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Ok, ready? Deep breath. Here’s a brief summary–via Playbill.com–of the upcoming thirteen (count ‘em, thirteen) plays and four musicals that will be opening on Broadway this fall. It was totally a labor of love to put this post together. My fingers are cramped and my eyes are crossed. Hope there are some theatre geeks out there to whom it is useful.
Plays first, in order of first preview date:
SHOW: Mauritius
BY: Theresa Rebeck
CAST: F. Murray Abraham, Dylan Baker, Bobby Canavale, Katie Finneran, Alison Pill, directed by Doug Hughes
SYNOPSIS: The world of stamp collecting is more dangerous than you ever thought. After their mother’s death, two sisters discover a book of rare stamps. Enter three high-stakes collectors, who will do just about anything to own it.
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: September 13
SHOW: Pygmalion
BY: George Bernard Shaw
CAST: Claire Danes, Jefferson Mays, Boyd Gaines, Jay O. Sanders, Helen Carey, Brenda Wehle, Kerry Bishe, Kieran Campion, Sandra Shipley, Jonathan Fielding, Robin Mosley, Karen Walsh, directed by David Grindley
SYNOPSIS: Can a blustering phonetics professor turn a Cockney flower girl into a society lady in a few months’ time? George Bernard Shaw’s play, based on a classical myth, reveals how people judge others (and themselves).
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: September 14
SHOW: The Ritz
BY: Terrance McNally
CAST: Rosie Perez, Kevin Chamberlain, Brooks Ashmanskas, Caroline Aaron, Patrick Kerr, Lucas Near-Verbrugghe, Terrence Riordan, Seth Rudetsky, Adam Sietz, David Turner, Lenny Venito, Ryan Idol, Teddy Coluca, Billy Magnussen, Mark Leydorf, Matthew Montelongo, Angela Pietropinto, Jeffrey Evan Thomas, Josh Breckenridge, Justin Clynes, Andrew Cooksey, Lukas Hassel, Nick Mayo, Dillon Porter, directed by Joe Mantello
SYNOPSIS: Fearing that his mobster brother-in-law is after him, Gaetano Proclo hides out in a place where he thinks no one will find him — which turns out to be a gay bathhouse. Confusion and hilarity reign as his fantasy persona (he claims he’s a Broadway producer) becomes the focus of everyone’s attention.
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: September 14
SHOW: A Bronx Tale
BY: Chazz Palminteri
CAST: Chazz Palminteri, directed by Jerry Zaks
SYNOPSIS: A hardworking father struggles to negate his son’s fascination with a local gangster.
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: October 4
SHOW: Cyrano de Bergerac
BY: Edmond Rostand
CAST: Kevin Kline, Jennifer Garner, Daniel Sunjata (more casting to be announced), directed by David Leveaux
SYNOPSIS: Cyrano de Bergerac — poet, philosopher, expert swordsman and incredible wit — pines for the beautiful Roxane, but is too shy to pursue her because of his extraordinarily large nose.
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: October 12
SHOW: The Farnsworth Invention
BY: Aaron Sorkin
CAST: Hank Azaria, Jimmi Simpson (more casting still to be announced), directed by Des McAnuff
SYNOPSIS: In 1920, a young Idaho farmer named Philo dreams of a device that projects images transmitted through the air. Meanwhile, across the country, a Russian immigrant has clawed his way out of the shtetl to become the head of RCA (Radio Corporation of America). He dreams of spreading information to the masses using pictures. Who will get the credit for inventing television?
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: October 15
SHOW: Rock ‘n’ Roll
BY: Tom Stoppard
CAST: Brian Cox , Sinead Cusack, Rufus Sewell, Nicole Ansari, Alice Eve, directed by Trevor Nunn
SYNOPSIS: An examination of the recent history of Czechoslovakia from the perspectives of Prague, where a rock band represented resistance to the regime, and Cambridge, where love and death shape the lives of three generations of the family of a Marxist philosopher.
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: October 19
SHOW: August: Osage County
BY: Tracy Letts
CAST: Ian Barford, Deanna Dunagan, Kimberly Guerrero, Francis Guinan, Dennis Letts, Mariann Mayberry, Amy Morton, Sally Murphy, Jeff Perry, Rondi Reed, Troy West, directed by Anna D. Shapiro
SYNOPSIS: When the patriarch vanishes, all of the Westons must return to the family home in rural Oklahoma to care for their afflicted (and mistress-of-manipulation) mother. With rich insight and brilliant humor, Letts paints a vivid portrait of a Midwestern family at a turning point.
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: October 30
SHOW: The Seafarer
BY: Conor McPherson
CAST: Ciarán Hinds, Conleth Hill, David Morse, Richie Coster, Jim Norton, directed by Conor McPherson
SYNOPSIS: On Christmas Eve, Sharky returns to Dublin to look after his brother, who has recently gone blind. Old drinking buddies Ivan and Nicky are at the house too, hoping to play some cards. When a stranger from the distant past arrives, the stakes are raised and Sharky finds he may be playing for his soul…
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: October 30
SHOW: Cymbeline
BY: William Shakespeare
CAST: Jonathan Cake, Michael Cerveris, John Cullum, Martha Plimpton, Phylicia Rashad, directed by Mark Lamos
SYNOPSIS: At the insistence of his evil second wife, Cymbeline, King of Britain, agrees to the marriage of his daughter Imogen to Cloten, his wife’s son. Unbeknownst to the king, Imogen has secretly wed her suitor, Posthumus. The action follows the political and emotional ramifications of Imogen’s pursuit of Posthumus.
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: November 1
SHOW: Is He Dead?
BY: Mark Twain, adapted by David Ives
CAST: Norbert Leo Butz, Jeremy Bobb, Marylouise Burke, Patricia Conolly, Jenn Gambatese, Byron Jennings, Michael McGrath, John McMartin, David Pittu, Bridget Regan, Tom Alan Robbins, directed by Michael Blakemore
SYNOPSIS: Inspired by the posthumous bidding war that broke out between the United States and France over Jean-Francois Millet’s painting “The Angelus,” Is He Dead? concerns a group of poor artists who stage the death of their mentor to drive up the price of his paintings. In order for the scheme to succeed, they hatch various plots involving cross dressing, a full-scale fake funeral, lovers’ deceptions and more.
PERFOMANCES BEGIN: November 8
SHOW: The Homecoming
BY: Harold Pinter
CAST: Eve Best, Raul Esparza, Michael McKean, Ian McShane, directed by Daniel Sullivan
SYNOPSIS: This North London family is an eclectic group. There’s Max, the patriarch, a retired butcher; his taxi driver brother; and sons Joey, a demolition worker and aspiring boxer, and Lenny, whose profession shall remain nameless. Into this melange comes the third son, Teddy, who flew the coop years before. With him is Ruth, the wife no one knew existed. How will she adapt to the bizarre household?
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: November 23
SHOW: November
BY: David Mamet
CAST: Nathan Lane, Laurie Metcalf, directed by Joe Mantello
SYNOPSIS: November, a political play by David Mamet, who wrote the screenplay for Wag the Dog, is set in the month notable for elections as well as presidential pardons of Thanksgiving turkeys.
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: December 20
And now the musicals:
SHOW: Young Frankenstein
BY: Music & Lyrics–Mel Brooks; Book–Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan
CAST: Roger Bart, Megan Mullally, Sutton Foster, Shuler Hensley, Andrea Martin Fred Applegate, Christopher Fitzgerald, Heather Ayers, Jim Borstelmann, Paul Castree, Jen Lee Crowl, Jack Doyle, James Gray, Amy Heggins, Eric Jackson, Kristin Marie Johnson, Renee Feder, Matthew LaBanca, Kevin Ligon, Barrett Martin, Linda Mugleston, Christina Marie Norrup, Justin Patterson, Brian Shepard, Sarrah Strimel, Craig Waletzko, Courtney Young, directed and choreographed by Susan Strohman
SYNOPSIS: Esteemed brain sugeon and professor Frederick Frankenstein faces a dilemma: Does he continue to run from his family’s dark past in Transylvania, or follow in his grandfather’s footsteps by reanimating the dead? And how about that sexy lab assistant, Inga?
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: October 11
SHOW: Lone Star Love
BY: Music & Lyrics–Jack Herrick; Book–Conceived by John L. Haber; book by John L. Haber and Robert Horn
CAST: Randy Quaid , Robert Cuccioli, Dee Hoty, Lauren Kennedy, Clarke Thorell, Ramona Keller, Drew McVety, Dan Sharkey, Kara Lindsay, Nick Sullivan , Brandon Williams, Stacey Harris, Amanda Lea LaVergne, Ryan Murray, Monica Patton, Miguel A. Romero, Chad Seib, Jeremy Benton, Anne Horak, Kristie Dale Sanders, Tony Lawson, directed & choreographed by Randy Skinner
SYNOPSIS: Colonel John Falstaff is right at home on the wild prairie — and up to his usual shenanigans. A musical western version of William Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, set in post-Civil War Texas.
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: November 1
SHOW: Dr. Suess’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas
BY: Lyrics–Timothy Mason; Music–Mel Marvin; Book–Timothy Mason
CAST: Patrick Page (additional casting to be announced at a later date), directed by Matt August
SYNOPSIS: A holiday musical extravaganza based on Dr. Seuss’ beloved tale.
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: November 1
SHOW: The Little Mermaid
BY: Lyrics–Howard Ashman, Glenn Slater; Music–Alan Menken; Book–Doug Wright
CAST: Sierra Boggess, Sean Palmer, Norm Lewis, Tituss Burgess, Eddie Korbich, Jonathan Freeman, Sherie René Scott, Derrick Baskin, Tyler Maynard, Cody Hanford, J.J. Singleton, Adrian Bailey, Cathryn Basile, Heidi Blickenstaff , James Brown III, Robert Creighton, Cicily Daniels, John Treacy Egan, Tim Federle, Merwin Foard, Bahiyah Sayyed Gaines, Ben Hartley, Meredith Inglesby, Michelle Lookadoo, Joanne Manning, Alan Mingo Jr. , Zakiya Young Mizen, Betsy Morgan, Arbender J. Robinson, Bret Shuford, Jason Snow, Chelsea Morgan Stock, Kay Trinidad, Price Waldman, Daniel J. Watt, directed by Francesca Zambello
SYNOPSIS: After rescuing a handsome young prince, Ariel, a young mermaid, makes a faustian bargain with an unscrupulous sea witch that allows Ariel to be human, but at a terrible cost.
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: November 3
Looking forward to seeing Alan Mingo in his new role. The kids of kittsville youth foundation send there love.
I Googled for something completely different, but found your page…and have to say thanks. nice read…
Michael–hopefully some of the kids will get to see Alan on Broadway. Thanks for the comment.
Kimberly–glad you stumbled upon us and liked what you saw. Come back again sometime!