2007 Wrap-Up: Looking Ahead
You've opened all your gifts, made your resolutions and devoured the best of the year lists... What now? Look ahead! Here is a shortlist of the theatrical pleasures that await in 2008. Happy New Year!
1. Billy Elliot
A homegrown British musical is a rare find. So when the stage version of Billy Elliot opened in the West End in 2005, it became a patriotic touchstone not seen by the Brits since England won the World Cup in 1966. Elton John and Lee Hall's musical adaptation, staged by the film's director Stephen Daldry, won the Olivier for Best Musical and drew sell-out crowds and even a visit by the queen herself. The moving story of a motherless boy in northern England who trades his boxing gloves for ballet shoes, Billy Elliot is set against the political strife of the coal miners' strike of the 1980s. We can't wait to see little Billy dancing his heart out on Broadway when the show will begins performances in September at the Imperial Theatre.
2. South Pacific
There are must-see events and then there are "if you stay at home, you are crazy" events. The first-ever Broadway revival of South Pacific at Lincoln Center falls squarely into the latter category. Despite numerous whispers of its return, this Pulitzer Prize-winning Rodgers and Hammerstein gem has not been on the Great White Way since its debut in 1949. The new production reunites director Bartlett Sher with his Light in the Piazza star, Kelli O'Hara. O'Hara will play U.S. Navy nurse Nellie Forbush, who falls in love with local plantation owner Emile De Becque played by Paulo Szot on a tropical island in the Pacific during World War II. With romance, drama and a classic score that can't be topped, we're sure that South Pacific will sweep audiences off their feet. Some enchanted evening indeed! 
3. A Raisin in the Sun on TV
When Sean P. Diddy Combs joined luminous stage vets Phylicia Rashad, Audra McDonald and Sanaa Lathan in the acclaimed 2004 Broadway revival of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, he found the his talented co-stars inspirational. Now the hip-hop mogul is giving back: he's on board as a producer of a TV movie version, which reunites the Broadway cast and Tony-winning director Kenny Leon. Perfect for watching in your living room with a box of tissues, A Raisin in the Sun tells the story of three generations of a family living and struggling together under one roof. The Younger family lives on Chicago's South Side in the 1950s—a hard place for dreams to grow. You'll find us tuned in on February 25, when the film airs on ABC.
My my, how can we resist it? Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, the breezy songs of ABBA and a sunny Greek island setting are the main ingredients for huge summer fun. The film adaptation of this musical phenomenon is set for a July release date, and it looks like it will follow in the footsteps of recent popular movie musicals like Chicago and Hairspray and be a winner with audiences. Of course, with the musical's writer Catherine Johnson and director Phyllida Lloyd at the helm of the big screen version, they were sure to maintain the silliness, sappiness and unapologetic ABBA adoration that keeps the stage show running strong. Count us among the gazillion dancing queens out there looking forward to this sweet summertime treat.
5. Equus
What could cause the revival of this 1975 Peter Shaffer drama about a psychiatrist and his most challenging case to become a tabloid sensation? Harry Potter, of course. Daniel Radcliffe, the young star who plays the boy wizard on the big screen, has grown up in a very public way. Exhibit A is the sensation caused by the release of semi-nude publicity photos of the star for the West End production. Unruffled by the attention, Radcliffe and co-star Richard Griffiths a Tony winner for The History Boys went on to critical and popular acclaim in the serious piece that finds a therapist grasping for the answer to his psychological puzzle of a patient. The stark, beautifully directed production is headed to the Great White Way—and is sure to cause a commotion on this side of the pond.