Midnight – 14 October 2026
Todrick Hall’s Midnight is the bold, completely original theatrical adventure I have hungered for in Broadway’s recent years. Profoundly meaningful, provocative, and dangerously thrilling, this show explores humanity’s innate susceptibility to hatred in an epic opera. The score weaves a rich vocal tapestry augmented by instruments. It is a slice of life story in which the audience gets to know everyone on stage over the course of a three hour journey, rife with moments of laughter and moments of tears. The show washed over me in waves of emotion as the audience’s empathy was challenged, prodded, and poked, all with the end goal of asking us to sit with ourselves to acknowledge the power we hold and how we hold it over others.
One of the seminal concepts of Midnight involves white folks walking a single day in the life of Black folks. The show is set in the 19th century during slavery, and features a burgeoning secret love story between a Black slave and a forward-thinking rich white man. When walking in each other’s shoes for a day, Hall doesn’t paint Black people as more compassionate— they’re calling for the same types of violent executions that in the real world were used on them. Hall presents a world where power corrupts and no one is immune to being hateful, which means we all need to consciously try not to be. Much of the imagery associated with the show was black and white, often with a literal line between. Yet when queer folks arrive on the scene, people of both colors arrive to draw a new us-and-them line to separate the haters and the hated. The ending of the show is not hopeful regarding people’s ability to stop being hateful. It suggests that we as a society draw lines of superiority and inferiority, and we just shift how we define what makes someone better than others. All of the imagery regarding time reminds us that we can’t go back in time and change our behavior and, outside of the world of the play, time can’t stop. Neither can our raised consciousness about the continued effects of slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, racist legislature, unjust judicial decisions, and other harmful, hateful rhetoric. These effects are very present in today’s world, and change starts with acknowledgment.
Even if the discourse doesn’t interest you, the execution of this musical is truly phenomenal. It is a fully realized production, with brilliant symbolism infused into the imagery. At the start of the show, the actors’ costumes (Beck Jones) are hanging from the ceiling, and they come down to be put on. Jones’s costumes were clever, tying characters to their across-race counterparts with accent colors. Scenic design (Morgan Large) fully maximizes the space’s potential, using every tool in the book: turntables, swaths of fabric, levels, etc. Jake DeGroot’s lighting design created a fantasy fairytale world that subtly directed the audience’s eye to the singers amidst beautiful color washes that made magnificent use of light and shadow. Lawrence Shober’s sound design was clear, easy to hear, and highly effective at bringing out the most interesting part of each musical moment to prevent the layers of music from blending together and sounding jumbled.
Musically, the show has lots of recurring lines and motifs, but everything flows together beautifully and smoothly. The vocal performances are all of the highest caliber, led by Todrick Hall himself. The energy in the room is heavy, but the audience is deeply invested in the characters’ joy in addition to their pain. Midnight tells a new story grounded in a history that Americans of all colors know well. Within this painful context of abuse and dehumanization springs something completely unexpected— genuine, pure love. It’s breathtaking and riveting to watch not because it is unlikely, but because it feels as natural as breathing that these two characters should fall for each other.
I have been frustrated by the lack of original stories on Broadway. Midnight is not based on a movie, franchise, novel, previous play, or television series, nor does it rely on random A-list celebrity names to sell a mainstream, conventional story. I am hopeful that Midnight will transfer, because it’s got every element of what a Broadway musical should have: characters you relate to, a compelling story, thought-provoking social commentary, an important message to send, high caliber design elements, well-written music, clever use of choreography, passion, heart, soul, and the ability to make the audience feel many distinct emotions as part of the journey. The show deserves a wider audience not only because of its message but also because of its incredible commitment to artistry at the highest level. There’s so much more to unpack in Midnight than I could possibly do in a short review, but the experience is exquisite and moving, carefully curated by Todrick Hall to delight, disgust, and demand we do better.
I attended this performance on a press pass from The Press Room.
