Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody will be recorded for the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts on Tuesday, November 10, preserving the current company at The Culture Club two months before the run ends.
For a musical that started as one fan's unauthorized send-up of a television romance, a place in the library's collection is an unusual kind of permanence. The filming takes place at The Culture Club, 520 W 27th St, and the archive extends this recording to only a select group of Off-Broadway productions.
The cameras will catch the company as it stands now: Jay Armstrong Johnson as Ilya Rozanov and Troy Iwata as Shane Hollander, with Ryann Redmond, Shelby Acosta and Ryan Duncan completing the ensemble. Aaron Alcaraz, Dean Cestari and Sujaya Sunkara are the standbys.
Producer Alan Kliffer, who also directs, made the announcement on November 9. "We feel very lucky and honored to have our show preserved for the Library of the Performing Arts' archive cementing it in the theatrical canon and further legitimizing this love letter musical to Heated Rivalry," he said.
Dylan MarcAurele wrote the book, music, lyrics and orchestrations, building the show around the hockey series and its golden-boy hero, Shane Hollander, whose on-ice feud turns into something far less professional. The score is pop through and through, there are walk-on turns for characters such as Rose Landry and Ilya's Ass, and the show cheerfully concedes that its time jumps are impossible to follow.
The production was first booked for eight weeks. Since then, it has recouped and extended three times, and it now runs at The Culture Club through Sunday, January 17, 2027.
Behind the scenes, Brooke & Tiffany Engen choreograph, Mateo Chavez Lewis is music director, and the design team is Sully Ross (sets), Brendan McCann (costumes), Devin Cameron (lighting) and Germán Martinez (sound). Ann James serves as intimacy coordinator and sensitivity specialist, and Geoff Josselson Casting cast the show. Klif Entertainment is the producer, and Christian Palomares is executive producer.
An original cast album from Center Stage Records arrived on September 18 and can be streamed on the usual platforms.
Tickets for Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody are on sale now.
