Tom Hanks Arrives on Broadway, Smash Adds Another Dreamgirl & Four Big Shows Say Goodbye in This Week's Datebook

It's transition week on the Great White Way as Barry Manilow, The Other Place, Virginia Woolf and Mary Poppins end their Broadway runs. Meanwhile, Tom Hanks steps onto a Broadway stage for the first time in Nora Ephron’s Lucky Guy, Kinky Boots high-kicks it onto the scene and Cinderella officially opens. Read on below to see what’s opening, what’s closing and what’s still going strong in this week’s ultimate calendar of events for Broadway lovers.


MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25
THE DANCE AND THE RAILROAD ROLLS OFF-BROADWAY
Signature Theatre Company is reviving one of the first hits by David Henry Hwang: his Pulitzer Prize-nominated 1981 drama The Dance and the Railroad. The two-hander, which uses the conventions of traditional Chinese opera to tell the story of the 1867 railroad workers’ strike in California, stars Chinese-born actor Yuekun Wu and Ruy Iskandar. See it through March 24 at Signature’s Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre.

ALSO: Two-time Tony nominee Tom Wopat performs a one-night-only concert at 54 Below; Elizabeth Stanley returns to 54 Below with an additional performance of her solo show; Broadway vet Manoel Felciano takes the stage at Joe's Pub; Orphans star Alec Baldwin makes nice with David Letterman; Macbeth's Alan Cumming trades quips with Jimmy Fallon.


TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26
SHERYL LEE RALPH MAKES A SMASH-ING TV CAMEO
Get ready to see Mama Rose in Christian Louboutins! Dreamgirls Tony nominee Sheryl Lee Ralph shares the screen with Dreamgirls Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson on tonight's Smash. Ralph plays Cynthia Moore, the very hands-on, no-nonsense mother of Hudson’s character, Broadway star Veronica. We're predicting fireworks between these two.

ALSO: Ilana Levine joins the cast of off-Broadway’s My Name Is Asher Lev; MTC’s The Madrid opens at New York City Center; Signature Theatre Company’s revival of Lanford Wilson’s The Mound Builders begins previews; The Dramatists Guild of America honors Alan Menken, Michael John LaChiusa and more; Detroit ‘67 begins performances at the Public Theater; Cat on Hot Tin Roof's Scarlett Johansson visits Live with Kelly & Michael.


WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27
KELLI O’HARA, JESSIE MUELLER & MORE HOP ON CAROUSEL
What a cast: Tony nominees Kelli O’Hara and Jessie Mueller star as Julie Jordan and Carrie Pipperidge opposite Nathan Gunn’s Billy Bigelow and Jason Danieley’s Enoch Snow in the New York Philharmonic’s concert production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel. Co-starring Shuler Hensley, John Cullum, Kate Burton and Stephanie Blythe, Carousel runs at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall from February 27 through March 2.

ALSO: Stomp celebrates its 19th anniversary off-Broadway.


THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28
PASSION ERUPTS OFF-BROADWAY
It's been almost 20 years since Passion debuted on Broadway, and now Tony nominees Judy Kuhn (as Fosca) and Melissa Errico (as Clara) are fighting for the love of Ryan Silverman (as Giorgio) in the first-ever New York revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Tony-winning musical drama. John Doyle directs the intimate, scaled-down production at Classic Stage Company, running through April 7.

ALSO: The Revisionist, starring the fascinating duo of Vanessa Redgrave and Jesse Eisenberg, opens at off-Broadway’s Cherry Lane Theatre.


FRIDAY, MARCH 1
TOM HANKS IS BROADWAY’S LUCKY GUY
In a long-time-coming Broadway debut, two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks grows a mustache to play tabloid journalist Mike McAlary in Nora Ephron’s Lucky Guy, directed by Tony winner George C. Wolfe. Hanks' A-list co-stars include Maura Tierney, Courtney B. Vance and his Bosom Buddies pal Peter Scolari. See them on stage now at the Broadhurst Theatre, where Lucky Guy opens on April 1.

ALSO: Alice Ripley, Brian d'Arcy James and Idina Menzel salute composers Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey in Lincoln Center's American Songbook concert series; Chekhov’s widow takes center stage as Neva begins previews at the Public.


SATURDAY, MARCH 2
BARRY MANILOW PLAYS HIS FINAL ENCORE AT THE ST. JAMES
It's your last chance to see legendary singer and native New Yorker Barry Manilow at the St. James Theatre in Manilow on Broadway. Backed by a fabulous band and performing for a house filled with eager Fanilows (and loads of celebrity guests), Barry has been a great addition to the Broadway scene. We “can’t smile without you,” Barry. Come back soon!

ALSO: Tony DeSare finishes his run of Making Love Songs at 54 Below; the romantic play Queens Boulevard opens at Theatre Row.


SUNDAY, MARCH 3
CINDERELLA MAKES MAGIC ON BROADWAY
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s classic musical Cinderella opens on Broadway in a romantic, re-imagined production starring Laura Osnes, Santino Fontana, Victoria Clark and Harriet Harris. This first-ever Broadway staging of Cinderella includes a new book by Douglas Carter Beane, several surprising plot twists, all the musical’s cherished R&H tunes and plenty of on stage magic.

ALSO: The beloved musical Mary Poppins, the heartbreaking drama The Other Place and the acclaimed revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? play their final Broadway performances; Carson Kressley ends his run in off-Broadway’s NEWSical the Musical; and the fabulous new musical Kinky Boots begins previews at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.

To have your NYC-area event considered, send us an e-mail at datebook@broadway.com.