Here’s everything to see and listen to on NYC’s stages this fall. Theater Even in a season when The Boss comes to town — “Springsteen on…
Here’s everything to see and listen to on NYC’s stages this fall.
Even in a season when The Boss comes to town — “ Springsteen on Broadway ” (previews Oct. 3, Walter Kerr) — it’s always nice when beloved old shows come alive again. Look no further than Bette Midler’s “ Hello, Dolly! ” to see what happens when the famous meets the familiar: blockbuster!
In a fall full of starry revivals, one of the most hotly anticipated is “ M. Butterfly ” (Oct. 7, Cort). This Tony-winning thriller about a French diplomat and the Chinese opera star who seduces him opened in 1988 and ran 777 performances. Now Clive Owen plays the deluded Frenchman and Julie Taymor — the “Lion King” lioness, returning to Broadway for the first time since the “Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark” debacle — directs.
Those who’ve seen “M. Butterfly” before, either on Broadway or in the 1993 film, will never forget its shocking reveal. But David Henry Hwang says his ripped-from-real-life tale is more than its sensational twist. Maybe now, he tells The Post, we’re able to examine “the intimacy and passion of this love story” better than we did the first time around.
Back again, too, is “ Time and the Conways ” (through Nov. 26, American Airlines), which last played here in 1938. J. B. Priestley’s drama about well-to-do Britishers now stars Elizabeth McGovern, who should feel right at home after her years on “Downton Abbey.” Joining her are “True Blood” star Anna Camp and Anna Baryshnikov, the daughter of you-know-who.
“ Once on This Island ” (Nov. 19, Circle in the Square), which in 1990 posed the musical question, “Can a poor island girl find true love with a rich young man?” will ask it again, this time with a cast that includes former “Porgy and Bess” powerhouse Phillip Boykin and Lea Salonga, the original heroine of “Miss Saigon.”
More cheering casting news: “ The Band’s Visit ” (Oct. 7, Barrymore), David Yazbek’s wistful gem of a musical, is arriving with its off-Broadway cast intact. Tony Shalhoub returns as the leader of an Egyptian police orchestra stranded in a tiny Israeli town; Katrina Lenk, woman of many accents (“Once,” “Indecent”), is the sultry cafe owner who befriends him. When all is said and sung, “food, music, love and the basic need for human connection to be understood crosses all barriers,” says book writer Itamar Moses. “Come From Away” fans, take note.
Harvey Fierstein’s made that “basic need for human connection” the heart of every project he’s ever worked on, beginning with 1982’s “Torch Song Trilogy.” Now that semi-autobiographical Tony winner is coming back, in slightly abridged form, as “ Torch Song ” (Second Stage, Sept. 25), with Michael Urie as the drag queen who longs to start a family, and Mercedes Ruehl as the mom from hell (or, at least, Florida).
So much for revivals. New this season is Steve Martin’s “ Meteor Shower ” (Nov. 1, Booth), starring newbie Amy Schumer and Laura Benanti as two halves of California couples in crisis. Another crisis, this of the financial variety, is the subject of Ayad Akhtar’s “ Junk ” (Oct. 5, Vivian Beaumont), while “House of Cards” creator Beau Willimon gives us “ The Parisian Woman ” (Nov. 7, Hudson), with Uma Thurman as a scheming Washington socialite in the age of Trump.
Then again, maybe you come to Broadway to escape. If so, sink into the cartoon world of “ SpongeBobSquarePants ” (Nov. 6, Palace). With music by Cyndi Lauper, John Legend and David Bowie, it may well give us something to sing about.
Before “Black Swan,” there was “ The Red Shoes,” the first great, demented dance movie. Now Matthew Bourne, the British choreographer behind the all-male “Swan Lake,” is staging his take on Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of a possessed dancer (City Center, Oct. 2-Nov. 5), with a British ballerina alternating with New York City Ballet’s Sara Mearns.
NYCB itself is featuring Peter Martins’ more traditional “Swan Lake” (through Oct. 1, David H. Koch Theater). Still to come: its Sept. 28 Fall Fashion Gala pairs choreographers with designers; nycb.org. A few steps behind is American Ballet Theatre, home to Misty Copeland, which opens its season Oct. 18 with something old (Christopher Wheeldon’s “Thirteen Diversions”) and something new (an Alexei Ratmanski premiere) (tickets here).
Finally, the indefatigable Twyla Tharp is back at the Joyce Theater through Oct. 8, this time with a world premiere: “Dylan Love Songs.” If you’ve ever wanted to see dancers take on “Shelter from the Storm,” now is your chance (tickets here).
A genius like Leonard Bernstein comes around maybe once in a century. This is his centennial year, and the city will ring with the sounds of his music, from “West Side Story” to “On the Waterfront,” plus symphonies, song cycles and psalms. Leading the charge is Carnegie Hall, whose season opener Oct. 4 is heavy on Lenny and that other New York genius, George Gershwin. Pianists Lang and Chick Corea will team for “Rhapsody in Blue” alongside the Philadelphia Orchestra (tickets here).
His hometown band, the New York Philharmonic, is planning a bunch of Bernstein evenings, too (Oct. 25-Nov. 14), one of which features narration by Jeremy Irons. For now, though, the Phil is in the middle of its “Star Wars” film concerts, with guest star R2D2 and Stormtroopers available for photos during intermission. The specialty cocktail of the night? A Cantina Margarita (tickets here).
The Metropolitan Opera springs into life Sept. 25, with Sondra Radvanovsky and Joyce DiDonato as the dueling divas of “Norma,” followed by plenty of Puccini: Zeffirelli’s crowd-pleasing stagings of “La Boheme” and “Turandot,” and Anthony Minghella’s “Madama Butterfly.” Opening Oct. 26 is something new: “The Exterminating Angel,” an English-language opera based on the Luis Bunuel film. Composer Thomas Ades conducts (tickets here).
