Luigi Mangione Musical Creators 'Glad' for Backlash: 'Humbling Experience'

Newsweek

9 hours ago

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Curtain call for Luigi: the Musical.
The fringe production about the alleged killer, Luigi Mangione, has become one of the most talked-about theatre productions of the year.
Before the show had even debuted, tickets had sold out, and there had been headline after headline about its mere existence. The subject matter is polarizing, as while some took no issue with a musical exploring one of the most covered and contentious criminal cases in recent history, some felt it was too soon, and others thought it risked glamorizing Mangione.
In December of 2024, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed outside of a hotel in Manhattan. What followed was a highly publicized nationwide manhunt, which culminated in Mangione's arrest in a Pennsylvania McDonald's.
Mangione is charged with 11 counts, including first-degree murder "in furtherance of an act of terrorism"; two counts of second-degree murder; two counts of stalking; and a firearms offense. Federal prosecutors have announced their intent to seek the death penalty in Mangione's case. He has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges as well as terrorism charges.
Since his arrest, the 27-year-old has been at the center of frenzied discourse both on and offline. The case and his arrest have reignited a debate about healthcare in America, and Mangione himself has been upheld as everything from a folk hero to a martyr and a sex symbol.
Merchandise, including pint glasses carrying the phrase, "Deny, Defend, Depose," the words reportedly carved into ammunition casings near where Thompson was shot, has been sold. There have been Mangione t-shirts and multiple murals painted of him, not to mention the crowds of supporters at his court dates.
Mangione is now incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn, alongside Sean Diddy Combs and Sam Bankman-Fried. Bankman-Fried is the co-founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence. Combs was found guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution in his sex-trafficking trial, but not guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking. He remains detained at MDC, Brooklyn.
The trio of these three high-profile incarcerated men is where the Mangione musical gets its inspiration. A surreal prison satire, the musical was written by Nova Bradford, Caleb Zeringue, Arielle Johnson and Andre Margatini. So far, it has starred Jonny Stein as Luigi, but actor Matthew Solomon is taking over for the next run of shows. Margatini plays Bankman-Fried, Zeringue plays the role of Sargeant De Larosa, and Janée Lucas plays the role of Combs.
Photo-Illustration by Newsweek/Getty/Mariana Garcia/SharkPartyMedia
The show is now headed to the Edinburgh Fringe for a limited run. Ahead of opening night, Newsweek spoke to Margatini and Zeringue for an exclusive interview on making the Mangione musical.
'A Humbling Experience'
The response to the musical has perhaps not been surprising. Headlines have billed it as "Pro-Luigi," asked if it is "too soon," and said it is "pushing the boundaries of musical theatre."
The court of public opinion is split, too. A post on X from the account @MAGAResource describing the musical as a "brazen display of left-wing depravity," and "trivializing a heinous murder," has been viewed over 300,000 times. A TikTok video from the account @thefatsycline, describing the musical as "brilliant," the cast as "fantastic," and the social commentary as "divine," has been viewed over 150,000 times.
Left to Right: Andre Margatini as Sam Bankman Fried, Janée Lucas as Sean Diddy Combs and Jonny Stein as Luigi Mangione in Luigi: the Musical.
Left to Right: Andre Margatini as Sam Bankman Fried, Janée Lucas as Sean Diddy Combs and Jonny Stein as Luigi Mangione in Luigi: the Musical.
Mariana Garcia, Luigi: the Musical
Asked about the criticism that the musical has received, Margatini told Newsweek "We're quite glad to see that kind of feedback."
Pointing to the response to the Mangione case, Margatini said, "People are right to be wondering whether it's too soon for this kind of narrative, but we should also be asking that about how we consumed it and distributed it with social media in the immediate aftermath."
"It feels too soon, but we're living in an age of too soon," Margatini said.
The musical itself hit the internet like a supernova, instantly going viral. "We did one interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, and then my face was on Laura Ingraham," Zeringue told Newsweek. "It was a very surreal moment," Zeringue said, before describing it as "a humbling experience."
Following the press attention, the team took a purposeful step back from the media. "We realised the most important thing to us is to make sure that the art is working and that we create the best piece of art that we can for the world," Zeringue said, adding that he is "very proud," of the team for "taking that step back to try to maintain the integrity of the art."
In the face of the intense attention the musical received, Zeringue said they had to "grow up very fast."
"I had a suspicion that this might strike a chord with certain outlets," Zeringue said, but likened the real-life experience of it to a kind of "twisted reality."
For Margatini, the most shocking thing was that when they went viral, "No one, not even our friends of family, had seen the musical. No one had read it. No one had seen it."
"It was quite shocking just to see how quickly one article telephoned into another article," Maragatini said. "It was quite telling and eye-opening to really be at the middle of that because it was so fabricated."
'A Disturbing and Fascinating Moment in our American Culture'
The response to the Mangione case has been both endless and multifaceted. Across all spheres of the internet, you'll find takes on both sides of the political spectrum that are either vehemently against or in support of Mangione. What they have in common is their loud and impassioned nature.
Andre Margatini as Sam Bankman Fried in Luigi the Musical.
Andre Margatini as Sam Bankman Fried in Luigi the Musical.
Mariana Garcia, Luigi: the Musical
For Margatini, the thing that was the most interesting about the case was the cultural conversation immediately after. They described this to Newsweek as a "Disturbing and fascinating moment in our American culture."
"We're inundated with gun violence all of the time," Margatini said. "Very few shootings get massive attention because there's just so many of them."
For Margatini, irrespective of how a person may feel about Mangione himself, "The fact that there were so many conversations warranted attention."
As for why they believe the case resonated in the way that it did, Margatini attributes this to the intersection of discourse about gun violence and the healthcare system. "We're at this moment in time where virality is part of how we communicate," they said.
Margatini said that the image of Mangione was "rapidly moving around the Internet in such a hugely uncontrollable way that we were intentionally slowing down that conversation."
The fact that the musical is about Mangione has led to many assuming that it is pro-Mangione, a narrative that assumes guilt by association. The truth, though, is much more complex.
Part of the about section of the Mangione musical website reads: "Luigi: the Musical doesn't glorify violence, it interrogates it. Beneath the absurdity and punchlines lies a serious critique of how violence is packaged, sold, and consumed in American media."
"The majority of the musical is telling this narrative story of a potentially motivating backstory for Luigi," Margatini said.
But the musical pivots. "Our last song is an alarming portrayal of what it means for us to hold up some sort of vigilantism as a solution to systemic violence," Margatini said.
"The musical takes a turn in the very last number that is eerie and it's uncomfortable... it asks the question, what kind of world are we living that we have turned someone into a vigilante to solve this systemic issue."
The musical was inspired by the fact that Mangione, Combs, and Bankman-Fried were all incarcerated in the same facility, a setup so strange that you couldn't write it. While the show explores ideas around violence and vigilantism, it also explores ideas around fame and celebrity.
Caleb Zeringue as the Guard in Luigi, the Musical
Caleb Zeringue as the Guard in Luigi, the Musical
Mariana Garcia, Luigi the Musical
"Celebrities can kind of sometimes stand in for something that feels like, deity light or some sort of untouchable figure," Zeringue told Newsweek. "We are sometimes drawn to packaged narratives that can help us have a clear-cut understanding of what's going on in the world, because we're all trying to create a sense of meaning, especially in an age where we're kind of inundated with information all of the time."
"There's one lyric that I think illustrates this pretty well in the final song, 'Our institutions are too complex to understand how things connect,'" Zeringue said.
'Just because we're making a comedy doesn't mean we don't take it seriously'
Pointing to the response that the Mangione case has had, Zeringue told Newsweek, "One thing we're proud of right now is using art to help the world process these emotions."
But there is one element of the musical he is firm on: "Just because we're making a comedy doesn't mean we don't take it seriously," he told Newsweek, adding, "We really try to interrogate the sides of all of what people feel towards Luigi," Zeringue said.
Jonny Stein as Luigi Mangione and Caleb Zeringue as the Guard on stage in Luigi: the Musical.
Jonny Stein as Luigi Mangione and Caleb Zeringue as the Guard on stage in Luigi: the Musical.
Mariana Garcia, Luigi: The Musical
Zeringue said that his character in the musical, the guard, has "complex emotions that we think is a mirror to what the world is going through around the circumstances with the case."
"I am very grateful that I think we were lucky enough as artists to create a mirror, to society," Zeringue said. "We don't want to give answers. We just want people to feel kind of confused and ask themselves more questions whenever they leave when they came in."
And for the team, this is only the beginning.
Zeringue told Newsweek that beyond exploring venues in New York and Los Angeles to stage the show, they're looking at creating their own production company to potentially make a second half of this musical, or other projects entirely.
"We have so many amazingly talented people on this team and now that we've found each other, I can only imagine we're going to have plenty of art to be making and sharing," Margatini told Newsweeek.
Luigi: The Musical will be showing at Just The Tonic, Just The Club at the Edinburgh Fringe from Tuesday, August 19 to Saturday, August 23.