Start spreading the news! Producers Sonia Friedman and Tom Kirdahy are proud to announce the brand new Kander & Ebb musical, NEW YORK, NEW YORK, will begin performances Friday, March 24, 2023 and officially open Wednesday, April 26, 2023 at Broadway’s St. James Theatre. Casting and additional creative team members will be announced at a later date.
Featuring music and lyrics by Tony, Emmy & Grammy Award winners and Academy Award nominees John Kander & Fred Ebb (Chicago, Cabaret), written by Tony Award nominee David Thompson (The Scottsboro Boys, Steel Pier), co-written by Sharon Washington (Audible’s Feeding The Dragon) and featuring additional lyrics by Pulitzer, Tony, Emmy & Grammy Award winner and Academy Award nominee Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, In The Heights), NEW YORK, NEW YORK will be directed and choreographed by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (The Producers, The Scottsboro Boys). This new musical is inspired by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Motion Picture New York, New York written by Earl M. Rauch.
Producers Sonia Friedman and Tom Kirdahy said, “The great John Kander said to us recently, when referring to his time in New York City in the years following the end of World War II, “the possibility of a future was always there.” Perhaps the same could be said of living and working in New York City today. Once again, the city is bursting with energy, new hope, and the sense that anything is possible – feelings that lie at the very heart of our musical NEW YORK, NEW YORK. Bringing the legendary music from John Kander and the late Fred Ebb back to Broadway, is a great honor and joy. We can’t wait to share the music, dance, stories and characters of New York with Broadway audiences this spring."
Composer John Kander said, “In 1945, World War II ended. In the years that immediately followed, hundreds of thousands of ex-servicemen and women – myself included – descended on New York City, a tough, gritty, beautiful dream palace, filled with youthful energy and optimism. ‘The sadness is over! This is where I can become the person I was meant to become!’ And this is the New York of our story.”
Director and choreographer Susan Stroman said,” I feel very grateful to be collaborating with John Kander, David Thompson and Sharon Washington again. The four of us have loved being in the musical theater trenches creating New York, New York — a show that celebrates the city’s resilience and all the characters that inhabit it. The show is inspired by Kander and Ebb's famous song ‘New York New York’ – ‘I want to be a part of it.’ New York is music — a city that is always in motion. Everything moves with its own distinct rhythm. This allows for dance sequences to drive the story telling, pulling our various characters through famous locations throughout the city. They come from everywhere to pursue something that can only happen in New York — because fortunes can change in a New York minute.”
Writer David Thompson said, “In New York, you turn left instead of right, and you either step into a pothole, or meet the love of your life. It’s a city of the highest highs and the lowest lows – there’s no in-between. We have the biggest snowstorms, the most torrential rainstorms, the hottest heat waves. And still, we’re passionate about this city. And that’s what drives the characters in our story. It’s the opportunities – and the obstacles – that create an incredible alchemy that can only happen in New York.”
Co-writer Sharon Washington said, “I’m a proud Native New Yorker. Born and raised. My family has lived in every borough of the city and specifically in Manhattan since 1835. My roots and the stories of the people of ‘the city that never sleeps’ run deep. In New York, New York we bring some of these many and varied characters, neighborhoods, languages, sounds and rhythms of the city to life. A powerful combination of incredible opportunity, obstacles, persistence and luck. Our story is a valentine to New York where the city itself becomes another character.”
It is 1946, the war is over, and a resurgent New York is beginning to rebuild. As steel beams swing overhead, a collection of artists has dreams as big and diverse as the city itself. But do these singers, dancers, musicians and makers have what it takes to survive this place, let alone to succeed? If they can make it here, they can make it anywhere.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK is a spectacular show for a singular city. With a unique blend of dazzling new songs and big band classics (“New York, New York,” “The World Goes Round”), this jubilant new musical is destined to become the talk of the town. Tickets for NEW YORK, NEW YORK are now on-sale at www.NewYorkNewYorkBroadway.com. Tickets start at $59.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK marks the first new John Kander & Fred Ebb musical to open on Broadway since 2015’s The Visit, which was nominated for 5 Tony Awards including Best Musical. The legendary duo is also currently represented on Broadway with Chicago, which holds the distinction of being the longest-running American musical in Broadway history. This production reunites John Kander with director and choreographer Susan Stroman and book writer David Thompson, who collaborated with both John Kander & Fred Ebb on Broadway’s The Scottsboro Boys, which was nominated for 12 Tony Awards including Best Musical, and Steel Pier, which was nominated for 11 Tony Awards including Best Musical, as well as Off-Broadway productions of The Beast in the Jungle, And the World Goes ‘Round and the revival of Flora and the Red Menace.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK is produced by Sonia Friedman and Tom Kirdahy, in association with MGM ON STAGE and Chartoff-Winkler. Follow NEW YORK, NEW YORK at @nynybway on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & TikTok. For more information visit www.NewYorkNewYorkBroadway.com.