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April 23, 2025 
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Dear Theater Fans,
Here’s something you don’t see every day: At today’s matinee of “Sunset Boulevard,” a sound board failed. The show’s star Nicole Scherzinger entertained the crowd by singing into a bullhorn, and then the audience was sent home. Michael Paulson has the story, and we have video.
The eligibility deadline for the 2025 Tony Awards is this Sunday, which means this is a busy week for our critics. “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” opened last night, and Elisabeth Vincentelli wrote in her review that while the “occasionally breathtaking” production “fulfills its franchise requirements in terms of spectacular art direction” the show is a little less “satisfying as a piece of theater.”
Though “Floyd Collins” may be “structurally unruly,” Laura Collins-Hughes wrote in her review, the musical about a trapped cave explorer “reaches the sublime.” That’s partly because of the show’s star, Jeremy Jordan, who spoke to Elisabeth about the challenges of performing large sections of the show while lying down, almost immobile, on a sort of chaise longue. He told her that when you don’t have use of your hands and body, “you’re left with just the words and the emotion, just the song and the character and the music.”
Four more shows are scheduled to open this week: “Pirates! The Penzance Musical” (Thursday); “Just in Time” (Saturday); and, on Sunday, “Dead Outlaw” and “Real Women Have Curves.” Then next Thursday, Sarah Paulson and Wendell Pierce will announce the nominations on the Tony Awards official YouTube page. A handful of categories will be unveiled, starting at 8:30 a.m. on “CBS Mornings.” We’ll have more information on how to watch and what to look out for in next week’s newsletter.
Speaking of “Real Women Have Curves”: I found the title song to be a real earworm. Give it a listen here, and see the charming cast members performing the number on “Good Morning America.”
Please reach out to me 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 week,
Nicole Herrington
Theater Editor
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