Broadway‘s biggest stars got themselves out of bed bright and early on a coveted day off for Variety’s annual Business of Broadway, presented by City National Bank, a celebration of new plays, musicals and revivals — or as host Cole Escola put it: “the only event in the whole entertainment industry that’s brave enough to combine Jim Parsons and eggs.”
Parson, who portrays the Stage Manager in Kenny Leon’s reimagining of “Our Town,” was joined by cast members Zoey Deutch, Michelle Wilson, and Ephraim Sykes for a wide-ranging discussion about bringing Thornton Wilder’s oft-revived classic back to Broadway. The event featured conversations with “Sunset Boulevard” star and director Nicole Scherzinger and Jamie Lloyd, as well as Daniel Dae Kim and David Henry Hwang of “Yellow Face.” In addition to some of the performers and creators, a panel of top producers from “Gypsy,” “Job” and “Redwood” talked candidly about the challenges of attracting audiences at a time when Broadway has never faced more competition… or been more expensive.
Escola, whose brainchild “Oh, Mary!” was recently extended into 2025 due to popular demand, concluded the morning’s festivities with a note of gratitude for the event’s sponsor. “On a personal note, ‘Oh, Mary!’ is the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” they said from the stage. “And it wouldn’t be possible, I mean, it really wouldn’t be possible without money.”
Here are four takeaways from the artists bringing some of the most exciting theater to New York.
“Our Town” director Kenny Leon’s favorite term of endearment is “motherfucker”
Leon, the Tony-winning director of “Fences” and “A Raisin in the Sun,” is putting a different spin on Grover’s Corners. His revival of the drama about small-town life in New Hampshire is more reflective of America today, including a Black family at the center. As a result, this version feels fresh instead of fusty.
“I saw an awful production in high school and remember it being corny, nostalgia, ‘aw shucks’-y’ … and it’s so not that,” said Wilson, who plays Julia Gibb, the mother of one of the play’s two protagonists. “It’s [about] the human condition, and Kenny keeps refining it and refining it. My introduction to it is nothing like my experience of it.”
In order to get the cast to bond, Leon organized a field trip to the town that inspired the play’s bucolic community — he wanted them to see firsthand what Wilder was working with as he sought to shine a light on a rural way of life. Not everyone had a great experience on the 10-hour round-trip bus ride. Asked what he took from the trip, Parsons quipped: “Nausea.”
“I do think it humbled us,” he added. “That was the first day we had ever met. That first trip kind of broke us… in a good way.”
Wilder’s play reminds audiences to take more notice of the simple joys of life, which is precious and ephemeral. That’s a message that resonated with Deutsch, who makes her Broadway debut as Emily Webb. “I’m crying all the time,” she said. “Everything is beautiful. That’s how I feel.”
Working with Leon, however, means getting used to hearing a word that probably wasn’t uttered much around Wilder’s vision of Grover’s Corners — a place where the character’s idea of a four-letter word veers more towards “darn.” Leon’s most frequently used word during rehearsals is “motherfucker,” according to Parsons, who adds the term is doled out in “the most artistic, respectful way to do it.”
Sykes, who plays George Gibbs, isn’t offended because he happens to understand exactly what Leon means by the colorful directive. “He does use motherfucker a lot, but he uses it in a way that I know what it means,” Sykes said. “It’s a term of endearment.”
Daniel Dae Kim used to camp out for discounted theater tickets
Returning to Broadway feels full circle for Kim, who is best known for TV shows like “Lost” and “Hawaii Five-0” but got his start on more experimental corners of the New York stage after earning a degree from NYU. This time, instead of waiting in line for discounted seats, he’s center stage in “Yellow Face,” a play about a case of mistaken racial identity, as well as a backstage comedy.
“Not to get sentimental, but the first day I was in the Todd Haimes Theatre, I looked out on the stage, and I remember that 21-year-old young man who would who would get TKTS tickets and sit in the balcony just to be able to see these wonderful plays and these amazing performers,” Kim said.
“Yellow Face” chronicles (and satirizes) Hwang’s experience leading the 1991 protest against the casting of white actor Jonathan Pryce in the Asian role of “Miss Saigon.” Since then, Hwang notes, casting decisions have changed for the better. For instance, every subsequent production of “Miss Saigon” has featured an Asian actor in the role that Pryce originated.
“It’s a measure of the degree to which the culture and field have shifted such that we can come back to this now,” Hwang said. “It’s a little bit painful, but we can also laugh together at some of the excesses.”
Nicole Scherzinger prefers the left side of her face
Less than 48 hours after debuting “Sunset Boulevard” to four standing ovations, Scherzinger admitted she was anxious about making her Broadway bow.
“I’m not going to lie, I was nervous on Saturday,” the former Pussycat Dolls frontwoman said. “Broadway audiences just hit different. They feel like they’re with you on stage. They’re holding on to every breath. You really feel their energy. They blew me away. I feel like they’re the ones who really brought it on Saturday.”
Scherzinger, who originated the role in London before transferring the show to New York, didn’t initially understand why Lloyd wanted her to play Norma Desmond, a past-her-prime movie goddess.
“I was at first in disbelief,” she said. “I think my words were, ‘Honey, I still look good under bright lights. I’m a Pussycat Doll.’ But he said, ‘Just read the script.’”
However, even Scherzinger has some insecurities, particularly since this production of “Sunset Boulevard” projects her face on a massive LED screen. “It’s scary AF. Your pores are the size of a human head on that screen,” she said.
So, she told Lloyd to capture what she believes is her good side. “I was like, ‘Jamie, if you want greatness, you’re going to have to focus on this side,’” she said, gesturing to her left cheekbone. “If you want mediocre, you can go to this side” — pointing to the right half of her face — “Of course, the first thing he did is he put the camera over here because he loves to take me out of my comfort zone.”
Lloyd countered: “As if there’s a mediocre side of Nicole Scherzinger. I mean, it’s baffling you even say that.”
“Sunset Boulevard” has garnered Scherzinger’s some of the best reviews of her career, as well as an Olivier Award. Lloyd hopes the performance changes the way his leading lady is perceived in the entertainment industry.
“She can sing anything. The sheer energy and power of her voice is exceptional. But she is an amazing artist, an incredible actor,” Lloyd said. “There’s not many people that can do everything she does and dance and sing.”
Scherzinger interjected — “And be funny.”
Broadway needs to be broader
Mara Isaacs, the producer of the upcoming Audra McDonald-led revival of “Gypsy,” believes that Broadway needs to do more to diversify its audiences, who tend to be older and affluent, if it wants to build a sustainable future. But the cost of mounting a show on the Great White Way requires productions to deal with very thin profit margins.
“We have to find the balance between how we attract and cultivate new audiences and also how we keep the show financially sustainable,” Isaacs said.
Digital marketing has proven to be a cost-effective tool for reaching crowds not traditionally seeking out theater. But Isaacs believes there also needs to be some subsidized initiatives that make tickets more accessible for a rising generation of consumers. In addition to being older, Broadway patrons are also overwhelmingly white. But many musicals and shows are hoping to alter that by producing more works by and featuring artists of color. However, the producers add, it takes time to implement these changes.
“We’re in the seed planting part of this process. We’re not in the harvesting portion of this process,” said Hunter Arnold, producer of “Maybe Happy Ending. “We have to commit to making space for these voices. If you want an audience to come in, and you aren’t literally letting them speak openly in your space, why would they want to come in?”
There also needs to be an investment in stories that are compelling and that cut through the clutter, particularly given how many less expensive entertainment options are available.
“The question we ask ourselves as producers is, how do we [get] people leaving the theater saying, ‘You have to see this!” Sammy Lopez, the producer of “Job,” said.
