You walk in and the theater is already the show: a scarlet windmill hanging over one side box, a giant blue elephant over the other, dancers posed around the room before a word is spoken. Aaron Tveit, who won a Tony for originating Christian, is back in the role for this closing stretch, and the score still collides Offenbach with modern pop inside the same eight bars. If you have been telling yourself you would get around to this one, the clock just became the reason to go.
What to expect
A pre-show that begins the moment you are seated, with the club-turned-auditorium already populated. Then roughly two hours forty of medleys built from decades of pop, staged in feathers, sequins and saturated red light, with a can-can that lands like a fight scene. Expect a full house and a curtain call that runs long as the run winds down.
Good to know
- The Al Hirschfeld is on West 45th between 8th and 9th — take the A/C/E to 42nd St-Port Authority or the N/Q/R/W to 49th St
- The set extends over the side boxes, so far-side seats trade a little sightline for sitting inside the scenery
- Runs about two hours forty minutes with one intermission
- Closing-run performances sell down fast; the digital lottery and rush are the realistic last-minute routes
- Sustained loud volume and aggressive lighting effects throughout — worth knowing if you are sensitive to either
- Best for anyone who likes their musicals maximal; the humor plays broad and the romance plays sincere
Get Saturday planned every Thursday
One email a week — the best of the NYC weekend board. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Common questions
Do I need to know the movie?
No. The stage version tells the same doomed-lovers story from scratch and the song list has been rebuilt with newer pop, so film fans and newcomers arrive on roughly equal footing.
When does it close?
The production has announced its final Broadway performance for the end of August, so this is the last week to see it at the Al Hirschfeld.
Is it appropriate for kids?
It is pitched at teens and adults — the courtesan plot, the drinking and the costuming are all adult in tone, though nothing is explicit.
More this weekend
