Hyper-Hyped
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, Oct. 13
Alex Timbers and Michael Friedman’s emo-rock musical presents Old Hickory as a moody teen and the country in growth spurts of adolescence. It arrives on Broadway after a sold-out and lauded run at the Public Theater last season–and after star Benjamin Walker dropped out of the new X-Men movie to stay on as Jackson.
Driving Miss Daisy, John Golden Theatre, Oct. 25
Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones star in the Broadway debut Alfred Uhry’s Pulitzer-winning 1987 play (it ran then off-Broadway, at Playwrights Horizons) about the unlikely friendship between a Southern Jewish woman and the black man hired as her chauffeur.
Angels in America, Signature Theatre, Oct. 28
The Signature devotes each season to a single playwright, and it’s kicking off a Tony Kushner year with Angels in America, his sprawling take on the United States in the 1980s–“a gay fantasia on national themes,” he subtitled it. It’s the first New York revival of the Pulitzer winner since its 1991 premiere, and the two parts–Millennium Approaches and Perestroika –will be performed in repertory.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Belasco Theatre, Nov. 4
Pedro Almodóvar’s 1988 films has been adapted as a musical by playwright Jeffrey Lane and songwriter David Yazbek, the team behind Dirty Rotten ScoundrelsThe Lincoln Center Theater production is directed by Bartlett Sher (who directed LCT’s blockbuster South Pacificthree seasons ago; the cast includes–deep breath–Patti LuPone, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Sherie Rene Scott, Laura Benanti, and that great Broadway legend, Justin Guarini.
Merchant of Venice, Broadhurst Theatre, Nov. 7
Al Pacino returns as Shylock for a 78-performance limited Broadway run of Merchant of Venice after a very successful Shakepeare in the Park outing this summer. The Daniel Sullivan production will also bring back the spectacular Lily Rabe as Portia, plus several other actors.
Also on the Radar
A Life in the Theatre, Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Oct. 12
This revival David Mamet’s 1977 two-hander, about the changing relationship between a younger actor and an older one sharing a dressing room, stars T.R. Knight and Patrick Stewart.
Rain, Neil Simon Theatre, Oct. 26
What appears to be formally titled “Rain – A Tribute to the Beatles on Broadway” promises “a totally live, note-for-note performance” that mimics “every song, gesture and nuance of the legendary group.” It could be awful, but it could also be fascinating.
Scottsboro Boys, Lyceum Theatre, Oct. 31
Susan Stroman’s extraordinary staging of the half-posthumous Kander and Ebb minstrel show about a particularly sordid incident in America’s generally sordid history of race relations debuted at the Vineyard Theatre early this year with a book that was less strong than the production. After an out-of-town run at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, it’s returning to New York tweaked and somewhat reworked.
The Pee-wee Herman Show, Stephen Sondheim Theatre, Nov 11
Pee-wee Herman was first introduced to the world as a stage show, developed by Paul Reubens with Groundlings comedy troupe in Los Angeles. Now, after movies, a CBS Saturday-morning show, an incident in Sarasota, and, finally, a successful return to the stage in L.A. at the start of the year, The Pee-wee Herman Show arrives in New York.
Free Man of Color, Vivian Beaumont Theater, Nov 18
Lincoln Center Theater’s other anticipated fall production is John Guare’s new comedy, A Free Man of Color, depicting life in hedonistic New Orleans just before the Louisiana Purchase. Directed by George C. Wolfe, it’s a huge production (to fit the huge stage at the Beaumont), with a cast of 32 led by Jeffrey Wright.
–Jesse Oxfeld
