Day 2 at New York Comic Con was another banger for Broadway fans at the Javits Center with a day full of events including Wickedand Back to the Future: The Musical panels and autograph sessions at The Playbill Store booth.
Broadway's Wicked, now celebrating its 20th year on Broadway, presented Defying Gravity: Wicked's Enduring Legacy, moderated by Sentimental Men podcast hosts Quincy Brown and Kevin Bianchi. Panel speakers Elphaba standby Mary Kate Morrissey, Tony-winning costume designer Susan Hilferty, longtime production stage manager Marybeth Abel, and make-up artist Christa Kaimimoku-Wong gave an inside look at the long-running audience favorite. A highlight of the panel was getting to watch Kaimimoku-Wong wield her brushes to turn Morrissey and Elphaba-shade of green right in front of our faces.
Cast members from the film turned musical Back to the Future gathered for a panel to discuss taking on classic 80s sci-fi story. The panel included Casey Likes, who leads the cast as Marty McFly; Hugh Coles, who, in his Broadway debut, plays George McFly; Liana Hunt, who plays Lorraine Baines; Jelani Remy, who plays both Goldie Wilson and Marvin Berry; Nathaniel Hackmann, who plays the bully Biff; and Merritt David Janes, who plays several roles including Principal Strickland. Elliot Hansen, "premiere nerd DJ," hosted the panel.
For all three days of the convention, The Playbill Store was open on the Show Floor with exclusive Comic Con merchandise and an autograph table featuring some of Broadway, television, film, and comic's biggest stars. Friday's guests included 80s film star Sean Young, who will soon be appearing Off-Broadway in Ode to the Wasp Woman; [title of show] and Other World author Hunter Bell; and Back to the Future: The Musical stars Hugh Cole and Casey Likes.
Check out the photo gallery below for a glimpse inside the festivities.
Filmed in 2023, the one-night-only event featured Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald, Peter Friedman, and more from the Ahrens and Flaherty musical's original cast.
Surrounded by period-accurate, 19th-century holiday decorations lit via candlelight, the 70-minute production is based on Dickens' own script of the classic.