Backward Time, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Opens at the Public

Lafayette Street, a block below Astor Place, has a new tenant in the Newman Theater. He is born old, and he gets younger every night.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button began previews at the Public Theater on October 8. According to Playbill, the official opening is Wednesday, October 21. That is nine days away.

The show is a musical built on the F. Scott Fitzgerald story. Jethro Compton wrote the book and shares the lyrics with Darren Clark, who wrote the music. Compton also directs and designs the set.

A Life Run in Reverse

The premise needs no help. Playbill's synopsis sets it under a full moon. Benjamin is born old, bound to grow younger each day, and all he wants is to live a little life. The open question is whether he will ever find a place to belong.

Fitzgerald set his story in nineteenth-century America. This version, Time Out notes, moves it to twentieth-century Cornwall. Playbill traces Benjamin's life from the end of the First World War on through the century.

It is a story built for the stage, and for a city full of people who feel a little out of step with their own age. Hollywood has already had its turn with Benjamin. This version trades the screen for a room with a stage, a band and nowhere to hide.

There is no pit to hide in.

The Company

Andrew Durand leads as Benjamin. New York knows him well. He was Elmer McCurdy in Dead Outlaw, which earned him a 2025 Tony nomination, and before that he played Beau in Shucked.

Kelsee Kimmel plays Elowen Keene, the love of Benjamin's life, and Britney Coleman plays Gwyns. Playbill's cast list names eleven performers in all. Along with Coleman, Durand and Kimmel, it includes Trevor Lindley Craft, Brandon J. Ellis, Katie Horner, Sachiko Mae, Morgan Morse, Kris Saint-Louis, Claire-Frances Sullivan and Matt Wolpe. Jo Brook, Casey Martin Klein, Lauren Jeanne Thomas and Spiff Wiegand are the swings.

This is an actor-musician show. The people telling the story also play the music. There is no pit to hide in. The band is the cast, and the cast is the band.

From London to Lafayette Street

This is the North American premiere of a show that took its time getting here. Playbill reports that it began at Southwark Playhouse in London in 2019 and moved, expanded, to the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End in 2024. It won Best New Musical at the 2025 Olivier Awards.

Compton has brought much of the London team with him. Mark Aspinall is the music director, and he and Clark did the orchestrations. Anna Kelsey designs the costumes, Zoe Spurr the lighting and Luke Swaffield the sound. Chi-San Howard choreographs.

The run has grown before it has even opened. The Public first extended it to November 22. It then added two more weeks, and performances now run through December 6. Tickets for the added dates went on sale September 24.

Any listing that still shows a November closing is out of date. Playbill's production page runs to December 6.

There are no reviews to quote yet. The verdict comes after October 21, and the notices will say whether New York agrees with the London crowd.

What to Know Before You Go

The Public Theater is at 425 Lafayette Street, between Astor Place and East 4th Street. Take the N or R to 8th Street–NYU, or the 6 to Astor Place, per Time Out's listing.

Previews run now, with the official opening on October 21 and the final performance on December 6. Time Out's schedule shows 7 p.m. curtains Tuesday through Friday, with 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. shows on weekends. It lists seats at $149.

For another musical getting ready for its close-up, see A Mountain Girl on 44th Street.

Benjamin starts the night at the end of his life. Lafayette Street gets to watch him run toward the beginning.