Luigi Mangione musical immortalizing accused CEO killer to premiere on NYC stage
A ghoulish musical comedy chronicling the story of alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO gunman Luigi Mangione is set to premiere in New York City this summer — the very city where the shocking December 2024 assassination took place.
“Luigi: The Musical” will open at The Green Room 42 in Midtown West on June 15, just a 20-minute subway ride from the Hilton Hotel where Mangione allegedly shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The satirical production presents a “bold, campy, and unafraid” take on Mangione’s life in lockdown as he awaits trial for the killing of the father of two.
Described as “a tale of love, murder, and hashbrowns,” the musical references Mangione reportedly eating the McDonald’s menu item before his arrest in Pennsylvania.
The show, which claims to examine rather than glorify violence, originally debuted in San Francisco in 2025 to sold-out audiences. The cast for the New York premiere has not been announced, and representatives for the musical did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Songwriter Arielle Johnson and director Nova Bradford created the production, inspired by a note “scribbled on a napkin at the SF Eagle,” according to Bradford.
“‘Luigi: The Musical’ uses comedy to bring deeper questions to the surface,” Bradford said on the show’s website. “Why did this case garner the reaction that it did? And what happens when people stop trusting their institutions?”
The musical features convicted crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried and hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs as Mangione’s quirky jailhouse companions at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center. Together, the trio navigates “friendship, justice, and the absurdity of viral fame” in musical numbers like “The Cheapest Room in Brooklyn” and “Bay Area Baby,” performed by Bankman-Fried.
According to the production’s description, “‘Luigi: The Musical’ doesn’t glorify violence, it interrogates it. Beneath the absurdity and punchlines lies a serious critique of how violence is packaged, sold, and consumed in American media. The show invites audiences to laugh while also reflecting on why we are so quick to watch when someone gets hurt.”
Bradford told the San Francisco Chronicle that the creators were mindful of the sensitive subject matter. “We’re not valorizing any of these characters, and we’re also not trivializing any of their actions or alleged actions,” she said.
Mangione, 27, faces life in prison if convicted at his upcoming state trial in June for the fatal shooting of Thompson. He also faces a federal trial in September on a stalking charge connected to Thompson’s death. Federal prosecutors will not pursue the death penalty in his case. Mangione, a Maryland native, has pleaded not guilty.
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