Awake and Sing!, Starring Danny Burstein, Jessica Hecht & Jeremy Shamos Will Play Broadway Next Season
Manhattan Theatre Club will revive Clifford Odets’ classic drama at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
(Photos: c/o The Press Room)
What to Know
- Danny Burstein, Jessica Hecht and Jeremy Shamos will star in a Broadway revival of Clifford Odets’ Awake and Sing!, directed by Tyne Rafaeli. The production begins previews in December and opens in January at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
- Awake and Sing! is a landmark 1935 drama set in the Bronx during the Great Depression, following three generations of a family
- The revival joins Manhattan Theatre Club’s 2026–27 season lineup, alongside School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, Montauk starring Laura Linney and The Unbelievers, with additional productions still to be announced
Danny Burstein, Jessica Hecht and Jeremy Shamos will star in Clifford Odets’ 1935 play, Awake and Sing!, on Broadway this winter. The Manhattan Theatre Club production, directed by Tyne Rafaeli, will begin previews in December at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre and open in January 2027. Additional casting and creative team members will be announced at a later date.
Awake and Sing! takes place in the 1930s in the Bronx. 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.
A 2026 Tony nominee for Marjorie Prime, Burstein made history as the most Tony-nominated male performer. He won the 2020 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance in Moulin Rouge! The Musical. His many Broadway credits include Gypsy, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Follies, South Pacific and The Drowsy Chaperone.
Hecht can currently be seen in Dog Day Afternoon on Broadway alongside Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. She has been nominated for three Tony Awards: for A View from the Bridge, Summer, 1976 and most recently for Eureka Day in 2025. Her Broadway credits include The Price, Fiddler on the Roof, Brighton Beach Memoirs and Julius Caesar. Her notable television appearances include her Emmy-nominated performance in Special, Friends and Breaking Bad.
Shamos was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance in Clybourne Park. His Broadway appearances include Meteor Shower, Noises Off, The Assembled Parties and Glengarry Glen Ross. His film credits include Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Bad Education, The Big Sick and Birdman. Shamos' television credits include The Handmaid’s Tale, Better Call Saul and Succession.
Awake and Sing! joins the previously announced works of Manhattan Theatre Club’s 2026-27 season; School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play by Jocelyn Bioh and directed by Whitney White; Montauk by David Hare, starring Laura Linney and directed by Daniel Sullivan; and The Unbelievers by Nick Payne, directed by Knud Adams. Additional productions for MTC’s 2026-27 season will be announced at a later date.
