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Broadway Shines BrightWith New Musicals, Dramas, Comedies and MoreFrom revivals of classic plays to blockbuster new musicals, New York City Theater offers something for everyone this season. For a complete listing of Broadway shows and ticketing information, visit www.theatermania.com or www.broadway.com.
Fall FestivalStars of Broadway will shine in a series of cabaret concerts over one weekend during the First Annual Broadway Cabaret Festival at the Town Hall October 21 – 23 (212-840-2824, www.the-townhall-nyc.org). From classic favorites to contemporary Broadway, from the newest stars to venerated icons, this festival will features three different cabaret concerts, each paying tribute to a different aspect of Broadway. On the Play List
Another comedy set to open this fall is Absurd Person Singular, the story of social class told through three couples, three kitchens, and three successive Christmas eves. Latinologues is a collection of comedic and poignant monologues about the Latino experience in America. Directed by Cheech Marin of Cheech & Chong fame, the play takes on everything from beauty pageants to immigration, shattering Latino stereotypes with hilarious results. New dramas include A Naked Girl on Appian Way, which tells the story of Bess, a successful cookbook author, and her husband Jeffrey, a distracted genius. Their lives are upended when their two children return from a year of European travel and reveal surprising news that stretches the family beyond their breaking point.
Set in a shabby tavern outside Boston in 1828, A Touch of the Poet finds an Irish immigrant who fancies himself as a distinguished gentleman despite all evidence to the contrary. Down-on-his-luck, he finds himself in a quandary when his daughter falls for the son of a wealthy American and he insists on maintaining his European gentility. New Musical ProductionsBroadway hits a high note this fall with a number of new musicals. Classic musical thriller Sweeney Todd, celebrates the 25th anniversary of its debut when it opens this fall. This Sondheim musical masterpiece is set in Victorian England and tells the infamously dark tale of Sweeney Todd, the demon barber who forms an enterprising business relationship with Mrs. Lovett, the proprietress of the downstairs pie shop.
Unlikely romance takes center stage in the new production In My Life, which tells the story of a musician with Tourette's syndrome and a Village Voice journalist with obsessive compulsive disorder who meet, and with some help from above, begin a romance that proves that life's greatest affliction is the one they share: true love. Venerable Broadway star Chita Rivera is honored in the new musical Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life, which takes a look at the creation of some of the greatest musicals in theater history including West Side Story, Chicago, and Kiss of the Spider Woman.
Off-Broadway OfferingsNew shows on Off-Broadway this fall include The Great American Trailer Park Musical, the tongue-in-cheek story about a new tenant who’s wreaking havoc at Armadillo Acres, Florida's most exclusive trailer park, and Five Course Love, a comedy set in five different restaurants, where three actors portray fifteen different characters. Film veterans take the stage in these Off-Broadway plays: Olympia Dukakis stars in A Mother, A Daughter and a Gun, a new dark comedy by Barra Grant about mothers, daughters, and the emotional outbursts only they know how to trigger. Taye Diggs returns to the stage in, A Soldier’s Play, a moving drama about a murder investigation on a Louisiana Army base during World War II. New Off-Broadway musical The Ark offers a contemporary look at the classic story of Noah and shows the audience that when facing the challenges of life, we’re all in the same boat. Broadway itself is the setting of the new comedy In the Wings that tells the story of Steve and Melinda, two aspiring actors in love with each other and the theatre. While these Off Broadway shows are not new debuts, they offer a uniquely diverse selection of interactive theater productions including: the outrageous and hilarious Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding, and The Donkey Show, which tells the story of a Midsummer Night’s Dream through ‘70s disco hits. Other interactive productions include The Karaoke Show, a pop-tune wonderland of singing and dancing at legendary hot spot China Club and the Blue Man Group which takes the audience on a funny, intelligent, and visually stunning multimedia journey. Mystery dinner theater shows The Killing Kompany and Murdered by the Mob invite the audience to take part in the show. Box Office Blockbusters
To find out how to secure tickets to some of the hottest Broadway and off-Broadway shows before you arrive, visit NYC’s Official Tourism Web Site, www.nycvisit.com/theatertickets. In New York City, visit NYC’s Official Visitor Information Center (810 Seventh Ave. at 53rd Street, 212-484-1222) for discount coupons for a variety of shows, and while you’re there pick up New York City guides, maps, and brochures, buy a MetroCard and ask questions of helpful, multilingual visitor counselors. Production descriptions provided by www.theatermania.com and www.broadway.com. Edited by Erika Wright |
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“New
York City is the entertainment capital of the world, in large part due to our
extraordinary theatrical productions, from splashy Broadway musicals to
avant-garde Off-Broadway plays,” said Cristyne L. Nicholas, President and CEO of
NYC & Company. “Audiences can count on another exciting Broadway season this
fall as a number of new productions are set to open.”
The
Lincoln Center Theater presents Edward Albee’s, Seascape, a play that follows a
middle-aged couple on a visit to the seashore, where they debate over the
direction in which their lives are headed now that the children are grown.
Jersey
Boys is a new Broadway musical based on the life story of Frankie Valli and The
Four Seasons that chronicles the lives of a group of blue-collar boys from the
wrong side of the tracks who became one of the biggest American pop music
sensations of all time. Jersey Boys features their hit songs "Sherry," "Big
Girls Don't Cry," "Rag Doll," "Oh What a Night," and "Can't Take My Eyes Off of
You," among others.
Betrayal,
greed and crime are key elements of the new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical The
Woman in White. This sensational Victorian thriller is about a young man, and
two sisters who find themselves trapped in a web of betrayal and greed, the
victims of a seemingly flawless crime.
Adapted
from Alice Walker's classic novel and the landmark film by Steven Spielberg, The
Color Purple is an inspiring family saga that tells the unforgettable story of a
woman, who, through love, finds the strength to triumph over adversity. With a
moving book and a score featuring gospel, jazz, ragtime and the blues, The Color
Purple is ultimately a story of hope and a celebration of life.
While
each new season brings a myriad of new theatrical productions, some of the most
enjoyable shows are the ones that have been around and keep audiences coming
back for more. Broadway powerhouses Phantom of the Opera, Chicago the Musical,
Lion King, Beauty & the Beast and Mamma Mia! continue to entertain audiences,
while relative newcomers All Shook Up and Jackie Masion: Freshly Squeezed are
proving to be smash hits. Off–Broadway classics Forbidden Broadway and I Love
You, You’re Perfect, Now Change also pack the house. Naked Boys Singing and The
Musicals of Musicals The Musical! each present musical revues a unique and
unconventional way, while Slava’s Snow Show and STOMP delight audiences with
thrilling visual spectacles.
