Alec Baldwin Bounces Back to Broadway, Fifty Shades Sexes Up the Stage & Kristin Chenoweth Goes to the Movies in This Week's Datebook

What's going on in New York City this week? The short answer is...plenty! Take a look at this week's Broadway Datebook for the hottest theater events in the city, including the first performances of Orphans and The Trip to Bountiful, an erotica musical and Kristin Chenoweth's big screen return. Look ahead!


MONDAY, MARCH 25
LAURA & LINDSAY SHARE AN ALMOND
Laura Benanti, Lindsay Mendez and Veanne Cox will lend some major Broadway star power to singer-songwriter Todd Almond’s one-night-only performance at 54 Below. Get a fresh taste of Almond in concert at Broadway’s swankiest hot spot!

ALSO: Broadway-bound Crystal Bowersox stops by The Tonight Show; Southern Discomfort begins a run at the SoHo Playhouse; Randy Harrison and Byron Jennings perform Shakespeare and the Sonnets at Red Bull Theater; Hunter Ryan Herdlicka sings out at 54 Below.


TUESDAY, MARCH 26
SOMEONE ADOPT ALEC BALDWIN!
From 30 Rock to the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Alec Baldwin is shifting gears as he returns to Broadway in Lyle Kessler’s new drama Orphans. The show, co-starring Ben Foster and Tom Sturridge as two no-goodnik brothers, begins previews on March 26 in anticipation of an April 18 opening. More orphans on Broadway? Hey Annie, you’ve got company.

ALSO: Fiona Shaw tells The Testament of Mary as previews begin at the Walter Kerr Theatre; Patricia Racette starts at 54 Below; former Broadway child star Henry Hodges’ book How to Act Like a Kid: Backstage Secrets of a Young Performer hits bookstores.


WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27
GO CUFF YOURSELF
Take a bestselling erotica novel and throw in some show tunes and you’ve got Cuff Me: The Fifty Shades of Grey Musical Parody, which starts its sexy run at the Actors Temple off-Broadway. The show opens on May 5, and we’re betting that this BDSM-happy musical will make Kinky Boots look positively prude.

ALSO: Edward Albee-centric documentary premieres at Paley Center; Kristin Chenoweth chats up Jay Leno on The Tonight Show.


THURSDAY, MARCH 28
WAVE GOODBYE TO THE WHITE HOUSE
If you’re a fan of Josh Gad’s political sitcom 1600 Penn, you’ll want to tune in on March 28 for two new episodes—including the freshman season finale. With a positively presidential Bill Pullman and a hilarious Jenna Elfman as the First Lady, this comedy is jam-packed with all the laughs that you would expect from the United States government.


FRIDAY, MARCH 29
CHENOWETH HITS THE CINEMA
It’s been some time since we’ve seen Kristin Chenoweth hit the big screen, so it’s a treat this weekend as the Tony winner’s newest film Family Weekend comes to theaters. Cheno stars alongside Matthew Modine as a pair of parents whose 16-year-old daughter holds them hostage after they miss her jump rope competition. Take the family—but maybe keep an eye on your daughter.

ALSO: Lindsay Mendez gets her turn to perform in the American Songbook series at Lincoln Center.


SATURDAY, MARCH 30
TAKE A TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL
Cicely Tyson, Cuba Gooding Jr., Condola Rashad and Vanessa Williams will light up the stage at the Sondheim Theatre when this revival of Horton Foote’s The Trip to Bountiful starts previews. If the ridiculously talented cast is any indication, you’d better make sure to attend this teary drama with some extra tissues. Heck, bring the whole bountiful box.

ALSO: Paul Downs Colaizzo’s Really Really closes after two extensions at the Lucille Lortel Theatre; Debby Boone plays her final performance at Café Carlyle.


SUNDAY, MARCH 31
LAST CHANCE AT THE FLEA AND PUBLIC
Been procrastinating on your theater? You’ve got one last chance to catch some of this year’s most interesting new additions as two shows end their runs on March 31. The curtain falls on the Public Theater’s political drama Neva and Hamish Linklater’s debut play The Vandal at the Flea. Catch these two fascinating plays before they vacate the premises!