Fall Preview 2017: 33 Top Show Picks for Theater Fans This Fall
Bummed that summer is over? Don’t be! In rehearsal rooms all around Manhattan, some of the most innovative theater artists in the world are prepping a fall season filled with hilarious and heartbreaking plays and joy-filled musical adventures sure to show you a good night out both on and off-Broadway. Not sure where to start? In our Fall Preview special, the Broadway.com team highlights the top shows that caught our eyes. Read on to find out more, click on for tickets and get ready to be wowed!
S E P T E M B E R
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
DRAMA, OFF-BROADWAY
Director Alexandra Spencer-Jones brings her acclaimed staging of the Anthony Burgess classic about the testosterone-filled underworld of a dystopian future with an all-male cast led by British import Jonno Davies. | Now in Previews | New World Stages
CHARM
DRAMA, OFF-BROADWAY
Based on a real story, Philip Dawkins’ play follows a 67-year-old black, transgender woman (played by trans actress Sandra Caldwell) who teaches an etiquette class at the LGBTQ community center. | Now in Previews | MCC Theater at the Lucille Lortel Theatre
THE RED LETTER PLAYS
DRAMA, REVIVAL, OFF-BROADWAY
Signature Theatre Company revives the Suzan-Lori Parks plays F**king A and In The Blood, both inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, in rep. | Now in Previews | Signature Theatre Company at the Pershing Square Signature Center
AS YOU LIKE IT
COMEDY, REVIVAL, OFF-BROADWAY
Director John Doyle (The Color Purple) and composer Stephen Schwartz (Wicked) bring Shakespeare’s romance into the Jazz Age with a cast including Ellen Burstyn, Andre De Shields, Hannah Cabell and more. | Starts September 13 | Classic Stage Company
TIME AND THE CONWAYS
DRAMA, REVIVAL, BROADWAY
J.B. Priestley’s family drama receives its first Broadway staging in 80 years, with Elizabeth McGovern (Downton Abbey) starring as the matriarch of a family in both 1919 Britain and then in the late 30s. Recent Tony winning director Rebecca Taichman (Indecent) leads the cast | Starts September 14 | Roundabout Theater Company at the American Airlines Theatre
TOO HEAVY FOR YOUR POCKET
DRAMA, OFF-BROADWAY
Set in rural Tennessee at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, this new drama follows Bowzie (Brandon Gill), who leaves his family behind to fight rascism as a Freedom Rider. | Starts September 15 | Roundabout Theater Company at the Black Box Theatre at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre
MEASURE FOR MEASURE
DRAMA, OFF-BROADWAY
Shakepeare’s classic gets the theatrical treatment of the Elevator Repair Service, the wildly inventive theater company. Expect Marx Brothers-inspired slapstick. | Starts September 18 | Joseph Papp Public Theater
THE PORTUGUESE KID
COMEDY, OFF-BROADWAY
Seinfeld’s Jason Alexander teams up with Broadway diva Sherie Rene Scott in this romantic comedy from John Patrick Shanley about sparks between two unlikely lovers. | Starts September 19 | Manhattan Theater Club at City Center Stage I
TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS
DRAMA, OFF-BROADWAY
My Big Fat Greek Wedding favorite Nia Vardalos brings her acclaimed 2016 play about a love-advice columnist back to the Public Theater for a return engagement. Thomas Kail (Hamilton) directs. | Starts September 19 | Joseph Papp Public Theater
TORCH SONG
DRAMA, REVIVAL, OFF-BROADWAY
Harvey Fierstein’s landmark play returns for its 35th anniversary. Hot theater star of the moment Michael Urie is joined by Oscar winner Mercedes Ruehl as his mom. | Starts September 26 | Second Stage Theater at the Tony Kiser Theatre | CLICK TO READ MORE
THE LAST MATCH
DRAMA, OFF-BROADWAY
All the drama of the U.S. Open, live on stage! Anna Ziegler’s play is set during the semifinals of the fabled tennis competition and explores the lives of two competing men on the court. | Starts September 28 | Roundabout Theater Company at the Laura Pels Theatre
O C T O B E R
JESUS HOPPED THE ‘A’ TRAIN
DRAMA, REVIVAL, OFF-BROADWAY
Stephen Adly Guirgis’ 2000 play that examines the lives of prisoners at Rikers Island returns as part of the playwright’s Signature Theater residency. | Starts October 3 | The Pershing Square Signature Center
OEDIPUS EL REY
DRAMA, OFF-BROADWAY
A retelling of the Greek tragedy recasts the title character (Juan Castano) as a trouble Latino trapped behind the walls of a California prison. | Starts October 3 | Joseph Papp Public Theater
SPRINGSTEEN ON BROADWAY
CONCERT, BROADWAY
The Boss himself sits down for a four-month intimate concert featuring songs and storytelling that has inspired a Hamilton-level ticket frenzy. No showtunes. We think. | Starts October 3 | Walter Kerr Theatre
JUNK
DRAMA, BROADWAY
Pulitizer Prize-winner Ayad Akhtar (Disgraced) presents a Shakespearean thriller set on Wall Street in the mid-80s, featuring Steven Pasquale (The Bridges of Madison County) as a thinly-veiled take on junk bond king Michael Milken. | Starts October 5 | Vivian Beaumont Theatre | CLICK TO READ MORE
STUFFED
COMEDY, OFF-BROADWAY
Comedianne Lisa Lampanelli brings back her female-empowerment play that explores our relationship with food. For the latest run, she’s joined by Hairspray film star Nikki Blonsky. | Starts October 5 | Westside Theatre
HOWARD CRABTREE'S WHEN PIGS FLY
MUSICAL, REVIVAL, OFF-BROADWAY
The return of a fabulous gay review that was first a hit in the 90s, updated with sharp political barbs and over-the-top costumes from Bob Mackie. | Starts October 6 | Stage 42
THE BAND’S VISIT
MUSICAL, BROADWAY
Based on Eran Kolirin’s 2007 film of the same name, this off-Broadway hit moves uptown with its charming story of an Egyptian police band who find themselves stranded in a small Israeli town where they entangle with locals in surprising ways. | Starts October 7 | Ethel Barrymore Theatre
M. BUTTERFLY
DRAMA, REVIVAL, BROADWAY
Visionary director Julie Taymor brings David Henry Hwang’s historical drama which first shocked broadway in 1988 back to the boards. Film star Clive Owen takes on the role of a French diplomat who falls for a mysteriously Chinese opera singer (Jin Ha) . | Starts October 7 | Cort Theatre
FRIENDS! THE MUSICAL PARODY
MUSICAL, OFF-BROADWAY
The whole sitcom gang is back together, navigating love in 1990s Manhattan and revolutionizing hairdos. | Starts October 13 | St. Luke’s Theatre
OFFICE HOUR
PLAY, OFF-BROADWAY
In Julia Cho’s ripped-from-the-headlines play inspired by the Virginia Tech shooting, a teacher takes interest in a troubled student. | Starts October 17 | Joseph Papp Public Theater
LATIN HISTORY FOR MORONS
COMEDY, SOLO, BROADWAY
For this, his fifth Broadway solo outing, mambo mouth John Leguizamo takes chalk to board to hilariously boil down 3,000 years of Latinos in U.S. History. A transfer from the Public Theater, where it was a hit earlier this year. | Starts October 19 | Studio 54
HARRY CLARKE
PLAY, SOLO, OFF-BROADWAY
Tony winning star Billy Crudup appears in David Cale’s new solo play as a shy Midwestern man who leads an outrageous double life as a cocky Londoner. | Starts October 26 | Vineyard Theatre
ACTUALLY
PLAY, OFF-BROADWAY
Amber and Tom, two freshmen at Princeton University, spend a drunken night together that brings up questions of consent, race and gender politics in Anna Ziegler’s new play. | Starts October 31 | Manhattan Theater Club at City Center Stage II
N O V E M B E R
METEOR SHOWER
COMEDY, BROADWAY
Current comedy queen Amy Schumer makes the leap to Broadway with this Steve Martin play about two couples who gather on a hot night in Ojai, California to witness the titular event. Jerry Zaks an a-list of clowns to join Schumer: Alan Tudyk, Keenan-Michael Key and Tony winner Laura Benanti. | Starts November 1 | Booth Theatre
THE WOLVES
DRAMA, OFF-BROADWAY
A transfer from downtown, Sarah DeLappe’s acclaimed play about a girl’s soccer team makes the move to Lincoln Center Theater. | Starts November 1 | Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre
SCHOOL GIRLS; OR, THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY
COMEDY, OFF-BROADWAY
Two girls in Ghana’s most exclusive boarding school capture the eye of a Miss Universe pageant recruiter in this biting comedy from Jocelyn Bioh. | Starts November 2 | MCC Theater at Lucille Lortel Theatre
SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS
MUSICAL, BROADWAY
Nickelodeon makes the leap to Broadway with its most cherished TV title. With the help of a score by rock stars like Cyndi Lauper, David Bowie, Sara Bareilles and more, all your favorite Bikini Bottom friends are here, under the watchful eye of conceiver/director Tina Landeau. | Starts November 6 | Palace Theatre | CLICK TO READ MORE
THE PARISIAN WOMAN
DRAMA, BROADWAY
Uma Thurman makes her Broadway debut playing a Washington D.C. socialite navigating the political world in the present day following the 2016 presidential election. This new play is from man behind House of Cards, Beau Willimon. | Starts November 7 | Hudson Theatre | CLICK TO READ MORE
ONCE ON THIS ISLAND
MUSICAL, REVIVAL, BROADWAY
Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty’s tuneful, warm-hearted charmer about a young girl who grapples with first love with a boy from the other side of the island returns with a fresh vision by actor-turned-director Michael Arden, who was Tony-nominated in 2016 for Spring Awakening. | Starts November 9 | Circle in the Square Theatre | CLICK TO READ MORE
THE CHILDREN
DRAMA, BROADWAY
This Brit transfer by Lucy Kirkwood brings together three aging nuclear engineers who are forced together in a remote cottage following a nearby nuclear accident. The stars of the Royal Court Theater production—Francesca Annis, Ron Cook and Deborah Findlay—reunite for Broadway. | Starts November 28 | Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
JERSEY BOYS
MUSICAL, REVIVAL, OFF-BROADWAY
The Tony-winning smash about four guys under a lamplight who inspire a Broadway musical that runs almost 12 years, is back, one avenue closer to Jersey. | Starts November TBD | New World Stages
D E C E M B E R
FARINELLI AND THE KING
DRAMA, BROADWAY
Tony and Oscar winner Mark Rylance returns to Broadway in a new play by his wife, Claire van Kampen, about the great castrato singer Farinelli (newcomer Sam Crane plays him, with Grammy-winning countertenor Iestyn Davies singing the role) who leaves a life of fame to sing for King Philippe V of Spain (Rylance) . | Starts December 5 | Belasco Theatre
Broadway.com editors Beth Stevens and Paul Wontorek discuss the fall season with Matt Rodin on The Broadway.com Show below.