DANCING AT LUGHNASA
Gate Theatre, Dublin – 12 July to 8 September
One of Brian Friel’s most beautiful and moving dramas, a memory play about a family of sisters eking out an existence in rural Donegal, receives a new production at this glorious Dublin venue. It’s an absolutely extraordinary play, suffused with longing and affection.
https://www.gatetheatre.ie/production/dancing-at-lughnasa-gate-theatre/
DEATH BECOMES HER
Cadillac Palace Theatre, Chicago – 30 April to 2 June
One of the campest black comedies ever written for the screen becomes a splashy new musical, trying out in the Windy City before hopefully head for Broadway. Anybody familiar with the work of Smash’s Megan Hilty and fabulous double Tony nominee Jennifer Simard will already be salivating with anticipation at what these two megawatt talents will bring to the diva roles created by Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn.
https://deathbecomesherbroadway.com
HELLS KITCHEN
Shubert Theatre, New York – from 28 March
After garnering reviews at the Public that were less write-ups than love letters to all involved, Alicia Keys’s semi-autobiographical jukebox musical moves uptown where it looks likely to become a permanent Broadway fixture. This sounds like potent, spine tingling stuff, and yes it does feature Keys and Jay-Z’s paean to NYC, ‘Empire State of Mind’.
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
Delamar Theatre, Amsterdam – 13 January to 18 February, then touring
I’ve a bit of a love-hate relationship with Belgian auteur Ivo van Hove’s output, but his esoteric multimedia approach feels like it could work thrillingly for the Rice-Lloyd Webber modern classic. It’s one of the greatest of all theatrical rock scores and van Hove has assembled a bloodcurdlingly photogenic cast.
https://www.jesuschristsuperstar.nl
JUDGEMENT DAY
Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Chicago – 23 April to 26 May
“Are people any damn good?” asks this intriguing-sounding new dark comedy starring Seinfeld’s Jason Alexander as a morally bankrupt lawyer on the cusp of eternal damnation. Alexander is brilliant on stage and his director here is Morris (Hand To God) von Stuelpnagel, so this is likely to be a real treat.
LEMPICKA
Longacre Theatre, New York – from 19 March
I’m not necessarily saying this sounds like the most exciting new Broadway musical of the season, but what I’ve heard of the score (genuinely enthralling) and the advance reports from the LaJolla tryout suggests that it very well could be. Artist Tamara de Lempicka had a hell of a life and she’s played here by Eden Espinosa, the sort of powerhouse performer I’d pay to hear singing a shopping list.
LES MISÉRABLES
Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris – 22 November to 31 December
Something of a homecoming for arguably the most popular musical in the world, but this is a completely new staging, and it’s performed in French. It’ll be really interesting to see what a new director (Ladislas Chollat) brings to this beloved material, plus it’ll be magnifique to see it in the city where it’s set.
https://www.chatelet.com/en/programmation/24-25/les-miserables/
MARY JANE
Samuel J Friedman Theatre, New York – 2 April to 2 June
Film star Rachel McAdams makes her Main Stem debut in this Amy Herzog play which got tremendous reviews when it premiered off-Broadway in 2017. Centring on a young woman striving to care for her special needs child, it’s deeply moving but shot through with trenchant dark humour.
https://www.manhattantheatreclub.com/shows/2023-24-season/mary-jane/
SALLY & TOM
Public Theater, New York- 28 March to 28 April
Billed as a “dramedy”, acclaimed, award-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks’s new work promises to be a playful, engrossing, ferocious mixture of satire, social history and backstage intrigue. The premise is a way off-Broadway theatre company attempting to mount a play about Thomas Jefferson and the enslaved Sally Hemings.
https://publictheater.org/productions/season/2324/sally–tom/
SUFFS
Music Box Theatre, New York – from 26 March
Is this Broadway transfer from the Public Theater the American answer to the Old Vic hit Sylvia? There are certainly similarities, as this challenging, female-driven new musical takes on the story of the original suffragettes and sets it to an accomplished contemporary score by multiple songwriting award winner Shaina Taub. I’m expecting something bracing, compelling and inspiring; I’ve heard some of the songs, and they’re gorgeous.
TEETH
Playwights Horizons, New York – 21 February to 31 March
Yes folks, it’s the vagina dentata revenge musical we didn’t all know we needed. I can’t resist a truly off-the-wall idea for a show. Anna K Jacob’s rock and pop oriented music sounds pretty terrific, and the script is co-writtten by prodigiously talented Michael R Jackson, creator of A Strange Loop. This’ll be irresistibly unusual, and the cast includes Broadway star Steven Pasquale. May be worth going to, even if only to say that you were there.
https://www.playwrightshorizons.org/shows/plays/teeth/
MOTHER PLAY
Hayes Theater, New York – 2 April to 16 June
Any new play that boasts a cast headed by Jessica Lange, Jim Parsons and Celia Keenan-Bolger has got to be worth a look. It becomes even more essential viewing when you consider that this comedy drama about the hold family and the past has on present day life is the work of multiple Obie winner Paula (How I Learned To Drive, Indecent) Vogel, and directed by Tina Landau.
https://2st.com/shows/mother-play
THE WHO’s TOMMY
Nederlander Theatre, New York – from 8 March
The first New York revival of The Who’s edgy, uplifting rock opera is directed by Des McAnuff, who also helmed the breathtaking 1996 production which gave this soaring, eclectic score a coherent dramatic shape that it had previously been missing. Expect goosebumps, eye-popping spectacle and a Pinball Wizard!
THE WIZ
Marquis Theatre, New York – from 28 March, and touring beforehand
I’ve never seen this joyful Black rejuvenation of The Wizard of Oz live on stage, and this production sounds like a real dazzler. The score is a soulful, zesty delight, and the cast of Schele Williams’s new staging, amazingly the first ever Broadway revival, includes Kyle Ramar Freeman, sensational in last year’s Barbican season of A Strange Loop, as the Cowardly Lion, also Deborah Cox and Wayne Brady.
WINE IN THE WILDERNESS
Classic Stage Company, New York – Spring ‘24, dates to be confirmed
An artist completes his triptych on Black womanhood while the Harlem race riot of summer 1964 rages outside. Alice Childress’s play, exploring sexism, racism and classism, gets a rare revival, directed by beloved Broadway star LaChanze, who was Tony nominated for her star role in the same author’s play Trouble In Mind in the 2021 Roundabout revival.
ajhlovestheatre 
Leave a comment