Here she is, world! Audra McDonald in "Gypsy," plus my picks for NY and DC theatre this fall
And don't miss these three excellent shows closing soon in New York!
Hello, play-goers! The theatre season is in full swing on stages in New York and DC. While there have been a few gems so far, I think the best is yet to come! Here are my picks for the next few months in both cities.
DC Preview
My top pick in DC? Sondheim’s silliest work, “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” with one of my absolute favorite local actresses, Erin Weaver, playing the lead. She is a top-rate comedic actress! (Playing October 29 – January 12 at Signature Theatre).
DC stages will present three original productions of several new plays that New York audiences got to see in the last few seasons. Of these, I’m most excited for the brilliant Patrick Page’s one-man show “All The Devils Are Here,” a retrospective of Shakespeare’s villains (Playing December 6-29 at Shakespeare Theatre).
At Studio Theatre, favorite Washington actor Holly Twyford will appear in David Auburn’s “Summer, 1976,” about two women’s friendship in the mid-1970s (Playing November 13 – December 22).
Tom Stoppard’s “Leopoldstadt”—a decades-spanning story about a Jewish family in Vienna’s changing fortunes through two World Wars and the Holocaust—gets a fresh mounting from experienced Stoppard director Carey Perloff (Playing November 30 – December 29 at Shakespeare Theatre).
Jewish experiences will also be center-stage in two more productions this fall. Theater J is producing Joshua Harmon’s “Prayer for the French Republic,” a diptych about a contemporary French Jewish family negotiating antisemitism and their ancestors doing the same during World War II. My review of the Broadway production is here; I’m curious how it will play in a much more intimate theatre (Playing October 30 – November 24).
For some lighter fare, Round House will present “A Hanukkah Carol, or Gelt Trip! The Musical,” a Jewish answer to “A Christmas Carol,” complete with “Hanukkahs past, present, and future” visiting a misanthropic millennial influencer. This production was postponed a year by the theater to give them more time to develop it and I’m excited to see what they’ve come up with! (Playing November 20 – December 22.)
NY: Catch ‘Em Before They’re Gone
Before previewing the new offerings this season, I want to flag three fabulous shows to catch before they close. The musical “Once Upon A Mattress” is an absolute giggle-fest. Kid-friendly fare, it tells the story of the princess and the pea. Even with some extra plot added in, it’s thin and not in any way “deep,” but I laughed my head off at the cleverly updated book and fantastic performances. It’s a great cast, led by a leading practitioner of physical comedy, Sutton Foster. (Playing at the Hudson Theatre through November 30.)
For adults-only laughs, “Oh, Mary” is so far the funniest straight play of the season—though we’ll need to find another word for a non-musical play, because “straight” is exactly the opposite of what this show is. Totally ahistorical, it portrays Abe Lincoln as a repressed gay man whose wife Mary Todd just wants to sing cabaret. The queer humor comes at you as quickly as sequins at Pride. Written by and starring the brilliant and very funny Cole Escola, this is the pick if you want a hearty laugh. (Playing at the Lyceum Theatre through January 19.)
It's a shame that the excellent musical “Suffs” was passed over for the Best Musical Tony—I think it was the best of last season. Portraying the fight to win women’s suffrage, it’s an exciting, funny, and moving show. Alas, it has announced it’s closing, so don’t miss your chance to see it! My review is here. (Playing at the Music Box Theatre through January 5.)
NY Preview
The New York season so far has been mostly plays with bad or mixed reviews, with a few exceptions. But don’t worry—I don’t think the slow start will be indicative of the rest of the season! I am always most drawn to truly original musicals—not based on a book, movie, or song catalog—and two are playing now on Broadway!
“Tammy Faye” tells the televangelist’s story with music by Elton John and lyrics by Jake Shares (of pop group “The Scissor Sisters). Its London run was well-reviewed. (Open run at the newly renovated Palace Theatre.)
“Maybe Happy Ending” tells the story of two discarded robots who find love, featuring Darren Criss and Helen J Shen. The premise is intriguing, and the music samples I’ve heard are lovely—this might be the sleeper hit of the season. (Open run at the Belasco Theatre.)
“Swept Away,” a dark but moving musical about four sailors shipwrecked and trying to survive in a small boat, features a score from the catalog of The Avett Brothers. A friend described the script as “Homeric,” and it truly is epic even though it’s mostly just four people in a tiny boat! See my review here from the version that played at DC’s Arena Stage last season. (Open run at the Longacre Theatre.)
And then in November, what I predict will be the Show of the Season opens: Audra McDonald in a George C. Wolfe-directed revival of “Gypsy.” I don’t think I really need to say anything else about that except: Do. Not. Miss. It! (Open run starting November 21 at the newly renovated Majestic Theatre, which hosted “Phantom of the Opera” for many years.)
Off-Broadway there are some interesting offerings as well. New York City Centers is mounting a short-run production of the soaring “Ragtime,” with a stacked cast of major theatre talent (Playing through November 10 at New York City Centers). (To learn more about the show, see my review here of a different production that played in DC last season.)
At MCC Theatre, Neil Patrick Harris leads a cast of well-known actors in Robert O’Hara’s “Shit. Meet. Fan.”, in which friends play a game where they read aloud whatever pops into their phone (Playing through December 15 at MCC Theater).
The theatre troupe Elevator Repair Service presents “Gatz,” in which a group of bored co-workers read aloud all of “The Great Gatsby,” acting it out as they go. I saw this a few years ago at Berkeley Rep in California and loved it. (Playing November 1 – December 1 at the Public Theatre.)
See you at the theatre!