I Like it Like That - 2016 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 7

Samuel D. Hunter’s plays have quietly shaped contemporary American drama. Known for their compassionate look at working-class lives in his native Idaho, Hunter’s works explore faith, loneliness, community, and redemption with remarkable empathy. Hunter (finally) just made his Broadway debut in 2025 with Little Bear Ridge Road, now running at the Booth Theatre.

Composer and pianist Anthony Cheung will be featured on a Composer Portrait Concert at Miller Theatre at Columbia University, with performances of his music by Yarn/Wire, Claire Chase, JACK Quartet, and more.

In 1991, American Novelist Bret Easton Ellis published the highly controversial novel American Psycho. Through the story, we dive headfirst into a greed, lust, and ego-filled world told through the eyes of Patrick Bateman. A man so narcissistic, so label-driven, money hungry, and at the root of it all the depths of his humanity lie in a blood lust. Sure, he dates, he sleeps around, and is sometimes very graphic regarding his escapades, but at the root of his very being, he can’t feel. He shows no emotion, claims to never have fallen in love, and yet what is it that drives him?

While different tryout theaters have different relationships to the development of new shows, it’s worth looking at both which commercial rental theaters and which non-profit theaters have had the most Best Musical Tony Award winners come from their stages.

Award-winning vocal quintet Pentatonix has dropped their new holiday album, Christmas in the City, out now via Republic Records, marking their eighth holiday release. Listen to it here.

The 92nd Street Y, New York will present Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano with Sir George Benjamin, piano, a New York premiere, at the Geffen Stage at Kaufmann Concert Hall.

Bleak, yet hopeful, drama/dance hybrid gives food for thought

Performances are now underway for the new musical Bull Durham now in previews at Paper Mill Playhouse! Read the reviews for Bull Durham and learn more about the show here!

An exhilarating new satire on social media, class and how we live in unreal worlds bursts onto the Donmar stage in a frenzy of must-see vigour. Writer/director Kip Williams – who made his West End debut with Olivier and Tony award-winning The Picture of Dorian Gray, starring Succession's Sarah Snook – returns with his bang up-to-date adaptation of Jean Genet's play based on sisters Christine and Lea Papin, who murdered their employer and her daughter in 1933.

Gawain and the Green Knight, a festive comic retelling of the Arthurian tale of Gawain reimagined at a modern-day office Christmas party is coming to Park Theatre this December.

Marianela Núñez said of La Fille mal gardée during a rehearsal that it was just what the world needed right now. This much loved Frederick Ashton classic has not been seen on the Covent Garden stage since 2016, we needed it back then and we certainly need it now more than ever.

In June 2016, my mom and I went to New York during Tony Awards weekend. On the day of the telecast, we both walked all the way to the Beacon Theatre (where the ceremony was taking place) while rehearsal was going on

The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm) has announced a new play development initiative dedicated to adapting non-theatrical works — including novels, poetry, and film — into original stage productions.

REVOLUTION(S) is truly unlike any other show I’ve seen at the Goodman. While I think the material still has some rough edges, that’s fitting of the subject matter. The themes introduced here aren’t neat and tidy, so the material shouldn’t be, either. This musical has a pulsing, urgent energy that is extremely well-matched by Tom Morello’s music and lyrics. 

Kicking off my new series spotlighting families in Arkansas theatre, I sat down with backstage dynamo Billie Overstreet and her on-stage powerhouse daughter Belle (my very first profile in the series) just as The Rocky Horror Show struts into Actors Theatre of Little Rock, October 15–31.

After nearly a decade lighting up the stage as part of the K-pop girl group, WJSN (Cosmic Girls), DaYoung is stepping into the spotlight alone, and she’s doing it with fire. Her debut single album, gonna love me, right?, led by the intoxicating title track, “body,” signals the start of a bold new chapter for the singer.

Taylor Swift’s new album The Life of a Showgirl dropped on October 3rd, and it includes plenty of references—some explicit and some ambiguous—to real showgirls throughout history. Many of these women have a Broadway past worth exploring that adds new context to Swift’s songs.

As the fight for women to have equal rights and opportunities has evolved, so has the presence of plays telling these stories. When I wrote my book, Women Writing Musicals: The Legacy that the History Books Left Out, the first-ever book about female musical theatre writers, I researched many musicals that are in this genre as well.

Josh Groban has announced his new collection, Hidden Gems. To herald the announcement, he has shared the first offering from the upcoming project, a brand-new song, “The Constant,” which Groban wrote with EGOT winners Pasek and Paul. Listen to it here!

The Philadelphia Orchestra has named Joe Hisaishi composer-in-residence through the 2026–27 season. The partnership includes a world premiere concerto, major recording project, contemporary music series, and mentorship for Philadelphia students.

BroadwayWorld talks with Tony Award-winning Marissa Winokur and former Disney heartthrob Garrett Clayton, the director and co-star of the 5-Star Theatricals production of Hairspray in Thousand Oaks.

Susan and Lloyd Ecker, producers of the Broadway-aimed Last Of The Red Hot Mamas, pitched their new product, the 'Snorinator,' on a recent episode of Shark Tank. Watch a clip from the episode now.

Individual tickets for the Portland engagement of A BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL, will go on sale next week. Learn more and see how to purchase tickets.

Flux Theatre Ensemble has announced that Miranda Holliday, Julianna Kantor, Montserrat Mendez, Kristen Palmer, Chester Poon, Adam Szymkowicz, and Justin Woo have joined the ensemble as Creative Partners.

The North American Premiere of Lauren Gunderson’s anthropology, directed by John Perrin Flynn, will launch Rogue Machine’s new season on their mainstage. Learn more here!