Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s “Pass Over” will begin performances Aug. 4, marking the earliest scheduled date on Broadway yet.
The play, directed by Danya Taymor, will feature the original cast from the 2018 Lincoln Center Theater production: Jon Michael Hill, Namir Smallwood and Gabriel Ebert. Opening night for the play is scheduled for Sept. 12 at the August Wilson Theatre.
The 85-minute, three-person play is currently the first production set to begin performances on Broadway following the closure of theaters in March 2020. Matt Ross, a lead producer of the play, said his goal was not to be the first to reopen the industry, but rather to find a timeline that made sense for the production.
“Our intention has always been to bring Antoinette’s incredible play to audiences as soon as we can do so safely and with the integrity that the play deserves. And of course we’re eager to bring people back to work — not just those onstage and backstage but everyone and every office that is integral in mounting a show,” Ross said. “We’ve been working with a target first preview of August 4 for a little while with the hopes that things would continue trending in the right direction and fortunately, that has turned out to be the case.”
He added that he would be “more than happy” to have other productions resume around the same date. As it stands, “Hadestown” has the next earliest opening date, on Sept. 2, followed by “Hamilton,” “The Lion King,” “Wicked” and other productions on Sept. 14.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced that theaters and other venues can open now at 100% capacity with a fully vaccinated audience. This means Broadway productions can essentially determine their own return dates, so long as the producers and theater owners agree to follow the governmental guidelines that are in place at the time of reopening.
Tickets for “Pass Over” will be put on sale June 4 and will be sold through Oct. 10, 2021.
The production marks the Broadway debuts of Nwandu, Taymor and Smallwood. Hill returns to Broadway after a Tony Award-nominated performance in “Superior Donuts” and Ebert returns after roles in “Matilda,” for which he won a Tony Award, “Thérèse Raquin” and “Casa Valentina,” among others.
“Pass Over” is produced by Ross,Jujamcyn Theaters, Lincoln Center Theater, Concord Theatricals, Renee Montgomery, Blair Underwood, Madeleine Foster Bersin, Imagine Equal Entertainment, Austin & Maral Moldow and Nwandu.
