Awake and Sing!, Clifford Odets's landmark 1935 play about the struggles and aspirations of a Depression-era Jewish family in the Bronx, will return to Broadway next winter for the first time in two decades—and will mark the Broadway debut of director Tyne Rafaeli '14.
Rafaeli's numerous Off Broadway credits include Brian Watkins' Weather Girl (St. Ann's Warehouse, Soho Theatre London, and The Edinburgh Festival)—for which Julia McDermott was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actress—Matthew Libby's Silicon Valley thriller, Data (Lucille Lortel); Em Weinstein's Becoming Eve (New York Theatre Workshop); Brian Watkins' Epiphany (Lincoln Center Theater); and Jen Silverman's Spain (Second Stage). This past winter, Dan Stahl of The New Yorker lauded The Public Theatre's production of Antigone (This Play I Read in High School): "Rafaeli's slick direction keeps surprising with its inventiveness." The play, which was also reviewed favorably by Vulture and The Wall Street Journal, went on to have an extended run at The Public.
Awake and Sing!'s long-awaited revival, produced by Manhattan Theatre Club, will reunite Broadway veterans Danny Burstein and Jessica Hecht, who previously starred together in Broadway's Fiddler on the Roof in 2015, with Rafaeli, who served as associate director on that production. Odets's now canonical play has been revived four times on Broadway—most recently in 2006, when it won the Tony Award for best revival.
Rafaeli, a British-American director based in New York, directs new plays, musicals, and classics for the stage, and is directing and developing multiple TV, audio, and film projects. Her recent TV directing includes Netflix's The Beast in Me, starring Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys, and Hulu's Tell Me Lies. Her recent audio directing includes Madam Ram starring Toni Collette. She has received multiple Drama Desk, Drama League, and Lucille Lortel nominations.
Awake and Sing! is set to open at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater in January 2027, with previews beginning in December 2026.
