Today’s Highlights:
Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now, with music direction by Andrew Byrne, featuring Laura Bell Bundy, Kerry Butler, and Marissa Jaret Winokur, opens at Off-Broadway’s New World Stages.
A Christmas Story the Musical, by Joseph Robinette, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, directed by Hunter Foster, featuring John Scherer (Jean Shepard), Christopher Riley (Ralphie), Jim Stanek (The Old Man), Jenn Gambatese (Mother), Camilo Velasquez Escamilla (Randy), and Rashidra Scott (Miss Shields), with Jenniellen Beattie, Kyle Caress, Jack Casey, Sy Chounchaisit, Marjorie Failoni, Thomas Goldbach V, Laura Guley, Treston J. Henderson, Gavin Holwitt, Addie Jaymes, Ian Knauer, Gabriel Lafazan, Oliver Logue, Izzy Pike, Jesse Swimm, Tommy Betz, and Paris Martino, opens at CT’s Goodspeed.
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Reviews for Maybe Happy Ending at Broadway’s Belasco Theatre:
NY Times (Jesse Green): …Never was a meet cute as cute — and as quietly ominous — as it is in the musical Maybe Happy Ending… That’s because the pair are robots, and Claire’s battery is running down fast. Hooking her up to his charger may signal, for Oliver, the beginning of love. It may also signal the end of it. … That we nonrobots also connect, pair and empower one another to share a too-brief lifetime is the surprising double vision that makes Maybe Happy Ending a ravishing addition to the catalog of Broadway nerdicals … The term is high praise, honoring supersmart, usually small-scale shows — like Fun Home, The Band’s Visit and Kimberly Akimbo — that nevertheless have big emotional impact. This one, directed with breathtaking bravura by Michael Arden, gets bonus points for difficulty, too: Under cover of sci-fi whimsy, it sneaks in a totally original human heartbreaker.
Variety (Christian Lewis): Are we human, or are we… robots? Maybe Happy Ending, a Korean musical now making its Broadway debut, asks this exact question — or in some ways, asks the inverse. It examines what it means to be human, what makes us human, and what it is that separates us from robots — but instead of doing this from a human angle, it takes the robot perspective… it concerns…two human-like robot “HelperBots” who have now been “retired.” Just like an old iPhone, they are doomed to planned obsolescence … but if they might be a source of connection: Can a robot be a surrogate son or a potential girlfriend? Can robots fall in love with each other? … In some ways fresh and modern, in others formulaic, the musical plays with the tropes, beats, and genre conventions of romantic comedies with a knowing self-awareness…
New York Post ( Johnny Oleksinski): The sublime start of “Maybe Happy Ending” is the closest I have ever come to experiencing a Pixar movie on Broadway… Weeks and months pass, seasons change and the HelperBot does the same chores on repeat… Maybe Happy Ending, like Pixar at its very best, nourishes the soul in a way few Broadway shows even attempt to do… The blissful, boundlessly creative gift of a musical from South Korea…has no bulldozing ballads to cue the waterworks. There are no kitschy dance transitions to soothe our overworked brains… The thoughtful score by Will Aronson with lyrics like firing neurons by Hue Park is sprightly and innocent… Instead of predictable bombast, the tender musical’s many heartbreaking and uplifting moments sneak up on us and provide an increasingly rare sensation for a genre that has become formulaic and derivative: surprise…
Theatermania (David Gordon): …at the Belasco Theatre, where a sweet little musical about two Korean robot servants who fall in love is going to make you breathe easy for two hours… takes place within a robot senior citizen complex in Seoul, Korea, sometime in “the near future.” There, a retired “Helperbot” can live out its days of redundancy until its batteries finally die or they run out of fixes for malfunctioning parts… this journey is just very charming, thanks to two writers who’ve crafted a wholesome and believably human(oid) story and a pair of evenly matched stars who are impossible to hate… From his stiffly humorous movement (choreographed by Moni Yakim) to the unblinking sincerity in his delivery, Criss is immensely impressive as he captures the discreetly emotional essence of this outdated bot…
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Broadway Grosses for the week ending Nov. 10.
Click here for the complete analysis.
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Pittsburgh CLO has announced its 2025 season:
Camelot (June 17-22)
Back to the Future (July 1-6)
Frozen (July 18-27)
Creative teams and casting TBA.
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Darius Haas: Let Me Carry You This Christmas will run Dec. 11-12 at 7:30 PM at PA’s Buck’s County Playhouse.
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Gingold Theatrical Group will present A Scintillating Shaw Party on Mon. Nov. 18 at 6 PM at NYC’s American Irish Historical Society (991 Fifth Ave.)
Elizabeth Stack and David Staller.
Nadia Brown, Susan Cella, Tina Chilip, Teresa Avia Lim, and Folami Williams, with Fiona Maguire, and Lauren Zbylski.
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The Merchant of Venice, adapted & directed by Igor Golyak, will run Nov. 22 – Dec. 22 (opening Nov. 25) at Classic Stage Company.
T.R. Knight (Antonio), Richard Topol ( Shylock), Alexandra Silber (Portia), Gus Birney (Jessica), Tess Goldwyn (Nerisa), José Espinosa (Bassanio), Stephen Ochsner (Launcelot Gobbo), and Noah Pacht (Lorenzo), with Delilah Napier and Elan Zafir.
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The world premiere of Shit. Meet. Fan., written & directed by Robert O’Hara, has been extended through Dec. 15 at Off-Broadway’s MCC Theater.
Garret Dillahunt, Genevieve Hannelius, Billy Magnussen, Debra Messing, Tramell Tillman, and Constance Wu.
Here’s the game… Phones Out. Face Up. Volume High. Every text, every email, and every call must be shared aloud. That’s what a group of long-time friends gather to play on the night of the eclipse. With the cocktails flowing among grownups who refuse to grow up, outrageous secrets and skeletons begin to emerge… SHIT. MEET. FAN. Are they ready for the ensuing chaos? Are you?
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5 Star Theatricals will present the Kris Lythgoe’s Panto Peter Pan and Tinker Bell: A Pirate’s Christmas Dec. 13 – 29 at Thousand Oaks’ Bank of America Theatre, directed by Bonnie Lythgoe, with music direction by Michael Sobie, and choreography by Clarice Ordaz.
John O’Hurley (Captain Hook), Alkaio Thiele (Peter Pan), Julia Roome (Wendy), Nayah Danasen (Tinker Bell), and Brn Giuoux (smee), with Camryn Eakes (Tiger Lily), Raquel Glasser, Kevin Ivins, Camal Pugh, and Davon Rashawn.
A swashbuckling adventure performed in the high-flying style of a British holiday Panto. Take off on a wild quest with Tinker Bell, Wendy and Peter Pan as they try to put a stop to the plot of some dastardly pirates who plan to kidnap Peter as a present to Captain Hook. Filled with big laughs, magic, dancers and contemporary songs by everyone from Taylor Swift to The Bee Gees, this family show has a little bit of something for everyone!
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Gregory Thirloway & Maurice Godin’s Oy to the World: Christmas with a Twist will run Dec. 12-22 at North Hollywood’s El Portal Theatre, directed by Godin, with choreography by Jeffrey Polk, and music direction by Gerald Sternbach.
Sarah Uriarte Berry, Jay Brian Winnick, Cameron J. Armstrong, and Maya Sofia.
A celebration of your favorite Christmas Songs by Jewish writers.
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Jeff & Jacob Foy’s The Z Team continues through Nov. 23 at Theatre Row, directed by Jeff Whiting.
Allie Trimm, Ze’ev Barmor, Tyler Cruz, Darby McDonough, Jakob Martinez Cooper, Gabrielle, Joe Mucciolo, Drew Starlin, Kaelee Albritton, and Daniel Arana.
Jerry’s failing advertising company is struggling to keep up with its most important projects, so when his girlfriend “asks” him to create a commercial for her terrible new product (a yoga mat with a blender on it), he comes up with an innovative idea- to take the worst person from each department and assemble them to create the commercial. Hilarity ensues as the “Z Team” works to create an unforgettable commercial for the world’s worst product: The Bend and Blend.
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Edmund Bagnell: Home for the Holidays will take place Wed. Dec. 4 at 7:30 PM at PA’s Bucks County Playhouse.
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Stephen Temperley’s Souvenir will run Dec. 6-21 at Salt Lake City’s Pioneer Theater Company, directed by Wes Grantom.
Linda Mugleston (Florence Foster Jenkins), and Bob Walton (Cosmé McMoon).