Latest news with #TaylorStreetTheater
Time Out
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
San Francisco's hit Luigi Mangione musical could be coming to NYC and L.A.—here's what to know
A musical about murder, hash browns, and America's crumbling institutions? Welcome to Luigi: The Musical, the runaway San Francisco fringe hit that might just be singing and tap-dancing its way to New York and Los Angeles. After a sold-out run at the Taylor Street Theater and a larger move to The Independent, this surrealist prison satire—featuring Sean 'Diddy' Combs, Sam Bankman-Fried and alleged killer Luigi Mangione as cellmates—has become a cultural moment. And yes, it really includes a ballad about breakfast potatoes and a love story between Diddy and SBF. The show reimagines its infamous trio not just as inmates at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center (which they were in real life), but as symbolic pillars of a broken America: Hollywood, tech and healthcare. Created by four stand-up comics (Nova Bradford, Arielle Johnson, André Margatini and Caleb Zeringue), the show turns real-world headlines into a tap-heavy, morally ambiguous fever dream. There's even a number about Mangione being arrested after removing his mask to flirt with a hostel worker and buying McDonald's hash browns. Despite its absurdity, the musical is not just punching down. It satirizes celebrity crime obsession and the commodification of violence, asking pointed questions about public trust and the role of institutions. 'These three people represent these big pillars of institutions in society that are failing in their trust: health care, Hollywood and then Big Tech,' Zeringue told the San Francisco Chronicle. The creators are currently eyeing the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this August, with New York and L.A. productions in active discussion. While no dates have been confirmed, early buzz and interest from out-of-town producers suggest Luigi could find its way to bigger stages soon. Audiences have been packing the theater—sometimes standing along the walls—to watch Jonny Stein's heartthrob Luigi croon about martyrdom, back pain and bureaucracy. And while the Chronicle panned the show, that review is now baked into the script as a meta joke. 'I'm noticing people have different reactions based off of their own beliefs that they come in with, which I think is the sign of good art,' Zeringue said in an interview.
San Francisco Chronicle
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Sold-out musical about Luigi Mangione adds new S.F. date
San Francisco's sold-out musical about Luigi Mangione has extended its run due to popular demand. ' Luigi: The Musical,' inspired by the social media frenzy surrounding the 27-year-old suspect in the murder case of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has added a July 13 performance at the Independent. The music venue on Divisadaro Street has a capacity of 500, roughly five times that of the Taylor Street Theater, where the show premieres Friday, June 13. All five of the production's originally announced June performances at the Taylor Street Theater, the former Exit on Taylor in the Tenderloin, sold out more than a month ago. 'Luigi: The Musical' was developed by Nova Bradford, Arielle Johnson, André Margatini and Caleb Zeringue, and is staged in the style of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical 'Chicago.' The satirical show is set at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center and features Mangione alongside a fictional group of prison mates including Sean 'Diddy' Combs, whose sex trafficking and racketeering trial began last month, and fallen FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. 'Luigi the character, as we've written him, is dead serious about his thoughts and goals,' Johnson previously told the Chronicle. 'There's something campy about the whole 'good guy with a gun' premise.' As Johnson and his colleagues prepared for the stage production's June 13 premiere, the real Mangione pleaded not guilty to four federal charges against him for the murder of Thompson in December. He is next set to appear in court June 26. During the appearance, a trial date may be set. Mangione spent his 27th birthday last month at the Metropolitan Detention Center, where he has been held without bail since Dec. 19. To mark the occasion, he sent a list of 27 things he's grateful for to various people who have been writing him letters while he has been locked up. The list has since gone viral on social media and features entries such as 'memes' and 'Latinas for Mangione,' both nods to the internet discourse around his arrest. Mangione also revealed that around 30,000 people donated more than $1 million to his legal fund, and expressed gratitude for the various books and letters that he has received.
New York Post
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Luigi Mangione musical comedy set to premiere in San Francisco
Accused UnitedHealthcare CEO assassin Luigi Mangione will soon be the subject of his very own musical comedy in San Francisco. 'Luigi the Musical,' slated to debut at the Taylor Street Theater on June 13, promises a 'bold, campy and unafraid' take on the life and times of the alleged perpetrator of an assassination that captivated a nation. The official synopsis of the musical calls it, 'A wildly irreverent, razor-sharp comedy that imagines the true story of Luigi Mangione, the alleged corporate assassin turned accidental folk hero.' 3 Luigi Mangione appears at a hearing for the murder of UHC CEO Brian Thompson at Manhattan Criminal Court on February 21, 2025 in New York City. Getty Images 3 Surveillance footage outside the midtown Hilton Hotel shows suspect Luigi Mangione. Obtained by NY Post The summary continues, 'With real-life cellmates Sam Bankman-Fried and Diddy by his side, Luigi navigates friendship, justice, and the absurdity of viral fame.' The show bills itself as 'both laugh-out-loud funny and surprisingly thoughtful,' adding, 'if you like your comedy smart and your showtunes with a criminal record, Luigi is your new favorite felony.' 'Luigi' is the brainchild of songwriter Arielle Johnson and Director Nova Bradford, who said they drew inspiration from classic musical 'Chicago.' 3 Supporters of Luigi Mangione gather outside the federal courthouse in Manhattan on Friday, April 25, 2025. James Keivom Bradford sought to head off obvious criticism mining such macabre subject matter for a tongue-in-cheek musical in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. 'We're not valorizing any of these characters, and we're also not trivializing any of their actions or alleged actions,' she said. Mangione is currently on trial for allegedly murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50. Prosecutors have sought the death penalty, in what would be the first federal execution in Manhattan in 70 years.
