(via The Press Room)

TICKETS NOW ON SALE
FOR MANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB’S
NEW PRODUCTION OF
CLIFFORD ODETS’
AWAKE AND SING!
DIRECTED BY TYNE RAFAELI

FEATURING
DANNY BURSTEIN, MICAELA DIAMOND,
JESSICA HECHT, WILL PULLEN,
AND JEREMY SHAMOS

PREVIEWS BEGIN DECEMBER 15, 2026
OPENING NIGHT JANUARY 7, 2027
AT THE SAMUEL J. FRIEDMAN THEATRE
 

(New York, NY – September 14, 2026) — Manhattan Theatre Club (Nicki Hunter, Artistic Director and Chris Jennings, Executive Director) announces that tickets are now on sale for the company’s new Broadway production of Clifford Odets’ landmark 1935 American drama, Awake and Sing! Directed by Tyne Rafaeli (Off-Broadway: Data, The Coast Starlight, Epiphany), Awake and Sing! will begin preview performances on Tuesday, December 15, 2026, with opening night on Thursday, January 7, 2027 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street). Visit www.manhattantheatreclub.com for more information.

Awake and Sing! is produced in association with Tony and Olivier Award winners Brian and Dayna Lee (Broadway: Giant, Moulin Rouge!, Angels in America), and Tony and Olivier Award winners Nicole and Stephanie Kramer (Broadway: Giant, Sunset Boulevard, Leopoldstadt).

It’s the 1930s, and the Bronx is a furnace. New ideas clash with the old amidst the poverty and shattered promises of the Great Depression. And three generations of the Berger family, trapped inside their cramped tenement, struggle to hold different visions of an American dream. Directed by Tyne Rafaeli, this classic battle between hope and disillusionment returns to Broadway, speaking thrillingly to the present.

The production features Tony Award winner Danny Burstein (Broadway: Moulin Rouge!, Marjorie Prime, Fiddler on the Roof) as Uncle Morty; Tony and Grammy Award nominee Micaela Diamond (Broadway: Parade, The Cher Show; Television: “Grotesquerie”) as Hennie Berger; Tony and Emmy Award nominee Jessica Hecht (Eureka Day; Summer, 1976 at MTC) as Bessie Berger; Will Pullen (Broadway: To Kill a Mockingbird, Sweat; Film: The Unforgivable) as Ralph Berger; and Tony Award nominee Jeremy Shamos (Broadway: Clybourne Park, The Assembled Parties at MTC; TV: “Only Murders in the Building”) as Myron Berger. Additional casting will be announced later.

Awake and Sing! originally premiered on Broadway in 1935, produced by the legendary Group Theatre, and helped establish Clifford Odets as a major voice in American theatre.

MTC’s production features scenic and costume design by three-time Tony Award winner David Zinn, lighting design by three-time Tony Award nominee Isabella Byrd, and original music and sound design by five-time Tony Award nominee Daniel Kluger. The Dialect and Vocal Coach is Kate Wilson. Casting is by Caparelliotis Casting and Kelly Gillespie. The Production Stage Manager is Jennifer Rae Moore.

TICKETING INFORMATION

Single tickets are available at https://www.telecharge.com/Awake-And-Sing-Tickets. Joining MTC’s season of plays is easy! Just call the MTC Clubline at 212-399-3050 or go to www.manhattantheatreclub.com.

MTC’s 2026-27 SEASON
 
An additional production for MTC’s 2026-27 season will be announced soon.
 
Broadway Premiere
School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play
By Jocelyn Bioh
Directed by Whitney White
With Lucia Aremu, Denée Benton, Patina Miller, Erin Morton, Nia Otchere-Sarfo, Jordan Rice, Jasmine Amy Rogers, and Heather Alicia Simms
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 West 47th Street
Now in performances
Opening Night September 28, 2026
Produced in association with Chase This Productions and Susan Kelechi Watson
 
Becoming Miss Ghana 1986 would mean fame, fortune, and prosperity. At least, that’s what Paulina—the queen bee of Aburi Girls Boarding School—believes. When the pageant recruiter comes to school, Paulina and her crew pull out all the stops. But to their surprise, a new transfer student from America kicks the competition into a higher, far more personal gear. Arriving on Broadway for the first time nearly a decade after its Off-Broadway premiere, School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play reunites the powerhouse team behind Jaja’s African Hair Braiding—Tony Award-nominated playwright Jocelyn Bioh and Tony Award-nominated director Whitney White—for this bright, biting comedy.
 
American Premiere
The Unbelievers
By Nick Payne
Directed by Knud Adams
With Lauren Ambrose, Tom Riley & more to be announced
NY City Center Stage I, 131 West 55th Street
Performances begin October 13, 2026
Opening Night November 5, 2026
 
Faith means believing in something. Especially when it feels impossible. As the years go by and the mystery of the sudden disappearance of Miriam and David’s teenage son remains unsolved, their blended family must figure out how to go on, relearning how to live through the ups and downs of ordinary days in their altered world. From the Tony and Olivier Award-nominated writer Nick Payne (Constellations, Incognito) and the Tony-nominated director Knud Adams (English, Primary Trust), comes this poignant and disarmingly funny new play about the power of hope.
 
Clifford Odets’ Awake and Sing!
Directed by Tyne Rafaeli
With Danny Burstein, Micaela Diamond, Jessica Hecht, Will Pullen, Jeremy Shamos & more to be announced
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 West 47th Street
Performances begin December 15, 2026
Opening Night January 7, 2027
Produced with Brian and Dayna Lee and Nicole Kramer and Stephanie Kramer
 
It’s the 1930s, and the Bronx is a furnace. New ideas clash with the old amidst the poverty and shattered promises of the Great Depression. And three generations of the Berger family, trapped inside their cramped tenement, struggle to hold different visions of an American dream. Directed by Tyne Rafaeli, this classic battle between hope and disillusionment returns to Broadway, speaking thrillingly to the present.
 
World Premiere
Faydra
By Sarah Ruhl
Directed by Les Waters
With Julianne Moore & more to be announced
New York City Center Stage I, 131 West 55th Street
Performances begin February 2, 2027
Opening Night February 25, 2o27
 
Aphrodite aims her bow at Faydra and lets an arrow of love fly. Nothing is ever the same. Mostly because the object of Faydra’s sudden, all-devouring lust is her soon-to-be stepson.
 
Academy Award winner Julianne Moore stars in this fearless world premiere that is a modern take on the classic Greek myth. Written by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award nominee Sarah Ruhl and directed by Tony nominee Les Waters, Faydra explores the impossibility of reconciling logic and longing – especially for a woman unwilling to deny desire.
 
World Premiere
Montauk
By David Hare
Directed by Daniel Sullivan
Starring Laura Linney & more to be announced
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 West 47th Street
Opening Spring 2027
 
Montauk is a visceral portrait of two artists with violently different approaches to art and life. Jared Speight is a stubborn titan of Long Island abstraction when star writer Roxy Margaux first becomes infatuated with his bravado. But over a decade of romantic and career entanglements, their different reasons for making art become painfully clear. Intelligent and intimate, this world premiere asks far-reaching questions about our passions and the sacrifices we make for them.
 
ABOUT MANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB

Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is one of America’s preeminent non-profit theatrical institutions and a premier destination in New York City for both the most talented artists and discerning audiences to return to time and again. Artistic Director Nicki Hunter, who assumed the role in December 2025; Executive Director Chris Jennings, who joined the company in 2023; and their dedicated staff are committed to producing bold, entertaining and thought-provoking new plays and musicals at their Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway and two Off-Broadway stages at New York City Center. This new leadership team is building on the artistic legacy created and led by Lynne Meadow since 1972. She and Barry Grove, her partner for 48 years, helmed a company that has been dedicated to new work, new voices and new perspectives, and has produced more than 600 premieres, which include nearly 20% of all the new plays on Broadway since they opened the Friedman in 2003. MTC’s work has gone on to be mounted around the country and the world, making a significant contribution to the theatrical canon. MTC’s productions have garnered 31 Tony Awards; 57 Drama Desk Awards; 49 Obie Awards; seven Pulitzer Prizes for Martyna Majok’s Cost of Living, Lynn Nottage’s Ruined, David Lindsay-Abaire’s Rabbit Hole, John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt, David Auburn’s Proof, August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, and Beth Henley’s Crimes of the Heart; and many other honors. The organization’s robust slate of Artistic Development initiatives features one of the largest commissioning programs in the country, readings, workshops, fellowships, dramaturgical support and other resources for artists. MTC is committed to making its productions broadly accessible, engaging audiences of all ages and backgrounds, and strives to help them build deep connections with its work through Beyond the Stage programming and its Learning and Community Engagement program, which serves over 3,000 students of all ages annually throughout the NYC area, nationwide and abroad. For more information, please visit www.manhattantheatreclub.com.

 

BIOGRAPHIES

Danny Burstein (Uncle Morty). Awake and Sing! marks Danny’s 22nd Broadway production; others include Marjorie Prime; Gypsy; Pictures From Home; Moulin Rouge!; Fiddler on the Roof; Cabaret; Golden Boy; Follies; South Pacific and The Drowsy Chaperone. Off-Broadway: Describe the Night; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Talley’s Folly; Mrs. Farnsworth; All in the Timing; etc. Film includes tick, tick, BOOM; The Same Storm; Indignation; The Family Fang; Blackhat; Transamerica; Molli and Max in the Future; etc. TV: Danny has had recurring roles on “Cry Wolf” (upcoming), “Julia,” “Tokyo Vice,” “The Good Fight,” “Evil,” and Martin Scorsese’s “Boardwalk Empire.” Guest stars: “Will Trent,” “Winning Time,” “Tales of the City,” “Fosse/Verdon,” “The Blacklist,” “Law and Order” and many others. He has voiced characters for many animated series including “Long Story Short,” “Dora the Explorer,” “F is for Family,” “Central Park,” etc. Danny is the recipient of 2020’s Drama League Award, one Tony Award (nine nominations), three Drama Desk Awards, four Outer Critics Circle Awards and four Grammy Award nominations.
Micaela Diamond (Hennie Berger) is a Tony and Grammy Award nominated actor for her star turn as Lucille Frank in Parade on Broadway. She made her Broadway debut as Babe, the youngest Cher, in The Cher Show. Other appearances include Sondheim’s final musical, Here We Are, The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical, Leonard Bernstein’s opera Mass at the Kennedy Center, Williamstown Theatre Festival’s Row, Ethan Coen’s A Play Is A Poem in Los Angeles, and recently Oklahoma! at Carnegie Hall. In TV and film, most recently Micaela appeared as series regular Sister Megan Duval in Ryan Murphy’s “Grotesquerie.” Additional credits include CBS Studio’s “Elsbeth,” NBC’s “Jesus Christ Superstar Live,” Netflix and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Tick…Tick…BOOM!” and “Up Here” on Hulu. Diamond grew up in New York City and is a graduate of LaGuardia Arts High School in New York. Most recently, she appeared in the The Seat of Our Pants, at the Public Theater, a musical based on Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth for which she was nominated for Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Awards.
Jessica Hecht (Bessie Berger). Her recent appearances on Broadway include Dog Day Afternoon (Outer Critics Circle Award nomination), and Manhattan Theatre Club’s Eureka Day, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award, and Summer, 1976, which also earned her a Tony Award nomination. She has appeared on Broadway in productions of The Price opposite Mark Ruffalo, Fiddler on the Roof opposite Danny Burstein, The Assembled Parties at MTC opposite Judith Light, Harvey opposite Jim Parsons, After the Fall opposite Carla Gugino, The Last Night of Ballyhoo opposite Paul Rudd, Brighton Beach Memoirs opposite Laurie Metcalf, Julius Caesar opposite Denzel Washington, and A View from the Bridge opposite Liev Schreiber and Scarlett Johansson, for which she received a Tony Award nomination. Off-Broadway, she has appeared in A Mother, a play she co-conceived for Baryshnikov Arts; King Lear opposite John Lithgow and Annette Bening; Stage Kiss opposite Sandra Oh; Three Sisters opposite Maggie Gyllenhaal; The Orchard opposite Mikhail Baryshnikov Letters from Max at Signature Theatre; and Admissions at Lincoln Center Theater, for which she received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination and an Obie Award. Her notable television appearances include her Emmy-nominated performance in the Netflix series “Special,” and her roles on “Tokyo Vice,” “Super Pumped,” “The Sinner,” “The Loudest Voice,” “Dickinson,” “The Boys,” and “Succession.” She is also recognizable to television audiences for her work on the iconic television series “Friends” and “Breaking Bad.” She can currently be seen opposite Kevin Kline in the new series “American Classic.” Her film performances include Eleanor the Great, which debuted at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, as well as A+, Anesthesia, J. Edgar, The Grey Zone, The Sitter, My Soul to Take, Dan in Real Life, Sideways, The Atlantic City Story, The Sunlit Night, and The Home.
Will Pullen (Ralph Berger) can next be seen reprising his role in the sequel to Aaron Schneider’s feature Greyhound, opposite Tom Hanks for Apple, and can currently be seen in Ridley Scott and Peter Craig’s Apple limited series “Dope Thief,” opposite Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura. He recently starred in Angus MacLachlan’s acclaimed feature A Little Prayer opposite David Strathairn, Celia Weston, and Anna Camp, which premiered at Sundance. Previously, he was seen in Nora Fingscheidt’s Netflix feature The Unforgivable, opposite Sandra Bullock, as well as in a recurring role in the Peabody Award winning Apple series “Dickinson,” opposite Hailee Steinfeld. On stage, he starred as Jem in Scott Rudin’s Broadway production of To Kill a Mockingbird, adapted by Aaron Sorkin, for director Bartlett Sher, and just starred in Adam Bock’s play The Receptionist for director Sarah Benson at Second Stage. Additional stage credits include his Broadway debut in the Pulitzer Prize-winning production of Lynn Nottage’s Sweat for director Kate Whoriskey; AR Gurney’s The Wayside Motor Inn for director Lila Neugebauer at Signature Theatre; and Lucy Thurber’s Scarcity for director Daniel Talbott. Screen credits include a recurring role in FX’s spy drama “The Americans,” opposite Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys; Andrew Neel’s feature Goat, which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival; and Jenji Kohan’s HBO pilot “The Devil You Know,” directed by Gus Van Sant.
Jeremy Shamos (Myron Berger) was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Clybourne Park, for which he also received Lucille Lortel Award and Drama League Award nominations. His other stage appearances include the Broadway productions of Steve Martin’s Meteor Shower, Michael Frayn’s Noises Off, Richard Greenberg’s The Assembled Parties at MTC, and David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross, as well as the off-Broadway productions of the original Gutenberg! The Musical; If I Forget (Drama Desk Award nomination);Animals Out of Paper (Drama Desk Award nomination); The Qualms; The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged); Dinner with Friends (Lucille Lortel Award); Engaged, for which he received the Obie Award; and Stephen Sondheim’s final musical Here We Are. His work on film and television has provided the opportunity to collaborate on many acclaimed features, including Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Bad Education, The Big Sick, and Birdman, and many prestigious series including “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Better Call Saul,” “Succession,” “Dead Ringers,” “Nurse Jackie,” and “Fosse/Verdon.” For his role in the ensemble casts of  “The Gilded Age” and “Only Murders in the Building,” he earned SAG Award nominations for his work on both award-winning series. An MFA graduate of New York University, he resides with his family in Brooklyn.
Clifford Odets (Playwright) began his career in 1931 as an actor and then playwright for New York’s The Group Theatre. His first play for the Group, Waiting for Lefty (1935), immediately launched him as the most celebrated American playwright of the 1930s. Five major Broadway productions of his plays followed in that decade and introduced theatre audiences to subject matter and language that had never before been heard on the American stage. This work deeply influenced generations of American playwrights to follow. Odets’ other best-known plays include Paradise Lost, Golden Boy, Rocket to the Moon, Clash by Night, The Big Knife, and The Flowering Peach. Screenplay credits include None but the Lonely Heart, Humoresque, Sweet Smell of Success, and The Story on Page One. He also directed both None but the Lonely Heart and The Story on Page One. Two more of Odets’ greatest plays will be revived this fall: Josh O’Connor will be seen starring in a production of Golden Boy at the Almeida Theatre in London and Waiting for Lefty will be produced in New York by the Classic Stage Company.
Tyne Rafaeli (Director) directs for stage and screen. Recent stage productions include Brian Watkins’ Weather Girl (St. Ann’s Warehouse and London’s Soho Theatre); Matthew Libby’s Data (The Lucille Lortel Theatre); Anna Zeigler’s Antigone (This Play I Read in High School) (The Public Theater); Em Weinstein’s Becoming Eve (New York Theatre Workshop); Brian Watkins’ Epiphany (Lincoln Center Theater); Jen Silverman’s Spain (Second Stage); Keith Bunin’s The Coast Starlight (Lincoln Center Theater); The Thing About Jellyfish adapted by Keith Bunin (Berkeley Rep); and Sylvia Khoury’s Selling Kabul (Playwrights Horizons) and Power Strip (Lincoln Center Theater). Recent TV directing includes “The Beast in Me” starring Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys for Netflix and “Tell Me Lies” for Hulu, on which she was also an Executive Producer. Recent audio directing includes Madam Ram starring Toni Colette and The Miranda Obsession starring Rachel Brosnahan for Audible. Multiple Drama Desk, Drama League nominations.

Brian and Dayna Lee are a husband-and-wife team and the founders of AF Creative Media, a three-time Tony Award and two-time Olivier Award-winning production company. Currently represented on Broadway by Giant starring John Lithgow. West End/UK: Giant (Olivier Award), Fiddler on the Roof (Olivier Award), Guess How Much I Love You? (Royal Court), Man to Man starring Tilda Swinton (Royal Court). Off-Broadway: Caroline (MCC Theater), Here There Are Blueberries (Pulitzer Prize Finalist, Lucille Lortel Award). Brian and Dayna have a multi-year, exclusive First Look Deal with the Royal Court Theatre in London. Brian and Dayna run a popular Instagram blog called @artsfoodfamily with over 130k followers.

Stephanie and Nicole Kramer are Tony and Olivier Award–winning producers and the mother-daughter team behind SBK Productions. Broadway: Giant starring John Lithgow, Sunset Blvd. (Tony Award), Leopoldstadt (Tony Award), Jagged Little Pill, Angels in America (Tony Award), Hand to God, and It’s Only a Play. West End: Giant (Olivier Award) and Company. Upcoming Projects: Begin Again, a new musical based on the John Carney film, which will have its world premiere at The Old Globe with performances starting September 6, 2026, and Practical Magic, based on the novel and Warner Bros. film.  
PRODUCTION ASSETS
PRODUCTION INFORMATION

Clifford Odets’ Awake and Sing!
With Danny Burstein, Micaela Diamond, Jessica Hecht, Will Pullen, Jeremy Shamos & additional cast members to be announced
Directed by Tyne Rafaeli
Previews December 15, 2026
Opening Night January 7, 2027
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 West 47th Street
WEBSITE & SOCIAL MEDIA

Website: manhattantheatreclub.com
Instagram: instagram.com/MTC_NYC
Facebook: facebook.com/ManhattanTheatreClub
YouTube: youtube.com/user/mtcbroadway
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/mtc-nyc.bsky.social

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