(2025-06-14) Mangione Superfans Score Seats To The Premiere Of Luigi The Musical

Luigi Mangione superfans score seats to the premiere of “Luigi: The Musical”... given that Cole Escola just took home a Tony Award for playing widowed First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln in “Oh, Mary!” it would seem that darkly comic takes on assassination are trending — theatrically speaking, of course.

his perceived good looks and habit of dressing sharply for his court appearances, combined with a widespread dislike of insurance industry practices, have turned Mangione into a folk hero.

The jumping-off point for “Luigi: The Musical” is that he’s being held at the same detention facility that has also housed rapper and alleged sex trafficker Sean “P-Diddy” Combs and convicted cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.

“No one in the cast or crew condones murder,” a ticket holder named Jonah Pryce said. “But Luigi has quickly become symbolic of a lot of the stress and frustration that I’d say the majority of Americans are feeling right now.”

The lone individual who showed up in a “Deny, Defund, Depose” T-shirt declined to speak with this reporter and consented to be photographed only from the neck down.

‘Luigi: the Musical’ Is a Beautiful, Queer, Chaotic Lightning Rod — Wonder Dave - Comedian, Writer, Performer & Swell Human.

Let me start by being honest about my bias: I knew six of the seven cast and crew members behind Luigi: the Musical prior to opening night.

We’ve all lived through the same broken healthcare system that puts profit before people, lived the consequences of late-stage, under-regulated capitalism.

My experience was one of connection. Side-splitting humor and electric energy left the audience laughing, gasping, and applauding—fully along for the ride. The night felt like a catharsis, a releasing of our guards, laughter and joy permitting a vulnerability that began to help heal calloused wounds.

And yes, Luigi the Musical has a message. A big one. It takes aim at a system that lets people die so insurance companies can thrive. It uses the absurd real-life coincidence of a single correctional facility shared by 2025’s most thirsted-after murder suspect, a crypto fraudster, and a disgraced music mogul to comment on corruption, power, and inequality.

In its weird, messy, wonderfully sincere way— the show says that trying to change the world is hard

Sure, as has been pointed out, not every note may have landed cleanly—but that’s part of what made the show feel so alive. In a city like this, in a moment like now, I’m not sure perfected polish is what we need most from our art.

S.F. musical about Luigi Mangione looks to expand internationally after extending run

*San Francisco’s buzzy new musical about Luigi Mangione has extended its run once more, with its creators looking to expand the production beyond the Bay Area.

“Luigi: The Musical,” inspired by the social media discourse surrounding the 27-year-old suspect in the murder case of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has added an Aug. 6 show at the Independent after selling out all previous performances.*

The satirical show follows Mangione as he encounters his prison mates — Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was recently convicted on prostitution-related charges, and fallen FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried — at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, in a production staged in the style of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical “Chicago.”

Even before its debut at Taylor Street Theatre on June 13, the musical attracted national attention — “If only the show itself could justify the hype,” wrote Chronicle theater critic Lily Janiak in her opening night review of the production.

Nonetheless, “Luigi: The Musical” went on to sell out its initial run at the 49-seat venue through June 28.

*“It’s so fun and cathartic for us to perform the show, and audiences are really loving it,” Caleb Zeringue, an executive producer, writer and actor in the show, told the Chronicle. “We are hearing from the audiences that the show helps them process our current society. … We want to give more people the chance to see it.”

Despite describing the show as “terrible,” Janiak acknowledged that it drew “younger-than-usual theatergoers” and serves as proof that people “still crave theater that helps us make sense of current events and envision fresh political possibilities.”*