WOW, 15 NEW SHOWS! (Seriously. New. Only two are revivals.) Here's what fall 2018 is going to look like on (and near) Broadway. Energetic musical casts ready to sing and stomp their hearts out. Shows that used to be movies (comedy, drama, even horror!). Three shows about amazing real women, two of whom are alive, in good health and could show up any night.
AUGUST
GETTIN' THE BAND BACK TOGETHER Aug. 13 // That's cute Marilu Henner in the photo with all those rowdy men. She plays the sexy New Jersey mom of this musical's put-upon protagonist (Mitchell Jarvis), who has come home after losing his big-deal banking job and his glamorous city apartment. Then things get worse. The only way to save the family home is by winning the battle of the bands. Luckily, he was part of a garage band (Juggernaut) in high school, and the old gang is willing and ready to rock again. The show started out at the George Street Theater in New Jersey (appropriately enough), and The Times's reviewer (oh, look -- it was me) liked it a lot. Although she (I) had some problems with the auditions scene. John Rando, a Tony winner for "Urinetown," was and is the director. Belasco Theater, 111 West 44th Street; gettinthebandbacktogether.com. Previews begin on July 19.
PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL Aug. 16 // Andy Karl (the star of "Groundhog Day") and Samantha Barks (the street-smart but lovelorn young Éponine in the "Les Misérables" film) take over for Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, who made the 1990 movie "Pretty Woman" so charming. And almost believable. Especially for a story about a Los Angeles streetwalker whose handsome Wall-Street-rich out-of-town john falls in love with her. The eleven o'clock number is expected to be the heroine's anthem "I Can't Go Back." Nederlander Theater, 208 West 41st Street; prettywomanthemusical.com. Previews begin on July 20.
SEPTEMBER
COLLECTIVE RANT: A PLAY IN 5 BETTIES Sept. 12 // Take the title literally Jen Silverman's play is about five New York women, all very different and all named Betty. One of them decides they should stage the Pyramus and Thisbe play-within-a-play from "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The world premiere was at the Woolly Mammoth Theater in Washington DC. The cast includes Dana Delany, Lea DeLaria and Chaunté Wayans (she's a niece). Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher Street; mcctheater.org. Previews begin on Aug. 16.
BERNHARDT/HAMLET Sept. 25 // Janet McTeer first knocked Broadway audiences' socks off when she starred in "A Doll's House" 21 years ago and took a Tony home to Britain. Now she plays the 19th-century stage actress Sarah Bernhardt (let's just call her the Meryl Streep of her day) who in 1899 is challenging herself by playing the melancholy Danish prince himself in "Hamlet." Theresa Rebeck wrote it, so it'll be a mix of comedy and drama. Moritz von Stuelpnagel (the Kevin Kline "Present Laughter") directs. Bernhardt died in 1923 at the age of 78. American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street; roundabouttheatre.org. Previews begin on Aug. 31.
THE NAP Sept. 27 // It's a play about snooker. Oh, dear. It's written by Richard Bean, the British playwright who gave us the hilarious "One Man, Two Guvnors" with James Corden. That's promising. The cast includes Johanna Day, Alexandra Billings, John Ellison Conlee and, for some reason, the current United States snooker champion. Ben Schnetzer makes his Broadway debut as a rising young snooker star who falls in with some shady characters. Daniel Sullivan directs. Samuel J. Friedman Theater, 261 West 47th Street; mtc.org. Previews begin on Sept. 4.
OCTOBER
GLORIA: A LIFE Oct. 18 // Gloria Steinem, the wise mind, clarion voice and chic face of 1970s feminism, is 84 now and the subject of her own biodrama. She's played by Christine Lahti, the Emmy winner and Oscar nominee (and technically Oscar winner, but it was for producing a short film). There's a lot of material to cover in Act I: Steinem's early career as a reporter, the founding of Ms. magazine, decades of political activism. Act II will take audience participation to a new level; we'll all sit in a circle and get to ask Gloria/Christine questions. Directed by the Tony winner Diane Paulus and written by the Tony nominee Emily Mann. And you know that Daryl Roth is a woman, right? Daryl Roth Theater, 101 East 15th Street; gloriatheplay.com. Previews begin on Oct. 2.
THE FERRYMAN Oct. 21 // This drama comes to us from London, trailing clouds of glory; it won three major best-play awards, including the Olivier. Jez Butterworth ("Jerusalem") wrote this tale of a large farm family in Northern Ireland in 1981, receiving bad news and living in the shadow of the hunger strikes. Ben Brantley wrote in The New York Times that "the show’s every molecule vibrates with bounteous life.." Paddy Considine stars. Sam Mendes is the director. Bernard B. Jacobs, 242 West 45th Street; theferrymanbroadway.com. Previews begin on Oct. 2.
THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT Oct. 18 // Hooray! An actual original play (based on a book, based on real life). with major star power: Daniel Radcliffe, Cherry Jones and Bobby Cannavale, directed by Leigh Silverman. Cannevale plays a literary-magazine writer assigned to the story of a teenager's suicide. Radcliffe, as the young intern assigned to fact-check it, quickly learns that the writer considers the truth dispensable, especially if it ruins the rhythm of a sentence. Jones, we can only hope, is their editor. The writers are Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell and Gordon Farrell, all making their Broadway debuts. The PR people also say that this is the first Broadway production with an all-female design team (sets, costume, lighting, projection and sound). Sad that it took so long. Studio 54, 254 West 54th Street; lifespanofafact.com. Previews begin Sept. 20.
THE WAVERLY GALLERY Oct. 25 // Apparently, it's Kenneth Lonergan's year to get all his acclaimed Off Broadway plays into the bigger theaters. ("Lobby Hero" ran this spring.) This 2000 comic drama about a once-brilliant woman now losing her mind to Alzheimer's has an all-star cast, led by Elaine May. Ms. May's only other Broadway appearance was 57 years ago, in an evening of sketches and improvisations with her comedy partner Mike Nichols. (That show was also at the John Golden Theater.) John Golden Theater, 252 West 45th Street; thewaverlygalleryonbroadway.com. Previews begin on Sept. 25.
NOVEMBER
TORCH SONG Nov. 1 // Harvey Fierstein's "Torch Song Trilogy" first arrived Off Broadway in 1981 and on Broadway, at the Little Theater (now the Hays). in 1982. It won the best play Tony, and Fierstein (then 28, now 64) won best actor in a play for his role as a proud young Jewish drag queen with a disapproving mother. Now Michael Urie (the only hot young gay actor who isn't in "The Boys in the Band") is the star. Mercedes Ruehl plays his mom. Moises Kaufman directs. And after a recent Off Broadway run, the play has transferred again -- it's back on the very same stage. Hays Theater, 240 West 44th Street; torchsongbroadway.com. Previews begin on Oct. 9.
AMERICAN SON Nov. 4 // There's Kerry Washington in a Florida police station in the middle of the night. There's Steven Pasquale as her ex-husband (well, they're separated). Their mixed-race teenage son has gone missing, and Jeremy Jordan is the cop on the case. The Tony winner Kenny Leon ("A Raisin in the Sun") directs. The playwright, Christopher Demos-Brown, is also a trial lawyer in Miami. This drama had its world premiere at Barrington Stage in the Berkshires. Booth Theater, 222 West 45th Street; americansonplay.com. Previews begin on Oct. 6.
KING KONG Nov. 8 // Broadway audiences have survived the falling chandelier ("Phantom of the Opera"), the landing helicopter ("Miss Saigon") and a superhero flying through the orchestra ("Spider-Man"). They will probably survive a 20-foot-tall ape. described by The Times as "some kind of cross between a robot and a puppet." And yes, it's a musical, although of course the title character doesn't sing. Color-blind casting is old news in New York theater, but it will be interesting to see Christiani Pitts ("A Bronx Tale") play the heroine-actress Ann Darrow, who has been portrayed as a fair-skinned blonde since Fay Wray's day. Eric William Morris plays Carl Denham, the filmmaker who takes Ann on a cruise to an African island that turns out to be ruled by Kong. The show has been through a lot since its first production (in Melbourne, Australia), including a new creative team. Marius de Vries is still the composer, but the lyricist is new (Eddie Perfect) and the new book is by Jack Thorne. Broadway Theater, 1681 Broadway; kingkongbroadway.com. Previews begin on Oct. 5.
THE PROM Nov. 15 // Four washed-up stage stars, desperate for a little press, decide to help an Indiana high school girl who's catching hell because she wants to bring her girlfriend to her senior prom. The (not-washed-up) stars include Beth Leavel, a Tony winner in real life. Chad Beguelin, Bob Martin and Matthew Sklar did the book, music and lyrics. Casey Nicholaw directs and choreographs. Variety called it "loopy, loving and joyous" when the show had its world premiere (a.k.a. out-of-town tryout) in Atlanta. Cort Theater, 138 West 48th Street; theprommusical.com. Previews begin Oct. 23.
DECEMBER
THE CHER SHOW Dec. 3 // Fun fact: Stephanie J. Block (center in photo) made her Broadway debut 15 years ago playing Liza Minnelli. That was in "The Boy From Oz." Now, two Tony nominations and a lot of acclaim later, she plays the grown-up superstar Cher, known for her raspy voice (with and without Sonny Bono), her fabulous attitude, her over-the-top glitzy costumes and the best hair-tossing of her generation. It's a jukebox musical, but the book is by Rick Elice, who did "Jersey Boys," so there's hope for something more than just a tribute concert. The Chicago Sun-Times said "it works on nearly every level." The Tribune called it "far from finished." But that's what out-of-town tryouts are for. Great news: The costumes are indeed by Bob Mackie. Real-live Cher turned 72 this year. Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street; chershowbroadway.com. Previews begin on Nov. 1.
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD Dec. 13 // Harper Lee's coming-of-age novel about racism in small-town Alabama comes to the Broadway stage, 56 years after it became an Oscar-winning movie, and it's changed quite a bit. Jeff Daniels plays Atticus Finch, the small-town white lawyer who dares to defend a black man in a rape case. (But in this version, Atticus starts out as a racist.) Scout, his impressionable daughter and the book's narrator, is played by Celia Keenan-Bolger, an adult. And Calpurnia (LaTanya Richardson Jackson), the Finches' black maid, has a lot more to say than she did in the original. The production almost didn't happen, because of dueling lawsuits between Lee's estate and the producer, Scott Rudin, but the two sides settled in May. Written by Aaron Sorkin, which explains a lot (but Lee chose him!), and directed by the generally brilliant Bartlett Sher. Shubert Theater, 225 West 44th Street; tokillamockingbirdbroadway.com. Previews begin on Nov. 1.