Comedian Roy Wood Jr. kicks off Cabaret Theatre’s return at Mohegan Sun

The Cabaret Theatre at Mohegan Sun is set to return to its glory days in the coming months as officials at the Connecticut casino plan to bring back big time acts to headline marquee shows at the intimate 450-seat cabaret room.

A performance by Emmy-nominated comedian Roy Wood Jr. on Saturday at 8 p.m. is part of the revamp of the classic entertainment venue, which will host comedians, singers, bands and other entertainers in 2025.

Wood is the host of CNN’s “Have I Got News for You,” an American adaptation of a long-running UK comedy series, which premiered September 2024 and returned for a second season in February 2025.

Well-known singer and actor Kristen Chenowith, who has starred on the Broadway stage as well as in movies and on television, opened “The Cab” - as it is now affectionally called - in 2002. She was followed by a host of top performers and personalities over the years including Dionne Warwick, Al Jarreau, Tony Danza, Burt Bacharach, Neil Sedaka, Michael Bublé, Lou Rawls, Tony Bennett, Wanda Sykes, Paul Anka, Smothers Brothers, Tony Orlando, Derek Jeter, Aaron Lewis, Chris Botti and others.

“The Cabaret Theatre is very important to the Mohegan Tribe, as well as to our team, who wanted to make a statement with this absolutely beautiful performance space. But as we fired up the Mohegan Sun Arena, the financial models were such to having a bigger venue where you could present even bigger names,” said Tom Cantone, president of Sports & Entertainment for Mohegan.

According to Cantone, the arena concert industry is “second to none” and puts your venue “instantly on the map.”

“When you have the biggest names in American pop culture, it is going to drive concertgoers to you in the tens of thousands. And last year we reached having over 15 million people who have come to our arena over the years to be entertained. So, from a marketing standpoint, whoever drives the biggest volume is the winner,” he said.

However, Cantone noted that over the years he “really wanted” to find a way to bring back the heyday of that “intimate and glorious theater” that had been there pretty much as a meeting space for conventions and other groups. It was his belief that Mohegan Sun needed to have more variety, more entertainment options for their guests to enjoy, not just the Arena and Wolf Den. So, they set out to do a test by having various artists perform there once again.

“I had Joey McIntyre from New Kids on the Block come in to do a warm-up at The Cab before his Carnegie Hall debut, and it went over really well, a major success for us. Then we brought in other shows including the Chippendales and Nick Carter of Backstreet Boys fame to see how it would work as a venue once again if we brought back more frequent entertainment. And it worked and passed the audition,” Cantone said.

“So, now we are bringing back a revamp of something so well-received and historically successful in the past, and we are planning what I think will be a pretty nice schedule. In fact, at the end of December we brought in singer and Broadway star Linda Eder who was part of the roster from back in the heyday. She was great and the show was well-received. Once again, the venue was just sitting there begging to come back into the game and I was begging for it to come back as well. And with support from the Mohegan Tribe and management, we now have three popular venues again offering an array of different options for our guests on any given weekend,” he added.

Future shows planned include comedian Anthony Rodia and magician Jason Ledanye, as well as the Bacon Brothers band.

Wood is an Emmy-nominated documentary producer, and WGA nominated writer. He served for eight years as a correspondent on Comedy Central’s Emmy award-winning The Daily Show. In 2023, Wood guest hosted The Daily Show and headlined the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, leading to its highest ratings since 2017. His fourth stand-up special, Lonely Flowers, premiered on Hulu earlier this year. Upcoming projects include the comedy film “Outcome,” Sundance film “Love, Brooklyn” and a memoir titled “The Man of Many Fathers.”

Tickets, ranging in price from $!00 to $122, are available through Ticketmaster and at the Mohegan Sun Box Office.

Wood took time from his busy schedule for some straight talk with The Republican.

Q: What will your show be like on Saturday at The Cabaret Theatre?

A. I think my comedy is about people and the human experience. Ironically, people may know me for my politics, but I don’t live in that realm the entirety of the time. You are more likely to hear me talking about relationships during my show than actually talking policy points. I’m a guy that is no different than anybody else. You can be mad at the government, for sure, but I’m also mad that they charge for extra sauce when you get your chicken nuggets.

Q: Your father, Roy Wood Sr., was a respected radio journalist who covered the civil rights movement. How much of an influence was he on your decision to study journalism?

A: My dad, the way he tackled social issues, there wasn’t a drop of humor in there. He was very upset with this country. Journalistically, I wanted to be fun and light. Honestly, Stuart Scott, an ESPN sports commentator, was more of an influence in my getting into journalism. And, when I got older and really got into stand-up.... looking at this country and the issues people were dealing with... I basically turned into a funnier version of my father. And, that is really what I am at this point - a hilarious version of my own dad.

Q: How did working as a news reporter at an Alabama radio station, where for a time you filled in for the station’s in-house comedian, shape your approach to comedy and journalism?

A: I was already doing stand-up when I worked at the radio station, which was hard news. What it did was to help me understand the science of comedy. By and large, morning radio, especially urban radio in the late ‘90s, was a form of open mic in a way. Because in morning radio, you need a joke in its quickest and rawest form. You don’t have a lot of time to talk. So, I learned a lot during that time, and it is what actually got me into doing radio for another decade after that.

Q: How did it feel in 2023 to be chosen as the headline comedian for the White House Correspondent’s dinner, and what went through your mind when preparing your jokes? Also, do you remember the joke that got the most laughs, and the one that more or less fell flat?

A: It was a fun, but a wild ride. You are essentially performing for a room, half of which hates you. The unwritten agreement with doing the Correspondents’ dinner is getting on stage and performing, knowing that half of the people don’t like you. That is a very odd feeling. The most difficult part of the Correspondents’ dinner is that you really can’t calculate it until you are in it. The news cycle moves so fast that a joke you write in February will be nothing by April. I started out my monologue in the early days with something about Chinese spy balloons. But two months later that was pushed off the table when Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon both got fired on the same day a week before the dinner. There was so much news happening, that it was impossible to fit it all into the show. The dinner is an exercise in preparing a comedy set that is never going to be final because everything is always changing.

My best joke was about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas being bought by billionaire Harlan Crow. We can all see Clarence Thomas, but he belongs to the billionaire and that is what an NFT is. (Non-fungible tokens, often referred to as NFTs, are blockchain-based tokens that each represent a unique asset like a piece of art, digital content, or media.) As for the just OK material, it was about George Santos, who was really on his way out at that time.

Q: How do you compare the Correspondents’ dinner to hosting the Peabody Awards? (Editor’s note: The Peabody Awards honor how television/broadcasting, and digital and podcast programming, can have positive effects on society.)

A: The biggest difference is that the Correspondents’ dinner is a critique of this country, whereas the Peabody Awards is an opportunity for me to honor people for their critiquing. It’s a celebration, definitely an opportunity to celebrate art versus critiquing it.

Q: The prestigious Peabody program is based at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia at a time when the free press is under attack. How do you see the free press today?

A The free press is needed to maintain a state of accountability. I think we are seeing media turning a corner to a point of feeling maybe access isn’t as important as telling the truth. The AP paid the price and is being excluded from things by the White House and a series of other media outlets are being kicked out of their offices at the White House. We need to realize that if someone is trying to control the media, then they are trying to control the message. And if they are trying to control the message it is because there is something they don’t want you to know. So, a free press is very important.

Q: How did you come to host “Have I Got News for You” on CNN?

A: Before coming to American television, ‘Have I Got News for You’ began as a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions in London. It’s been running there for 30 seasons. Creator Jimmy Mulville and everybody at Hat Trick knew they had a good thing going and always felt that the panel format could work in America, where it hasn’t at times. But they felt that this was the one show to bring over that would breach the format. I appeared on the show in London last year as a guest host. They needed a host for the American show and I had already left the Daily Show by that time. So, it worked out beautifully. When I did the show in Britain, I felt it was a well-oiled machine. One advantage to the British show, that we don’t quite have yet here, is the feeling that we are a place where elected officials trust enough to come on, crack a joke, critique and be critiqued. We are still growing in that regard, but on the political side we have had good guests such as Representative Tim Burchett and Representative Jasmine Crockett from both sides of the aisle. It is a joy to do the American show. Everyone is happy, the ratings are solid, and the fans are responding.

Q: Who would you like to have on the show?

A: I’d like the First Gentleman Doug Emhoff to be a guest. He is a fun guy to hang with and I don’t think people understand that. And I’d like Senator Ted Cruz to appear on the show as well.

Q: You have appeared several times as a roundtable guest on CNN’s NewsNight with Abby Phillip. This is a very serious straightforward news show. How do you keep the comedy in check when entering the conversation?

A: My goal when you see me on television is to be funny. Being on Abby Philip is different. Her show sometimes creates a great deal of tension between people. If I can’t think of a funny way to say something, then I just say it because I don’t want to leave any stone unturned. You also need to consider how open others at the table are to laughing. And if you make a joke and then have five people just staring at you, well, it’s like being back at the Correspondent’s dinner.

Tickets to Roy Wood Jr.’s show at the Mohegan Sun’s Cabaret Theatre can be purchased on the Mohegan Sun website.