Branden Jacobs-Jenkins will return to Broadway with ‘Purpose’
Whereas Cole Escola’s “Oh, Mary!” is the surprise Broadway hit of the summer, the surprise non-musical hit of last season may have been Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ dark family comedy “Appropriate,” which premiered at the Hayes Theater in an acclaimed production by the nonprofit Second Stage Theater and then transferred for a limited commercial run to the Belasco Theatre with most of its original cast including Sarah Paulson, Michael Esper, Natalie Gold, and Corey Stoll. It also won the Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Play and Best Actress (Paulson). The production marked the Broadway debut for Jacobs-Jenkins, whose Off-Broadway plays have included “An Octoroon” and “Gloria.”
In a major sign of confidence in the playwright, his new play “Purpose,” which received its world premiere in March at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company, will transfer to Broadway this spring in a commercial production at the Hayes Theater. It will be directed by two-time Tony Award-winning actress Phylicia Rashad, who will be making her debut as a Broadway director.
Whereas “Appropriate” explores a Caucasian family visiting a plantation house in the Deep South and confronting its ties to a violent racist past, “Purpose” focuses on an influential and accomplished Black family in Illinois that also has secrets and serious issues.
‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ will light up the New York Botanical Garden
As much as I would like to see “The Nightmare Before Christmas” on Broadway, I am deeply skeptical over whether it can be successfully adapted for the stage. A better option may be to create an immersive theater version of the film where, as in “Sleep No More,” spectators can visit the various locations in the film and follow around the characters.
In what may be a similar kind of experience, the New York Botanical Garden will present a “light trail” inspired by “The Nightmare Before Christmas” for nine weeks beginning Sept. 27 from dusk to 10 PM. It promises to bring to life the characters, scenes, and songs of the film using advanced light installations, video projections, and 3D printed sculptures.
Broadway producer Adam Epstein dies at age 49
Broadway producer Adam Epstein, who won a Tony Award before reaching the age of 30 for “Hairspray” in 2003, died last week at the age of 49 after having been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Back in 2006, during my last semester as an undergrad at NYU, I took an excellent class taught by Epstein on producing Broadway musicals. At the time, Epstein was working on multiple projects including “The Wedding Singer,” Cry-Baby,” and “Ever After.”
However, in 2008, after “Cry-Baby” flopped and a Broadway revival of “Godspell” that Epstein was producing fell apart at the last minute due to a financing shortfall, Epstein left the business. Epstein later obtained a degree in American Studies from Brown University and reinvented himself as a political commentator. “He’s somebody who came through this world and lived within 49 years what somebody may have lived in 100,” his brother, Brett Epstein, told the Los Angeles Times. At the time of his passing, Epstein was hosting a political podcast called “Dirty Moderate.”
