New Musical "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" Announces Broadway 2025 Bow
Last Edit: Official_Press_Release 09:44 am EDT 09/30/24
Posted by: Official_Press_Release 09:43 am EDT 09/30/24

MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL
A NEW MUSICAL
ANNOUNCES
BROADWAY 2025 BOW

Book by
MacArthur "Genius" Grant Recipient
TAYLOR MAC

Music & Lyrics by Tony Award Winner
JASON ROBERT BROWN

Choreography By
TANYA BIRL-TORRES

Directed by Tony Award Winner
ROB ASHFORD

(New York, NY—September 30, 2024)— The producers of MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL announced today that the seductive new musical, adapted from the iconic blockbuster non-fiction book by John Berendt, will debut on Broadway in 2025 following a critically acclaimed, extended run at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago where it was one of the theater's top-earning productions and the New York Times called it "radical and exhilarating" and Variety proclaimed it was " Jason Robert Brown's best score to date." MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL is being produced by Hal Luftig, Craig Haffner, and Sherry Wright.

MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL is written by MacArthur "Genius" Grantee and Pulitzer Finalist Taylor Mac, with music and lyrics by Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown, choreography by Tanya Birl-Torres and directed by Tony Award winner Rob Ashford.

Adapted from John Berendt's 1994 blockbuster non-fiction book and a Pulitzer-Prize finalist that was on the New York Times Best-Seller list for 216 weeks, the new musical had its world premiere at the Goodman Theatre in July. Southern charm is bountiful in Savannah, Georgia. But behind polite smiles, the eccentric residents are filled with secrets and motives. When wealthy antiques dealer Jim Williams is accused of murder, the sensational trial uncovers hidden truths and exposes the fine line between good and evil — which sparks Lady Chablis and other Savannahians to change the city forever.

"When I took my seat at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago last July to watch, for the first time, a full production of the Midnight musical, I had pen and notebook in hand, poised to jot down comments in the dark," said John Berendt. "After 20 minutes I realized I hadn't written a word. I'd been captivated by Jason Robert Brown's imaginative score, Taylor Mac's ingenious rendering of the (admittedly) complicated 388-page book, Tanya Birl-Torres's supple choreography and Rob Ashford's resourceful and energetic shaping of it all in Christopher Oram's enchanting and right-on-target sets. So, I just sat back and enjoyed the show."

During the extended run in Chicago where MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL played to near sold-out capacity at every performance, the Wall Street Journal described it as"fresh and funny" and said it "glows with spirited life." Chicago Tribune praised Jason Robert Brown's score as "filled with enough thrilling musical ideas and rich, sensual pleasures for three musicals." WGN's Behind the Curtain not just highly recommended but gave it the" highest of recommendations" and cheered, "This show is not to be missed." Chicago Sun-Times raved about "Brown's prolific score that contains treasures as it moves from hair-raising anthems to disco-glitzy dancefloor bangers."

The award-winning creative team includes sets by Tony and Olivier Award winner Christopher Oram, costumes by Tony Award nominee Toni-Leslie James, lighting by Olivier- and Tony Award-winning designer Neil Austin and Jamie Platt, and sound design by AUDELCO Award-winner Jon Weston. General Management is Bespoke Theatricals. Casting is by The Telsey Office, Patrick Goodwin CSA.

Dates and casting will be announced at a later date. For more information on the new musical MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL, visit midnightbroadway.com.

ABOUT THE CREATORS

Taylor Mac (Book) is a MacArthur Fellow, a Pulitzer Prize Finalist, a Tony Award Nominee (for Best Play), and the recipient of the Kennedy Prize (with Matt Ray), the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a Guggenheim, a Drama League Award, a NY Drama Critics Circle Award, two Obie's, two Bessies, and the first American to receive the International Ibsen Award. Mac is the author of Joy and Pandemic (Huntington Theater); The Hang (with Matt Ray); Gary, A Sequel to Titus Andronicus; A 24-Decade History of Popular Music; Hir; The Fre, The Walk Across America For Mother Earth, The Lily's Revenge; The Young Ladies Of; and The Be(A)st of Taylor Mac. The documentary Taylor Mac's A 24-Decade History of Popular Music recently premiered on HBO to critical acclaim.

Jason Robert Brown (Music and Lyrics) has written the music and lyrics to several of the most renowned and influential musicals of our time, including the generation-defining The Last Five Years, his debut song cycle Songs for a New World, and the seminal Parade, which just won a 2023 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, starring Ben Platt and directed by Michael Arden. His other musicals include 13, which was made into a feature film on Netflix last year; The Bridges of Madison County, winner of Tony Awards for score and orchestrations; Mr. Saturday Night with Billy Crystal; and Honeymoon In Vegas. As a pianist, singer and bandleader, Jason has performed concerts around the world. His latest album, "Coming From Inside The House," features Ariana Grande and Shoshana Bean and is available from Craft Recordings.

Tanya Birl-Torres (Choreographer) is a New York City-based Movement Director and Choreographer. Choreography: How I Learned What I Learned (OSF), Twelfth Night (The Public Theater), The Red Letter Plays (The Signature Theater), Comedy of Errors (Classic Stage company), As You Like It (The Guthrie Theater) and Peter and the Star Catcher (Oregon Shakespeare Festival). Select performance credits, Broadway: Memphis the Musical, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, How to Succeed, On The Town. Others: The Lion King, The Bubbly Black Girl…, The Wiz, West Side Story. Birl is currently in the process of writing an original choreo-play titled ‘A Play in 3 Movements' about intergenerational trauma/healing and its links to auto-immunity in women. She is a 2023/2024 MAP Fund Grantee, 2022 NoMAA artist in residence and a High-Arts/Critical Breaks Fellow in collaboration with OSF New Works.

Rob Ashford (Director) is a Tony Award, Olivier Award, Emmy Award, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award-winning director and choreographer. Broadway credits include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Frozen, How To Succeed In Business, Promises, Promises, Evita, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Shrek, John Water's Cry Baby, Curtains and The Wedding Singer. London credits include The Winter's Tale, Romeo & Juliet, The Entertainer, Harlequinade, Macbeth, Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum and the Olivier Award-winning productions of Anna Christie, A Streetcar Named Desire and Parade. He directed and choreographed NBC's "Sound of Music Live!" and "Peter Pan Live!". He directed and choreographed Carousel, Carmen, & The Barber of Seville for Chicago Lyric Opera and Houston Grand Opera and choreographed Candide at La Scala, ENO, and Chatelet in Paris. He choreographed and staged the 2009, 2013, 2014, & 2015 Academy Awards winning an Emmy for his work on Baz Luhrmann's 2009 production number featuring Hugh Jackman and Beyonce. He has staged The Tony Awards for eight years and has also staged tributes at The Kennedy Center Honors for Barbra Streisand, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jerry Herman, Barbara Cook, Tom Hanks, Shirley MacLaine and Meryl Streep. Films include choreography for Disney's Cinderella, Beyond the Sea, A Million Ways to Die in the West, Ted 2, Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile.

John Berendt (Award-Winning Author) was born and raised in Syracuse, New York. He attended Harvard, where he majored in English and wrote for the Harvard Lampoon. Upon graduation he was hired by Esquire magazine--first as an editor, then as a monthly columnist. Later, he became the editor of New York Magazine. It was during a trip to the South in the mid-1980s that he discovered Savannah--a cloistered, inward-looking garden city that basked on the Georgia coast, reveling in its own peculiarities and giving not a thought to the outside world. He was enchanted and began writing about the city and its people in what would eventually become the non-fiction book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
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