKE IT HOT might seem to fall into the “If it’s not broken, don’t try to fix it” category of entertainment. The traveling musical production runs Nov. 18-23 at the Ohio Theatre (39 E. State Street in downtown Columbus).

Folger Theatre at the Folger Shakespeare Library revealed the plays and playwrights for the fourth annual Reading Room Festival, a four-day festival of staged readings, panel discussions, workshops, and community celebrations.

Steve Morgan combined his head for mathematics and his heart for performing, majoring in both mathematics and music at Indiana University.