Broadway Is Set for an Action-Packed Autumn

It’s been a busy summer on Broadway, with shows spotlighting a former Filipina first lady, Imelda Marcos (the musical “Here Lies Love”), adulterous British couples (the comedy “The Cottage”), teenage ghosts (the psychological thriller “Grey House”), and even a shark sighting (the “Jaws”-inspired “The Shark is Broken”), among other entries. Of course, fall is when the stage action traditionally picks up in earnest. Scheduled productions for the months ahead range from a new musical by Barry Manilow to a starry revival of one of Stephen Sondheim’s most challenging works, and from an account of West African immigrants living at New York City to one of a Jewish family’s struggles through generations in France.Here’s a quick look at what’s on tap between Labor Day and Christmas, with preview and opening dates and casting noted where available, though all are subject to change — and additional announcements may follow. Watch for a separate article looking at upcoming off-Broadway options.‘Purlie Victorious’One of musical theater’s most dynamic talents, Leslie Odom Jr., returns to Broadway for the first time since his Tony Award-winning turn in “Hamilton,” in a revival of Ossie Davis’s 1961 satirical play, subtitled “A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch.” Mr. Odom, who inherits the title role from Davis, will be directed by the hyper-prolific Kenny Leon, represented last season in acclaimed new productions of “Topdog/Underdog” and “Ohio State Murders.” (Previews begin September 7, opens September 27)Leslie Odom Jr during the 66th BFI London Film Festival at the Royal Festival Hall, October 16, 2022. Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for BFI‘Jaja’s African Hair Braiding’Actress and playwright Jocelyn Bioh, whose “School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play” won wide praise several years ago, makes her Broadway debut in the latter capacity with a world premiere focusing on African-born women who make a living braiding hair in a Harlem salon. Obie Award winner Whitney White directs. (September 12, October 3)‘Melissa Etheridge: My Window’Ms. Etheridge, the veteran singer/songwriter whose earnest anthems became staples of rock radio in the 1990s, brought her music and her personal story — stocked with challenges from coming out as a lesbian to the death of her young adult son three years ago — to off-Broadway audiences last year. Written by Ms. Etheridge, the show also features material by her wife, writer and producer Linda Wallem Etheridge, whose credits include “Nurse Jackie” and “That ’70s Show.” (September 14, September 28)‘Gutenberg! The Musical!’Two original stars of “The Book of Mormon,” Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells, reunite as buddies determined to create a show about, yes, the inventor of the printing press. They’ll be guided by director Alex Timbers, known for “Here Lies Love” and “Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” and who helmed the show off-Broadway back in 2006 (and later teamed with the creators of “Gutenberg,” Scott Brown and Anthony King, on Broadway’s “Beetlejuice”). (September 15, October 12)‘Merrily We Roll Along’Sondheim and librettist George Furth’s tricky tale of three old friends told in reverse, from jaded middle age to idealistic young adulthood, has been stumping directors for more than four decades, but Maria Friedman won deserved praise for the animated, moving production she brought to New York Theatre Workshop from London last year. Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, and Lindsay Mendez lead the company, as they did downtown. (September 19, opening in October)Lucy and Danny DeVito at the ABC Disney Upfront, May 17, 2022, at New York. Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images‘I Need That’Danny DeVito and his daughter, Lucy, will play a widower and his daughter in a new play by Theresa Rebeck, whose previous Broadway outings have starred the likes of Alan Rickman (2011’s “Seminar”), Katie Holmes (2013’s “Dead Accounts”), and Janet McTeer (2018’s “Bernhardt/Hamlet”). (October 13, November 2)‘Harmony’Barry Manilow and his longtime writing partner, Bruce Sussman, first began working on this musical account of the Comedian Harmonists, a half-Jewish vocal group who rose to prominence in Weimar Germany but were quashed in the Third Reich’s rise, more than two decades ago. It arrives on Broadway after garnering acclaim at the Museum of Jewish Heritage last year, with a celebrated musical theater veteran, Warren Carlyle, fresh off the Hugh Jackman-led revival of “The Music Man,” again directing. (October 18, November 13)‘Monty Python’s Spamalot’Eric Idle’s self-styled ripoff of the British troupe’s comedy classic “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” first slayed Broadway audiences back in 2005, winning the Tony for best musical under Mike Nichols’s direction. Josh Rhodes helms and choreographs this first revival, with a cast of proven wits such as Christopher Fitzgerald, James Monroe Iglehart, and Michael Urie. (October 31, November 16)‘How to Dance in Ohio’Librettist/lyricist Rebekah Greer Melocik, composer Jacob Yandura, and seven autistic actors will make their Broadway debuts with a new musical based on filmmaker Alexandra Shiva’s 2015 documentary tracing young adults on the autism spectrum. (November 15, December 10)Sarah Paulson, May 10, 2023, at Los Angeles. Leon Bennett/Getty Images‘Appropriate’Screen star Sarah Paulson will appear on Broadway for the first time in more than a dozen years, as the eldest daughter of a recently deceased Southern patriarch, in a new play marking the Broadway bow of an Obie Award winner and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. (November 28, December 18)‘Prayer for the French Republic’The “Significant Other” playwright, Joshua Harmon, and a renowned director, David Cromer, stunned off-Broadway audiences last year with this witty, wrenching portrait of a Paris-based family that grapples with antisemitism during the Holocaust and in the present day. (December 19, January 9)

Broadway Is Set for an Action-Packed Autumn

More from the New York Sun

Signing LeBron James Guarantees His Next City a Massive Economic Boon

AOC Gives Much-Coveted Endorsement to Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan Senate Race

Luna Doubles Down, Promising To Keep House Floor Shuttered Until SAVE America Act Attached to Must-Pass Bill

More from the New York Sun

Signing LeBron James Guarantees His Next City a Massive Economic Boon

AOC Gives Much-Coveted Endorsement to Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan Senate Race

Luna Doubles Down, Promising To Keep House Floor Shuttered Until SAVE America Act Attached to Must-Pass Bill

Trump Administration Seeks To End 50-Year Ban on Supersonic Flights Over America

Bite of Capital Gains Taxes Can Be Eased, as Greenspan Foresaw, by Adjusting for Inflation

Supreme Court Ignores the Animus Behind Move To End Protected Status for Haitians

‘Young Washington’ Is a Decent, Old-School Cinematic Throwback

Rhode Island Implements ‘Taylor Swift Tax’ Ahead of Superstar’s Rumored July 4 Nuptials With Travis Kelce