Today is Sunday, and this week’s Report features a detailed review of The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions; a brief comment on the indefinite concerns and empty complaints surrounding the number of new musicals opening on Broadway this season; a quick take on Chez Joey; a quote of the week; for your consideration…; select press announcements from the past week; and a list of the upcoming week’s previews and openings.

---

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

The entirety of a signed contract between actor Florence Mills and producer Lew Leslie for the former’s appearance at the Plantation, a Broadway nightclub located on the second floor of the Winter Garden Theatre building. The contract is dated January 30, 1922, and the Plantation opened on February 17. It would become a Black entertainment landmark – where Mills and Leslie, in 1925, launched the Blackbirds series.

“I hereby engage Miss Florence Mills, 229 West 139th St., New York City, for an engagement of five weeks, at the Plantation Room, Broadway & 50th St., New York City. Salary to be Two Hundred ($200.00) Dollars per week, with an option of five weeks, same salary. Seven performances a week beginning February 16, 1922. Artist agrees to be ready to appear no earlier than 12 o’clock midnight, and to render her services to the best of her ability.”

---

REVIEWS

• The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions, a kaleidoscopic revue based on the 1977 book of fables, concluded a two-week engagement at Park Avenue Armory this afternoon, after previously having been seen overseas at Manchester International Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and the like. It has text and direction by Ted Huffman and music by Philip Venables, and it is, at present, an uneven affair, blazing with theatrical possibilities and thematic interest. Here is my review, including a punch list that the creative team might consider.

---

INDEFINITE CONCERNS AND EMPTY COMPLAINTS

Only four new musicals are currently slated to open on Broadway this season, and certain individuals are concerned. Other individuals are concerned about the number of original musicals being produced, in general, on Broadway. And some of these concerns register as outright complaints.

To the individuals airing such concerns and complaints, I ask you: exactly what number of new musicals must open on Broadway each season to make you happy, to permanently dispel your discontent? Exactly how many of those new musicals must be original? Exactly what qualifies as an original musical, and exactly how is an original musical, in principal, worthier of a Broadway production than a sourced musical, even a sourced musical of the unjustly derided “jukebox” persuasion? And exactly where does objective quality come into play, considering the standards of excellence in musical storytelling established in the last century, whether one chooses to acknowledge them or not?

I would remind these individuals that The Band’s Visit, Cabaret, Fiddler on the Roof, Fun Home, Guys and Dolls, Gypsy, Hamilton, and A Little Night Music are among the many objectively high-quality musicals based on plays, films, life stories, and the like. And I would remind these individuals that the opening of any number of new musicals – and revivals – on Broadway necessitates the closing of any number of others. Will these individuals simultaneously be among those up in arms over the spate of closings? And will they voluntarily close their own shows to make way for something new?

Stop cluttering the conversation with indefinite concerns and empty complaints. Be specific. Articulate what you want, not simply what you do not, and get to work.

---

CHEZ JOEY

Chez Joey is heading to Arena Stage this winter, and I am thrilled to see that Awa Sal Secka is among its principal cast. Sal Secka is a bright talent, based in Washington, DC, who I have seen in five productions, including Caroline, or Change at Round House. Perhaps Chez Joey will carry her to New York in a major way, and perhaps this new adaptation of the 1940 landmark, Pal Joey, will actually be good – which is to say complete, finished, and dramatically effective. (An earlier iteration was seen, not by me, at New York City Center in 2023.) The piece is being written by Richard LaGravenese and directed by Savion Glover and Tony Goldwyn, and one hopes that the three gentlemen have avoided the inherent pitfalls of the score by employing the songs, by Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers, exclusively as introspective soliloquies or performance pieces, not as extensions of dialogue – at least not without simultaneously penning new lyrics. We shall soon see.

Plus, a small plea to producer Jeffrey Richards and the musical’s rights holders: please stop advertising the original property as “Rodgers and Hart’s Pal Joey.” George Abbott and John O’Hara were not incidental collaborators, and Rodgers himself once noted, in summary, “We write for a situation. We try to adapt the words and music to the requirements of the characters and circumstances laid down for us by the book of a show. Neither of us ever gets ideas for songs gratuitously. That is, they don’t just come out of thin air, out of inspirational urge, or the provocation of the moment. We have to have a book to work with, and with our situations and characters ready built for us. Maybe it’s our own book; that doesn’t make any difference. The book comes first, then the music. The conditions imposed by the book make a composition difficult, but without them, so far as we are concerned, there could be no music and lyrics at all.”

---

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION…

Gattaca, a musical adaptation of the 1997 science-fiction film, perhaps with a book by Ayad Akhtar, lyrics and music by Heather Christian, and direction by Michael Arden, and perhaps utilizing the score cinematically, specifically as background music and background songs performed live by an orchestra and choir, underscoring, enhancing, and propelling the action.

---

PRESS ANNOUNCEMENTS

Here is a list of select press announcements from the past week. Each headline is clickable for more information.

• The Queen of Versailles to Close on Broadway Earlier Than Expected
• Operation Mincemeat Extends for a Sixth Time
• Kevin Cahoon, Samantha Massell and More to Join Myles Frost in Chez Joey at Arena Stage
• Crystal Lucas-Perry, Grey Henson, and More Will Lead Bigfoot! Off-Broadway
• Rachel Dratch, Wayne Brady and More Join 2026 Encores! Productions
• T.R Knight, Julie Halston and More Complete the Cast of The Boys from Syracuse at Red Bull Theater
• N’Kenge Will Star in That’s Love! The Dorothy Dandridge Musical
• Shoshana Bean to Replace Caissie Levy in The Lost Boys on Broadway
• Sierra Boggess, Adam Jacobs, Norm Lewis, Karen Ziemba to Star in Monte Cristo Musical
• Masquerade Extends Off-Broadway
• Jerry Mitchell Will Direct and Choreograph Coyote Ugly Stage Musical

---

PREVIEWS AND OPENINGS

Here is a list of the new musicals and revivals either opening or beginning previews during the upcoming week, specifically on Broadway and Off-Broadway. It contains, as well, select new musicals beginning performances regionally, and select new musicals and revivals beginning performances in New York City. Each title is clickable for more information.

Monday, December 15
• Concert: The Bridges of Madison County
• Concert: The Boys from Syracuse

Tuesday, December 16
• NYC: Picnic at Hanging Rock

Wednesday, December 17

Thursday, December 18

Friday, December 19

Saturday, December 20

Sunday, December 21

Photo of Elizabeth Stanley in the New York City Center production of Pal Joey by Joan Marcus.