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The Tony Award nominations have been made, Tony fallout so far has resulted in the announcement of three shows closing prematurely. Here is a look at the Spring 2013 Broadway season, now completed, arranged chronologically by opening date, with links to my reviews.
JANUARY OPENINGS
Jan 10: The Other Place -SAMUEL J. FRIEDMAN THEATRE
First Preview: December 11
Closed: February 24, 2013
Written by Sharr White
Director: Joe Mantello
Cast: Laurie Metcalf, Daniel Stern, Zoe Perry, John Schiappa
Laurie Metcalf, still best-known for playing Roseanne’s sister on the TV series, gives an outstanding performance as Juliana , a scientist turned pharmaceutical businesswoman who, we first learn, is divorcing her husband for having had an affair, and is estranged from her daughter for having eloped with Juliana’s research assistant. But we then learn she has a disease, and that nothing is as it seems.
My review of The Other Place when it ran Off-Broadway.
Manhattan Theatre Club’s The Other Place website
Jan 13: Picnic – AMERICAN AIRLINES THEATRE
First Preview: December 14, 2012
Closed: February 24
Written by William Inge
Director: Sam Gold
Cast: Reed Birney, Maggie Grace, Elizabeth Marvel, Sebastian Stan, Mare Winningham, Ellen Burstyn
Sam Gold (Seminar, Look Back in Anger) directs this revival of William Inge’s play about the longings and pairings of women of various ages when a sexy stranger comes to a small Midwestern town over the Labor Day holiday. The 1953 play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was made into a film in 1955 starring William Holden, Cliff Robertson and Kim Novak.
Roundabout Theater’s Picnic website
Jan 17: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof -RICHARD RODGERS THEATER
First Preview: December 18, 2012
Closed
Written by Tennessee Williams
Director: Rob Ashford
Cast: Benjamin Walker, Debra Monk, Ciaran Hinds, Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson (last seen on Broadway three years ago in “A View From the Bridge,” her Broadway debut) plays Maggie to the Brick of Benjamin Walker (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) in this sixth Broadway production of Tennessee Williams’ “Cat,” best-known still for the movie starring Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor.
My review of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Twitter; @CatonBroadway
Jan 24: Manilow on Broadway -ST. JAMES THEATER
Closed
Crooner Barry Manilow comes home to Broadway after two decades with 17 concert performances that includes many of his 25 consecutive Top 40 hits.
Twitter: @barrymanilow
MARCH OPENINGS
March 3: Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella -BROADWAY THEATER
First Preview: January 25, 2013
Written by Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics and original book), Richard Rodgers (music), Douglas Carter Beane (new book)
Director: Mark Brokaw
Cast: Laura Osnes, Santino Fontana, Harriet Harris, Victoria Clark, Peter Bartlett, Ann Harada, Marla Mindelle, Greg Hildreth
A reworking the Cinderella story, the musical began life as a television special in 1957 starring Julie Andrews, but has been worked over by Douglas Carter Beane (Xanadu, Lysistrata Jones). Songs include “In My Own Little Corner,” “Impossible/It’s Possible” and “Ten Minutes Ago”
Twitter: @CinderellaBway
Mar 07: Ann – VIVIAN BEAUMONT THEATER
First Preview: February 18, 2013
Written by Holland Taylor
Director: Benjamin Endsley Klein
Cast: Holland Taylor
A solo show written and performed by Holland Taylor about Texas Governor Ann Richards
March 14: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike – GOLDEN THEATER
- First Preview: March 5, 2013
- Opening: March 14, 2013
- Written by Christopher Durang
- Director: Nicholas Martin
- Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Kristine Nielsen, David Hyde Pierce, Shalita Grant, Billy Magnussen and Genevieve Angelson
- This spoof of and homage to Chekhov is a transfer from Off-Broadway.
- My review of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike on Broadway
Mar 20: Truman Capote’s Breakfast At Tiffany’s – CORT THEATER
First Preview: March 4, 2013Written by Truman CapoteDirector: Sean MathiasCast: Emilia Clarke, Cory Michael Smith, George WendtEmilia Clarke (“Game of Thrones”) plays Holly Golightly, a character etched into popular consciousness by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 film. A previous adaptation in 1966 with a book by Edward Albee is notorious as one of the biggest flops ever on Broadway; the musical had four previews before producer David Merrick shut it down before its opening. This time around, the adaptation is a play, not a musical, adapted by Richard Greenberg (Take Me Out).- My review of Breakfast At Tiffany’sTwitter: @TiffanysonBwayBreakfast at Tiffany’s will close Sunday, April 21.
Mar 21: Hands on a Hardbody -BROOKS ATKINSON THEATE
First Preview: February 23, 2013- Written by Trey Anastasio (music), Amanda Green (music and lyrics), Doug Wright (book)
- Director: Neil Pepe
- Cast: Keith Carradine, Hunter Foster, Mary Gordon Murray, Allison Case, Jay Armstrong Johnson, David Larsen
This large-cast musical would win hands down in the category of least likely-sounding show with the greatest buzz. It is based on a 1998 documentary, which followed 24 people in an odd contest at a Nissan dealership in Longview, Texas: Whoever can stand upright the longest with his or her hand on the truck will win a “Hard Body” pickup truck.
The music is composed by Trey Anastasio of Phish
My review of Hands on A Hardbody
Twitter: @HardbodyMusical
APRIL OPENINGS
Apr 01: Lucky Guy – BROADHURST THEATER
First Preview: March 1, 2013
Closing: May 26, 2013
Written by Nora Ephron
Director: George C. Wolfe
Cast: Tom Hanks, Peter Scolari, Richard Masur, Christopher McDonald
Tom Hanks debuts on Broadway in the late Nora Ephron’s play about the late New York tabloid columnist Mike McAlary, best-known for breaking the story of the police brutalization of Abner Louima. McAlary was the subject of a previous play called “The Wood.” This one will surely be better, but that’s not necessarily saying much.
Twitter: @LuckyGuyPlay
Apr 04: Kinky Boots – AL HIRSCHFELD THEATER
First Preview: March 5, 2013- Written by Cyndi Lauper (music) and Harvey Fierstein (book)
- Director: Jerry Mitchell
- Cast: Stark Sands, Billy Porter
- Based on the 2005 British film of the same title that was itself inspired by a true story, the musical tells the story of an old-fashioned shoe manufacturer who revives his company and saves the jobs of his employees by starting to make quality footwear specifically for drag queens.
Twitter: @KinkybootsBway
Apr 11: Matilda – SHUBERT THEATER
First Preview: March 4, 2013- Opening: April 11, 2013
- Written by Dennis Kelly (book), Tim Minchin (music and lyrics)
- Director: Matthew Warchus
- Cast: Sophia Gennusa, Oona Laurence, Bailey Ryon, Milly Shapiro, Bertie Carvel, Lesli Margherita, Gabriel Ebert, Lauren Ward
Based on the beloved children’s book by Roald Dahl, this musical tells the tale of a young girl cartoonishly neglected by her horrid parents who is not only gifted with genius but also telekinetic powers. This is a huge hit in London.
Twitter: @MatildaBroadway
Apr 14: Motown The Musical -LUNT-FONTANNE THEATER
First Preview: March 11, 2013
Written by Berry Gordy (book)
Director: Charles Randolph-Wright
Cast: Brandon Victor Dixon, Valisia Lekae etc.
Motown is a new musical based on the life of music mogul Berry Gordy, who launched the careers of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye. It’s a story we’ve seen before – e.g. Dreamgirls. The difference here is that Gordy himself is writing about himself. If that doesn’t sound so promising, I’m keeping an open mind, given the access to the complete Motown catalogue and a cast that includes Brandon Victor Dixon (The Scottsboro Boys), Saycon Sengbloh (Fela, Hair) Ephraim Sykes (Rent, Newsies)
My review of Motown The Musical
Twitter: @MotownMusical
Apr 15: The Nance – LYCEUM THEATER
- First Preview: March 21, 2013
- Written by Douglas Carter Beane
- Director: Jack O’Brien
- Cast: Nathan Lane
In this Lincoln Center Theater production, Douglas Carter Beane tells the story of Chauncey Miles (Nathan Lane), a headline “nance” burlesque performer, who has a “messy off-stage life” in the underground gay (as in homosexual) world of the 1930’s.
April 16: The Big Knife – AMERICAN AIRLINES THEATER
- First Preview: March 22, 2013
- Closing: June 2, 2013
- Written by Clifford Odets
- Director: Doug Hughes
- Cast: Bobby Cannavale
The Odets reappraisal continues with this first Broadway revival of his 1949 play about a movie star with a secret, and the studio that covered it up, and now has him “over a barrel.”
Apr 17: The Assembled Parties -SAMUEL J. FRIEDMAN THEATRE
- First Preview: March 19, 2013
- Written by Richard Greenberg
- Director: Lynne Meadow
- Cast: Judith Light, Jessica Hecht, Jeremy Shamos, Mark Blum, Sam Robards
Richard Greenberg’s second contribution to the Spring 2013 Broadway season takes place during a holiday dinner at the Manhattan home of the Bascov sisters, played by Judith Light and Jessica Hecht, one of whom is a former movie star
My review of The Assembled Parties.
April 18: Jekyll and Hyde – MARQUIS THEATER
- First Preview: April 5, 2013
- Closing: June 30, 2013; Early closing May 12
- Written by Frank Wildhorn (music), Leslie Bricusse (book and lyrics),
- Director: Jeff Calhoun
- Cast: Constantine Maroulis, Deborah Cox, Teal Wicks
- American Idol” finalist Constantine Maroulis stars in the dual role of Dr. Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde in this revival of a musical that opened in 1997.
- My review of Jekyll and Hyde
Apr 18 Orphans GERALD SCHOENFELD THEATER
- First Preview: March 19, 2013
- Opening: April 7, 2013
- Written by Lyle Kessler
- Director: Daniel Sullivan
- Cast: Alec Baldwin, Ben Foster
- Early Closing May 19
Shia LaBeouf left due to “creative differences” replaced by Ben Foster, one of two orphaned brothers living in a decrepit North Philadelphia row house, who kidnaps a rich older man, Alec Baldwin
Twitter: @OrphansonBway
April 18: The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream – RICHARD RODGERS
Concert by the 1960’s rock group, through May 5th. Written and directed by Steven Van Zandt
First preview: April 15
April 21: Macbeth – ETHEL BARRYMORE THEATER
- First Preview: April 7, 2013
- Directors: John Tiffany and Andrew Goldberg
Alan Cumming stars in a one-man interpretation of Shakespeare’s tragedy, which was presented at Lincoln Center.
April 22: The Testament of Mary – WALTER KERR THEATER
First preview: March 26
Closing: June 16 Early closing May 5
Written by Colm Toibin
Director: Deborah Warner
Cast: Fiona Shaw
This solo show adapted from Colm Toibin’s novella has Mary, mother of Jesus, tells her side of the story of her son’s perplexing life. The celebrated actor Fiona Shaw was last on Broadway in Medea in 2002-2003, last in New York in 2011 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in John Gabriel Borkman.
My review of The Testament of Mary
April 23: The Trip To Bountiful – STEPHEN SONDHEIM THEATER
- First Preview: March 31, 2013
- Closing: July 7, 2013
- Written by Horton Foote
- Director: Michael Wilson
- Cast: Cicely Tyson, Cuba Gooding Jr., Vanessa Williams, Condola Rasha
Horton Foote’s touching play focuses on Carrie Watts, an elderly woman who dreams of returning to her small hometown of Bountiful, TX one last time, against the wishes of her overprotective son and domineering daughter-in-law. This production marks Cicely Tyson’s eighth role on Broadway — and the first one in 30 years.
My review of The Trip to Bountiful
April 24: I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat With Sue Mengers-BOOTH THEATER
First preview: April 5
Written by John Logan (Red)
Director: Joe Mantello
Cast: Bette Midler
This solo show marks Bette Midler’s return to the Broadway stage after 30 years to play the Hollywood agent
My review of I’ll Eat You Last
April 25: Pippin – MUSIC BOX THEATER
First Preview: March 23
Written by: Composer Stephen Schwartz and Roger O. Hirson
Director: Diane Paulus
Diane Paulus, artistic director of the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge best-known for her Broadway productions of “Hair” and “The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess” brings to Broadway her production of this 40-year-old musical by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Godspell), a coming-of-age story about the son of the first Holy Roman Emperor.
My review of Pippin:Turning a dud into a Broadway circus
9 thoughts on “Broadway Theater Guide Spring 2013”