ON STAGE

ROMANCING THE STAGE
With its gorgeous, gothic passion wrapped in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic music, The Phantom of the Opera has been seducing audiences longer than any other show in Broadway history. And while the crashing chandelier may have shed its opening night novelty, it hasn’t lost its power to awe. Many besotted phantoms and spellbinding Christine Daaé’s later, “Music of the Night” is filling the Majestic Theatre with a primary cast now boasting its first African-American leading lady, Emilie Kouatchou.

Another production with a Belle Époque backdrop and a Best Musical Tony Award (this one newly minted) is Moulin Rouge! a spectacular mash up of jukebox score, real and fictional characters, eroticism, and true love. Emerging as a physical homage to the landmark Parisian cabaret down to its famous illuminated windmill and red velvet trappings, the show is based on the Baz Luhrman film of the same name. The difference is, here you enter the world of can-can and Toulouse-Lautrec down aisles peppered with flirtatious courtesans in salacious costumes. C’est magnifique.

Culled from Greek legend, Hadestown’s melding of two mythical love stories has become one of Broadway’s most unique and haunting musicals. A stylized New Orleans is where a trio Fates and a silken Hermes (André De Shields) set the stage for the musician Orpheus (Reeve Carney) to first meet his beloved Eurydice (Eva Noblezada). Their tale of young love becomes juxtaposed and ultimately entwined with the faltering relationship king of the Underworld, Hades (Patrick Page), and his queen, Persephone (Amber Gray).

The most recent twosome to sing and dance their way into the 2021-2022 season are flimflammer Harold Hill (Hugh Jackman) and Marian (“the librarian”) Paroo (Sutton Foster). This musical comedy dream duo is making the hot-ticket revival of Meredith Willson’s The Music Man soar off the sell-out charts, so keep your eye on the date night prize and book ASAP. Performances begin February 10th at the Winter Garden Theatre.

And speaking of new arrivals, the real-life love story between Tony winner Matthew Broderick and Emmy winner Sarah Jessica Parker will be Page Six fodder as they rev up for their first performance in Neil Simon’s classic comedy, Plaza Suite. A series of one-acts, each set in the same hotel room, have the stars – whose 30th wedding anniversary is May 19th –playing three different couples caught in relationship conundrums ranging from poignant to hilarious. Performances begin February 25th at Broadway’s Hudson Theatre.