Latest news with #TaylorStreetTheater
San Francisco Chronicle
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Sold-out musical about Luigi Mangione adds new S.F. date
San Francisco's sold-out musical about Luigi Mangione has extended its run due to popular demand. ' Luigi: The Musical,' inspired by the social media frenzy surrounding the 27-year-old suspect in the murder case of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has added a July 13 performance at the Independent. The music venue on Divisadaro Street has a capacity of 500, roughly five times that of the Taylor Street Theater, where the show premieres Friday, June 13. All five of the production's originally announced June performances at the Taylor Street Theater, the former Exit on Taylor in the Tenderloin, sold out more than a month ago. 'Luigi: The Musical' was developed by Nova Bradford, Arielle Johnson, André Margatini and Caleb Zeringue, and is staged in the style of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical 'Chicago.' The satirical show is set at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center and features Mangione alongside a fictional group of prison mates including Sean 'Diddy' Combs, whose sex trafficking and racketeering trial began last month, and fallen FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. 'Luigi the character, as we've written him, is dead serious about his thoughts and goals,' Johnson previously told the Chronicle. 'There's something campy about the whole 'good guy with a gun' premise.' As Johnson and his colleagues prepared for the stage production's June 13 premiere, the real Mangione pleaded not guilty to four federal charges against him for the murder of Thompson in December. He is next set to appear in court June 26. During the appearance, a trial date may be set. Mangione spent his 27th birthday last month at the Metropolitan Detention Center, where he has been held without bail since Dec. 19. To mark the occasion, he sent a list of 27 things he's grateful for to various people who have been writing him letters while he has been locked up. The list has since gone viral on social media and features entries such as 'memes' and 'Latinas for Mangione,' both nods to the internet discourse around his arrest. Mangione also revealed that around 30,000 people donated more than $1 million to his legal fund, and expressed gratitude for the various books and letters that he has received.
New York Post
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Luigi Mangione musical comedy set to premiere in San Francisco
Accused UnitedHealthcare CEO assassin Luigi Mangione will soon be the subject of his very own musical comedy in San Francisco. 'Luigi the Musical,' slated to debut at the Taylor Street Theater on June 13, promises a 'bold, campy and unafraid' take on the life and times of the alleged perpetrator of an assassination that captivated a nation. The official synopsis of the musical calls it, 'A wildly irreverent, razor-sharp comedy that imagines the true story of Luigi Mangione, the alleged corporate assassin turned accidental folk hero.' 3 Luigi Mangione appears at a hearing for the murder of UHC CEO Brian Thompson at Manhattan Criminal Court on February 21, 2025 in New York City. Getty Images 3 Surveillance footage outside the midtown Hilton Hotel shows suspect Luigi Mangione. Obtained by NY Post The summary continues, 'With real-life cellmates Sam Bankman-Fried and Diddy by his side, Luigi navigates friendship, justice, and the absurdity of viral fame.' The show bills itself as 'both laugh-out-loud funny and surprisingly thoughtful,' adding, 'if you like your comedy smart and your showtunes with a criminal record, Luigi is your new favorite felony.' 'Luigi' is the brainchild of songwriter Arielle Johnson and Director Nova Bradford, who said they drew inspiration from classic musical 'Chicago.' 3 Supporters of Luigi Mangione gather outside the federal courthouse in Manhattan on Friday, April 25, 2025. James Keivom Bradford sought to head off obvious criticism mining such macabre subject matter for a tongue-in-cheek musical in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. 'We're not valorizing any of these characters, and we're also not trivializing any of their actions or alleged actions,' she said. Mangione is currently on trial for allegedly murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50. Prosecutors have sought the death penalty, in what would be the first federal execution in Manhattan in 70 years.
