Tony Award-nominated writer and performer Joe Iconis (Be More Chill) isn’t just one of the most supremely talented people in NYC, he’s also one of the busiest and most prolific. Most recently, his jukebox musical Punk Rock Girl made its debut at The Argyle Theatre in Babylon, on his native Long Island, and the original cast album of his Love in Hate Nation, which premiered at NJ’s Two River Theater, was released on Ghostlight Records. He also returned to Feinstein’s/54 Below with close friend and collaborator George Salazar for an updated 2.0 version of their annual cabaret concert Two-Player Game, and he’s deep into the process of developing a new work, the Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical, in conjunction with California’s La Jolla Playhouse.
Later this month, on Monday, March 21, Iconis and Family (his tight-knit group of artistic cohorts) will be performing in the opening concert of the 21st season of Broadway by the Year: The New Wave at the historic NYC landmark The Town Hall. Created, written, hosted, and directed by Scott Siegel, the 2022 launch of the popular two-decade-old series will celebrate the music, anecdotes, and behind-the-scenes stories of the groundbreaking work of a fresh new crop of writers and the defining elements of contemporary Broadway.
The show features the works of such important artists as Lin-Manuel Miranda (In the Heights; Hamilton), Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen), Bobby Lopez (The Book of Mormon; Avenue Q, with Jeff Marx), and other blockbusters from the past 25 years, with appearances by Vivian Reed (Loften Mitchell’s Bubbling Brown Sugar), Sara Neimietz (Jason Robert Brown’s 13: The Musical), Quentin Earl Darrington (Lynn Nottage’s MJ: The Musical; Once on This Island by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty), Danny Gardner (Flying Over Sunset by Tom Kitt, Michael Korie, and James Lapine), and more.
Needless to say, The New Wave wouldn’t be complete without a selection of songs from the phenomenal Be More Chill, performed by composer and lyricist Iconis and a roster of stars from its sensational Off-Broadway and Broadway productions (it also had a highly successful subsequent run in London), catapulted to iconic status via unprecedented trending on social media and an enormous passionate fan base of youthful and young-at-heart followers.
I caught up with Joe for a chat about his upcoming one-night-only performance at The Town Hall and what else we can look forward to seeing from him in the near future.
How does it feel to have Be More Chill recognized by Broadway by the Year as one of the “defining elements of contemporary Broadway” (a description with which I wholeheartedly agree)?
Joe: It feels great! It’s really incredible because that series has been such a fixture throughout my whole life and career, and I’ve been such a fan. Those are the real shows, so for me to be included and held up with those others makes my theater-loving heart proud!