20 theater shows to see this fall
Our recent Fall Preview told only half the story: Here are 20 new plays, musicals, revivals and classics that should be on your short list between now and late November.
Thu Sep 1 2011
Milk Like Sugar
Playwright Kirsten Greenidge makes her New York debut with this sharply observed urban coming-of-age play. Sixteen-year-old Annie, bored of small-town life, enters into a pregnancy pact with her friends. The ensemble includes Tonya Pinkins, Eisa Davis and Angela Lewis. Oct 13--Nov 20. Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theater, 416 W 42nd St between Dyer and Tenth Aves (womensproject.org). $55.
Venus in Fur
This canny David Ives play—riffing on Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's 1870 erotic-literature classic—shot newcomer Nina Arianda to stardom when it was staged by Classic Stage Company in 2010. This fall, Arianda stars in the Broadway run, thanks to Manhattan Theatre Club. We're certain she will do her best to get costar Hugh Dancy hot under the collar. Oct 13--Dec 11. Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 W 47th St between Broadway and Eighth Ave (mtc-nyc.org). $57--$121.
Blood and Gifts
Political drama is usually in short supply in New York, so we're glad to see that tough-minded writer J.T. Rogers (The Overwhelming) has a new work about CIA counter-Soviet ops in 1980s Afghanistan. Bartlett Sher (Joe Turner's Come and Gone) directs an ensemble that includes Jefferson Mays, Andrs Munar and Andrew Weems. Previews start Oct 27; opens Nov 21. Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 W 65th St at Broadway (lct.org). $75--$85.
Seminar
Alan Rickman, unforgettable as the Harry Potter franchise's Severus Snape, plays a different sort of teacher in Theresa Rebeck's black comedy. Four aspiring novelists (including Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater) submit themselves to the withering contempt and verbal prowess of Rickman's Leonard, an international literary star. The production also marks the Broadway directing debut of Sam Gold (The Aliens). Previews start Oct 27; opens Nov 20. Golden Theatre, 252 W 45th St between Seventh and Eighth Aves (seminaronbroadway.com). $51.50--$126.50.
Dreamless Land
Fascinatingly strange young writer-director Julia Jarcho offers a new work under the auspices of Richard Maxwell's New York City Players. In this new play about the interplay of fantasy and identity, a teenage girl lives vicariously through her friend's rapprochement with an estranged father, piecing together memories from a horror movie, a James Bond flick and a romantic comedy. Nov 4--20. Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand St at Pitt St (nycplayers.org). $18.
