March 18 Is Shaping Up to Be a Theatre Lover’s Dream – front mezz junkies, Theater News

Frontmezzjunkies reports: Broadway welcomes Cats: The Jellicle Ball and Becky Shaw while City Center’s Encores! revives The Wild Party

By Ross

Every so often, the theatre calendar delivers a date that feels like an event unto itself. March 18th, 2026, looks like it may be one of those nights. One that we can all be truly thankful for.

For on that evening, two very different but highly anticipated Broadway productions begin previews, while across town, one of New York’s most beloved concert series kicks off a return engagement of a cult musical favorite. Glittering ballroom cats, a ferociously funny dark comedy, and a jazz-soaked party from NYCC’s Encores! are all arriving at once. It may prove to be one of those rare evenings when the only real problem for theatre fans is choosing where to go first.

Pouncing up first is the arrival of Cats: The Jellicle Ball at the Broadhurst Theatre, a production that already made waves downtown and now arrives on Broadway ready to drop dramatically. Based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot and featuring music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, this reimagined take on the long-running musical transforms the familiar feline gathering into a vibrant ballroom celebration. And for that, we should all snap those fingers in celebration. Directed by Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch with choreography by ballroom icons Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons, and starring the fabulous Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning André De Shields as ‘Old Deuteronomy,’ the production brings together theatre artists and performers from the ballroom community in a kaleidoscope of spectacle, movement, and unapologetic theatrical joy.

I was thrilled to see this production during its downtown run, and it was a delicious catnip treat (you can read my review here). Watching the show prance onto Broadway should be an absolute blast, and I cannot wait to experience that joyous death drop once again.

Opening for previews the very same night is Becky Shaw, the razor-sharp dark comedy by two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Gina Gionfriddo. Directed by Trip Cullman and presented by Second Stage Theater, the play begins performances at the Helen Hayes Theater before its official opening on April 6.

The story centers on a blind date that goes spectacularly off the rails, spiraling into a hilariously uncomfortable exploration of love, ethics, and modern relationships. When the play premiered Off Broadway in 2009, it quickly became one of the most talked-about new comedies in the city and earned a finalist spot for the Pulitzer Prize alongside In the Heights and Ruined. This Broadway debut production will feature Patrick Ball, Madeline Brewer, Alden Ehrenreich, Lauren Patten, and three-time Tony nominee Linda Emond.

I have never seen the play myself, but for years I have heard theatre friends rave about just how wickedly smart and funny it is. That reputation alone has me counting the days.

Meanwhile, not far across town, New York City Center launches the latest entry in its beloved Encores! series with a return of The Wild Party, running March 18 through 29. With music and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa and a book by LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe, the musical adapts Joseph Moncure March’s notorious narrative poem into a feverish Jazz Age tale of decadence, jealousy, and desire. This Encores! staging boasts a starry cast that includes Jasmine Amy Rogers, Adrienne Warren, Jordan Donica, and Tonya Pinkins, returning to the show in a new role.

Sadly, this is the one party I will have to miss. Blame Canada, I say, but if the buzz around the production is any indication, it should make the City Center stage feel like the roaring twenties all over again.

Three productions. Three wildly different theatrical experiences. One single night on the calendar. March 18 is shaping up to be a very good night to be a theatre fan in New York City.