We lost a lot of live arts and cultural experiences during the thick of the pandemic. Concerts were canceled across the board — plays and musicals too. Heck, Broadway came to a screeching halt and it was a ghost town on the always vibrant stretch of Midtown Manhattan, just as David Byrne’s American Utopia was continuing its surge as one of the finest contemporary expressions of musical theater.
But now as we slowly begin to be able to experience such nice things again, the Tony Award-winning David Byrne’s American Utopia is back on Broadway at its new home at the St. James Theatre, and it’s about as essential of a theater experience as you’ll find. Byrne and his players merge both his solo and music of the Talking Heads with pointed diatribes and performance pieces on diverse sociopolitical topics in spectacular fashion, and it’s a must-see.
Visit the show’s website for ticketing and showtime information here. And if you’re not planning to be in New York anytime soon, do not hesitate to watch the Spike Lee-directed film version of the show on HBOMax. The soundtrack album is also available via Nonesuch Records here.