CLIFFORD ODETS’ AWAKE AND SING!
Written by Clifford Odets
With Danny Burstein, Micaela Diamond, Jessica Hecht, Will Pullen, Jeremy Shamos & additional cast members to be announced
Directed by Tyne Rafaeli
Produced with Brian and Dayna Lee and Nicole Kramer and Stephanie Kramer
Previews December 15, 2026
Opening January 7, 2027
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47th Street
Manhattan Theatre Club (Nicki Hunter, Artistic Director and Chris Jennings, Executive Director) has announced that a new production of Clifford Odets’ landmark 1935 drama Awake and Sing! will be produced as part of the company’s 2026-27 season on Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street), directed by Tyne Rafaeli (Off-Broadway: Data, The Coast Starlight, Epiphany).
Awake and Sing! is produced with Tony and Olivier Award winners Brian and Dayna Lee (Broadway: Giant, Cabaret, Angels in America), and Tony and Olivier Award winners Nicole Kramer and Stephanie Kramer (Broadway: Giant, Sunset Blvd., 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 cast features Danny Burstein (Broadway: Moulin Rouge!, Marjorie Prime, Fiddler on the Roof) as Uncle Morty; Tony and Grammy 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 Bergert; 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.