This Week’s Picks: See Clive Owen Squirm, Catch Javert and His Friends & Stay in with NPH!

Hey, you, crying over the end of three-day weekends. Buck up! In another month, you’ll have another opportunity to fritter away your free time and complain about work. There’s still fun to be had. Really. We have Clive Owen and Rumer Willis’ Broadway debuts, a new Elphaba in Wicked, and Will Swenson’s star-studded run at 54 Below. Get ready for this week’s picks!


See Rumer Become Reality
Begins September 14 at Ambassador Theatre
Dancing with the Stars champ. Scion of Hollywood royalty. Now, comes the ultimate resume capper: Broadway star. A fully healed Rumer Willis is the newest inmate in Chicago, the long-running revival, not the disturbingly cold metropolis. She’ll play Roxie Hart through November 1, which gives her plenty of time to see dad Bruce make a star turn of his own in Misery. If she wants—maybe she’s a Les Mis(ery) fan. Click for tickets!


Meet Wicked’s New (Old) Elphaba
Begins September 15 at Gershwin Theatre
Talent doesn’t go too long between Broadway shows, thank God. Great performers should be belting solos, not the beer list at TGI Friday’s. So it makes sense that Rachel Tucker (late of The Last Ship) is Wicked’s new Elphaba. Tucker, of course, played the role in the West End to great acclaim. Jonah Platt also joins the production. The Los Angeles stage veteran and Ben’s brother, is your new Fiyero. Click for tickets!


Have the Best Time Ever with NPH
Premieres September 15 on NBC
We’ve been talking about the Neil Patrick Harris-hosted variety show, Best Time Ever, for so long that you might think it’s already on the air and in syndication. Nope. The much-anticipated live show—which features stunts, games, musical performances, etc.—premieres tonight. Sounds great, but since this is a series will each episode be the best time ever? That’s a tall order, but we’re betting on NPH to deliver.


See a Not-So Miserable Will Swenson
Begins September 16 at 54 Below
It’s ironic that an actor who excelled as Javert, one of the most memorable Broadway musical villains, would have so many friends! Will Swenson’s solo debut at 54 Below will feature songs and stories from the Les Miz and Hair alum as well as a bevy of starry guest appearances: Audra McDonald (a.k.a. Mrs. Swenson), Ramin Karimloo, Nick Adams and Caissie Levy. Performances nightly through September 19. Click for tickets!


Relive Old Times
Begins September 17 at American Airlines Theatre
Clive Owen, that bubbling cauldron of machismo, is a tremendous actor. (Have you seen Children of Men? Yowza.) That would be a reason enough to see him on Broadway. But that he’s debuting in a revival of Harold Pinter’s Old Times, the classic drama about a couple (Owen, Kelly Reilly) whose evening with the woman’s old friend (Eve Best) goes from nostalgic to grave, makes this a must-see. Click for tickets!