Fierce Females Take the Stage! 5 Must-Do Events for the Week of October 7 to 13

Features

by Kathy Henderson • Oct 6, 2019

Any week that spotlights Chita Rivera, Tina Turner, Lady Macbeth and Ntozake Shange’s Colored Girls is a week worth noting. Get to know these powerful ladies in our list of must-do events for the week of October 7 through 13.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 7
WRONG-LY ACCUSED
Ross Golan pens pop hits for Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber and many more, but his passion project for the past decade has been The Wrong Man, a song cycle about an innocent man framed for murder in Reno, Nevada. Golan performed his work on stage in L.A. and in an animated film and recently released concept album, then hit the theatrical jackpot when Hamilton director Thomas Kail fell in love with the piece. Now, in the tradition of Jesus Christ Superstar and Tommy, The Wrong Man is set to open on October 7 at MCC Theater as a fully staged sung-through musical starring three-time Tony nominee Joshua Henry. Pause your latest true-crime podcast to see this moving fictional saga unfold.
INFO: Limited run through November 17 at MCC’s Newman Mills Theater (511 West 52nd Street). Tickets start at $29.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8
OVER THE RAINBOW
A powerful series of poetic monologues, Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf caused a sensation in the summer of 1976 when Joseph Papp produced it at the Public Theater, quickly transferring to Broadway. More than 40 years later, Shange’s searing tales of survival in a sexist and racist world feel utterly contemporary, and an all-female production team led by director Leah C. Gardiner is bringing Shange’s "choreopoem"—a phrase she invented to describe drama that combines poetry, dance, music and song—home to the Public. A cast of seven, including Sasha Allen, performs this groundbreaking "black girl’s song," with original music by Martha Redbone and choreography by Tony nominee Camille A. Brown.
INFO: Limited run through November 24 at the Public Theater (425 Lafayette Street). Tickets start at $77.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8
QUEEN CHITA
Imagine a musical theater star whose career spans seven decades of originating roles on Broadway, including multiple collaborations with John Kander and Fred Ebb. Fortunately, you don’t have to imagine it, because Chita Rivera is bringing her astonishing stage resume to life at 54 Below in a return engagement of her sold-out solo concert. For seven performances beginning October 8, the legendary Rivera will share signature moments and memories from West Side Story, Bye Bye Birdie, Chicago, The Rink, Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Visit… you get the picture! This not-to-be-missed evening of "Class" and sass is pure Chita, accompanied by a trio led by her longtime music director Michael Croiter.
INFO: 7PM on October 8, 10-13, and 15-16 at 54 Below (254 West 54th Street). Tickets start at $86.50, plus $25 food and beverage minimum. Click for more info.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10
MR. AND MRS. MACBETH
They might need therapy in 2020, but for now, real-life husband and wife Corey Stoll and Nadia Bowers are getting set to co-star as the Scottish king and his verrry ambitious spouse in Classic Stage Company’s exciting new production of Macbeth. Taking time out from his red-hot film career (First Man, the forthcoming Sopranos prequel and Spielberg’s West Side Story), Stoll returns to his Shakespearean roots alongside Bowers, recently seen off-Broadway in the Chekhovian Life Sucks. CSC artistic director John Doyle (a Tony winner for another tale of murder and madness, Sweeney Todd) helms a cast of nine, including Tony nominee Mary Beth Peil as doomed monarch Duncan. Something wicked this way comes, beginning October 10.
INFO: Limited run through December 15 at Classic Stage Company (136 East 13th Street). Tickets start at $77.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12
TINA'S TURN
Just in time for the 80th birthday of rock goddess Tina Turner, Broadway audiences get to take a deep dive into her incredible life and career in Tina: The Tina Turner Musical. A smash success in London, the stage bio is fueled by Adrienne Warren’s triumphant star turn and more than 20 hit songs, from "Proud Mary" and "River Deep Mountain High" to "What’s Love Got to Do With It?" Mamma Mia! mastermind Phyllida Lloyd directs a high-energy production co-written by playwright Katori Hall (The Mountaintop). Warren’s goal? To honor an icon. "I really want her to see how much she’s loved," the star said of Turner in a Broadway.com Fall Preview feature. "That’s the most important thing."
INFO: Opens November 7 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46th Street). Tickets start at $79.