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Mariah Carey took to social media on Tuesday morning (May 2) to celebrate Some Like It Hot scoring more than a dozen Tony Award nominations.
“Congratulations to the amazing cast and crew!!! Couldn’t have asked for better news to wake up to!!!” the Songbird Supreme turned Broadway producer shared on her Instagram Stories.
The musical leads this year’s pack of Tony nominees with 13 nominations, including best musical, best performance by a leading actor in a musical (both Christian Borle and J. Harrison Ghee), best performance by a featured actor in a musical (Kevin Del Aguila), best performance by a featured actress in a musical (NaTasha Yvette Williams), best direction, best book, best original score and more.
Carey, meanwhile, serves more than one function in the musical. Not only is she a member of the production team, but she also lent her voice to the pre-show announcement before the curtain rises. (“Welcome to the Shubert Theater!” she tells the audience each night. “At this time, please take a moment to turn off your cell phones. And remember: The use of photographic equipment and recording devices is strictly prohibited. And now, Some Like It Hot.”)
Should Some Like It Hot take home the Tony for best musical, Mariah would technically be halfway to EGOT status, thanks to the five Grammys she’s collected over the years out of 34 total nominations — including wins for best new artist in 1991 and best R&B song for 2005’s “We Belong Together.”
Check out Mimi’s reaction to her first Tony nomination before it expires here.
“Because you can can can!” is the hedonistic rallying cry of Parisian club owner Harold Zidler at the outset of Broadway’s adaptation of Baz Luhrmann’s celebrated 2001 film Moulin Rouge!. And through July 16 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre in Manhattan, Joanna “JoJo” Levesque is currently proving she can can can soar in a sumptuous major musical despite no previous credits on the Gay White Way.
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Yes, experiencing JoJo in Moulin Rouge! involves a few moments of processing that the Satine in front of you is the same person who, at age of 13 in 2004, earned a No. 1 on Pop Airplay with the punchy “Leave (Get Out).” But that biographical tidbit quickly fades as you lose yourself in Satine’s journey as she sheds her performative shield and embraces love, death and everything in between.
It’s a triumphant transformation that Levesque subtly reveals through shifting reactions to the world around her — while, naturally, showing off her substantial vocal range and a nuanced ability to interpret hit songs from other artists. It’s such a convincing sublimation of her pop star identity that my companion at the Hirschfeld, despite several assurances, refused to believe it was THAT JoJo on stage in front of us and not a Broadway pro (eventually, she was convinced, and cried at the end of the play).
Of course, casting a known pop, film or TV star in a Broadway play is nothing new — and lately, it’s been a boon for theatrical box offices as they recover from the pandemic. Earlier this year, two-time Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon pulled in packed, enthusiastic audiences for Chicago as Mama Morton. But rarely do outsiders make their Broadway debut playing the lead role in a musical, which makes JoJo’s 14-week run as Satine even more impressive – and a sparkling diamond of a delight on Broadway.
Before we talk about the play, I want to ask about your initial reaction to the movie when it came out in 2001.
Obsessed. Baz Luhrmann is one of my favorite filmmakers. I love the energy, the pulse you can feel throbbing in all of his work. Nicole Kidman just shattered me with Satine. I was like 10 years old when it came out, but I revisit it time and time again because it’s so delicious. I saw the Moulin Rouge! musical theater production when it opened in L.A. at the Pantages [in 2021], and I went back and rewatched the movie again I was like, “Ugh, it’s so good!” I’m totally in love with the Baz stuff.
When you auditioned for the role of Satine on Broadway, how did you feel? Were you confident about what you delivered?
I workshopped with the producers and director and I knew that I had prepared as much as I possibly could have. I walked away feeling, “If I don’t get it, I can feel good about the work I did going into it.” And that’s what I’m looking to feel at this point in my life in general: I laid it all out there and come what may. But I was hoping that it would work out, and when it did, I was so relieved. I really wanted the opportunity to use all the different things I love that I’ve been working on since I was a little girl at once: Singing, acting, performing. This is the perfect opportunity for that.
As you rehearsed and prepared for the role, what was the hardest part for you?
The quick costume changes backstage are one of the most challenging components. Some of the changes are 25 seconds and there’s wig changes, shoe changes. That stressed me out a little bit because I didn’t want to throw anybody else off – not hit a mark and set the whole show back. But I learned. There’s a whole squad of people who are there to help it all move seamlessly. And that’s my favorite part of musical theater, the community aspect of it – we’re all parts in this living, breathing organism.
Twice in the musical you descend from the ceiling on a swing. Is that terrifying?
I have a safety harness. Sometimes I don’t click it exactly right and it gets stuck, and that gives me a little nervousness. But being up in the air is okay. It’s fun. I don’t love roller coasters, but it’s the perfect dose of a roller coaster. It sets my character up for the audience to understand who she is at the Moulin Rouge. And it helps me get into character, honestly, coming down from the ceiling. JoJo hasn’t done that before, but Satine does. That makes me feel better. I’m not myself, I’m not Joanna; I’m embodying Satine.
JoJo in Moulin Rouge
Evan Zimmerman
What’s your favorite song to perform each night?
I love doing “Elephant Love Medley” with Derek [Klena]. It’s such a cute moment of him trying to win her over and her being like, “You don’t understand what life is actually like, bro. You’re crazy.” But there’s something charming about his purity and how he has not been wounded by life the way she has. I love that moment. It’s when they’re really falling in love and when she decides she’s going to follow her heart for once as opposed to trying to do what she needs to do to survive.
The next time you hit the stage as you, do you think you might incorporate some of the Moulin Rouge! stuff?
I have a festival performance coming up May 6 for Lovers & Friends in Las Vegas, while I’m doing this [Broadway run]. It has informed that. I have a couple ideas I’m going to bring into my set in Vegas. I think this is making me a more well-rounded performer, getting to play with different people every night, sometimes two times a day. I love that repetition and finding freedom within it. And doing your own play on other people’s songs is a treat.
What have you learned about yourself doing this?
I learned how much I was yearning for some aspect of community that I haven’t had in my life before. I started so young as a solo artist and I’m an only child. I still had that sense of being an outsider, the odd girl out, and I was bullied in middle school. I was like, “Will I be embraced?” I did have those fears. And to let myself be vulnerable and be open, let people know my heart and get to know other people’s hearts, that’s been a nice experience. And [I learned] how to pace myself. If you’re doing 7-8 shows a week, you have to learn how to take care of your instrument, your body, everything.
What informs your portrayal of Satine?
I want to always keep in mind how difficult her life has been. The fact that she is performing most of her life, whether it’s on the streets or for men or at the Moulin Rouge, she doesn’t really get a moment to let her guard down. There was a time in my life where that was very much the truth for me. I didn’t even know how to be honest; I didn’t even know how to get in touch with myself. I’m still trying to find the most authentic version of myself.
Do you want to do more acting on Broadway?
I love it here. I love doing stuff like this. If they’ll have me, I’ll be here. I’d love to originate a role, I’d love to be part of writing the music for original shows. To be a part of this has been a highlight of my life. I feel like I’m growing, I’m learning, and that’s what makes me happy: to be where these amazing performers are and where we’re stretching and growing. I could definitely see more of it.
Lea Michele, star of the hit revival of Funny Girl, and Myles Frost, a 2022 Tony winner for his portrayal of Michael Jackson in MJ, are set to announce the 76th Annual Tony nominations on Tuesday, May 2.
The nominations announcement will air live from Sofitel New York on the Tony Awards’ official YouTube Page at 9 a.m. ET. Selected categories will be read live on CBS Mornings at 8:30 a.m. ET. A complete list of the 2023 nominations will be available on the Tony’s website immediately following the announcement.
As a replacement (for Beanie Feldstein) in the revival of Funny Girl, Michele isn’t eligible for a Tony nomination. Barbra Streisand received a 1964 Tony nod for best actress in a musical for her performance in the original production.s a
In 2010, Michele received an Emmy nomination for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series for her breakout role in Glee. She was named as one the most influential people of 2023 by TIME, on their TIME100 list.
Frost received the 2022 Tony Award for best leading actor in a musical for his performance in MJ. At 22, he became the youngest actor to ever win in that category. Frost will next be seen in Ava DuVernay’s feature film Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.
The Tony Awards eligibility cut-off date for the 2022-23 season is Thursday, April 27, for all Broadway productions that meet all eligibility requirements.
The 76th Annual Tony Awards, hosted by Ariana DeBose, will air live from United Palace Theatre in New York City on Sunday, June 11. The celebration will commence at 7 p.m., ET/4 p.m. PT, with one hour of exclusive content streaming on Paramount+, followed by the presentation of the 76th Annual Tony Awards from 8 to 11 p.m. ET live on CBS, and streaming live and on demand on Paramount+.
Jimmie Allen has a unique pre-show ritual when he’s warming up for his concerts on the road –performing the song “Popular” from the 2003 musical Wicked. The tune is delivered by Glinda in the Broadway show.
“I’m a huge musical theater fan,” Allen revealed to Kelly Clarkson on The Kelly Clarkson Show‘s Monday (April 24) episode. “Before every show when I’m on my bus getting ready, I listen and I sing the song ‘Popular’ from Wicked. That’s my jam. I play it, I’m putting my jewelry on, got my skinny jeans on …”
From there, Allen offered up a few bars of the song’s verses, standing up and twirling as he continued singing. Returning to his seat, he was quickly asked by Clarkson whether he would ever want to take part in a movie-musical.
“One of my dreams is to play Aaron Burr in Hamilton,” Allen said. “I did theater all through high school. I want to go to Broadway … my boy Wayne Brady did it in Chicago, then my boy Leslie Odom [Jr.] did it in the original cast. I love theater. I listen to it while I’m driving. I listen to the whole soundtrack.”
Allen recently revealed a new track, “Be Alright (15 Edition),” and premiered the music video for the song during his appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show.
Allen also recently announced that he and his wife, Alexis Gale, have parted ways, and that they are expecting their third child together. The couple wed in May 2021, and share two daughters, Naomi and Zara. Allen also has an older son, Aadyn, from a previous relationship.
“Our number one priority is and always will be ensuring that our children are happy, healthy and loved,” Allen told fans via a message on Instagram on April 21.
H.E.R. has joined the producing team of Here Lies Love ahead of the long-gestating musical’s Broadway debut this summer.
Here Lies Love tells the story of Imelda Marcos’ rise to power and subsequent fall at the hands of the Philippine People Power Revolution. David Byrne came up with the concept and lyrics for the show, and teamed with Fatboy Slim on the music.
H.E.R. – who was born to a Filipino-American mother and an African-American father – said in a statement, “Filipinos are a global people. We come in all colors and build bridges across cultures. I am beyond excited to produce my first Broadway musical and forge a unique and meaningful partnership with Here Lies Love.”
On learning that H.E.R. had joined the producing team, Byrne said in a statement, “Thrilled to have H.E.R. as part of the team. See you dancing at the revolution!”
Another of the show’s producers, Lea Salonga, said in a statement, “On behalf of our binational producing team, we welcome Gabi [H.E.R., who was born Gabriella Wilson] to the Here Lies Love team with open arms! I am a huge fan of her genre-defying and multifaceted artistry, and it’s empowering to welcome another Filipino artist to our ranks. Together, we are throwing the biggest party Broadway has ever seen – and everyone is invited!”
Salonga, who was born in Manila, won a Tony in 1991 for best actress in a musical for Miss Saigon. She is set to join the cast of Here Lies Love in a five-week guest engagement from July 11-Aug. 13.
The musical begins preview performances Saturday, June 17, ahead of an official opening night on Thursday, July 20.
Here Lies Love has had a long road to Broadway. The property originated 13 years ago as a studio album by Byrne and Fatboy Slim. The double-length album debuted and peaked at No. 96 on the Billboard 200 in April 2010. The theatrical show made its world premiere at The Public Theater in New York in 2013, returned to The Public in 2014-15, debuted at London’s Royal National Theatre in 2014, and opened at Seattle Repertory Theatre in 2017.
At the risk of getting ahead of ourselves, if Here Lies Love were to win best musical at the 77th annual Tony Awards in June 2024, H.E.R. would become an EGOT. Not only that, but she would become, at 26, the youngest EGOT by more than a decade. The youngest EGOT to date is composer Robert Lopez, who secured EGOT status at age 39 in 2014.
H.E.R. would not be the first person to EGOT by winning a Tony as part of a platoon of producers. Jennifer Hudson secured EGOT status by winning a Tony as one of dozens of producers of A Strange Loop, which won best musical in June 2022.
H.E.R. (who is now 25) has won five Grammys, including song of the year for “I Can’t Breathe,” an Oscar for “Fight for You” from Judas and the Black Messiah and a Children’s and Family Emmy Award last year for We the People, which won as outstanding short form program.
David Byrne’s American Utopia won a Special Tony Award in 2020. (That show also began life as a studio album.) Byrne previously won both an Oscar and a Grammy for scoring The Last Emperor with Cong Su and Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Fatboy Slim won the 2001 Grammy for best short form music video for “Weapon of Choice,” featuring Bootsy Collins.
Here Lies Love will play at The Broadway Theatre, one of the few Broadway theaters that is physically on Broadway. The floor space will be transformed into a dance club environment, where some audience members will stand and move with the actors, and others will watch from seats located around the theatre.
As previously announced, Jose Llana and Conrad Ricamora will recreate their original roles as Ferdinand Marcos (Imelda’s husband and the 10th president of the Philippines) and Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino (a Philippine senator, opposition leader and the Marcoses’ primary critic), respectively. Additional casting will be announced soon.
The show was developed and directed by Tony Award winner Alex Timbers, with choreography by Annie-B Parson and additional music by Tom Gandey and J Pardo.
The creative team for Here Lies Love also includes three-time Tony Award nominee David Korins (scenic design), Tony Award winner Clint Ramos (costume design), Tony Award winner Justin Townsend (lighting design), M.L. Dogg & Cody Spencer (sound design), and three-time Tony Award nominee Peter Nigrini (projection design), with casting by Tara Rubin CSA, Xavier Rubiano CSA, Gail Quintos and general management by Foresight Theatrical.
Additional creative team members include J. Oconer Navarro (music director), Billy Bustamante (assistant director), Renée Albulario (assistant choreographer), Bobby Garcia (casting consultant/Philippines), Gregory T. Livoti (production stage manager), and Ryan Gohsman and Sheryl Polancos (assistant stage managers). Giselle “G” Töngi is the show’s cultural and community liaison.
Here Lies Love is produced by Hal Luftig, Patrick Catullo, Diana DiMenna and Plate Spinner Productions, Clint Ramos, and Jose Antonio Vargas, with Aaron Lustbader serving as executive producer.
They are joined by Salonga, H.E.R., Bobby Garcia, Giselle “G” Töngi, Celia Kaleialoha Kenney, Girlie Rodis, Miranda Gohh, Rob Laqui, Georgina Pazcoguin, Don Michael H. Mendoza, Adam Hyndman, Yasuhiro Kawana, Triptyk Studios, Shira Friedman, James L. Nederlander, Kevin Connor, Patrick Trettenero, Elizabeth Armstrong, Cathy Dantchik, Wendy Federman/Suzanne Niedland, Luke Katler/Ryan Solomon, Laura Ivey/Janet Brenner, and Hunter Arnold/TBD Theatricals.
Tickets are on sale now at Telecharge.com or by phone at 212-239-6200. The Broadway Theatre box office will open on Saturday, May 20.
Playing the titular heroine of the new Broadway musical & Juliet, Lorna Courtney gets to live out many a music fan’s fantasy: belting out Max Martin’s pop bangers to an adoring audience several times a week.
In & Juliet, the legendary songwriter and producer’s beloved hits — for artists ranging from Ariana Grande and Katy Perry to Jessie J and the Backstreet Boys — comprise the score to a totally original story, imagining what might have happened if Shakespeare considered a more enlightened, less tragic ending for his most famous leading lady, and her star-crossed lover too.
For Courtney — who studied opera at New York City’s famed LaGuardia High School (aka “the Fame school”) before discovering musical theater, but grew up loving everything from gospel and jazz to R&B — Martin’s songs were beloved radio hits of her childhood. Still, she treated each she sings in & Juliet as if learning it from scratch.
“I learned it from an acting context, meaning I broke down the songs into verse, chorus, verse, chorus, almost like full complete thoughts,” Courtney says. “[I asked myself,] where would the period be? Where would the question mark or exclamation point be? What am I trying to say in one breath? And it really helps with the storytelling aspect of what Juliet is feeling.”
Max Martin and Lorna Courtney
Jenny Anderson
It helped, of course, that Martin himself met with the lead actors for individual sessions, lending invaluable notes and background on writing the songs they’d be performing. In Courtney’s case, he also offered an unforgettable compliment: that being in the studio with her gave him the same feeling he’d experienced with Celine Dion and Adele. “He’s so supportive. He’s like a proud papa of the show,” says Courtney.
She spoke to Billboard about her personal top Max Martin tracks in the show — some of which she sings, others of which are handled by other characters — along with a few that didn’t make it into the show but that she loved too much not to mention. “All of them are bops,” she says with a laugh. “And with the sound in the theater, it sounds like you’re in the recording studio with us.”
“…Baby One More Time,” Britney Spears
It’s the first song I get to sing in the show, and sometimes when people hear the first words come out of my mouth, there’s a little bit of chuckles, like, “Oh my gosh, she is not about to sing this song…” But when she puts on headphones, the staging and the choreography [show how] she’s using the song to help her cope. Juliet has lost Romeo, someone whom she really loves and cares about, and there’s this idea of “my loneliness is killing me,” which carries through to towards the end of the musical when she sings “Stronger.”
Lorna Courtney in ‘& Juliet.’
Matthew Murphy
“Since U Been Gone,” Kelly Clarkson
I grew up watching American Idol and fell in love with everything about her. This female empowerment, knowing who you are and standing up for yourself, knowing what you want and don’t want – this song represents all of that. In our show, the context is of course within Romeo and Juliet’s story: Since Romeo’s been gone, she’s had a whole other life and moved on. It’s just a fun song – it’s a huge dance number, so much fun to perform, and it’s intertwined really well with the script.
“So What,” P!nk
It has that same energy I love about Kelly. “So what? I’m still a rock star, I got my rock moves” — that’s how I feel in the show, like a rock star, and it feels great. This song is not in the show, but it’s definitely how Juliet feels in the moment.
“I Kissed a Girl,” Katy Perry
When I first heard this on the radio, it was just like… mind-blowing. It was the first LGBT-positive song I ever heard. It was moving toward a more inclusive way of life for someone who grew up in New York City, who was exposed to all the beautiful things about inclusivity here. Of course, it’s so catchy and you learn all the words. [Laughs] “Cherry Chapstick” just stays in your mind. Everyone knows what that tastes like. I don’t get to sing it, but in our show it still honors the LGBTQ+ experience and brings that onstage in a beautiful positive light.
“Bang Bang,” Ariana Grande, Jessie J and Nicki MInaj
I so wish it could be in the show, just because this hook is so catchy, and you love all the artists and what they stand for. It’s that “hell yeah, yes girl” attitude. This is just a song that when it came on the radio, everything would stop, you’d just have to sing it with your group of people and each one would take a part. I would definitely be Jessie J. I’m still trying to learn her riffs!
“2 Be Loved (Am I Ready),” Lizzo
I’m so happy that Max has had the chance to work with Lizzo, or that Lizzo had the chance to work with Max, because this combination is everything. I’m so glad we all embrace and uplift everything she stands for – for body positivity, and female empowerment. It’s amazing how she can write songs that are truth-telling, almost like preaching, but in a pop way, because she has that natural musicality. I so wish that she’ll see this show, because I cannot wait to meet her.
“Problem,” Ariana Grande
I’m so glad I get to sing this – everyone knows this song, the music video is iconic. In the show, I love that this song and [The Weeknd’s] “Can’t Feel My Face” are combined in a mash-up. While the Romeo crew is singing “Can’t Feel My Face,” Juliet and her crew are singing “Problem.” You’d never think these songs would work together, but they do. I think out of all the songs, it’s the most different from the original artist[‘s version], but not in a bad way. I’m telling the story Ariana sings but through Juliet’s lens of what she’s just been through.
Lorna Courtney and the cast of ‘& Juliet.’
Matthew Murphy
“DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love,” Usher
When this song came out I wasn’t grown, so I couldn’t go to the club, but if I was in the club at the time, that song would be playing for sure. When it came on the radio, I would just be dancing in my room to the fullest extent. It’s not in the show, but it’s just a bop — another one where I just know all the words.
“Whataya Want From Me,” Adam Lambert
I remember seeing Adam Lambert on American Idol and falling in love with his voice — the grunginess, the imperfections that made it perfect, and that’s what I love about this song, just the rawness of it. I don’t get to sing it in the show, but the characters Francois and May do. The question [they’re asking] is “What more can I give?” That’s what the song is about. They put it all out there, but there’s no receiving on the other end. And it’s beautiful. Our director really makes it work with the storytelling.
Post-pandemic album cycles for A-list pop acts have often been accompanied by major, career-high concert announcements. Bad Bunny’s all-stadium World’s Hottest Tour preceded the release of Un Verano Sin Ti, Taylor Swift’s Midnights was followed by The Eras Tour, and Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time is being supported by his first run in stadiums. For the Jonas Brothers, similar announcements would trickle out. But before going big, they went intimate.
In March, Joe, Kevin & Nick Jonas put on five shows at Broadway’s Marquis Theatre, recently the home to stage musicals Beetlejuice, Tootsie and Evita. Located on 46th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues in Manhattan, the Jonas Brothers took on Broadway with a series of (relatively) small shows that set the stage for the year ahead.
Titled Jonas Brothers on Broadway = 5 Albums 5 Nights, the band played its entire discography dating back to 2007, one album at a time: Jonas Brothers on the 14th, A Little Bit Longer on the 15th, Lines, Vines and Trying Times on the 16th, Happiness Begins on the 17th, and this year’s as-yet-unreleased The Album on the 18th.
Speaking to Billboard, Brad Wavra (SVP Global Touring, Live Nation) commented, “The Jonas Brothers’ Broadway shows were all about doing something unique and special for their fans. The intimate setting combined with the format of celebrating five albums over five nights was meant to bring fans along on the band’s personal journey from day one all the way into their new upcoming album.”
According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, the Jonas Brothers grossed $1.6 million and sold 7,291 tickets over these five consecutive shows.
Scaling for the week of shows was relatively consistent, ranging from 1,387 tickets on the final night to 1,500 on the 16th. Accordingly, grosses barely budged, from $298,000 to $322,000. Tickets were priced between $299 and $89, averaging out at $213.
Having toured arenas and amphitheaters for the last 15 years, the Marquis Theatre is the smallest venue the Jonas Brothers have played since 2008, dating back to a sold-out underplay at London’s Carling Academy Islington (591 tickets, now known as the O2 Academy). To further illustrate the Broadway run’s rare intimacy, it’s the first reported engagement at the venue in Boxscore history.
Since the Jonas Brothers’ 2019 reunion, the band’s New York presence has been spread between Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center, the Prudential Center (Newark, N.J.) and Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater (Wantagh, N.Y.). Those five shows (there were two at MSG) averaged $2.2 million and close to 15,000 tickets.
But the Marquis Theatre shows don’t represent a step down from historical business. Since their Broadway concerts, the JoBros announced a two-night stay at Yankee Stadium, marking the biggest area play of the band’s career. “The momentum is only going to build from here with their stadium shows coming in August, and with what more lies ahead for 2023,” says Wavra.
Throughout their history in arenas and amphitheaters, the Jonas Brothers have dipped their toes in the stadium circuit. Most recently, they played one show at Boston’s Fenway Park (Oct. 1, 2021) and two at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, Penn. (Aug. 31, 2019 and Sept. 24, 2021). Those shows peaked at 31,000 in attendance and $2.6 million, leaving room to grow for Yankee Stadium’s 45,000 capacity.
Since the group’s earliest Boxscore reports in 2006, the Jonas Brothers have grossed $326.8 million and sold 4.5 million tickets across 359 shows. With three secret-location shows later this month in Los Angeles (April 25), Dallas-Fort Worth (April 26) and Baltimore (April 28), plus the Aug. 12-13 New York dates, those numbers will continue to grow in 2023.
Andrew Lloyd Webber stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday night (April 17) to reflect on Cats, The Phantom of the Opera and more.
Host Jimmy Fallon led his conversation with the Broadway legend to the Jellicle 1981 musical by asking, “Can I ask you about Cats?” as members of the audience chuckled. “How does one come up with an idea like Cats? And are you a cat person?”
“Well, I am a cat person,” Lord Lloyd Webber responded. “Well, I was a total cat person until I saw the Cats movie.”
After that joke got an impromptu standing ovation from the studio audience, the composer continued. “What happened to the Cats movie was, during the course of it being, as it were, shot — which I hope the whole movie would’ve been — I bought this little puppy. And he was called Mojito, he’s a little Havanese dog, he comes from Cuba.”
Lloyd Webber went on to explain that he tried using the pup as a therapy dog on an airplane, but the unnamed airline said he needed a doctor’s note. “And so I just said, ‘I saw the Cats movie and bought a puppy,’” he deadpanned. “And they said, ‘No doctor’s letter required.’”
Directed by Tom Hooper, the 2019 musical adaptation featured a who’s who of stars like James Corden, Judi Dench, Idris Elba, Jason Derulo, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellan and Taylor Swift as humanoid alley cats. It was panned by critics and audiences alike, though “Beautiful Ghosts,” the original song written for the film by Lloyd Webber and Swift, did garner a Grammy nomination for best song written for visual media.
During the interview, the Broadway impresario also spoke about the closing of Phantom the night before, saying, “It was sad last night because I just felt it could run on, but there you go.”
However, the iconic chandelier may not have fallen for the last time. ALW received a mysterious note that was delivered to the Tonight Show studio from the Phantom himself, which read, “I am extremely displeased that my legend is no longer being told in New York, a city for which I have developed great affection. I am therefore currently obtaining a new address in which my legend will be examined in extreme detail. I advise you and New Yorkers to be vigilant.”
Watch Lloyd Webber’s complete interview with Fallon below.
Sara Bareilles, Vanessa Williams and Ledisi are among the artists who will be featured on Great Performances: Celebrating 50 Years of Broadway’s Best, which premieres Friday, May 12, at 9 p.m. ET on PBS and the PBS app.
The program, which marks Great Performances’ golden anniversary, is a revue of milestone Broadway shows from 1973 to 2023. The special will feature a mix of original stars and up-and-coming talent. Hosted by two-time Tony winner Sutton Foster, the program was taped on March 23 at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater in New York.
Bareilles sings “She Used to Be Mine” from Waitress (for which she received a 2016 Tony nomination for original music score). Williams, who earned a 2002 Tony nod her performance in Into the Woods, performs a song from Kiss of the Spider Woman, which brought Broadway legend Chita Rivera her second Tony.
Other highlights of the special include Rivera performing her signature song “All That Jazz” from Chicago; André De Shields performing “So You Wanted to See the Wizard” from The Wiz; a tribute to A Chorus Line featuring Tony-winning original cast member Donna McKechnie joined by Robyn Hurder; and a tap number from Jelly’s Last Jam performed by Corbin Bleu.
Other performers on the show include Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jessie Mueller, Raúl Esparza, Shoshana Bean, Norm Lewis, Rob McClure, Patina Miller, Mamie Parris, Solea Pfeiffer, Britton Smith and Jessica Vosk.
The show features songs by such composers as Stephen Schwartz, John Kander & Fred Ebb, Fats Waller, Stephen Sondheim, Duke Ellington and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Great Performances: Celebrating 50 Years of Broadway’s Best is directed and choreographed by Tony winner Warren Carlyle with Patrick Vaccariallo as music director. The program was directed for television by David Horn, produced by Mitch Owgang and co-produced and written by Dave Boone.
One week later, on Friday, May 19, at 9 p.m. ET, Great Performances will air the Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in the Park production of Richard III starring Danai Gurira (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Walking Dead) with Tony winner Ali Stroker (Oklahoma!) as Lady Anne. Tony nominee Robert O’Hara (Broadway’s Slave Play) directs this Shakespearean tragedy.
One week after that, on Friday, May 26, at 9 p.m. ET, there will be an encore presentation of Cole Porter’s classic 1934 musical Anything Goes, starring Foster (who won her second Tony for the 2011 Broadway production) as well as Tony winner Robert Lindsay. The show, restaged in London’s West End, was directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall. Featuring such classic songs as “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “You’re the Top” and the title song, the show first aired on PBS last year.
This is the season for Broadway programming. The 76th annual Tony Awards, hosted by Ariana DeBose, are set for Sunday, June 11. The show will be held at the United Palace in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood.
Throughout its 50-year history on PBS, Great Performances has amassed 67 Emmy Awards and six Peabody Awards. The series is produced by The WNET Group. For Great Performances, Bill O’Donnell is series producer and David Horn is executive producer.
As the creative forces behind Broadway shows like Hairspray! and Catch Me If You Can, as well as the cult hit TV show Smash, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman have written some of the most beloved musicals of the past couple decades (Shaiman composes; the two write lyrics together).
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This spring is particularly eventful for the pair. Their new musical Some Like It Hot — a timely adaptation of the classic 1959 film which happens to also offer a poignant, thoughtful take on drag culture and gender identity — is a hit with both critics and audiences. And at long last, as Shaiman and Wittman recently revealed, a much-awaited stage adaptation of Smash is slated to hit Broadway next year.
Below, the duo speak to Billboard about the Smash news, the prescient timing of Some Like It Hot (including its surprise, reimagined twist) and how they’ve maintained career longevity amid the choppy waters the Great White Way.
It’s safe to say the news that Smash is coming to Broadway shook the internet. Can you talk about the path to the big announcement?
Scott Wittman: Well, it’s been in the works for awhile. About a year and a half ago, we did a reading with a script from Rick Elice and Bob Martin, who have written many shows, including The Drowsy Chaperone and Jersey Boys.
Marc Shaiman: They’re great writers who came to the producers of Smash and said they’d love to take a crack at writing a script. For a few years before that, everyone was trying to create a musical of Bombshell, the actual Marilyn Monroe musical we were writing [within] the show, and the original plan was at the end of the season to have a musical we’d produce on Broadway. So it actually was always the idea to bring a show to Broadway.
But what’s different here is that it no longer became feasible to do a version of Bombshell, because the songs we wrote were always trying to speak to what the characters on Smash, the TV show, were going through. We’d find moments from Marilyn Monroe’s life that mirrored what was happening on Smash, so all of these songs had double meanings, and the lyrics were always skewed. Also, if any one woman tried to sing all of the songs we wrote for Marilyn in Bombshell — which were always these big, 11 o’clock showstoppers — they’d die by the end of the performance. Finally our producers said, “Let’s listen to what Rick and Bob would want to pitch us.”
Wittman: We had a great reading about a year ago. Steven Spielberg came and said, “This is fantastic, let’s do it.” So that’s how it happened.
So this is a show about putting on a musical. A musical version of the TV show.
Wittman: It’s like Noises Off. You’re doing a musical but everything goes totally wrong.
Shaiman: What it says on the title page is A Comedy About a Musical. We don’t know if they’ll actually call it a play or a musical. So it’s like the TV show Smash — only, we hope, funnier.
Wittman: It’s very funny. There were very funny people in the reading; who knows if they’ll be in the show.
I guess the next logical step then is to make a movie version of the stage musical inspired by the TV show?
Shaiman: [Laughs.] It’s all so confusing. Then you throw in Some Like It Hot, and it’s really bizarre. It’s a multiverse.
It must be creatively energizing for you guys to look at something from so many different angles.
Wittman: It’s great fun. Even during the read through, we all laughed a lot and even Steven Spielberg went nuts. He actually also came to Some Like It Hot a couple weeks ago.
Shaiman: [Laughs.] He’s our biggest fan.
Does he give creative notes?
Wittman: Yes, very much! What makes him so great is that he’s like an audience member. He watches things like an audience, with a keen eye.
Can we expect Smash cast members from the TV show in the stage version?
Wittman: Some of them helped out at the reading, but it’s still a ways off. It wouldn’t actually go until maybe around this time next year.
Shaiman: The fact that it’s not exactly the TV show means it’s not exactly the characters from the TV show. So it doesn’t necessarily make sense for people on the TV show to play them. But one never knows.
Will there be songs from the show or will there be original songs?
Wittman: It’ll be songs from Bombshell, along with some more we’ll write.
The announcement had fortuitous timing, coming when you have Some Like It Hot — the musical version of the classic movie — on Broadway. When were the seeds planted for that particular project?
Wittman: It’s a funny, meta world. We had done Smash and within that is the musical about Marilyn Monroe. And we even wrote a Some Like It Hot number for Marilyn in that musical. But the producers of the TV show, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, had gotten the rights to the movie and they were thinking of doing the version of it. We were in London doing Mary Poppins Returns when they called. So we’ve been working on it for six years, off and on.
J. Harrison Ghee and Christian Borle in SOME LIKE IT HOT.
Marc J. Franklin
That’s pretty par for the course, right?
Shaiman: Unfortunately these days, yes. If you look back at the golden age of Broadway — and I’m not saying we’re Rodgers and Hammerstein — but they did a show every year! Nowadays it takes an endless amount of workshops and readings, and months in between them all, so it’s not like a steamroller or a train that’s constantly moving.
Wittman: And then of course with Covid, we were a train stuck in a tunnel for a while.
It’s a musical that couldn’t have come at a better time, especially with the current bans on drag and discourse around it. It seems like a show that could open people’s eyes to drag in general.
Shaiman: That is the hope. I mean, Hairspray! was a similar situation. People just might leave a little bit more open-minded about some things they may have not been three hours earlier.
Wittman: It’s always good when a show can incite discussion.
Shaiman: But as Mary Poppins said, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. We just want to entertain, that’s our main focus. That’s what we love to do, that’s what we love to go and see and experience ourselves. We write shows we’d want to go see. Like you said, in this case it so happened that the story was full of things that were so prescient.
Wittman: That’s what made it more intriguing to do. There already had been [the original Some Like It Hot-inspired musical] Sugar, so there was no reason to do another movie-to-stage version of that. So it really had to be something new.
Spoiler: there’s a huge twist when the character Jerry, who is hiding out from the mob by dressing in drag, realizes that they feel much more alive dressed as a woman. It becomes a life-changing and eye-opening experience for the character, which is a stark departure from the original story. How did you realize that was going to be a turn that character was going to make?
Wittman: Right from the very beginning we thought that, along with our Sugar being played by a Black actress [Adrianna Hicks]. Those are two things that made us say yes.
Shaiman: Scott and I had lived our whole lives around trans people from when the words weren’t always used. But literally since the time we moved to New York, we have lived, worked, loved and have been friends with trans people.
Wittman: Going back to when I did a lot of shows with the whole Andy Warhol crowd at Max’s Kansas City in the ’80s, with all of these performers like Jayne County.
I know the song “Let’s Be Bad” uniquely made the jump from Smash to Some Like It Hot. What’s the story behind that?
Shaiman: We had a different song that we had done a reading or two with when the girls, Osgood and Daphne decide to break curfew and go to Mexico. The original song that we had was called “The Good Neighbor Policy,” and it was a kind of sly, sexy South of the Border kind of song. But after the reading, [director and choreographer] Casey Nicholaw said, “Can it be something hotter and sexier? Maybe something a little less laid back?” So Scott and I went home and were thinking of the line “Let’s be..” And then we said, “Didn’t we already write this song, ‘Let’s Be Bad”? We kept trying to figure out other ways to say what we had already said in a song. Maybe 20 percent at most of the lyrics are from Smash; for the most part it’s newly written lyrics for a song that now takes on a joyous and fun experience. It certainly works. We actually asked everyone working on these shows, from Smash and now the Broadway show, if we could use it. We didn’t know if they were going to say, “No, you can’t use that song, we’re gonna have it on our own show.” But luckily, everyone said, “Yeah, my God. That would be perfect.” We signed off by saying if the worst thing that happens is that there are two musicals at once with this song in it, then that’s a fantastic conversation piece.
Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman
Michaelah Reynolds
Speaking of songwriting, I remember hearing Stephen Sondheim said that he’d never write lyrics without drinking a glass of something. Do you have any creative aids when you’re writing?
Shaiman: Yeah, I saw that. Well, I used to smoke dope before I wrote any music or arrangement, but then I started scoring movies. The first movie I scored was Misery, so I’d smoke a joint at then in the morning just to compose because I had never done anything without taking a puff. But by the end of the second day, I realized I couldn’t do it; they were 12 hour days and I’d have to do all of this math with the frames and it was so involved. So one day I said, “Let me see, can I do it [without]?” And that one day turned into the rest of my life.
You’ve been churning out shows for decades now. What have you learned about navigating the ups and downs of a notoriously difficult business over the years?
Wittman: Over the tears, you mean. [Laughs.]
Shaiman: I’m terrible at it. I’ve grown more thin-skinned as opposed to thicker-skinned over the years.
Wittman: We’re like Eeyore and Tigger. So it works in some ways.
Shaiman: I’m Eeyore.
Wittman: It’s not like a movie or a TV show where you do it and then you move onto the next one. It’s such a big chunk of your life. It’s a lot of time investment and sometimes heartbreak and sometimes great joy.
Shaiman: When you work on these things for years, it’s not that people are blowing smoke up your ass the whole time. You work hard to make it be the best that you can. So you’re surrounded by people who are encouraging you and are like, “Yes, that’s it, that’s great.” And then you’re in a room with the cast and you’re all enjoying it and you feel like you’ve done a good job, and putting all this money into it and months of rehearsals. So by the time opening night comes, you have this feeling that it’s worth it and it’s worthy. And then you can suddenly, in one night, in the most off-handed or nasty or rude ways, be shot down sometimes. There’s no way that that’s easy, or easy to ignore.
Wittman: But the opening night of Some Like It Hot was spectacular. We had a very private party with just close friends, most of them being famous. I said, “We don’t want to know about the reviews or anything like that,” but all of the sudden I hear this chant of “Rave! Rave! Rave!” from Bridget Everett. So that was a nice feeling.