Something Giant is coming! Giant starring John Lithgow as Ronald Dahl, will begin performances on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre on March 11. Alongside Lithgow, the production will star Aya Cash, Elliot Levey, and Rachael Stirling, reprising their roles from the UK production and all making their Broadway debuts. 

Giant will be directed by two-time Tony Award winner Nicholas Hytner, and feature design by Bob Crowley. 

It tells the story of world-famous children’s author Ronald Dahl, and the true story of the scandal that shook his legacy. It is written by Mark Rosenblatt, marking his debut as a playwright.

Lithgow won an Olivier Award for his performance in Giant on the West End. He is known for his roles in film, television, and theatre, where he has won two Tonys, six Emmys, two Golden Globes, four SAG Awards and two Oscar nominations. He is perhaps best known for his role in The Crown. He will soon be seen as Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series for HBO.

Cash will play the role of Jessie Stone. She is currently starring in and executive producing the much anticipated The Boys prequel series, Vought Rising, opposite Jensen Ackles for Amazon Prime. She can most recently be seen starring in Armando Iannucci and Sam Mendes’ HBO comedy series The Franchise. She got her start in theatre and originated many roles Off-Broadway with Atlantic Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, and more. 

Tom Maschler is played by Levy, who won an Olivier Award for his performance as Herr Schultz in Rebecca Freknel’s Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club. He is currently filming the film adaptation of Prima Facie, where he stars as Thomas Buckley opposite Cynthia Erivo. On stage, he has recently been seen in the Rupert Goold production of Hamlet for the RSC, and Good directed by Dominic Cooke in the West End. 

Stiling will take on the role of Felicity Crosland. She has been nominated for two Olivier Awards, one for her performance as Rebecca in The Priory at the Royal Court Theatre and the other for playing Lady Chiltern in An Ideal Husband at the Vaudeville. 

Giant plays at the Music Box Theatre on West 45th Street in New York City beginning March 11 for a strictly limited 16-week engagement. For tickets and more information, visit here. 

At the center of Caroline, Preston Max Allen’s tender new play at MCC, is, well, Caroline (River Lipe-Smith): the precocious nine-year-old of the struggling-but-making-it-work Maddie (Chloë Grace Moretz). Caroline is equal parts sweet and acerbic. She easily sees through the masks adults wear, as only a child who has been through much more than her peers can, like when she reports back to her mother after spending some time with the grandmother she has just met: “She was kind of, like, too nice. She seemed stressed about being nice.”

When we first meet Caroline, it’s clear her life hasn’t been easy: her arm is in a cast and she sits with her mom in a seedy diner surrounded by the sum total of everything they own—a few pieces of luggage and some backpacks. They’re on the run. Maddie talks to her daughter about the difficulties of finding them a place to stay, a school, healthcare. There’s talk of doctors and her inability to pay for them. This is no ordinary mother-daughter relationship.

Maddie is a recovering addict, cut off from her wealthy parents at fifteen, raising a trans daughter alone. Caroline is Maddie’s world. She does everything for her. When their situation in West Virginia becomes untenable, Maddie packs everything up and seeks refuge in the last place she wants to go back to: the home of her mother, Rhea (Amy Landecker).

With her perfectly coiffed hair and her almost–too-preppy-to-be-believable style (costumes by David Hyman), the audience anticipates Rhea’s reaction to the reappearance of her delinquent daughter and the granddaughter she didn’t know she had, but Allen is a smarter playwright than that and his deft hand is obvious throughout.

At every turn, Caroline (the play) resists the temptation to foray into the lurid public discourse surrounding trans children. This isn’t a play about debates. None of Allen’s characters parrot hateful rhetoric or display phobic behavior of any kind. With that out of the way, I could breathe easier.

Rhea is more than ready to accept her trans granddaughter. (“We’re not Republicans!” she quips.) What she isn’t ready to do is trust her daughter again. Old wounds are slow to heal and though progress is made, there’s a fundamental distrust that exists at the center of their relationship. And yet, when Rhea makes a tantalizing, though heartbreaking, offer to take care of Caroline, Maddie still considers it even though it’s not the future she envisioned because it would be best for her daughter.

All three actors have fantastic chemistry, especially Moretz and Lipe-Smith, whose intimate bond lights up the piece. It’s been years since Moretz has been onstage but she delivers a devastating and heartfelt performance. I hope she continues to pursue opportunities in theatre. In their off-Broadway debut, Lipe-Smith embodies the title role with an emotional depth beyond their years.  

If Landecker doesn’t leave as much of an impact as her co-stars, it’s not her fault. We see her identify another chance at motherhood in being a part of Caroline’s life, perhaps even a chance to make up for past mistakes, but she’s still unable to move forward with her own daughter. There’s a thinness to Allen’s plot that doesn’t give Rhea many places to go, emotionally and physically. David Cromer is an excellent director, and his skills are on full display here, yet it often appeared as if the three actors were lost roving around Lee Jellinek’s confusing set. 

The complex, emotional relationships at play keep Caroline afloat: the love and openness between Maddie and Caroline, Maddie’s determination to be the mother she needed as a child, Caroline’s disarming honesty with her new grandma. Caroline’s final lines are an emotional gut-punch and a reminder of the beauty that can spring from the worst circumstances. 

‍Caroline runs through November 2 at the Susan & Ronald Frankel Theater at MCC. Tickets information can be found here.

The “greatest show” has found its stars! The stage adaptation of the hit 2017 film The Greatest Showman at Bristol Hippodrome in Briston, England will star Oliver Tompsett as P.T. Barnum and Samantha Barks as Charity Barnum. 

Joining them will be Lorna Courtney as Anne Wheeler, Ben Joyce as Phillip Carlyle, Vajèn van den Bosch as Jenny Lind, and Malinda Parris as Lettie Lutz. 

The production features music by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and book by Tim Federle. It will be directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Casey Nicholaw. 

“It’s an absolute joy to finally share our incredible cast with the world — led by the brilliant Oliver Tompsett and Samantha Barks,” Nicholaw said in a statement. “Together with a world class creative team, we are so excited to bring this story to life for the first time on stage.”

The Greatest Showman will also feature Mia Raggio, Angelica Pearl Scott, Maya Sewrey, Harly Gill, Ellie McArdle, Eleanor Sebastian, Max Bispham, Joel Tennant Clark Young. Josh St. Clair is the P.T. Barnum alternates and Katie Tonkinson is the standby Anne Wheeler. 

Making up the ensemble are Derek Aidoo, Cornelius Atkinson, Matt Bateman, Nikki Bentley, Courtenay Brady, Thea Bunting, Amara Campbell, Jonathan Cordin, Angus Good, Ryesha Higgs, Barney Hudson, Annie Knight, Nathan Louis-Fernand, Liam Marcellino, Ayesha Maynard, Suzie McAdam, Emily McCarthy, Will Meager, Michael Patterson, Stuart Matthew Price, Emile Ruddock, Annie Southall, Zoe Schubert. 

The swings include Abigail Climer, Bobby Cookson, Katrina Dix, Zack Guest, Georgie Hutchinson, Fallon Mondlane, Stephen Rolley, Jess Smith, Blake Tuke, and Santino Zapico.

The creative team include Alex Lacamoire (Music Supervision, Incidental & Dance Music Arrangements and Orchestrations), David Korins (Scenic Design), Gregg Barnes and Sky Switser (Costume Design); Natasha Katz (Lighting Design); Peter Hylenski (Sound Design), George Reeve (Video Design), Lorenzo Pisoni (Circus Creation and Design), Josh Marquette (Hair and Wig Design), Milagros Medina-Cerdeira (Make Up Design), Jeremy Chernick (Special Effects Design), Skylar Fox (Illusions), Natalie Gallacher CDG for Pippa Ailion and Natalie Gallacher Casting (Casting Director) and Keston & Keston (Children's General Manager and Casting Director). Justin Paul is also providing Vocal and Incidental Music Arrangements.

The Greatest Showman runs at the Bristol Hippodrome in Bristol from March 15 to May 10, 2026. For access to priority booking, and more information, visit here.