Steve On Broadway (SOB)

Broadway's Coming Attractions? Definitely Maybe.

Broadway's Coming Attractions? Definitely Maybe.

While I highlight the 33 plays, musicals and special events that are "confirmed" for Broadway's 2010-11 Theatrical Season here, there's currently another 9 shows that producers have indicated are heading to the Great White Way this season.

But before you get all excited, most of these shows have not yet secured theatres or specific dates. the caveat is that some may never arrive. Witness Yank!, which was yanked from the 2010-11 season or how both Love Never Dies (now at least temporarily comatose) and Katori Hall's The Mountaintop (possibly starring Samuel L. Jackson and Halle Berry) are now more likely for Broadway bows during the Fall of 2011.

Here are the nine shows other that may (or may not) have a life on Broadway this next year:

A Few Good Men

In January, producer Ken Davenport confirmed that he and director David Esbjornson would revive Aaron Sorkin's seminal work A Few Good Men on Broadway this next season. The military drama, which will be slightly revised by Sorkin, first appeared on the Main Stem nearly 20 years ago. No word on whether Davenport has found his star actor just yet.

Neither theatre nor dates have been announced for the revival.


Betty Boop

In November 2008, it was announced that composer David Foster was at work on a score for a musical version of that wide-eyed animated beauty Betty Boop. Last we heard, Oscar Williams and Sally Robinson were writing the book.

Neither venue nor dates have been announced, but it was initially reported that the musical would be ready for this upcoming season at a Nederlander Theatre.


Godspell

Although a revival for Stephen Schwartz's musical Godspell was initially planned and then dropped for the 2008-09 Theatrical Season, it was announced last December that producer Ken Davenport would bring that "postponed" version to Broadway sometime in the fall of 2010. Now the impresario is saying he will take it to the streets in producing the tuner in 2011 as the "first ever community produced Broadway musical." Director Daniel Goldstein remains attached to the upcoming production with Christopher Gattelli as choreographer.

Neither venue nor dates have been announced. But suffice it to say we'll be watching for developments day by day.


Hedwig And The Angry Inch

This past March, it was announced that John Cameron Mitchell's cult camp classic musical about an East German transexual rocker would finally find its way to the Great White Way. Mitchell is expected to reprise the role he first created at New York's Jane Street Theatre twelve years ago.

No venue has been confirmed, but the announcement indicated that the musical could be produced yet this fall.



MerryGoRound

The Sherman Brothers' music may return to Broadway in an original tuner that straddles the moment where life succumbs to death. Starring Florence Henderson and Conrad John Schuck, MerryGoRound is being hyped for its blend of live action with projection design and 3-D CGI animation.

The show is aiming for a Spring 2011 Broadway berth, but neither theatre nor dates have been confirmed.


Over Here!

Designed as a star vehicle for the remaining Andrews Sisters (LaVerne died in 1967), the first Broadway production of Over Here! in 1974 gave the world a little known actor named John Travolta. According to Playbill, a revival of this Sherman Brothers World War II-themed tuner is "aiming" for a Broadway berth around March 2011.

Neither venue nor firm dates have been announced.


Pure Country

Over two years have passed since I first wrote about this long-gestating musical version of the 1992 film. More than a year has passed since it was reported that Joe Nichols would be Pure Country's leading man (although his name no longer appears on the tuner's Web site -- only country superstar Lorrie Morgan's is listed for castmembers). But as recently as December, it was announced that Warren Carlyle would choreograph the Broadway show.

Neither venue nor dates have been announced.


Talley's Folly

Lanford Wilson's 1980 Pulitzer Prize-winning Talley's Folly may receive a Spring 2011 revival on Broadway with "The West Wing" star Richard Schiff making his Great White Way debut as Matt Friedman. Producers are reportedly "in discussions with actresses interested in taking the role of quirky Midwestern Sally Talley." Longtime Wilson collaborator Marshall W. Mason, who directed the original Broadway production, is set to take the helm once again.

Neither venue nor dates have been announced.


You Can't Take It With You

In February, Boston's Huntington Theatre announced it would revive George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's classic comedy about an eccentric family with Anna D. Shapiro (August: Osage County) at the helm. That revival was was then supposed to transfer to Broadway. Since that initial announcement, the theatre has substituted Bus Stop for You Can't Take It With You.

You Can't Take It With You was to begin performances this November, but now producers have said they hope to mount the revival in the Spring of 2011. Casting has proven to be an issue. This still has to be among the biggest question marks of the season, and I would say even doubtful since Anna D. Shapiro is now set to direct Motherf**ker With The Hat this spring. Can she pull a hat trick of her own?


So, dear readers, which of these shows do you hope comes to fruition?

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).


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Labels: Broadway, First Word On New Show, Musical, Play

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Monday, July 05, 2010