Theater Update: What to see in London this summer
“Giant” and “Sing Street” across the pond, and “Heathers” returns to New York.
Theater Update
July 9, 2025

Dear Theater Fans,

Nancy Coleman here — a print editor and fellow theater fan. I’m filling in for Nicole Herrington for this newsletter and the next one.

It’s been a quiet week on Broadway, but London theatergoers are in for a bustling summer, Matt Wolf reports. There is a star-studded array of plays, including John Lithgow in “career-best form” as the author Roald Dahl in “Giant,” and Rosamund Pike in a new work from the team behind “Prima Facie.” There are musicals that have been a long time coming: “Sing Street,” whose Broadway stint was thwarted by the pandemic, and Disney’s “Hercules,” which we’ve been following since its summer as a Public Works production in Central Park. Not to mention buzzy adaptations (Matt has seen “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” four times), New York transfers (more “Stereophonic,” anyone?) and dinosaur parodies (any show called “Hold On to Your Butts” certainly has my attention).

Back in New York, Elisabeth Vincentelli dove into the return of “Heathers,” whose mercilessly catchy score has propelled it to cult-classic status in its own right, and highlighted 11 other shows Off Broadway to explore. And Michael Paulson reported on the producer Scott Rudin’s return to Broadway this fall with the play “Little Bear Ridge Road,” starring Laurie Metcalf. The production will be the first by Rudin since reports of his bullying behavior toward assistants and others emerged in 2021.

Jesse Green ventured upstate to Garrison, N.Y., for Hudson Valley Shakespeare’s revival of “The Matchmaker,” the Thornton Wilder play on which “Hello, Dolly!” is based. Jesse also reviewed Charlotte Runcie’s debut novel, “Bring the House Down,” which draws on her experience as an arts journalist to skewer bad men, and bad theater, in the aftermath of a character’s scathing review. (“How cruel may a critic be?” Jesse writes. “I ask for a friend.”)

We’re also remembering the lives of several theater heavyweights this week: the prolific producer Paul Libin; Ronald Ribman, whose surreal plays mined the absurdity of moral ambiguity; Mark Brokaw, who directed works by Kenneth Lonergan and Paula Vogel; and Richard Greenberg, the sharp playwright behind “Take Me Out.”

I leave you this week with two of my favorite things: sweet onstage proposals, and the cow from “Into the Woods.” After a performance of the Sondheim musical in Phoenix, the actors playing Cinderella and the Baker made things official, with an assist from a ring-bearing Milky White. Our heartfelt congratulations go out to Dani Apple and Nick Barakos.

Please reach out to us at theaterfeedback@nytimes.com with suggestions for stories or to offer your thoughts about our coverage. And urge your friends to subscribe to this newsletter.

Have a wonderful, theater-filled week,
Nancy Coleman

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NEWS AND FEATURES

Onstage, a group of young men and women, dressed in preppy styles that recall the 1980s, are captured dancing with their hands raised above their heads.

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

The ‘Heathers’ Musical Is Back, With a Little Less Darkness

An adaptation of the 1980s teen movie with an apocalyptic bent was fine-tuned in London. Now it’s returning to New York.

By Elisabeth Vincentelli

A woman in a vest and shirt leans over a leather couch, pointing a finger. A man in a black T-shirt and dark jeans looks toward her.

Michael Brosilow

Laurie Metcalf to Star in Broadway Play Produced by Scott Rudin

The production, of the Samuel D. Hunter play “Little Bear Ridge Road” that got strong reviews in Chicago will be the first produced by Rudin since news reports of his bullying behavior in 2021.

By Michael Paulson

FROM OUR CRITICS

A woman in a scarlet and vermilion gown speaks to a robed man, gesturing emphatically.

Richard Termine

‘Memnon’ Review: To Fight or Not to Fight?

In Will Power’s play for the Classical Theater of Harlem, Eric Berryman stars as an Ethiopian king drawn into the Trojan War.

By Laura Collins-Hughes

A man stands on a white bed in a dance performance, holding a sheet.

Christophe Simon/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Critic’s Notebook

As Avignon Festival Turns to Dance, It Trips Up Some Onlookers

The festival opener “Nôt,” from Marlene Monteiro Freitas, drew both boos and applause. Elsewhere, for Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, the spectacle was kept to the stage.

By Laura Cappelle

On an outdoor stage, a man in a navy suit and sash stands squinting next to a woman in a cheery blue dress.

Gabe Palacio

Critic’s Pick

In ‘The Matchmaker,’ Meet Dolly Levi Before She Was ‘Dolly!’

Thornton Wilder’s play became a blockbuster musical, but a production under an upstate tent makes the case for its stand-alone virtues.

By Jesse Green

An illustration shows an oversized woman’s foot in a high-heeled shoe on a stage. A long snake wraps around her foot and is taking a bite near her ankle.

Christian Philip Scott

Fiction

In ‘Bring the House Down,’ It’s the Critic’s Turn to Get Panned

Drawing on her own experience as an arts journalist, Charlotte Runcie comically skewers bad men, bad faith and (unforgivably) bad theater.

By Jesse Green

OBITUARIES

A portrait of Richard Greenberg, a heavyset man with brown hair and glasses, leaning against a wall with his hands folded in front of him.

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times