Manhattan Theatre Club Will Bring EUREKA DAY to Broadway and VLADAMIR Off-Broadway Next Season

Manhattan Theatre Club has announced three shows that will open next season, including the Broadway premiere of Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends and Eureka Day, as well as the world premiere of Vladamir, which will open off-Broadway.

At the Friedman Theatre, MTC will produce the Broadway premiere of Eureka Day, written by Jonathan Spector (This Much I Know) and directed by Anna D. Shapiro (August: Osage County).

As previously announced, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends will open in the spring, following its pre-Broadway run in Los Angeles, starring Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga. Old Friends features music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim (Merrily We Roll Along, Into the Woods), devised by Cameron Mackintosh (Cats, Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera), musical staging & direction by Matthew Bourne (Swan Lake, My Fair Lady), side by side with Julia McKenzie (Guys and Dolls, Sweeney Todd) with choreography by Stephen Mear (Mary Poppins).

The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre will be closed from July 2024 to October 2024 to facilitate regular updates to lighting, HVAC, fire, and security systems to keep them state-of-the-art and to install new technology to make the theatre more accessible for all patrons.

The World Premiere of Vladamir will open Off-Broadway at New York City Center – Stage I, MTC, written by Erika Sheffer (Russian Transport) and directed by Daniel Sullivan(Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes; Summer, 1976).

Lynne Meadow said, “I’m proud that this first part of MTC’s 2024-2025 season lineup celebrates our longstanding commitment to both presenting plays by new voices and welcoming back longtime treasured colleagues and artists on and off-Broadway. We’re thrilled to give playwrights Erika Sheffer and Jonathan Spector, actress Lea Salonga, and director Matthew Bourne their MTC debuts, and to welcome back to MTC actress Bernadette Peters, directors Anna Shapiro and Daniel Sullivan, producer Cameron Mackintosh, and the work of Stephen Sondheim.”

Learn more about all three shows below!

Eureka Day

Previews Begin November 25, 2024

Wildly relevant and bitingly funny, Jonathan Spector’s play comes to MTC in an all-new production following an acclaimed London run. Eureka Day is a private California elementary school with a Board of Directors that values inclusion above all else – that is, until an outbreak of the mumps forces everyone in the community to reconsider the school’s liberal vaccine policy. As cases rise, the board realizes with horror that they’ve got to do what they swore they never would: make a choice that won’t please absolutely everybody.

Eureka Day is produced by special arrangement with Sonia Friedman Productions, Wagner Johnson Productions, and Seaview.

 Casting, creative team, and other listings information for Eureka Day will be announced at a later date.

Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends

Previews Begin March 25, 2025

Center Theatre Group will present the North American premiere of Old Friends at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles in advance of the Broadway premiere.

Cameron Mackintosh said, “Old Friends was Steve's idea, born during lockdown, when he suggested it was time (and we had plenty of it!) we put together a third review of his work, to follow from the worldwide hit Side by Side By Sondheim in 1976 (my first!) and Putting It Together (which Julia McKenzie directed at the Manhattan Theatre Club starring Julie Andrews in 1993). Though we had started work, very sadly on Thanksgiving 2021 Steve moved on. So, a few weeks later over the Christmas holidays I collated all our notes and, drawing on material from all the other shows Steve, Julia and I had worked on over the years, completed ‘our farewell show’. In May 2022, we staged a star-studded Gala in London’s West End at the Sondheim Theatre (which I had rebuilt and renamed after him) to celebrate Steve’s work and raise funds for his new Foundation. It was a sensational success that sold out within hours, screened simultaneously at the nearby Prince Edward Theatre, and was subsequently broadcast on TV on the BBC. The material held together so brilliantly that I decided to press ahead and give Old Friends the full stage life Steve and I had always planned. The show opened in September 2023 at London’s Gielgud Theatre, directed by Matthew Bourne, side by side with Julia McKenzie, and choreographed by Stephen Mear. Starring Bernadette Peters (making her West End debut at long last!) and Lea Salonga, it received rave reviews and nightly standing ovations during its 16-week run. It is a tremendous joy to now be bringing Old Friends to the Ahmanson in Los Angeles and to be back side by side with Lynne Meadow at the Manhattan Theatre Club in New York thanks to Daryl Roth’s support, with a terrific company headed again by my old friends Bernadette and Lea with many other stars to be announced shortly. Audiences are in for a joyous and unforgettable evening featuring some of the greatest songs ever written for the musical theatre in ‘a great big Broadway show’ – just as Steve wanted.” 

Celebrate one of Broadway’s true icons with this legendary theatrical event! Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends is an irresistible celebration of the master himself, with a company headlined by none other than Tony Award® winners Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga. Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends comes to Broadway from London’s West End, where it earned a bevy of 5-star raves and was hailed by The Times as “unmissable musical theatre.”   

Additional casting, creative team, and other listings information for Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends will be announced at a later date.

Vladimir

Previews Begin September 24, 2024 

This haunting world premiere unfolds in Moscow, where an independent journalist covering Putin’s first term struggles to maintain sanity and hope in increasingly hostile circumstances. She finds herself on the brink of an explosive story – but as danger mounts for her and her sources, she questions whether her bravery will make any difference at all. Written by Erika Sheffer, Vladimir is about standing up to immorality no matter the cost, when you know your nation is headed for disaster. Directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan.

Casting, creative team, and other listings information for Vladimir will be announced at a later date.

Additional productions for MTC’s 2024-2025 season will be announced soon.