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A new musical about a trio of high-profile felons has already sold out its run — and it doesn’t open for another month.
Debuting June 13 at San Francisco’s Taylor Street Theatre for a five-performance run is Luigi the Musical. The satirical show puts Luigi Mangione, the suspect at the center of the brutal shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, in the spotlight.
But Mangione isn’t alone.
Joining him at the center of the fictional stage story are Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs — whose trial on sex trafficking and racketeering charges is set to begin with opening statements in a matter of days — and former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.
The story is set in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, the institution that has infamously housed convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, Fyre Festival fraudster Billy McFarland and rapper R Kelly, who was found guilty of child sexual abuse. Inspired by the Broadway hit Chicago and featuring cellblock-inspired numbers, the fictional Luigi the Musical follows the trio of inmates sharing a prison cell as Mangione seeks redemption.
“These three people represent these big pillars of institutions in society that are failing in their trust: health care, Hollywood and then Big Tech,” producer and co-writer Caleb Zeringue told the San Francisco Chronicle.
In addition to Zeringue, the musical is being developed by Nova Bradford, Arielle Johnson, and André Margatini. Johnson and Bradford wrote the show in just two months, the Chronicle reported.
“We’re not valorizing any of these characters, and we’re also not trivializing any of their actions or alleged actions,” Bradford said. “Comedy inherently plays at the margins of social acceptability.”
The musical comes after Mangione pleaded not guilty to four federal charges after the December 2024 shooting of Thompson. He’s expected back in court June 26. Bankman-Fried is serving a 25-year sentence for multiple fraudulent schemes in the downfall of FTX.
Meanwhile, opening statements in Combs’s trial are expected to begin May 12. The music mogul is facing a five-count indictment accusing him of sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy.
The team behind the musical has released a statement in response to backlash about creating a show about such a sensitive topic, saying the production “uses satire to ask deeper cultural questions.”
“We do not condone violence, sexual assault, or pedophilia in any form,” the statement continued. “This musical, in fact, serves as a critique of these men and the institutions that enabled them. By placing these forces in one absurd prison cell, we’re offering a mirror to our moment: campy, surreal, and funny, but also emotionally honest.”
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