So, New York tops the cultural list for theatre, but Broadway is in a dry spell right now. Aside from the long-awaited (seriously, I feel like I’ve been hearing about this show for years!) opening of Bring It On last night and the opening of Mike Tyson’s one-man show Mike Tyson: The Undisputed Truth in August, there’s nada going on in the theatre district right now.
Besides seeing Last Smoker a couple of weeks ago, it’s been a total dry-spell for me as well. And that’s just depressing.
End of the Rainbow is closing prematurely on August 19th, despite the cries of Garland fans everywhere, and the premature off-Broadway revival of Rent is closing on September 9th (four years and one day after the original production closed).
But what do we have to look forward to in the fall? David Mamet’s brand new play, The Anarchist, begins previews at the Lyceum Theatre on November 13th, about a woman pleading for parole after leading an underground anarchist group. Sounds interesting to me!
Cyrano de Bergerac is being revived yet again, this time by Roundabout. I’m not sure what inspired this revival, but having seen the last one in 2007, I don’t think there was a huge demand for another revival (I’m not saying the ‘07 revival was bad – it wasn’t – just that it’s not a play that people are dying to see all the time). David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross is also being revived this season- for what reason, I have no idea. I saw the last revival in 2005, with Liev Schrieber and Alan Alda. Performances were stellar (from what I remember) through out but again, I didn’t see this play being revived for any reason again in the next twenty years. Well, Mr. Mamet will certainly have a busy fall, that’s for sure.
The Performer begins previews at the Longacre Theatre on October 23rd. Described as “when sex, love, and Barry Manelow intersect,” it should be interesting. Ari Graynor and Daniel Breaker, along with a few others, lead the small cast – another reason to check it out.
Besides Cyrano, Roundabout is producing The Big Knife and The Mystery of Edwin Drood (with an awesome cast!). Whilst Manhattan Theatre Club will be busy with productions of shows like An Enemy of the People and The Other People.
Lewis Black will be performing on Broadway for a week in October in Running on Empty – “a politically charged and cathartic one-man show.” I will be there.
Another show being revived for (at least) the second time in my life time is Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Having seen the last revival in 2005 with Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin, I’m afraid there might be no going back. However the logo for this production is certainly amazing, and it’s the 50th anniversary, so I suppose…. why not, right?
The shows I’m most anticipating are Matilda (based on the book, and by all accounts, the raves from London are certainly earned), Rebecca (after having been postponed last season, hopefully it will open this season), and Chaplin (based on the life of Charlie Chaplin and there’s been a fair amount of buzz surround this piece).
There’s also the revival of Annie, Golden Boy, Grace, and The Heiress opening, but I haven’t heard much about any of them. Besides casting news for Annie, of course. But does anyone really care which 8-year-old gets to play the belting red head for the third Broadway mounting? Nah, I didn’t think so.
That Girl Allison 