Stereophonic Heads to Broadway – Merrily We Roll Along/Rooftop Writers Initiative – Charlotte St. Martin Steps Down – Sarah Snook to Bway/Picture of Dorian Gray – Stephanie J. Block/Kiss Me Kate/London
The Broadway League, the national trade association for the Broadway industry, has announced its longtime president, Charlotte St. Martin, will step down. St. Martin will retire from the League effective Feb. 16. Jason Laks, the League’s executive vice president and legal counsel, will serve as acting president while the League board conducts an official search for a permanent replacement.
St. Martin joined the League in July 2006 as executive director (when it was known as the League of American Theaters and Producers).
Stereophonic heads to Broadway. The new play by David Adjmi will begin previews on April 3, 2024, ahead of an April 19 opening night at Broadway’s Golden Theatre. The play, which features music by Will Butler, is scheduled for a limited run through July 7. The play, directed by Daniel Aukin, completed a Playwrights Horizons’ Off-Broadway run on Dec. 17, following a three-week extension. Aukin will direct the Broadway transfer.
The entire cast of the Off-Broadway production will reprise their roles for the Broadway mounting.
Merrily We Roll Along announced the Rooftop Writers Initiative, in partnership with the Stephen Sondheim Foundation and American Theatre Wing’s Jonathan Larson Grant. The Rooftop Writers Initiative will select 100 young writers to receive two complimentary tickets to a special performance of the show on Thursday, February 29, 2024, followed by a talkback with the cast.
A source told The Post that Succession Emmy Winner Sarah Snook will come to New York with The Picture of Dorian Gray once it finishes its run in London, where she’s also its star. The one-woman show is scheduled to play across the pond from February to May on Broadway. She’ll perform all 26 roles in the adaption of Oscar Wilde’s novel by Kip Williams, the artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company, where the show premiered back in 2020. Michael Cassel is producing.
Making its way to London – Bartlett Sher will direct Line of Duty star Adrian Dunbar in his musical theatre debut, when Kiss Me, Kate runs at the Barbican this summer. The show will also star Stephanie J Block, making her West End debut as Lilli Vanessi / Katharine … from June 4, 2024, with a press night on June 18, and continues until September 14.
Broadway attendance held relatively steady during the 34th week of the 2023-2024 season; Broadway welcomed 219,787 admissions during the week ending Jan. 14, down a mere 0.7% from the previous week. The industry’s box office decreased 6.8% to $27,657,991. Seats across all theaters were filled to 90.4% capacity, down from 93% the week prior. While attendance refers to the hard number of tickets collected each week, percent of capacity refers to how many of a theater’s available seats were occupied – two theaters of different sizes can simultaneously post the same percent capacity, but different attendance figures.
Featured Image: Sarah Snook (Getty Image)
