“Going into the wrong theater can expedite the death of a show,” said Hal Luftig, a lead producer of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” which had a well-received run in 2024 at the Goodman. A plan to open on Broadway in 2025 was foiled by the lack of an available, and appropriate, theater; now Luftig aims to open next year. “Hopefully in the fall we’ll put together another reading, introduce it to theater owners, and then it’s all about the real estate.”
Other shows are also waiting, particularly for the midsize theaters that are often in short supply.
“It’s frustrating, because I have a really wonderful, well-received, popular musical that is ready for prime time, and it’s been very difficult to get the right house, and keeping a team together is challenging,” said Tom Kirdahy, a lead producer of “The Bedwetter,” a Sarah Silverman musical that has had productions at Atlantic Theater Company in New York and Arena Stage in Washington, and has been waiting about a year for a theater. “But I trust that we will get there.”
For some shows, the waiting list does work. “Wanted,” about Black sisters who pass as white and become outlaws, will open in November at the James Earl Jones Theater, later than first hoped, but the delay got the show “a very long runway, which is more valuable,” said Ben Holtzman, one of that show’s lead producers, “because it takes a lot of time to build a marketing campaign, to raise money, and to build a fan base.”
Pivoting to Off Broadway
Some artistically promising but commercially challenging shows, at least as an interim step, have opted for productions at Off Broadway nonprofits, where they can fine-tune their material, build word-of-mouth, and test the New York waters with lower financial risk.
“The Heart,” which last year had a run at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, is the story of a heart transplant, set primarily in a hospital and scored with electronic music. The director, Christopher Ashley, moved from the artistic director position in La Jolla to the same role at New York’s Roundabout Theater Company, and has decided to keep working on “The Heart” with an Off Broadway production at his new company this fall. The musical has the backing of the producers who turned “Come From Away” into a surprise hit, and they like the go-slow approach.
