A satirical musical about accused killer Luigi Mangione is heading to New York City this summer — set to open one week after his state murder trial is scheduled to begin.
“Luigi: The Musical” will hold a staged reading June 15 at The Green Room 42. New York Judge Gregory Carro formally set Mangione’s state murder trial to begin June 8, placing the musical’s East Coast debut exactly one week into proceedings. The show premiered in June 2025 at Taylor Street Theatre in San Francisco, where its initial five-show run sold out. Additional performances were later added at The Independent, a larger venue in the city, which also sold out, before the production appeared in five shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.
The show imagines Mangione jailed alongside disgraced music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and cryptocurrency executive Sam Bankman-Fried at the Metropolitan Detention Center, following his arrest in connection with the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Four actors play the three famous inmates and a prison guard, performing original songs by creators Nova Bradford and Arielle Johnson.
The musical numbers lean into absurdity: Bankman-Fried sings about being a “Bay Area Baby,” Combs harmonizes about a lavish soiree, and Mangione performs a number about hash browns — a nod to police capturing him at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s.
Ben Rimalower, programming director at The Green Room 42, said the cabaret venue had already sold over 300 tickets for the debut. An actor and director himself, Mr. Rimalower said he was impressed by the creators’ ability to grapple with today’s societal issues.
“Our society is obsessed with criminals,” Mr. Rimalower said, according to the Baltimore Banner. “This play really intelligently makes fun of our society’s obsession with that.”
The production does not attempt to answer why health care is so expensive, or why someone of affluent means would commit such a crime — the show instead trains a satirical lens on those who have made a celebrity, even a martyr, of Mangione.
“’Luigi: The Musical’ uses comedy to bring deeper questions to the surface,” Ms. Bradford said in a news release. “Why did this case garner the reaction that it did? And what happens when people stop trusting their institutions?” Creators have pushed back on claims the show glorifies violence, arguing it examines the topic.
The New York Times called it “striking how measured ’Luigi: The Musical’ really is,” while the San Francisco Chronicle criticized it for poor staging and music quality.
The 90-minute, no-intermission New York engagement will be a staged reading rather than a full production. Originally planned as a single night, surging interest led creators to add two additional performances. The show runs through June 18, and according to the Baltimore Banner, attendees must be at least 21 years old.
Jason Loviglio, a media historian and University of Maryland, Baltimore County professor, told the Baltimore Banner that staging a musical around Mangione fits squarely within American tradition.
“This is part of a very long tradition of making popular culture out of outlaws,” Mr. Loviglio said, adding that Mangione’s imprisonment alongside two other high-profile figures made his story especially ripe for social commentary.
Mangione faces both state and federal charges for the alleged December 2024 killing of Mr. Thompson. He has pleaded not guilty. His state murder trial is set to begin June 8 in Manhattan — the same month the musical opens.
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