Amidst the backdrop of Times Square, a trio of Broadway stars announced live on “Good Morning America” that Broadway will reopen on September 14th with the return of three beloved, mega-popular Broadway musicals. Stars of “The Lion King,” “Wicked,” and “Hamilton” spoke live to Michael Strahan on Tuesday, May 11th.
L. Steven Taylor, King Mustafa in “The Lion King” for over 15 years and 5,000 performances told Strahan about what it would be like to stand on the Broadway stage once again as the curtain is raised for the first time,
It’s kind of indescribable, that moment already in Circle of Life is an iconic moment and from pride rock I have a different special viewpoint. My favorite thing to do is stand on pride rock and watch all the grown men cry. From Rafiki’s opening call, it’s really a call for the community to come together and I feel like that’s what this is symbolic of, Broadway coming back is it’s really a community coming back and making New York really start to go.”
Alexandra Billings, who plays Madam Morrible in Wicked joked that with 18 weeks until showtime, “I hope I don’t fall head over heels into the orchestra pit.” She then went on to discuss how “blessed, grateful and honored she was to be telling this story.” She also told Strahan,
as a mixed race trans woman on Broadway” she hopes their work will “open a portal for dialogue for change, not just for Broadway but for the people that come to see us.”
Krystal Joy Brown, Eliza in “Hamilton” discussed the diverseness of Broadway and the need to continue the work of social justice reform in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.
We’ve taken a lot of steps not only to make sure the theater will be safe for our audience members, but cast and crew have been trained in anti-racism training, also making sure that we as a brand are pushing forward social justice. We realize that as a company — we can come together and do some amazing work so we created something called Plan for Progress — to continue to show equity and inclusivity in our community and hope this is the first step for Broadway to continue to do this type of work because we can make absolute change.
Strahan closed the segment mentioning how almost 100,000 people depend on Broadway for work and how “there will not be a dry eye in the house” come reopening night! See below for a list of other shows and their reopening dates.
Here are a list of other shows opening in the Fall. Contact individual theaters or show websites for information on how to buy tickets. All shows listed below have tickets currently on sale NOW!
- “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg the Life and Times of the Temptations” – October 16th
- “American Utopia” – September 17th
- “Chicago” – September 14th
- “Come From Away” – September 21th
- “Company” – previews begin December 20th
- “Diana the Musical” – previews begin December 1st
- “Jagged Little Pill” – October 21st
- “Mrs. Doubtfire” – previews begin October 21st
- “Six” – previews begin September 17th
- “The Music Man” – previews begin December 20th
- “The Phantom of the Opera” – October 22nd
“Come From Away” and “Jagged Little Pill” are first on my list of shows to see!
Instincters, sound off in the comments below – what show are you going to see first when Broadway reopens in the Fall?
Sources: Variety, Good Morning America
