The Figs

We know where we wanna be this spring. Today, principal casting was announced for Boop! The Musical which will being previews at the Broadhurst Theatre on March 11, 2025 before an official opening night on April 5, 2025. 

The company, who received critical acclaim in the Chicago pre-Broadway run last year, is headed by Jasmine Amy Rogers as Betty Boop and Tony Award-winner Faith Prince as Valentina, Ainsley Melham as Dwayne, Erich Bergen as Raymond, Stephen DeRosa as Grampy, Anastacia McCleskey as Carol, Angelica Hale as Trisha, Phillip Huber (Pudgy the Dog), and Aubie Merrylees as Oscar.

“I am over the moon that our Chicago principal cast will be joining us on the journey to Broadway. Everyone embodies the infectious positive spirit of Betty Boop, and I can’t wait to get back in the rehearsal room to bring BOOP! to Broadway,” said director Jerry Mitchell.

Along with Mitchell, the creatives include composer David Foster, lyricist Susan Birkenhead, and book writer Bob Martin. 

Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

Married couples. Boozy get-together. Drunken revelations and vicious recriminations. No, I’m not talking about Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, though it certainly comes to mind when watching Robert O’Hara’s starry new play Shit. Meet. Fan. at MCC Theater. 

Instead of two warring couples, O’Hara gives us three, plus a single-ish bachelor and one couple’s daughter. Eve and Rodger (Jane Krakowski and Neil Patrick Harris), a long-married couple who can barely contain their simmering contempt for one another, have invited friends over for a cocktail party to watch a lunar eclipse. Those friends include: Claire and Brett (Debra Messing and Garrett Dillahunt), another couple with similar issues to Eve and Rodger’s, though theirs are exacerbated by Claire’s drinking problems; newlywed couple Hannah and Frank (Constance Wu and Michael Oberholtzer), still in the honeymoon phase, though not for long; and Logan (Tramell Tillman), who is supposed to bring his new girlfriend over to meet everyone, but shows up alone. All the men were in the same fraternity together in college, meaning friendships run deep, as do secrets. 

There was once another couple a part of this group, Cindy and Mark, but they’re going through a nasty separation after Mark’s infidelity came to light. The men side with Mark, the women side with Cindy. That’s the way things go in this sitcom-adjacent script. It’s men vs. women, husbands vs. wives, boys are from Jupiter, girls are from Mars. 

However, discussion of their old friends’ dissolving marriage inspires Eve to play a game: everyone has to put their cell phones on the coffee table, face up, and every message that comes through—be it text, phone call, or email—must be read out loud and answered for all to hear. It’s a terrible idea for a game and though it takes some convincing, somehow everyone eventually agrees to play. 

What follows is a series of mishaps, misunderstandings, and secrets revealed, some hilarious, some heartbreaking. As we wait for messages to roll in, we learn more about each couple and the tension threatening to snap the fragile wire of their marriages, though O’Hara’s painting in broad strokes, failing to flesh out each character beyond a certain set of characteristics. 

Still, this isn’t just a dishy comedy about couples behaving badly on Clint Ramos’ brutalist Nancy Meyers set. This is Robert O’Hara, after all, who’s also directing. Beneath the fleet-footed comedy, there’s a play about privilege and race going on, too. Logan and Hannah are the only two non-white people in this group of friends, which they bond over. Logan has the benefit of fraternity brotherhood and years of friendship, while Hannah is just getting to know these people. He acts as a port in a storm for her as the night devolves and relationships begin to implode.

It’s hard not to enjoy yourself when watching this bevy of talented actors on stage. Krakowski plays a great master of ceremonies presiding over this wicked game, whose mastery of comedy can distract from the trite script. Boozy and miserable, Messing often steals the scene, whether she’s speaking or not. 

Tillman, whose late-play reveal is the only one that actually makes an impact, rises above the material to convey his character’s ability to project easygoing charm while battling a roiling sea within. While the tonal shift of the play feels too abrupt, O’Hara guides Tillman towards an interesting conversation about the way identity is wrapped up in privilege. 

The play’s disappointing coda undermines all that came before. It does, however, bring back Eve and Rodger’s daughter Sam, played by Genevieve Hannelius, whose disappearance after the first scene leaves the audience wondering how she’ll factor into the adult mess—a Chekhov’s daughter.

While it’s clear this play shares DNA with Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, O'Hara is smartly toying with that certain kind of “great American play” by introducing conversations about race and privilege into the genre. It’s an interesting and worthwhile experiment but it isn’t completely successful here. There are too many characters left underdeveloped and too many threads left unexplored. 

As a predictable, foul-mouthed comedy, Shit. Meet. Fan. could work, especially with this top-tier cast, but it’s clear O’Hara has set his sights higher as both playwright and director. As his body of work will indicate, he is one of our best creative minds working in the theater today. Shit. Meet. Fan. doesn’t rise to the level we’ve come to expect.

‍Shit. Meet. Fan. runs through December 15 at MCC Theater in New York City. For tickets and more information, visit here.

Two drag houses. Both alike in their lack of dignity. In fair New World Stages where we lay our scene. That’s right! Move over R+J and & Juliet, we have new starcrossed-dressers in town and they’re fierce as hell. 

Hot on the heels of an encore run Los Angeles, Drag: The Musical has made its way to the big apple. It’s only fitting that the glitzy musical about rival drag clubs battling it out for supremacy lands in New York City (cue the snapping). West Side Story is far from the sole source of inspiration for Drag: The Musical. During the two-hour runtime, I counted nods to, among many, Kinky Boots, Rock of Ages, Rent, Billy Elliott, Priscilla, &Juliet, and even Cats. 

All of this creates a kaleidoscope of plotlines, songs, and performances of varying success. 

The naming of a drag queen a la the Jellicle Ball? Hilarious. A whole song about how wigs are important to drag queens? Okay, sure. A family friendly plotline about a straight, widowed father (New Kids On The Block’s Joey McIntyre, no less) accepting his 10-year old son’s inclination for drag? Wait, who is this show for?

Featuring direction and choreography by Spencer Liff with book, music, and lyrics by Tomas Costanza, Ashley Gordon, and Justin Andrew Honard (aka Alaska ThunderF*ck), Drag: The Musical is a fun night out but unfortunately too concerned in convincing the audience that they are watching a Great Musical instead of giving the audience what they really want to see: Great Drag. 

That’s not to say the drag isn’t great. It’s spectacular! Costume Designer Maro Marco and Makeup Designer Aurora Sexton consistently hit 10s. Jason Sherwood’s scenic design and Adam Honoré’s lighting design transform the theatre into a fantastical, neon club with runway and cabaret seating to boot. Of course, the creative design is greatly aided by the killer lineup of mainstay NYC drag queens, familiar theatre faces, and former RuPau’s Drag Race contestants tearing up the stage as the rival drag families. Jujubee, Jan Sport, and Nick Laughlin sizzle and slink as Cathouse girls while Luxx Noir London, Lagoona Bloo, and Liisi LaFontaine bubble and bitch as the Fish Tank girls. 

The biggest success of the show, no surprise to RPDR fans, is star and co-writer Alaska Thunderf*ck. Alaska, a Drag Race All Stars winner and fan favorite, is the glamourpuss Miss Kitty who owns The Cathouse. Decked out in devilish red looks and hair to the sky, every time Alaska saunters across the stage, the oxygen in the room vanishes. One of the funniest moments of the show features Alaska coming center stage, taking a deep breath to sing, and… walking back to a chair and sitting down. 

Rivaling Miss Kitty, is Nick Adams as Alexis Gillmore, owner of the rival drag club the Fish Tank. Alexis and Miss Kitty are former lovers turned enemies both facing the same fate: eviction. Unlike Alaska who gets to play the admittedly more fun, enigmatic anti-hero, Adams is tasked with being the classic musical theatre Sandra Dee protagonist. Adams, an experienced Broadway triple threat, shines in a standout performance and carries the heart of the show well (in his very buff arms). However, there’s only so much heavy-lifting he can do with a very dreary family subplot.

Somewhere between the raunchy jokes, sequins, and wink-wink fan service, a 10-year old child appears. After Alexis calls upon her financial expert and widowed brother Tom, he arrives begrudgingly with his son Brendan (Yair Keydar, at the performance I attended, with a voice like an angel). Tom’s uncomfortability around drag leads us to a song about how straight women can be drag queens, a song about his son feeling shame, and a song literally titled “Straight Man” about things straight men like. It’s my suspicion that most people coming to see Drag: The Musical are familiar with drag. Which leads me back to my original question - who is the show for? 

The good news is, even with the after school special plot maneuvers and a bizarre performance by Eddie Korbich as gay bar creep Drunk Jerry, it’s still fun. Seeing Alaska chewing scenery or, my personal favorite, Jujubee delivering the weirdest line readings is worth the ticket alone. Special kudos must be given to J. Elaine Marcos, a born-to-be-star who delivers a wildly memorable, zany performance in each of her three roles.

While the show takes itself far too seriously, it also is serious fun. At one point, Alaska, as Miss Kitty, says “Could you imagine? A musical about drag queens. Who would be dumb enough to buy a ticket to see that?” Many people, I am sure. 

Drag: The Musical is now in performance at New World Stages. For tickets and more information, visit here.