Broadway鈥檚 big convention officially kicked off at 4 PM, when the opening ceremony began at the Javits Center. This year鈥檚 50-minute original musical centered around 23-year-old aspiring artist Carl, whose two moms sent him off to New York City with a fully furnished Astoria apartment鈥攁nd a year鈥檚 worth of rent taken care of!鈥攖o pursue his dreams. However, when he got there, he encountered an evil, power-hungry, tweet-happy Mayoress who used her platform to take down Broadway. Through the power of art, Carl was determined to stop her.
1. Guest Stars: Sam Tanabe, Telly Leung鈥檚 understudy in Broadway鈥檚 Allegiance, played the mini-musical鈥檚 main man, with his moms played by original Rent star Fredi Walker-Browne and Carolee Carmello, who is set to star in the Off-Broadway immersive Sweeney Todd. The evil Mayoress was played by Olivier Award winner Lesli Margherita. When Carl sought help from archived Broadway productions at the Lincoln Center Library, he was greeted by Aladdin's Tony-winning Genie James Monroe Iglehart, and Next to Normal Tony winner Alice Ripley was in Carl鈥檚 dreams鈥攖o help guide him to success.
2. Musical Numbers: Ryan Scott Oliver and David Alpert wrote the opening ceremony with Tessa Netting and Andrew Briedis. It featured lyric changes to classics as well as original numbers written by Oliver. Thoroughly Modern Millie鈥檚 鈥淣ot For the Life of Me鈥� was changed to 鈥淭his is the Life for Me,鈥� and 鈥淭horoughly Modern Millie鈥� was changed to 鈥淭horoughly Broadway.鈥� Gypsy鈥檚 鈥淵ou Gotta Have a Gimick鈥� was changed to 鈥淕et Yourself a Game Plan鈥� for when Carl devised a plan to defeat the Mayoress. The Hairspray finale 鈥淵ou Can鈥檛 Stop the Beat鈥� was changed to 鈥淵ou Can鈥檛 Stop the Show.鈥� Original numbers included Oliver鈥檚 empowering ballad 鈥淲e Will Sing.鈥�
3. Broadway Puns: Jokes that only hardcore Broadway fans would get were littered throughout the opening. When Carl was leaving for New York, he asked his moms to pack his Hamilton shot glass, and Carmello replied, 鈥淲e鈥檙e not throwing it away!鈥� When Carl questioned why the Mayoress was even enlisted in the first place, he asked, 鈥淗asa diga eebowai did anyone elect her?!鈥� And the big protest was held at the Hamilton lottery. Even though Broadway was temporarily shut down by the Mayoress, theatre fans still gather at the lottery because 鈥渘o one goes to the Hamilton lottery expecting to see the show.鈥� It鈥檚 just for the experience!
4. Equality: Aside from Carl鈥檚 two moms, the opening ceremony also featured a gay couple who played Christian Borle and Audra McDonald鈥檚 drivers. When they announced that they were in a relationship, they kissed, and the audience applauded.
5. Confetti: As happened last year, the opening ceremony ended in streams of confetti. The Hairspray-themed finale featured performances from the entire cast鈥攊ncluding Margherita鈥檚 Mayoress. The opening number proved that creating art could change people鈥檚 minds, and in the words of the late Carrie Fisher (whom they quoted onstage), theatre artists must 鈥渢ake your broken heart, and make it into art.鈥�
