Producers Carl Levin (Rock of Ages), Vicki Halmos, Elizabeth Williams (Waiting for Godot, Crazy For You) and Greenleaf Productions (Fiddler on the Roof, Matilda) announced today that NERDS, a new musical dot-comedy about the rise and rivalry of tech trailblazer Steve Jobs and Microsoft’s Bill Gates, will open on Broadway Thursday, April 21, 2016 at the Longacre Theatre (220 West 48th Street), following preview performances from Thursday, March 31. Tickets are now on-sale via Telecharge.com (212-239-6200).
Before Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were the undisputed titans of technology, they were NERDS. Join America’s favorite garage inventors on a hilarious musical journey from the floppy disc era to the iPhone phenomenon, and the epic competition in between, that would revolutionize modern culture as we know it. Fittingly, the production will feature the most progressive technology seen on Broadway, including: on-stage holograms; projection mapping; and an enhanced theatergoing experience through app integrations that allow users to interact with the set and other audience members, choose the show’s ending, and more special features soon to be announced.
“We’re thrilled to add a jolt of comedy to this already astounding theater season, with this hilarious tale of the Founding Fathers of Tech, from a creative team stacked with new voices,” said producer Carl Levin in a statement. “While fine-tuning and re-coding the show for this exciting launch, we’ve also been exploring innovative ways to enhance the ‘user experience’ inside the theater, for a uniquely entertaining event – compatible for Broadway audiences of all generations.”
NERDS was first presented by the Philadelphia Theatre Company, where it received Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Original Music and Outstanding New Play. In 2013, the show played limited engagements at North Carolina Theatre and again at Philadelphia Theatre Company where it received seven Barrymore Award Nominations. The Philadelphia Inquirer called NERDS “generation defining,” “visually hot and musically adept filled with one knockout, high-velocity number after a number” and “with surgical precision [like] How to Succeed meets Urinetown, NERDS nails such themes as the cost of dreams and the emptiness of revenge. And, is full of class, insight and wit.”
NERDS is produced on Broadway by Carl Levin, Vicki Halmos, Elizabeth Williams, Greenleaf Productions and Clear Channel Spectacolor.
More info here.
MacDailyNews Take: Here’s a bit of comedy to get you in the mood:
What I can’t figure out is why he [Steve Jobs] is even trying [to be the CEO of Apple]? He knows he can’t win. – Bill Gates, June 1998
Why do they insult the very people who are likely to be their customers?
$5 says this would be painfully embarrassing to watch.
I paid more than that and saw it twice when it was playing in Raleigh. It is awesome and VERY funny. You will be surprised.
That just seemed like a never ending list of those involved in its production, a veritable Trump Towers worth of talent and hangers on it seems.
Wow. Just what we need, another fictional portrayal of Steve Jobs. Let’s see, that’ll make, how many? Four?
——RM
If they can make a musical called The Book of Mormon, why is anyone surprised that Broadway is making a musical out of the Jobs/Gates relationship/battle/competition?
Where has everybody’s sense of fun gone these days? This could be a really enjoyable lighthearted night out, away from the computer!
I’d give it a whirl…
I saw this in North Carolina and it is absolutely AWESOME and hilarious. It is very well done and actually does justice to the story of Gates/Jobs in a comedic way while being funny throughout the entire show. It’s one of my favorite musicals I’ve seen with Book of Mormon being tops.
I hope the show fails. AFAIAC the term ‘NERD’ is now dead, seeing as technologists increasingly make the human world work, and those who are tech illiterate are the new objects of derision. We need to settle on a word for such creatures. 😉
‘Geek’, however, lives on and is now IMHO a badge of honor.
…But this does sound fun:
Fittingly, the production will feature the most progressive technology seen on Broadway, including: on-stage holograms; projection mapping; and an enhanced theatergoing experience through app integrations that allow users to interact with the set and other audience members, choose the show’s ending, and more special features soon to be announced.
However, I seriously doubt any actual ‘holograms’ will be involved. That term is incessantly abused these days, with the actual term being (as I learned here at MDN!) ‘Pepper’s Ghost’, the use of reflected light off glass to portray a light derived image over a scene. Actual holograms are created via the interference patterns of lasers. No lasers, no holograms.
The best (and funniest) fictional story featuring Steve Jobs is the sci-fi story Eve’s Hungry.