NextFallBroadway.com

Thu 5 Nov 2009 
Next Fall: original cast will return for Broadway run
The critically acclaimed original cast will return for the Broadway run of Next Fall, the new American play by Geoffrey Nauffts and directed by Sheryl Kaller. The production will open at Broadway's Helen Hayes Theatre on 11 Mar 2010, following previews from 16 Feb.

Next Fall stars Patrick Breen as 'Adam,' Maddie Corman as 'Holly,' Sean Dugan as 'Brandon,' Patrick Heusinger as 'Luke,' Connie Ray as 'Arlene' and Cotter Smith as 'Butch.'

Next Fall had its world premiere in a Naked Angels production, opening to critical acclaim on 3 Jun 2009 at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater. The production played a sold-out run off-Broadway, extending three times, and played through to 8 Aug 2009.

Next Fall takes a witty and provocative look at faith, commitment and unconditional love. While the play’s central story focuses on the 5-year relationship between Adam and Luke, Next Fall goes beyond a typical love story and forces us to examine what it means to “believe” and what it might cost us not to.

The play opened to mostly excellent reviews: "Nauffts’ emergency bell is a clarion call: strap on your seatbelt, remember to bring your heart, and get here as fast as you can. This one is a shining star" (newyorktheatreguide.com); "stinging breeziness of a cosmopolitan comedy." (NYTimes); "surprisingly hilarious" (NY Post); "thoroughly captures the attention." (Back Stage); "potent piece of political theater" (Variety).

The production is being produced on Broadway by Barbara Manocherian, Richard Willis and Anthony Barrile in association with Naked Angels (Geoffrey Nauffts, Artistic Director; John Alexander, Managing Director; Andy Donald, Associate Artistic Director; Brittany O’Neill, Producer).

Tickets go on sale to the general public on 16 Nov 2009. More information will be announced soon.

 

Mother’s Next Act: Broadway
By Lisa Belkin
March 2, 2010 3:00 pm

Yana Paskova for The New York Times Maddie Corman in a dressing room at the Helen Hayes Theater

Any mother struggling to create a second act after the children have grown will be inspired by Susan Dominus’s Big City column today. It is about Maddie Corman, a Westchester mom of three, who watched her dreams of stardom recede during the decade she spent at home with her children. (Full disclosure: like Dominus, I know Corman from the neighborhood.)

She is about to open on Broadway, at the Helen Hayes Theater, in the drama “Next Fall.” No, she is not your typical struggling actress — her husband is a director and her mother-in-law is a star. But pesky details aside, there is affirmation in her minivan-to-marquee tale, unlikely as it might be for the average stay-at-home mother. As Dominus writes:

    In a business in which women are widely considered cooked if they have not made it by 25, at a moment when so many women are trying desperately, and too often failing, to return to work after taking time off to raise children, Maddie Corman’s star turn is an anomaly worth noting — impractical as inspiration goes, but cheering nonetheless.

    Parenting has indeed helped her acting, said Corman, who is now 40 (and who, by the way, deserves celebration as an actor if only because she gives her age freely). “I’m so tired all the time that I think it makes me open and vulnerable to more emotions,” she said. “I have three kids. Someone has a nightmare, or someone’s throwing up, or someone fell out of bed.”

 

NEXT FALL Plays Final Week of Performances, Closes 7/4
by BWW News Desk Jun. 28, 2010  
The Tony-nominated Best Play NEXT FALL, presented by Elton John & David Furnish, written by Geoffrey Nauffts and directed by Tony nominee Sheryl Kaller, will play its final eight performances this week at Broadway's Helen Hayes Theatre (240 West 44th Street). The production will close after the 3:00 PM matinee on Sunday, July 4, 2010 after 26 previews and 132 regular performances.

NEXT FALL opened on Broadway on March 11, 2010 to unanimous critical acclaim:

"The FUNNIEST HEARTBREAKER IN TOWN! NEXT FALL embodies something theatergoers have been sorely missing, perhaps without knowing it, for years. A SMART, SENSITIVE, IMMENSELY APPEALING and utterly contemporary New York comedy." -New York Times. "FIVE STARS. THE BEST NEW AMERICAN PLAY OF THE BROADWAY SEASON, NEXT FALL leaves you thinking about rapture and rupture. If you go, which you should, be prepared to laugh some, perhaps to cry some, and then to rise in appreciation." -Time Out New York. "COMPASSIONATE, LAUGH-FILLED and ENORMOUSLY ENTERTAINING. Geoffrey Nauffts invests the play with a generosity that doesn't prejudge, embracing both the virtues and foibles of his characters. And that inclusion makes NEXT FALL an even richer experience." -Associated Press. "A DARING NEW DRAMA." -Entertainment Weekly. "DEEPLY MOVING AND SURPRISINGLY FUNNY. Geoffrey Nauffts reveals a talent for sharp comic dialogue. He draws all his characters with surprising depth." -Hollywood Reporter.

NEXT FALL had its world premiere in a Naked Angels production, opening to critical acclaim on Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater and played a sold-out run off-Broadway through August 8, 2009. NEXT FALL transferred to Broadway and opened on March 11, 2010 at the Helen Hayes Theatre. The play was nominated for Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Awards for Best New Play. Director Sheryl Kaller received a Tony nomination for Best Director, and Sean Dugan was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Best Featured Actor. Geoffrey Nauffts received the 2010 Outer Critics Circle's John Gassner Award for his writing achievement.

NEXT FALL stars Patrick Breen as Adam, Maddie Corman as Holly, Sean Dugan as Brandon, Patrick Heusinger as Luke, Connie Ray as Arlene and Cotter Smith as Butch.

The creative team for NEXT FALL includes Wilson Chin (Set Design), Jeff Croiter (Lighting Design), John Gromada (Sound Design) and Jess Goldstein (Costume Design).

NEXT FALL is produced on Broadway by Elton John and David Furnish, Barbara Manocherian, Richard Willis, Tom Smedes, Carole L. Haber/Chase Mishkin Ostar, Anthony Barrile, Michael Palitz, Bob Boyett, James Spry/Catherine Schreiber, Probo Productions, Roy Furman in association with Naked Angels (Geoffrey Nauffts, Artistic Director; John Alexander, Managing Director; Andy Donald, Associate Artistic Director; Brittany O'Neill, Producer). Susan Mindell is the Executive Producer.

Geoffrey Nauffts' NEXT FALL takes a witty and provocative look at faith, commitment and unconditional love. While the play's central story focuses on the 5-year relationship between Adam and Luke, NEXT FALL goes beyond a typical love story. This timely and compelling new American play forces us all to examine what it means to "believe" and what it might cost us not to.

Next Fall, With Julie White, Patrick Breen, Patrick Heusinger and Maddie Corman, Begins in L.A.
By Adam Hetrick
Jan 19, 2012
The L.A. Theatre Works production of Geoffrey Nauffts' Tony Award-nominated play Next Fall, starring Tony Award winner Julie White and members of the original Broadway cast, begins performances Jan. 19.

Original New York cast members Patrick Breen, Patrick Heusinger and Maddie Corman reunite for the Los Angeles staging that is directed by Bart DeLorenzo. Performances continue through Jan. 22 at UCLA's James Bridges Theater.

Breen (The Normal Heart) plays Adam, opposite Heusinger as his partner Luke. Corman portrays best gal-pal Holly. Breen, Heusinger and Corman were all part of the 2009 Off-Broadway world premiere of Next Fall and repeated their work uptown when the play transferred to Broadway in 2010. It received a 2010 Tony Award nomination for Best Play.

They are joined by Tony winner White (The Little Dog Laughed, The Understudy) as Luke's mother, Arlene, Sam McMurray ("State of the Nation," "Christmas Vacation") as Butch and Jeremy Webb (The Visit, The Glorious Ones) as Brandon.

Here's how LATW bills Next Fall: "Two men in love, two parents in denial, and two friends on speed dial. Luke believes in God, while Adam believes in everything else. When an accident changes everything, Adam must turn to Luke's family and friends for support… and answers."

All LATW performances are recorded and broadcast on LATW's nationally syndicated radio theatre series, "The Play's the Thing." For more information visit latw.org. The James Bridges Theater is located in Melnitz Hall at 235 Charles E. Young Dr., Los Angeles, CA.

 

More Background On NextFallBroadway.com

NextFallBroadway.com is closely associated with Next Fall, Geoffrey Nauffts’ acclaimed American play about love, faith, sexuality, family, and the difficult compromises people make when their deepest beliefs collide. The website identifies itself as the official website for the Tony Award-nominated 2010 Broadway production and preserves material from the production’s original online presence along with reviews, news coverage, cast biographies, and other historical information.

The site is therefore best understood today not simply as a promotional website for a closed Broadway production, but as an online archive of a particularly notable moment in contemporary American theater. Next Fall began as a small Off-Broadway production, became a sold-out critical success, transferred to Broadway, attracted Elton John and David Furnish as producers, earned major theater-award nominations, and generated considerable discussion about religion and gay relationships.

The Broadway production was comparatively short-lived, but its critical and cultural impact exceeded what its box-office numbers might suggest.

What Was NextFallBroadway.com?

NextFallBroadway.com served as the web presence for the Broadway production of Next Fall. The preserved site describes the production as the 2010 Tony Award-nominated Broadway staging of Nauffts’ play.

Its content was typical of a Broadway production website of the period. Visitors could learn about the story, read press notices, follow news about the production, and become familiar with the actors, playwright, director, designers, producers, and theatrical organizations behind the show.

Today, the site's value is different. Because the Broadway production closed in 2010, NextFallBroadway.com functions primarily as a historical resource. Its surviving material provides a snapshot of how Next Fall was presented to theatergoers and the press during its original New York success.

The site also helps preserve the broader story of a play that progressed through the theatrical development system rather than arriving on Broadway as an established commercial property.

What Is Next Fall About?

At the center of Next Fall are Adam and Luke, two men who have been together for approximately five years.

They love each other, but they have a profound disagreement: Luke is a committed Christian, while Adam is an atheist. Their opposing beliefs create both comic friction and serious emotional problems.

The situation becomes dramatically urgent when Luke is critically injured. Adam finds himself in a hospital waiting room alongside Luke's family and friends, including people who do not fully understand—or in some cases do not even acknowledge—the nature of Adam and Luke's relationship.

The play moves between the hospital crisis and scenes from the couple's previous five years together. Through those flashbacks, the audience sees not only why Adam and Luke love one another but also the unresolved questions beneath their relationship.

Luke's Christianity is not merely a superficial character trait. His faith shapes his ideas about sexuality, death, salvation, family, and what happens after life. Adam's skepticism is equally fundamental to his worldview.

That gives the play an unusually difficult central question: What happens when two people deeply love each other but hold fundamentally incompatible beliefs about existence itself?

Broadway.com describes the work as a nontraditional love story in which the couple's continuing conflict over faith assumes new importance after tragedy strikes. The drama then forces Adam to confront questions of belief both in his relationship and in the larger universe.

From Naked Angels to Off-Broadway Success

The history of Next Fall is closely connected to Naked Angels, the New York theater company founded in 1986 to develop and produce new theatrical voices.

Nauffts was not simply a playwright submitting a finished script to the organization. He had a longstanding relationship with Naked Angels and eventually became its artistic director. The play developed through the company's programs for nurturing new work.

That history is important because Next Fall became an example of the development process functioning exactly as intended: a new American play grew through workshops and development into a full production and eventually reached Broadway.

The world premiere was produced by Naked Angels at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater. It opened on June 3, 2009.

Audience response was remarkable for a new straight play without major celebrity stars. The Off-Broadway engagement sold out, received three extensions, and ultimately continued through August 8, 2009. Contemporary reports confirm both the sellout and the multiple extensions.

Critical enthusiasm helped transform the production from a small theatrical success into a potential Broadway property. The New York Times, Time Out New York, Variety, the New York Daily News and other publications reviewed the show, with several critics singling it out as one of the most interesting new American plays of the season.

The decision was eventually made to move the production uptown.

The Broadway Transfer

Rather than recasting the show with more commercially recognizable performers, the Broadway production retained the original ensemble.

Previews began February 16, 2010, at the Helen Hayes Theatre, and Next Fall officially opened March 11.

The Broadway cast consisted of Patrick Breen as Adam, Patrick Heusinger as Luke, Maddie Corman as Holly, Sean Dugan as Brandon, Connie Ray as Arlene, and Cotter Smith as Butch.

Sheryl Kaller, who had directed the Off-Broadway production, remained with the show for Broadway.

The continuity mattered. Next Fall depended heavily on the relationships among its six characters, and the actors had already developed those relationships during the original run.

The creative team included Wilson Chin for scenic design, Jess Goldstein for costumes, Jeff Croiter for lighting, and John Gromada for sound and original music.

The Helen Hayes Theatre and Broadway Location

The Broadway home of Next Fall was the Helen Hayes Theatre at 240 West 44th Street in Manhattan's Theater District.

Its location placed the production in the heart of Broadway, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue and within easy walking distance of Times Square. The theater is surrounded by many of New York's best-known Broadway houses, restaurants, hotels, and tourist destinations.

The relatively intimate scale of the Helen Hayes also suited a play built around conversation rather than spectacle. Contemporary ticket information listed a running time of approximately two hours and 20 minutes including intermission, with standard orchestra and premium ticket categories.

The theater's modest size, however, did not automatically make the economics easy. Even critically acclaimed plays must sustain enough paid attendance to cover Broadway operating costs.

That ultimately became Next Fall's biggest problem.

Elton John and David Furnish Join the Production

One of the most publicized developments surrounding the Broadway transfer occurred shortly before previews.

Elton John and David Furnish joined the producing team.

Their involvement significantly increased the show's media visibility. John was already a major Broadway figure through projects including The Lion King, Aida, and Billy Elliot, but Next Fall represented something different: a contemporary dramatic play rather than a musical.

John and Furnish said that seeing the work inspired them to become involved and described it as timely and extraordinary.

Their names also had cultural resonance given the play's subject. A drama centered on a gay couple wrestling with Christianity, family acceptance, and commitment was arriving on Broadway at a time when same-sex marriage remained one of America's major political and cultural debates.

The Broadway producing group extended well beyond John and Furnish. Producers included Barbara Manocherian, Richard Willis, Tom Smedes, Carole L. Haber/Chase Mishkin Ostar, Anthony Barrile, Michael Palitz, Bob Boyett, James Spry/Catherine Schreiber, Probo Productions, and Roy Furman, in association with Naked Angels. Susan Mindell served as executive producer.

This was therefore not a website or production "owned" in the simple sense by Elton John. NextFallBroadway.com represented a commercial Broadway production supported by a substantial group of theatrical producers and organizations.

Critical Reception

Critical response was one of Next Fall's greatest strengths.

Ben Brantley of The New York Times praised the work as a smart and contemporary New York comedy and highlighted the combination of humor and emotional seriousness. Time Out New York was exceptionally enthusiastic, describing it as the season's best new play. The Associated Press praised Nauffts' refusal to reduce the conflict to easy moral answers.

Broadway.com's surviving review material similarly records praise from The New York Times, Time Out New York, the Associated Press and Variety.

Not everyone responded as enthusiastically. Some critics thought the play's construction was overly calculated or questioned whether its treatment of religion and sexuality went deeply enough. TheaterMania, for example, praised the Broadway production and direction while finding aspects of the script frustrating and superficial.

That disagreement is revealing. Next Fall was not simply a sentimental relationship drama. Critics were debating whether its theological and cultural arguments worked, which was precisely the territory Nauffts wanted audiences to confront.

The comedy was essential to that strategy. Characters frequently joke, argue and interrupt one another in recognizable ways before the play moves into much heavier territory. The humor prevents the religious discussion from becoming a lecture.

Awards and Nominations

The Broadway transfer brought Next Fall substantial awards recognition.

At the 2010 Tony Awards, the production was nominated for Best Play and Sheryl Kaller was nominated for Best Direction of a Play.

The Drama Desk Awards nominated the play for Outstanding Play and Sean Dugan for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. It also received recognition from the Drama League and Outer Critics Circle.

Most significantly, Geoffrey Nauffts won the Outer Critics Circle's John Gassner Award, an honor presented for an American play, preferably by a new playwright.

Next Fall was also nominated at the 21st GLAAD Media Awards in the Outstanding New York Theater: Broadway & Off-Broadway category. Its fellow nominees included works by Colman Domingo, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Qui Nguyen, and Jon Marans.

That GLAAD nomination underscores the show's significance beyond conventional Broadway awards. It was being recognized as part of the expanding representation of LGBTQ+ lives in mainstream American theater.

Popularity Versus Commercial Performance

One of the most interesting aspects of Next Fall is the contrast between critical popularity and commercial performance.

The Off-Broadway production had sold out and extended three times. Broadway was different.

BroadwayWorld's historical grosses show total Broadway ticket sales of approximately $3.06 million and attendance of 57,552. Across the run, the production played to an average of about 61.9 percent capacity, with an average paid ticket of roughly $54.

Some weeks were especially difficult. During the week ending May 30, attendance fell to 2,322, representing less than half of available capacity. Even after Tony nominations were announced, the production remained among Broadway's lower-grossing shows.

The final week demonstrated that interest still existed: attendance jumped to 4,247 and approximately 90 percent of capacity, producing the show's highest weekly gross of $257,274.

But that late surge could not rescue the production financially.

Broadway.com reported that the Broadway engagement lost its approximately $2 million capitalization.

The show closed July 4, 2010, after 26 previews and 132 regular performances.

Its history therefore illustrates a persistent Broadway problem: critical acclaim, awards recognition, celebrity producers, and strong word of mouth do not necessarily make a serious play commercially sustainable.

The Audience for Next Fall

Although Next Fall naturally attracted LGBTQ+ theatergoers, describing it simply as a "gay play" misses much of its appeal.

Its subjects include aging, parental expectations, religious belief, grief, mortality, honesty, commitment, and the compromises required by long relationships.

Christian audiences could recognize Luke's struggle between his sexuality and his faith. Secular audiences could recognize Adam's frustration with religious certainty. Parents could understand Butch and Arlene's complicated relationship with their son. Partners could recognize the countless small negotiations through which couples learn—or fail—to live with differences.

That universality was part of Nauffts' approach. The central characters happen to be two men, but many of their arguments are recognizable to anyone who has loved somebody whose worldview differs profoundly from their own.

Cultural and Social Significance

The timing of Next Fall matters.

The play reached Broadway in 2010, five years before the U.S. Supreme Court's Obergefell v. Hodges decision established a nationwide constitutional right to same-sex marriage.

Questions that may appear different to contemporary audiences—whether gay relationships would receive social and legal recognition, how families reconciled homosexuality with conservative Christianity, and whether partners would be treated as family during medical emergencies—were particularly immediate.

Yet Nauffts avoided making the work simply an argument for or against religion.

Luke is not portrayed merely as a victim of Christianity, nor is Adam presented as unquestionably wiser because he is an atheist. Both men's positions contain contradictions. That refusal to provide an uncomplicated villain helped distinguish Next Fall from more overtly polemical theater.

The hospital setting intensified those issues because medical emergencies expose the practical consequences of relationships that families may prefer not to discuss openly.

The result was a work about LGBTQ+ experience that simultaneously asked much older questions: What do people believe about death? Can love survive fundamental disagreement? Does faith comfort people or divide them? And what happens when people postpone difficult conversations until time runs out?

Press and Media Attention

The production generated considerable media coverage for a relatively small Broadway play.

The New York Times covered its Off-Broadway success and Broadway transfer. Broadway.com, Playbill, BroadwayWorld, Time Out New York, Variety, the Associated Press, TheaterMania and LGBTQ+ publications followed the production.

Elton John and David Furnish's participation generated another round of stories shortly before the Broadway opening.

Media interest also extended to individual cast members. Maddie Corman's return to Broadway after focusing extensively on raising her children became the subject of a New York Times feature about women returning to professional life.

The production's awards campaign generated further coverage, especially after the Tony nominations for Best Play and Kaller's direction.

Thus, while Broadway ticket sales remained modest, the show's press footprint was substantial.

Life After the Broadway Production

Closing on Broadway did not end the life of Next Fall.

The play was subsequently produced elsewhere, benefiting from the relatively simple staging requirements and six-person cast that make it practical for regional and professional theaters.

One notable later incarnation came in January 2012 through L.A. Theatre Works. Patrick Breen, Patrick Heusinger, and Maddie Corman reunited for the Los Angeles production, joined by Julie White, Sam McMurray, and Jeremy Webb. Bart DeLorenzo directed.

L.A. Theatre Works recorded its performances for radio, extending the play's reach beyond audiences physically present in a theater.

The continued production history demonstrates an important distinction between a Broadway run and a play's overall success. Broadway commercial performance is only one measure. A play can continue through licensing, regional productions, readings, recordings, educational use, and revivals long after its original New York production closes.

Why NextFallBroadway.com Remains Useful

For contemporary visitors, NextFallBroadway.com is most interesting as a theatrical time capsule.

The website preserves the promotional language, press coverage, cast and creative biographies, production history, and critical reception associated with a Broadway production from 2010. It also documents the unusual trajectory of a new American play that traveled from a nonprofit-style development environment to Off-Broadway success and then to a commercial Broadway house.

Its pages preserve information about not only Nauffts and the actors but also the ecosystem surrounding Broadway: producers, advertising agencies, press representatives, casting professionals, designers, marketers, general managers, and theatrical organizations.

That makes the website useful to several audiences—fans researching the production, theater historians studying early 21st-century Broadway, students researching LGBTQ+ representation, and anyone interested in how a small contemporary drama makes the difficult transition to commercial Broadway.

The Lasting Legacy of Next Fall

Next Fall occupies an interesting place in modern American theater.

It was neither a blockbuster nor a long-running Broadway hit. Financially, its Broadway engagement was unsuccessful. Yet reducing the production to its box office would obscure what made it important.

A play developed through Naked Angels became a sold-out Off-Broadway success. Its original ensemble transferred intact to Broadway. Major critics embraced it. Elton John and David Furnish helped champion it. The production received Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle, and GLAAD recognition. Nauffts won the John Gassner Award, and the play continued to find audiences after Broadway.

Perhaps most importantly, Next Fall brought a gay relationship to a Broadway stage without treating homosexuality itself as the only dramatic subject. Adam and Luke were allowed to wrestle with questions that theatrical characters have confronted for centuries: love, mortality, belief, family, identity, and what people owe to one another.

NextFallBroadway.com preserves that story.

What began as a marketing destination for a Broadway play now serves another purpose: it documents how a modestly scaled contemporary drama about two very different men briefly occupied a Broadway stage and became part of the larger cultural conversation about faith, sexuality, family, and the changing definition of an American love story.

NextFallBroadway.com