The Grave White Way
The Grave White Way is a musical by Joe Patrick Ward. Five dead stage actors try to reach Heaven by performing an afterlife revue about fictional Broadway flops, in a pretend Broadway world called The Grave White Way. The show pokes fun at Broadway history with made-up shows, writers, and producers. Examples of the invented musicals include Nazareth High (Jesus’s high school years), Hey Helen! (a musical version of The Miracle Worker), Winter in the Woods With Donner (a Sondheim-inspired Donner Party tale), and Wichita! (an early precursor to Oklahoma! with the song Goin’ to the Cockfights).
It premiered in 2001 at the Hudson Backstage Theatre in Los Angeles and later reached other cities. The original cast featured Lesli Margherita, Shannon Stoeke, Joshua Finkel, Amy Rutberg, Craig A. Curtis, and Joe Patrick Ward. The production also included guest appearances by John Raitt, Stephen Schwartz, Billy Porter, Loretta Devine, Ken Page, Yeardley Smith, Gregory Jbara, and Jason Graae, who performed original pastiche songs. Directed by Sarah Gurfield with choreography by Kay Cole, the show was produced by Jayson Raitt, Michael Weiner, and Alan Zachary. The Los Angeles run received mixed reviews.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 09:42 (CET).