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Tony Award Winner Idina Menzel to Return Off-Broadway in the World Premiere of Skintight
Tony Award Winner IDINA MENZEL
to return Off-Broadway in the world premiere of
SKINTIGHT
By JOSHUA HARMON
Directed by DANIEL AUKIN
Performances begin May 31, 2018
Official opening June 21, 2018
Limited engagement through August 26, 2018
Off-Broadway at the Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre
Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director/CEO) is thrilled to announce Tony Award winner Idina Menzel as “Jodi Isaac” in the world-premiere production of SKINTIGHT, by Roundabout Underground alumnus Joshua Harmon (Bad Jews, Significant Other), with direction by three-time Obie Award winner Daniel Aukin (Bad Jews). Skintight is Harmon’s Roundabout Underground commission. As part of Roundabout’s commitment to foster the talent of emerging writers, each Underground playwright is commissioned to write a new play before their Underground play is produced.
Skintight will begin preview performances Off-Broadway on May 31, 2018, and open officially on June 21, 2018 at the Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre (111 West 46th Street). This will be a limited engagement through August 26, 2018.
Tony Award winner Idina Menzel returns to the New York theater stage in May 2018, following her Tony nominated performance in If/Then. Menzel makes her Roundabout Theatre Company debut in Skintight; she has been a part of the development process with playwright Joshua Harmon since the first reading in January 2015.
Roundabout reunites writer Joshua Harmon (Bad Jews, Significant Other) and director Daniel Aukin (Bad Jews) for Skintight, a scorching examination of beauty, youth and sex. Reeling from her ex-husband’s engagement to a much younger woman, Jodi Isaac (Menzel) turns to her famous fashion-designer dad for support. Instead, she finds him wrapped up in his West Village townhouse with Trey. Who’s 20. And not necessarily gay. But probably an adult film star. At least, according to Jodi’s son. Who’s also 20. And definitely gay. Skintight assays the nature of love, the power of attraction, and the ways in which a superficial culture persists in teaching its children that all that matters is what’s on the inside.
Playwright Joshua Harmon’s professional debut with the critically acclaimed world premiere of Bad Jews in 2012 was the first Underground play to transfer to the Laura Pels Theatre. Following a sold-out run Off-Broadway, Bad Jews became the third most produced and licensed play in the country and has been performed all over the world, including Germany, Israel and the West End. Harmon’s play Significant Other premiered at the Laura Pels Theatre in 2015, and was the second play by an Underground playwright to transfer to Broadway, following Stephen Karam’s Tony Award-winning play, The Humans, last season.
Joshua Harmon’s Skintight was developed at Roundabout with support from the Laurents/Hatcher Foundation.
Skintight is a recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award.
TICKET INFORMATION:
Tickets for Skintight are first made available to subscribers and donors. Whether you are interested in the best value or VIP experiences, Roundabout has a package option for you. Visit roundabouttheatre.org or call 212-719-1300 for more info. Sign up for Roundabout’s email club at roundabouttheatre.org to be notified when tickets go on sale to the public.
ABOUT THE NEW PLAY INITIATIVE
Through the New Play Initiative, Roundabout proves its devotion to the development and production of new works by significant writers and artists. The Roundabout Underground program in particular, provides substantial artistic and financial resources to emerging playwrights to stage their debut productions in New York and on Roundabout’s stages. In addition to producing their first play, writers receive a commission for a future play, showing a level of commitment to writers’ careers and the future of theatre in New York that is unparalleled. The New Play Initiative has discovered and brought audiences some of the most important new voices in theatre and is dedicated to creating a diverse canon for the future of theatre. To learn more about Roundabout’s commitment to the development of new work, visit New Play Initiative.
Roundabout’s work with new and emerging playwrights and directors, as well as development of new work, is made possible by Katheryn Patterson and Tom Kempner.
We gratefully acknowledge the Roundabout Leaders for New Works: Alec Baldwin, James Costa and John Archibald, Linda L. D’Onofrio, Peggy and Mark Ellis, Jodi Glucksman, Sylvia Golden, Hess Foundation, Inc., Judith and Douglas Krupp, K. Myers, Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater, Laura S. Rodgers, Seedlings Foundation, Mary Solomon, Lauren and Danny Stein, Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Dr. Leonard Tow, and Lori Uddenberg.
BIOS:
IDINA MENZEL (Jodi Isaac). Tony Award-winning icon Idina Menzel has a diverse career that traverses stage, film, television and music. Menzel’s voice can be heard as Elsa in Disney’s global box office smash FROZEN, in which she sings the film’s Oscar-winning song “Let It Go,” and in the follow-up short, FROZEN FEVER. After Menzel’s performance of the multi-platinum song at the 86th annual Academy Awards, she made history as the first person with both a Billboard Top 10 hit and a Tony Award for acting. Menzel capped 2016 with the release of her fifth solo studio album idina. She was most recently seen in Lifetime’s remake of Beaches, which premiered January 2017, in which she portrays the role of ‘CC,’ made famous by Bette Midler. Garnering huge critical acclaim, Menzel reached superstardom on Broadway with her Tony Award-winning performance as ‘Elphaba,’ the misunderstood green girl in the blockbuster WICKED, and in her Tony-nominated role as ‘Maureen’ in the Pulitzer Prize winning RENT. Menzel’s most recent Broadway role as ‘Elizabeth’ in the original production IF/THEN earned her a third Tony nomination. Other notable projects include Glee and Disney’s Enchanted. In addition to cast albums, Menzel’s prolific recording career includes the solo albums I Stand, Here and Still I Can’t Be Still. Her first-ever Christmas album Holiday Wishes, released October 2014 on Warner Bros. Records, debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Holiday Albums chart, broke into the top 10 on Billboard Top 200 Album Chart and received rave reviews. Menzel received the Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award at Billboard’s annual Women in Music event the same year. Philanthropy is also important to Menzel, who co-founded the A BroaderWay Foundation in 2010. This organization is dedicated to offering girls from underserved communities an outlet for self-expression and creativity through arts-centered programs. The emphasis is on building self-esteem, developing leadership qualities and striving for personal and social achievement. In 2014, Menzel was recognized as one of Variety Magazine’s Power of Women honorees for her work with the organization. For more information on A BroaderWay, visit abroaderway.org. For more information, please visit idinamenzel.com.
JOSHUA HARMON (Playwright) made his Broadway debut this season with his play Significant Other, following its world premiere at Roundabout in June 2015. His play Bad Jews had its world premiere at Roundabout Underground, was the first play to transfer to the Roundabout's Laura Pels Theatre, and has since become one of the most produced plays in the United States. International productions include Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel, South Africa and London's West End, following sell-out runs at Theatre Royal Bath and the St. James. Fellowships from MacDowell, Atlantic Center for the Arts and NNPN. He is a graduate of Juilliard and under commission from Roundabout, Manhattan Theatre Club, and Lincoln Center Theater.
DANIEL AUKIN (Director). Daniel Aukin’s recent work includes Dan Lefranc's Rancho Viejo, the Broadway revival of Sam Shepard's Fool for Love (MTC), Melissa James Gibson’s Placebo (Playwrights’ Horizons), The Fortress of Solitude (Dallas Theater Center & The Public Theatre), Joshua Harmon’s Bad Jews (Roundabout), Melissa James Gibson’s What Rhymes With America (The Atlantic), Sam Shepard’s Heartless (Signature), Amy Herzog’s 4000 Miles (Lincoln Center Theatre), Marius von Mayenburg’s The Ugly One (Soho Rep), Itamar Moses’ Back Back Back (MTC), Arthur Miller’s A View From The Bridge (Arena Stage) and Elmer Rice’s The Adding Machine (La Jolla Playhouse). As Artistic Director of Soho Rep (1998-2006) premieres of new work include Mark Schultz’s Everything Will Be Different, Melissa James Gibson’s Suitcase and [sic], Mac Wellman’s Cat’s-Paw, Quincy Long’s The Year Of The Baby and Maria Irene Fornes’ Molly’s Dream.
The Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre opened in March 2004 with an acclaimed premiere of Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel starring Viola Davis, directed by Dan Sullivan. In the ten years since that landmark production, the center has expanded beyond the Laura Pels Theatre to include the Black Box Theatre and now a new education center. The Steinberg Center continues to reflect Roundabout’s commitment to produce new works by established and emerging writers as well as revivals of classic plays. This state-of-the-art off-Broadway theatre and education complex is made possible by a major gift from The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust. The Trust was created in 1986 by Harold Steinberg to promote and advance American Theatre as a vital part of our culture by supporting playwrights, encouraging the development and production of new work, and providing financial assistance to not-for-profit theatre companies across the country. Since its inception, the Trust has awarded over $70 million to more than 125 theatre organizations.
Roundabout Theatre Company is committed to producing the highest quality theatre with the finest artists, sharing stories that endure, and providing accessibility to all audiences. A not-for-profit company, Roundabout fulfills its mission each season through the production of classic plays and musicals; development and production of new works by established and emerging writers; educational initiatives that enrich the lives of children and adults; and a subscription model and audience outreach programs that cultivate and engage all audiences.
Roundabout Theatre Company presents a variety of plays, musicals, and new works on its five stages, each of which is specifically designed to enhance the needs of Roundabout’s mission. Off-Broadway, the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, which houses the Laura Pels Theatre and Black Box Theatre, with its simple sophisticated design, is perfectly suited to showcasing new plays. The grandeur of its Broadway home on 42nd Street, American Airlines Theatre, sets the ideal stage for the classics. Roundabout’s Studio 54 provides an exciting and intimate Broadway venue for its musical and special event productions. The Stephen Sondheim Theatre offers a state of the art LEED certified Broadway theatre in which to stage major large-scale musical revivals. Together these distinctive homes serve to enhance Roundabout’s work on each of its stages.
American Airlines is the official airline of Roundabout Theatre Company. Roundabout productions are supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
Roundabout’s season in 2017 includes Marvin’s Room by Scott McPherson, directed by Anne Kauffman; Napoli, Brooklyn by Meghan Kennedy, directed by Gordon Edelstein; and the national tour of Sam Mendes & Rob Marshall’s Tony Award-winning production of Cabaret.
Roundabout’s new off-Broadway season dedicated to new work at the Harold & Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre in 2017-2018 will include The Last Match, by Anna Ziegler, directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch; Amy and the Orphans, by Lindsey Ferrentino, directed by Scott Ellis; Skintight, by Joshua Harmon, directed by Daniel Aukin.
Roundabout Underground’s 2017-2018 season will include Too Heavy for your Pocket, by Jiréh Breon Holder.
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