Broadway Musical Logos: 2025-2026 Season: Beaches

Broadway Musical Logos:

2025-2026 Season: 

Beaches

Sometimes, a show's logo hits all the right notes and still somehow missed the mark. Such is the case with the logo for Beaches. 

It is attractive enough. Blue skies, sunny yellow,and of course, a sandy seaside beach serve a straightforward sans serif all caps font in a pleasant orange. the most creative aspects of it is that the distant shoreline is blurred as if in a memory, and sunbeams peek out between the letters. Even the tagline, "A Love Story About Friendship" doesn't quite pack the wallop I'm sure the producers think it might.

The horizontal version of the key art offers a bit more, but it really only means something significant if you are familiar with the film version. The two young girls with their back to us are dressed in outfits not unlike those worn by the child versions of characters made famous by Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey. On the left is the red flapper dress worn by perpetual entertainer Cee Cee Bloom (the child played famously by a young Mayim Bialik), while on the right we have the sweetly prim Bertie in a dress to proper for the beach and pink ribbon in her hair.

Obviously, we are supposed to make the connection that this childhood friendship endures. I wonder why, for example, they didn't have the older adult versions of these characters on the other side of the logo? A lifelong love story about friendship, right?

Like I said, this is fine for what it is, and I imagine they'll make a killing on canvas beach bags/totes with that simple design printed on it. That's not enough if you ask me. It could have been so much more.

Grade: C

 

Friday 5: 5 Male Musical Performances to Look Forward To This Spring

Male Performances

to Look Forward to This Spring

The wonderful things about this list is that I didn't have to really stretch to pick 5. In fact, I narrowed the list down from 15! The 5 I settled on includes a full range - from a Broadway debut and a young actor growing up in front of our eyes to an emsemblist now in a featured roles and a long time favorite back after a few years. (And no worries, the ladies will get their due next week.) 

Max Clayton (Danny Bailey - Schmigadoon!)

In a cast list that reads like a who's who of current Broadway regulars, Max stands out to me as a performer I've enjoyed many times in terrific ensembles (Moulin Rouge!, Hello, Dolly!), and is now creating a supporting characters all his own. (We missed him when he went on for Hugh Jackman in The Music Man.) I wish him well, and look forward to watching him shine in a spotlight all his own.

Luke Evans (Frank-N-Furter - The Rocky Horror Show)

Ever since he wowed me as Gaston in the live action Beauty and the Beast, I've been hoping to see this guy on the Broadway stage. Wishes come true! As he dons the fishnets of the iconic transsexual from Transylvania, it'll be fun to see him be a little crazy and let loose - at least I hope he will. No matter how it turns out, it's such an honor to be there when a performer makes their Broadway debut.

Sydney James Harcourt (Rum Tum Tugger - Cats: The Jellicle Ball)

Somehow, despite his being in a couple of Broadway's biggest shows - Hamilton, American Idiot - we have missed him. And now I'm extra excited to see him play one of mega musical's most iconic roles in a way it has never been played before. I know I'm not alone in being thrilled to see this curious cat strut his stuff!

Benjamin Pajak (Sam Emerson - The Lost Boys)

Every few years, a young kid really dazzles in their Broadway debut, as this young man did in The Music Man. He was natural and wonderfully endearing. And now, he's in a teen-angsty role in a teen-angsty horror musical. I'm guessing it's a far cry from River City! But the real excitement is watching him grow up before our eyes. Like Nicholas Barasch before him, Benjamin Pajak is on his way!

John Riddle (Cal Hockley - Titanique)

I've been smitten with this guy since the first time I saw him as Young Anton in The Visit. He has a variety of talents from leading man suavity and cruel villainy to male ingenue and what I hope will be a silliness that not only sends up the Titanic film villain as well as a send up of the roles he's famous for playing! Plus, he's so darned handsome!

The JKTS Fan Playlist 22-23 Season: Round 4: KPOP, A Beautiful Noise, and Some Like It Hot

The JKTS Fan Playlist 22-23 Season:

Round 4: KPOP, A Beautiful Noise

and Some Like It Hot

Each week, we'll create a survey of all the songs from 3 or 4 shows, and you'll select your 3 favorites from each show (only 3, please!). At the end of the week, we'll tally your choices and the top three from each show will go on to the next round, and so on until we've created a Fan Favorite "Playlist" of one song from each show. 

Up first is the 2022-2023 season, which had 6 musical revivals and 9 new musicals. The next 3 new musicals that opened that season, KPOP, A Beautiful Noise and Some Like It Hot are on this week's survey. 

• Complete the survey by selecting up to three songs from each show. When you are done, you must tap the SUBMIT button for it to count.
• PLEASE NOTE: It may ask you for an email address to verify you are a real person, but it is NOT collecting your data
• If you would rather, you can email us: jktheatrescene@yahoo.com. Put Playlist Round 3 in the subject line. Then name the show and each of your choices.


Have fun and thank you for playing!

Broadway Musical Logos: 2025-2026 Season: Titanique

Broadway Musical Logos:

2025-2026 Season: 

Titaníque

I always love it when a show's key art really reflects what the show is about and has a matching tone to the piece itself. As advertising, the public will really know what it is getting. As Broadway logo art, it gives those of us obsessed with such things plenty to chew on. Such is the case with the logo work for Titanique.

Everything about this says, "parody" and "fun," even if you do need some knowledge of the musical to fully get it. Once you know that woman is playing Celine Dion, you really get it. That smug, cocky grin is quintessential Celine. But lest you think this is a rehash of the blockbuster film as told by the Vegas entertainer that dominates the key art, you only need to look at two things. One, she is bursting through the iconic movie poster, with just enough Kate and Leo still in sight. And two, she's wearing a gold sequinned gown and holding a microphone. She did not book passage on the ill-fated love boat.

Then there are the two taglines. The top one addresses both the homage to the film and the identity of the woman to the left. And it is a cheeky play on words! And the second, more traditional tagline very effectively sends up that tradition and plays off the spray of a ship hitting an iceberg and the play on a jazzed up event. Has the word "splash" ever done that much work before?

Another iteration of this horizontal show art wisely plays up the names that they have assembled for this romp. Here again, it works in a twofold fashion. First, after its long off-Broadway run, theater goers in the know will want to know why they should spend Broadway level money on something they saw much cheaper last year. Second, and maybe more importantly, to grab the tourists (and to justify Broadway prices), they need famous names. Plus, the logo geek in me loves that they are in golden ovals, reminiscent of turn of the last century portraits.

Finally, the icing on the cake for me is the terrific choice of title font, slightly upgraded for its Main Stem sailing. Is it the rivets holding the letters together better than the real ship's bolts did? Is it the jaunty nod the Dion's French-ness with the accent over the second "i"? Or is it the fabulous gold the forces the letters into 3D? I'm going to say it's all three!

This is one clever piece of key art. I hope my maiden voyage on the Titanique is as enjoyable later this spring.

Grade: A+

Broadway Game: Musicals Connected

This season's final shows are gearing up to start performances in the coming weeks. When all is said and done, there will be 12 musicals that have opened during the 2025-2026 season, 6 new musicals and 6 musical revivals. What's cool is that each of them has at least one connection to another. Talk about one degree of separation!

Broadway Games:

Musicals Connected

How are each pair connected to each other?

 

1. The Lost Boys/The Rocky Horror Show

    a. Both feature a rock group as central characters

    b. Both feature an actor in a leading role that is making their Broadway debut

    c. Both have or are playing the Palace Theatre

    d. All of the above

 

2. Mamma Mia!/Beetlejuice

    a. Both shows have at some point played the Winter Garden Theatre

    b. Both shows were on Broadway as part of their National Tours

    c. Both shows include jukebox songs in their scores

    d. All of the above

3. Beaches/The Queen of Versailles

    a. Both have jukebox songs as part of their scores

    b. Both have the same orchestrator

    c. Both feature writing teams that include the authors of their source material

    d. None of the above

4. Schmigadoon!/Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

    a. Both feature book writers making their Broadway debut, but not the composer/lyricists

    b. Both feature composer/lyricists making their Broadway debut, but not the book writer

    c. Both shows feature a book writer and composer/lyricist making their Broadway debut

    d. None of the above

5. Chess/Titanique

    a. Both shows feature songs that were Billboard Chart pop hits

    b. Both shows have no credited book writer

    c. Both shows feature at least one principal actor that has won a Tony Award

    d. All of the above

6. Cats: The Jellicle Ball/Ragtime

    a. Both have cast members who appeared in the original Broadway cast

    b. Both shows feature the same scenic designer

    c. Both shows are currently on their second Broadway revival

    d. None of the above

The JKTS Fan Playlist 22-23 Season: Round 3: Almost Famous, Kimberly Akimbo, & Juliet

The JKTS Fan Playlist 22-23 Season:

Round 3: Almost Famous,

Kimberly Akimbo, & Juliet

Each week, we'll create a survey of all the songs from 3 or 4 shows, and you'll select your 3 favorites from each show (only 3, please!). At the end of the week, we'll tally your choices and the top three from each show will go on to the next round, and so on until we've created a Fan Favorite "Playlist" of one song from each show. 

Up first is the 2022-2023 season, which had 6 musical revivals and 9 new musicals. The first 3 new musicals that opened that season, Almost Famous, Kimberly Akimbo and & Juliet are on this week's survey. 

• Complete the survey by selecting up to three songs from each show. When you are done, you must tap the SUBMIT button for it to count.
• PLEASE NOTE: It may ask you for an email address to verify you are a real person, but it is NOT collecting your data.
• If you would rather, you can email us: jktheatrescene@yahoo.com. Put Playlist Round 3 in the subject line. Then name the show and each of your choices.

Have fun and thank you for playing!

Broadway Musical Logos: 2025-2026 Season: Cats: The Jellicle Ball

Broadway Musical Logos:

2025-2026 Season: 

Cats: The Jellicle Ball

It surprises me, pleasantly, that the logo for Cats: The Jellicle Ball is my favorite so far this season. That surprise comes due to how much I loved the original, iconic logo with its yellow dancer eyes and its simple, evocative font. So why do I love this one nearly as much?

First of all, I love how it plays homage to the original. It is primarily black and its featured image is as synonymous with this iteration of the show as the cat-like dancers were with the original. I also appreciate the similar austerity of the font used here, that resembles the kind of lettering that might be used on a flyer for a drag ball. 

I absolutely love the central image - a cat shaped mirror ball! Clever and perfect for a drag ball gathering of the Jellicles. And I can't be alone in hoping that I can buy one at the show's merch Booth, can I?

It meets all of the criteria for a successful show logo: it is eye-catching bright yellow on black (and the opposite) which will immediately draw the eye. Further it is simple and easy to get in a simple, quick glance. Everything you need to know and will likely remember in mere seconds. And the iconography is fun, stylish and memorable (no pun intended).

As a theater lover, I also appreciate how it is both respectful of its roots, but makes its own statement. And I'm not just talking about the title change. The original off-Broadway key art was, I think too close to the original, and leaving one to think it might just be an esoteric overlay of a concept on what is essentially the same show. Only after seeing it, and coupled with extremely positive word of mouth would one think you weren't seeing a rehash of the 80s mega-musical.

Subsequent iterations of the new logo have only enhanced and verified my initial take on it. Now, some of the advertising features a switch of colors - a bright yellow background with black titling. Still other key art shows dancers in poses representative of the ball culture: runway, realness, face, body and Vogue. Even the tilted cat mirror ball suggests that this will set the Cats we think we know on its ear.

Still further versions get even more clever - a simple "Meow" suggests a fun cattiness (pun intended), and the fan is a standard prop at these types of events. Plus, it's fun that they brought back the eyes. I love them all!

Finally, it all comes together, as it should on the marquee of the Broadhurst Theatre.

I must admit that my take on all of this is greatly informed by my recent viewing of the documentary Paris Is Burning which takes a deep dive into the drag ball culture from its roots right up until its release in 1990. It provided me with a new knowledge and understanding that will certainly help me enjoy the revival of Cats even more. If you get the chance to see the film do it.

Grade: A+