Melania onstage, Jinkx’s Broadway return & another ’90s rom-com jukebox musical treatment

Welcome to The Callboard, Queerty’s curtain-raising theater news, where we share the latest news from Broadway and beyond. From casting announcements and openings to viral moments with our favorite stars, here’s a front-row seat to all the drama happening onstage and off!

Your dose of fabulosi-TEA

Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.

Daily

Weekly

Casting call

You’re a winner, baby — Queerties Live Theater 2023 winner Drag the Musical returns for a limited engagement. New Kids on the Block’s Joe McIntyre is back, with Manila Luzon joining the company of drag legends, including Alaska Thunderf*ck, Jujubee, Jan Sport, and Lagoona Bloo. The limited run is a dangling rhinestone carrot for an anticipated NYC transfer.
The Bourbon Room, Los Angeles. March 15-16, 22-23, 29-30

“When you’re good to mama” — Jinkx Monsoon heads back to Broadway to resume the role of Matron “Mama” Morton in Chicago this summer. The two-time Drag Race winner and host of this year’s Queerties (voting is still open!) struck box office gold in the long-running revival, which has been playing since 1996. Jink’s arrives just in time for Pride. 
Ambassador Theatre, New York City. Jinx Monsoon performances June 27-July 12

Related: Vote for your favorite Live Theater in this year’s Queerties

Who should play the next gay BFF? — Another jukebox musical hopes to capitalize on known entities this fall with a musical adaption of the 1997 romcom My Best Friend’s Wedding, featuring music from the Burt Bacharach-Hal David songbook. While nobody could replace Rupert Everett’s gay bestie character, George Downs, we’ve got our eyes on a few dulcet-toned hotties that could bring this musical to life. 
Ogunquit Playhouse, Ogunquit, Maine. September 26 – October 27

Conrad Ricamora — ”We love you, Conrad!” We’re not staging a Bye, Bye, Birdie revival, but the sentiment is the same. From How to Get Away With Murder to Fire Island, we’d describe Ricamora as the approachable heartthrob. He’s following up a recent Broadway stint in Here Lies Love, playing Abraham Lincoln opposite the hilarious Cole Escola in Oh, Mary!

Claybourne Elder — Most recently seen in The Gilded Age as jilted gay lover John Adams, Elder has four Broadway shows to his credit, including the recent gender-flipping revival of Company.

Noah J. Ricketts — Ricketts has been stealing our hearts in the historical romance Fellow Travelers, but he can carry a tune, too! Ricketts will soon arrive on Broadway in The Great Gatsby, though by the time My Best Friend’s Wedding nuptials roll into town, we hope his schedule is clear.

A dysfunctional marriage musicalized in ‘Days of Wine and Roses’

While overpriced chardonnay in a sippy cup has become a Broadway standard as of late, the 2nd-floor bar at Studio 54 feels uncomfortably out of place during the theater’s current occupant, Days of Wine and Roses.

Good times were had by all when the likes of Liza Minnelli, Cher, David Geffen, and Andy Warhol packed the club; now audiences can revisit the tormented characters of Kirsten Arnesen (Kelli O’Hara) and Joe Clay (Brian D’Arcy James) as they navigate a tumultuous romance impacted by alcoholism. 

Based on JP Miller’s 1958 teleplay and subsequent film co-starring Lee Remick and Jack Lemon, the musical adds another layer of complexity to the story with a fresh book by Craig Lucas and music and lyrics by Adam Guettel. 

While you’re unlikely to leave with a “hummable melody” as Sondheim mocks in Merrily We Roll Along, O’Hara and James deliver captivating performances as their characters weave in and out of addiction, unable to sync their sobriety to pull the other out of the depths of despair. 

Lucas and Guettel, who last collaborated on The Light in the Piazza, strike a deft but often dissonant chord in navigating the mid-century marital stereotypes that plague the couple. Produced last season at Off-Broadway’s Atlantic Theater Company, the limited-run transfer offers thoughtful character studies for those seeking a movie-to-musical adaptation with substance and style.
Studio 54, New York City. Through April 28

What’s on Off-Broadway?

The Christine Jorgensen Show — After undergoing gender-affirmation surgery in Denmark in 1953, Jorgensen returned to the U.S. to begin the next chapter of her life and become the world’s first internationally recognized transgender celebrity. Jesse James Keitel plays the title role in this musical retelling of Jorgensen’s life.
59E59 Theaters, New York City. Through March 3

Queen of Hearts — Company XIV’s mischievous take on Alice in Wonderland returns, starring LEXXE as Alice. “I’ve reimagined our version as a whimsical, decadent, and naughty adventure,” says creator and director Austin McCormick. If it’s anything like the company’s Cocktail Magique, our hearts will be palpitating. Theatre XIV, New York City. March 1 – August 25

Five: The Parody Musical — Theater stans continue to flock to Six, the high-energy, concert-style portrayal of Henry VIII’s six wives. But 21st-century U.S. politics offers plenty of fodder, too: Enter Donald Trump. Five brings to life Ivana, Marla, Melania, Ivanka, and everyone’s favorite adult film star, Stormy Daniels, in a ridiculous romp with the women associated with the 45th President of the United States.
Theater 555, New York City. February 15 – March 10

Related:

Conrad Ricamora & Cole Escola deliver a raucous romp through history in ‘Oh, Mary!’

Cole Escola’s wicked sense of humor takes to the stage, this time finding inspiration in the wild ambitions of Mary Todd Lincoln.

A dancer dances

We’re all “flying off the handle,” as Glinda says to Elphaba after seeing the Wicked Super Bowl trailer drop. Part 1 releases November 27. The hit musical celebrated its 20th anniversary on Broadway and continues to play at nearly 100% capacity. Over the years, dozens of actors have flown in and out of the show, but our monkey wings are flapping over the arrival of Donna McKechnie as Madam Morrible beginning March 5. A Tony winner for her role as Cassie in the original production of A Chorus Line, McKechnie hasn’t been on Broadway since 1996’s State Fair. Archival footage of “The Music and the Mirror” shows the triple threat’s spine-tingling talent.
Gershwin Theater, New York City

Featured image: (from left) Melania Trump (Alex Wong/Getty Images), Jinkx Monsoon (Jeremy Daniel), and Rupert Everett & Julia Roberts (Photo by Ke.Mazur/WireImage).