Building a Show from Scratch: How “Immediate Family” is Different from Other Blumenthal Shows

Most touring productions roll into town with the whole package already in place: ready-made sets and costumes, a full cast, and all the little details figured out. But with the comedy “Immediate Family,” coming to Blumenthal’s Booth Playhouse July 29 - August 31, the show is getting a Charlotte-led glow up.

THIS SHOW’S DIFFERENT

Blumenthal Arts is producing the show from scratch with a brand new cast, under the direction of TV and stage legend Phylicia Rashad.

➣ There are new sets crafted by Majestic Scenic, a Winston-Salem based scenic arts fabrication shop, that builds for theaters and art installations around the country. New costumes are also on the way, designed by accomplished film/TV and theater designer Colleen Morris-Glennon.

“In this case, we are producing this solely for Charlotte,” says Blumenthal’s president and CEO Tom Gabbard. But he’s quick to add Blumenthal’s hope is for the show to have a life beyond the Queen City, too.

➣ Blumenthal hosted its first-ever national media day in New York City to promote “Immediate Family,” and Gabbard says his team was thrilled by the response. The event drew more press than some Broadway shows do.

“We expect to see a lot of industry people during the run,” he says, noting the show’s month-long run will help accommodate out-of-town visitors. Blumenthal has invested with an eye toward the future, creating what Gabbard describes as a “really first-class set.”

➣ “This physical production could easily be on Broadway and meet that level of standard. But it also is something that I think may be appealing to resident theaters across the country,” who could rent it for their own productions.

HIGHER PROFILE THAN PAST CHARLOTTE-SPECIFIC SHOWS

➣ Blumenthal has produced several shows in the past that were created especially for Charlotte audiences. Among them was “First Date,” a 2016 production that like “Immediate Family” had a custom set built for it and a New York cast assembled.

“It had some similarities,” Gabbard says, but Rashad’s participation takes it to an even higher level. “The talent that is drawn to this because of her, that elevates it way beyond anything we've been able to do previously.”

(Director Phylicia Rashad and Playwright Paul Oakley Stovall on set with the cast of Immediate Family. Credit: Marc J. Franklin)

TOLD WITH HEART AND HUMOR

“These are characters that people will readily identify with,” Gabbard says.

➣ He first saw the play, written by the multi-talented Paul Oakley Stovall, back in 2012 when it premiered at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre. He’s always admired the show’s humanity and abundant humor.

“It's a family that struggles with some of the same things every family struggles with, be it sibling rivalry or competition, or secrets that come out in the course of being together. … It raises some thorny issues that families many times struggle with. To do it with such humor, I think, helps us to process it more readily, and the way that Phylicia has directed this that has a certain lightness to it.”

PLAYWRIGHT STOVALL’S GOT HISTORY HERE

Stovall often calls Charlotte his second artistic home (his hometown is Chicago). Charlotte audiences may recognize him from his performances as George Washington in the National Tour of “Hamilton,” or his cabaret-style shows “Love Rules” (2024) and “Life Rules” (2025).

(Paul Oakley Stovall as George Washington in the National Tour of Hamilton)

➣ But his first time at Blumenthal actually was during the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, shortly after the inaugural run of “Immediate Family” in Chicago.

➣ Stovall spent seven years working for the Obama administration, primarily on First Lady Michelle Obama’s team. During the DNC, he led a group of celebrity “wranglers” who met stars at the airport, took care of them during their time in Charlotte and then got them safely back to the airport to fly home.

(Paul Oakley Stovall with former First Lady Michelle Obama)

“Just for convenience, he and many of his team actually crashed in crash pads that we created for our own staff in the basement of the theater,” Gabbard says. “We had inflatable beds and towels and a way so that 24/7 we were able to serve and so they hung out with us.”

Gabbard says they've developed a great personal friendship over the years.

➣ Stovall’s two recent week-long Charlotte residencies tied to his concert performances, also included community talkbacks and master classes, particularly designed for young performers. (Note: An 8/3 community conversation with Stovall and Rashad, moderated by award-winning journalist Mary C. Curtis, quickly sold out.)

“I just think he is such an inspirational human being and his life story that involves playwriting, political organizing, performing in a blockbuster show—that kind of renaissance spirit that allows him to be successful in all these different things is something we wanted our young people in Charlotte to be inspired by.”

THERE COULD BE MORE TO COME

Gabbard says Blumenthal’s team is thrilled to hear Stovall speak of Charlotte as a source of artistic inspiration. “We love that because we love Paul, but it also speaks to the growing creative capacity that we have here in Charlotte that he would make that statement, make that choice.”

Gabbard hopes to see more new projects like “Immediate Family” happen here, if the opportunity is right. The product and the people involved are key, he says.

➣ It could be a way to expand the diversity of what Blumenthal offers with more plays.

“Part of why people know Blumenthal as a place to showcase musicals is because that's what goes out on tour…” he says. “So, I think being proactive, as we're being with ‘Immediate Family,’ is actually what it's going to take for us to have high quality plays in Charlotte.”