In the Luigi Mangione Musical, Violence Isn't Celebrated, but Singing Is a Must

One of the weirdest musicals to ever hit the stage is Steven Sondheim's Assassins. In this fantasy production, a handful of assassins, or would-be assassins, throughout history are brought together in order to engage in some deep reflection. Folks like John Hinckley Jr., Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, Lee Harvey Oswald, and John Wilkes Booth dig deep into their misplaced motives to explore the dark aspects of America. They do this via conversation and song.

Throughout its run, Assassins has won five Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical. It's not an easy watch and has often been criticized for its messaging and light handling of pretty serious crimes. Still, true crime exists, and why not expand it into every possible medium? This might be a question for the people behind the Luigi Mangione musical, which is coming to a theater in San Francisco. Here's what we know.

Aptly titled Luigi the Musical, this curious production is premiering at Taylor Street Theater in San Francisco and is running from June 13-28, 2025, per Playbill. According to the musical's website, this show is a "comedy that imagines the surreal scenario of Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, sharing a prison with real-life inmates Sam Bankman-Fried and Sean 'Diddy' Combs." OK, so this sounds like it's in the vein of Assassins.

Before you start the hand-wringing, please know the show's creators are not endorsing violence of any kind. They are also not judging the legalities of Mangione's case. "Our hearts go out to the family of Brian Thompson, and we acknowledge the pain and complexity surrounding this case," they said on the website. This fictional scenario is meant to comment on the responses to Mangione's alleged crimes by asking why they struck such a chord, and how he became a folk hero of sorts.

Caleb Zeringue, a producer and co-writer of the musical, spoke with the San Francisco Chronicle about creating the show and what they were trying to accomplish. He recalled hanging out with fellow producer and writer Nova Bradford one evening when she turned to him and said, "Did you hear that Luigi’s in the same prison with Diddy and Sam Bankman-Fried? I wanna write a musical about that."

It's set at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where Diddy and Mangione are being held. Bankman-Fried was previously incarcerated there but has since been moved to Terminal Island in Los Angeles. "​​These three people represent these big pillars of institutions in society that are failing in their trust: health care, Hollywood, and then big tech," said Zeringue.

The show was partially inspired by Chicago and is meant to be somewhat campy in a similar way. At one point, Jonny Stein, who plays Mangione, will start singing about the fact that he shouldn't have bought hash browns at McDonald's. The actor portraying Bankman-Fried gives a Ted Talk from his cell, which isn't a far cry from the interview he did with Tucker Carlson for his podcast in March 2025. "Did we write this musical, or did it write itself?" asks Zeringue.