Tarell Alvin McCraney Taylor Mac, Dominique Morisseau Anais Mitchell Joe Iconis

It’s a thrill that Annette Bening, Paul Dano, Adam Driver, Santino Fontana, Ethan Hawke, Glenda Jackson, John Lithgow, Laurie Metcalfe and Kelli O’Hara are among the celebrated performers returning to Broadway. But it’s the Broadway newcomers that make the Spring 2019 Broadway season feel especially promising: Three MacArthur “Genius” winning theater artists — Tarell Alvin McCraney (best known for the Oscar-winning movie “Moonlight”), Taylor Mac (The 24-Decade History of Popular Music) and Dominique Morisseau (Skeleton Crew, Pipeline) — are all making their Broadway playwriting debuts, Morisseau as the book-writer for a new musical about the Temptations. Songwriters Anaïs Mitchell and Joe Iconis are each debuting on Broadway with their fanatically beloved musicals (Hadestown and Be More Chill, respectively) which are transferring after Off-Broadway runs.

Some quick statistics:

Six revivals, four new plays, five new musicals;

Four Off-Broadway transfers;

At least four shows that are (arguably) political

Two new musical adaptations of memorably quirky movies;

One gender-bending Shakespearean tragedy

Below is the rundown on the 15 shows (so far) opening on Broadway from January to April, 2019, going chronologically by opening dates. Things are likely to change — additions, subtractions, rescheduling — in the weeks and months ahead. For updates, and to see the rest of the Broadway season, check out my Broadway 2018-2019 Season Guide

JANUARY

MTC’s Samuel J. Friedman Theater

First preview: December 11

Opening January 10, 2019

Written by Tarell Alvin McCraney

Director: Trip Cullman

Cast: Jeremy Pope, Nicholas L.Ashe, J. Quinton Johnson et al

For half a century, the Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys has been dedicated to the education of strong, ethical black men. Jeremy Pope reprises the role he had in the Off-Broadway production as a gay youth whose appointment as head of the school’s legendary gospel choir sparks tension.

Roundabout’s American Airlines Theater

First preview: December 27, 2018

Opening January 24, 2019

Written by Sam Shepard

Director: James Macdonald

Ethan Hawke stars opposite Paul Dano in revival of clash between two brothers.

MARCH

Lyceum

First preview: February 13

Opening night: March 10

Book by Joe Tracz based on the novel by Ned Vizzin

Music and lyrics by Joe Iconis

Director: Stephen Brackett

Transfer of the teenage cult musical about high school student Jeremy Heere who sees himself as a loser but then swallows a pill containing a supercomputer and becomes cool — but at what cost?

My review of Be More Chill Off-Broadway

Studio 54

First Preview: February 14, 2019

Opening: March 14, 2019

Score by Cole Porter

Director: Scott Ellis

Cast: Kelli O’Hara

Imperial Theater

First Preview: Feb 28, 2019

Opening Date: Mar 21, 2019

Book by Dominique Morisseau

Music by The Temptations

Director: Des McAnuff

Cast: Jeremy Pope as Eddie Kendricks, Ephraim Sykes as David Ruffin, etc.

This new musical helmed by the director of “Jersey Boys” follows The Temptations’ journey from the streets of Detroit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

APRIL

Cort

First Preview: Feb 28, 2019

Opening: Apr 04, 2019

Closing: Jul 07, 2019

Author: William Shakespeare

Director: Sam Gold

Cast: Glenda Jackson, Jayne Houdyshell, Elizabeth Marvel, Aisling O’Sullivan,John Douglas Thompson, Ruth Wilson, Sean Carvajal, Russell Harvard, Matthew Maher

Glenda Jackson takes on the Mount Olympus of roles for men.

Circle in the Square

First Preview: Mar 19, 2019

Opening: Apr 07, 2019

Closing: Sep 01, 2019

Authors: Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II; Music by Richard Rodgers

Director: Daniel Fish

Cast: TBA

The sixth revival of the groundbreaking Rodgers and Hammerstein musical about love and conflict in the territory just after the turn of the century. This one one the hip production transferring from St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, where the golden haze is a bit dark and the corn not as high. (My review of the show at St. Ann’s)

Booth

First preview: March 5, 2019

Opening: April 11, 2019

Writer: Taylor Mac

Director: George C. Wolfe

Cast: Nathan Lane, Andrea Martin, Kristine Nielsen

Marking the Broadway debut of acclaimed theater artist Taylor Mac (A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, Hir.), “Gary” is set just after the blood-soaked conclusion of William Shakespeare’s first tragedy, Titus Andronicus. Civil war has ended and the country is in the hands of madmen. Casualties are everywhere; Lane and Martin portray two servants charged with cleaning up the corpses. Kristine Nielsen is a midwife found among the casualties, near death.

Hudson Theater

First Preview: Mar 15, 2019

Opening: Apr 16, 2019

Author: Lanford Wilson

Director: Michael Mayer

Cast: Adam Driver, Keri Russell, Brandon Uranowitz

A revival of Wilson’s 1987 play about four New Yorkers who are brought together after the accidental death of their friend, a young dancer.

Walter Kerr

First Preview Date: Mar 22, 2019

Opening: Apr 17, 2019

Author: Anais Mitchell

Director: Rachel Chavkin

Cast: TBD

Singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell’s musical, widely acclaimed at New York Theatre Workshop (my review), follows two intertwining love stories — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of king Hades and his wife Persephone — as it invites audiences on an epic journey to the underworld and back.

John Golden Theater

First Preview: March 16

Opening: April 18

Author: Lucas Hnath

Director:Joe Mantello

Cast: Laurie Metcalf, John Lithgow.

Behind closed doors in the state of New Hampshire during the early days of 2008, a former first lady named Hillary (Metcalf) is in a desperate bid to save her troubled campaign for President of the United States. Her husband, Bill (Lithgow), sees things one way; her campaign manager, Mark, sees things another way.

Roundabout’s American Airlines Theater

First Preview: April 4

Opening: April 22, 2019

Author: Arthur Miller

Director: Jack O’Brian

Cast: Annette Bening, Tracy Letts

A revival of Miller’s first hit. In the aftermath of WWII, the Keller family struggles to stay intact and to fight for their future when a long-hidden secret threatens to emerge, forcing them to reckon with greed and post-war disenchantment.

Marquis Theater

First Preview: March 29, 2019

Opening: April 23, 2019

Music and lyrics: David Yazbek

Director: Scott Ellis

Cast: Santino Fontana, John Behlman, Julie Halston, Lilli Cooper

A musical adaptation of the 1982 film about an out-of-work actor who assumes the role of a woman on a soap opera, and pretends to be a female actress.

MTC’s Samuel Friedman

First preview: April 2, 2019

Opening April 24, 2019

Writer: James Graham

Director: Rupert Goold

Cast: Bertie Carvel, Jonny Lee Miller

The rise of a brash, young Rupert Murdoch and the U.K.’s most influential newspaper publisher. Bertie Carvel reprises his Olivier Award-winning performance as Murdoch, opposite Jonny Lee Miller as Larry Lamb, the rogue editor who teamed with him to make over failing daily The Sun.

Winter Garden Theater

Opening night: April 25, 2019

Book by Scott Brown and Anthony King

Music and lyrics by Eddie Perfect

Director: Alex Timbers

Based on the Tim Burton movie, which ells the story of Lydia Deetz, a teenager obsessed with the whole “being dead thing.” Lucky for Lydia, her new house is haunted by a recently deceased couple and a degenerate demon who happens to have a thing for stripes.

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