A stage musical inspired by one of the most polarizing criminal cases in recent American history is heading to New York City this summer. Luigi Mangione, the man accused of fatally shooting Brian Thompson outside a Midtown hotel in December 2024, is now the subject of a full-blown musical comedy set to hit the very city where it all unfolded.
‘Luigi: The Musical’ is scheduled to premiere at The Green Room 42 in Midtown West on June 15. The show, created by songwriter Arielle Johnson and director Nova Bradford, bills itself as “a tale of love, murder, and hashbrowns” and originally played to sold-out crowds in San Francisco in 2025. The cast for the New York run has yet to be announced.
The production leans into its campy, satirical tone, placing the 27-year-old accused killer in a fictional jailhouse setting alongside Sam Bankman-Fried and Sean “Diddy” Combs as unlikely companions. Bradford has been vocal that the intention is to interrogate, not glorify.
Speaking to the show’s intent, she said:
“Why did this case garner the reaction that it did? And what happens when people stop trusting their institutions?”
Mangione faces life in prison at his state murder trial, also set for June, with a separate federal trial slated for September. He has pleaded not guilty.