Multiplex Melodrama and Aussie Accents: A Kidman Carol Heads to Off-Broadway

Last year’s A Kidman Carol was a hilarious, laugh-out-loud comedy masterpiece for those lucky enough to see its first fledgling run. Now, it’s back, bigger and better—for a strictly limited engagement!

Formally titled A Kidman Carol: A Gay Dementia on Australian Dames, the play was a chaotic, campy theatrical farce written by playwright Kevin Zak, and praised for its unhinged movie-insider jokes and fast-paced holiday humor. Somehow, it was perfectly timed to offer an irreverent outlet during the most wonderful time of year, centering on two iconic Australian actresses of the same generation who have famously never worked together…until now!

Its unique and feverish premise and pop-culture parodies Charles Dickens’s classic tale (Tár, humbug!) by imagining Cate Blanchett as a “Hollywood Scrooge” on Oscar’s Eve as she is visited by three spirits of Nicole Kidman to learn the true meaning of awards season.

The script sends up the filmographies of both actresses, packing in jokes about Tár, The Hours, Carol, Big Little Lies, and, of course, Kidman’s famous AMC Theatres commercial. Naturally, even though the run was developmental and brief, it sold out.

From her past in the Australian outback, through a present Dickensian Tinsel Town teetering on the edge of disaster, and into a terrifying future, Cate must take Nicole’s message to heart — or her soul, cinema, and the world as we know it could perish.

Now, Benson Drive Productions has announced that A Kidman Carol will open Off-Broadway this holiday season, starring three-time Tony Award nominee and Olivier Award winner Marla Mindelle (Titanique) as Nicole Kidman and Drama Desk Award nominee Josh Sharp as Cate Blanchett.

Directed by Skylar Fox, the production will play a limited, 6-week engagement at New World Stages (340 W 50th St) beginning Monday, November 16 with an official opening on Monday, November 30. The strictly limited 54-performance engagement must end on Wednesday, December 30. 

Tickets go on sale to the public on Wednesday, October 14 at 10 am online at Telecharge, by phone at 212-239-6200, or at the New World Stages box office. For more information and pre-sale access, visit akidmancarol.com.

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