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Since I haven’t posted for awhile, I thought I’d jump back in with a doozy. Like I did last Fall, I’ve compiled the pertinent information for the upcoming six musicals and seven plays scheduled to open in the next several months on Broadway. Thanks to Playbill.com for the inspiration.
Plays first, in order of first performance dates. Enjoy!!
SHOW: November
BY: David Mamet
CAST: Nathan Lane, Laurie Metclaf, Dylan Baker, Michael Nichols, Ethan Phillips, 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 BEGAN: December 20, 2007
RUNS:Open-Ended, beginning January 17, 2008
SHOW: Come Back, Little Sheba
BY: William Inge
CAST: S. Epatha Merkerson, Kevin Anderso, Lyle Kanous, Zoe Kaza, Brian J. Smit, Brenda Wehl, Matthew J. Williamson, directed by Michael Pressman
SYNOPSIS: Marie, an attractive young boarder, gives new meaning to the lives of Doc and Lola Delaney, married for 20 years and grindingly unhappy. For Lola, Marie is the child she never had. Doc, who has been drinking away his frustrations, has less than paternal feelings. Shocking in 1950 for its frank references to alcoholism and premarital pregnancy, Sheba helped usher in an era of realistic domestic dramas.
PERFORMANCES BEGAN: January 3, 2008
RUNS: January 24 through March 16, 2008
SHOW: The 39 Steps
BY: John Buchan, adapted by Patrick Barlow from an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon
CAST: Charles Edwards, Arnie Burton, Jennifer Ferrin, Cliff Saunders, directed by Maria Aitken
SYNOPSIS: Part espionage thriller and part slapstick comedy, the production features four actors who portray all the characters and all the action from the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film, including the chase atop the Flying Scotsman train, a bi-plane crash and the death-defying finale in London’s Palladium theatre,
PERFORMANCES BEGAN: January 4, 2008
RUNS: January 15 through March 23, 2008
SHOW: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
BY: Tennessee Williams
CAST: Terrence Howard, Anika Noni Rose, James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad, directed by Debbie Allen
SYNOPSIS: Will manipulative patriarch Big Daddy leave his plantation to his weasly son Gooper or his handsome alcoholic son Brick? And why doesn’t Brick have a son of his own? Hotblooded wife Maggie does her best to tempt Brick from his brooding and back into her bed. Winner of the 1955 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: February 12, 2008
RUNS: March 6 through April 13, 2008
SHOW: Thurgood
BY: George Stevens, Jr.
CAST: Laurence Fishburne, directed by Leonard Foglia
SYNOPSIS: The one-man show is based on the life and momentous times of Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American to serve on the Supreme Court.
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: March 30, 2008
RUNS: April 20 through July 20, 2008
SHOW: The Country Girl
BY: Clifford Odets
CAST: Morgan Freeman, Frances McDormand, Peter Gallagher, directed by Mike Nichols
SYNOPSIS: A washed-up actor is given a final shot at redemption, but his drinking threatens to derail things. Can his put-upon wife save the situation, or is she the cause of it?
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: April 1, 2008
RUNS: Open Ended
SHOW: Top Girls
BY: Caryl Churchill
CAST: Mary Catherine Garrison, Elizabeth Marvel, Martha Plimpton, Marisa Tomei, directed by James Macdonald
SYNOPSIS: Marlene celebrates her promotion to managing director of the Top Girls Employment Agency by throwing a “Mad Hatter” type dinner party for a fanciful array of mythical and historical women, including a Victorian-era Scottish traveler, a Japanese courtesan turned Buddhist nun, Pope Joan and Chaucer’s Patient Griselda. Crossing cultures, generations and politics, the sparkling dinner conversation reveals the sacrifices made as well as the joys experienced by these extraordinary women.
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: April 15, 2008
RUNS: May 7 through June 22, 2008
SHOW: Stalig 17
BY: Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski
CAST: TBA, directed by Spike Lee
SYNOPSIS: A war drama set in a German prison camp. Billy Wilder directed the 1952 film based on the play, which, in turn, spawned the TV series “Hogan’s Heroes.”
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: TBA
And now the musicals…
SHOW: The Little Mermaid
BY: Lyrics—Howard Ashman & Glenn Slater; Music—Alan Menken; Book—Doug Wright
CAST: Sierra Boggess, Sherie Rene Scott, Sean Palmer, Norm Lewis, Tituss Burgess, Eddie Korbich, Jonathan Freeman, Derrick Baskin, Tyler Maynard, Trevor Braun, Brian D’addario, 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, Ben Hartley, Meredith Inglesby, Michelle Lookadoo, Joanne Manning, Alan mingo, jr., Zakiya Young Mizen, Betsy Morgan, Arbender J. Robinson, Bahiyah Sayyed Gaines, Bret Shuford, Jason Snow, Chelsea Morgan Stock, Kay Trinidad, Price Waldman, Daniel J. Watts, 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 BEGAN: November 3, 2007
RUNS: Open-Ended, beginning January 10 2008
SHOW: Sunday in the Park with George
BY: Music & Lyrics—Stephen Sondheim, Book—James Lapine
CAST: Daniel Evans, Jenna Russell, Michael Cumpsty, Alexander Gemignani, Jessica Molaskey, Mary Beth Peil, Ed Dixon, Santino Fontana, Kelsey Fowler, Jessica Grove, Alison Horowitz, Stacie Morgain Lewis, Drew McVety, Anne Nathan, Brynn O’Malley, David Turner, directed by Sam Buntrock
SYNOPSIS: The Pulitzer Prize-winning musical chronicles the life of maverick French impressionist painter Georges Seurat during the creation of his now celebrated masterpiece, “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte-1884.” Act Two is set in the 1990s, when Seurat’s great-grandson encounters different artistic struggles.
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: January 25, 2008
RUNS: February 21 through April 6, 2008
SHOW: Passing Strange
BY: Lyrics & Book—Stew; Music—Stew and Heidi Rodewald
CAST: Stew, de’Adre Aziza, Daniel Breaker, Eisa Davis, Colman Domingo, Chad Goodridge, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Heidi Rodewald, Jon Spurney, Christian Cassan, directed by Annie Dorsen
SYNOPSIS: An African-American rock musician’s desire for authenticity takes him to some exotic locales to find the meaning of life.
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: February 8, 2008
RUNS: Open-Ended, beginning February 28, 2008
SHOW: In the Heights
BY: Music & Lyrics—Lin-Manuel Miranda; Book—Quiara Alegría Hudes
CAST: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Andréa Burns, Janet Dacal, Robin De Jesús, Carlos Gomez , Mandy Gonzalez, Christopher Jackson, Priscilla Lopez, Olga Merediz, Karen Olivo, Seth Stewart , Tony Chiroldes, Rosie Lani Fiedelman, Joshua Henry, Afra Hines, Nina Lafarga, Doreen Montalvo, Javier Muñoz, Krysta Rodriguez, Eliseo Roman, Luis Salgado, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Rickey Tripp, Michael Balderrama, Blanca Camacho, Rogelio Douglas Jr., Stephanie Klemons, directed by Thomas Kail
SYNOPSIS: It’s the July 4th weekend in Washington Heights, a vibrant and tight-knit neighborhood at the top of Manhattan. The musical explores the joys, heartbreaks and bonds of a Latino community struggling to redefine home.
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: February 14, 2008
RUNS: Open-Ended, beginning March 9, 2008
SHOW: South Pacific
BY: Lyrics—Oscar Hammerstein II; Music—Richard Rodgers; Book—Joshua Logan & Oscar Hammerstein II
CAST: Kelli O’Hara. Paulo Szot. Loretta Ables Sayre. Matthew Morrison. Danny Burstein, directed by Bartlett Sher
SYNOPSIS: South Pacific concerns the lives of U.S. military men, nurses and the residents of the Polynesian island they occupy during World War II. Nurse Nellie Forbush is “In Love With a Wonderful Guy,” a French planter with small children. Clean-cut Lt. Cable has fallen hard for Bloody Mary’s daughter Liat. And the seabees, sailors and marines will tell you that there is “Nothing Like a Dame.” The show’s gorgeous score also includes “Cockeyed Optimist,” “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair,” “Some Enchanted Evening,” “Younger Than Springtime,” “Honey Bun” and “This Nearly Was Mine.”
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: March 1, 2008
RUNS: April 3 through June 22, 2008
SHOW: A Catered Affair
BY: Music & Lyrics—John Bucchino; Book— Harvey Fierstein
CAST: Faith Prince, Tom Wopat, Matt Cavenaugh, Harvey Fierstein, Leslie Kritzer, Philip Hoffman, Katie Klaus, Heather MacRae, Lori Wilner, Kristine Zbornik, directed by John Doyle
SYNOPSIS: In 1953, relationships are strained to the limit when a Bronx couple must choose whether to spend their life savings on a family business or to launch their only daughter’s marriage with a lavish catered affair.
PERFORMANCES BEGIN: March 25, 2008
RUNS: Open-Ended beginning April 17, 2008
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Where’s your obligatory post lamenting the closing of your blog’s namesake?
Happy New Year, MIC!! Great to have you back where you belong!
Hey MiC,
Welcome back and Happy New Year!
I’m looking forward to just about everything. I saw “The 39 Steps” in Boston on its pre-Broadway tryout. (In fact, it was the subject of my very first blog post). It’s such a fun, imaginative show. It’s a scene-for-scene retelling of the movie, but in very inspired way. The cast is terrific. I hope it does really well on Broadway.