Back by Popular Demand: Aaron Tveit, Ariana Madix, Sutton Foster and More Are Doing It Again, Bigger and Better

FOMO is a familiar feeling for theater fans. But of course, it's impossible to catch everything—or to even know what's unmissable until you've already missed it. Fortunately, New York City's summer lineup is filled with second (and third) chances. If any of these flew past your radar the first time around, don't make the mistake of sleeping on them again.  

JOB
Job, Max Wolf Friedlich’s twisty two-hander set inside a tense therapy session, was a hit when it opened off-Broadway at Soho Playhouse in fall 2023. Directed by Michael Herwitz, the production starred eminent stage veteran Peter Friedman and Sydney Lemmon—both Succession alums—in standout performances that had audiences clamoring for a return engagement at the Connelly Theater in early 2024. The buzz has now taken them all the way to Broadway’s Hayes Theater where the show will have another engagement from July 15 through September 29. Not many conversation plays build a following like this, so believe the hype and seize this rare third chance to see Job performed by the actors that molded it. And whatever you do, avoid spoilers.

Aaron Tveit and JoJo in Moulin Rouge!
Last July, at around 5:30PM on a random Saturday, Aaron Tveit received a phone call. “Are you in town?” A couple of hours later, Tveit was making an unexpected return to the stage of the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, acting as emergency put-in for the role of the bohemian poet Christian—the role that had won him a Tony Award—in Moulin Rouge. His co-star that night, as the tuberculotic courtesan Satine, was Joanna “JoJo” Levesque—the one-time kid talent show discovery turned R&B charttopper turned Broadway star. Now, from July 23 through October 13, the dynamic duo get to recreate their chemistry and mingle those magic voices—by all accounts a match made in Broadway heaven.

Once Upon a Mattress
New York City Center Encores! was designed as a platform for brief concert productions of old gems in the musical theater canon. But then, sometimes, a fleeting engagement just isn’t enough. Just in the past few years we saw acclaimed Broadway transfers of Into the Woods and Parade. And of course, there’s the 1996 revival of Chicago that’s still kicking at the Ambassador Theatre (see below). Once Upon a Mattress, directed by Lear deBessonet with a revised book by Emmy winner Amy Sherman-Palladino, is the latest Encores! musical to make the leap to Broadway, beginning previews July 31 at the Hudson Theatre. Sutton Foster fans who missed the two-week run earlier this year will get another chance to see her take on the role of Winnifred the Woebegone, famously originated by Carol Burnett in 1959. Also reprising their performances are Michael Urie (Prince Dauntless), Nikki Renée Daniels (Lady Larken) and David Patrick Kelly (King Sextimus). New additions Ana Gasteyer (Queen Aggravain), Will Chase (Sir Harry), Brooks Ashmanskas (Wizard) and Daniel Breaker (Jester) make the encore engagement a second chance not to be squandered.

Ariana Madix in Chicago
When Vanderpump Rules star and tabloid scandal survivor Ariana Madix got to realize her Broadway dreams earlier this year, making her debut as Roxie in Chicago, the show had its best non-holiday performance week in its 27-year history, and Madix ended up extending her time with the show for an additional two weeks. Clearly it’s more than the Vanderpumpaholics who have been flocking to the Ambassador Theatre; Madix—who previously played Disney Princesses Ariel, Aurora and Cinderella at Walt Disney World—has truly won over Broadway audiences. Back from opening up a sandwich shop in West Hollywood, Madix returns to Chicago August 1.

Oh, Mary!
Oh, Mary!, Cole Escola’s not-at-all-historical comedy about First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, became the cult hit of the season when it opened off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre earlier this year. Word of its flawless idiocy spread far beyond the usual downtown clientele, launching it uptown to Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre where it will hold court until September 15. All of the original cast members—and director Sam Pinkleton—have moved to Broadway with the show, giving theatergoers who rarely venture below Times Square a taste of the party they nearly missed out on.