SHOWS And that’s clearly a good thing
FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME
Heard of Lin-Manuel Miranda? Want to see him again on Broadway? Well, you might if you go to “Freestyle Love Supreme,” since the “Hamilton” creator is part of the rotating cast of performers in this hip-hop comedy show he also co-produced.
In essence, the unscripted show is like improv, except the nstage riffs that flow rom audience uggestions are ll performed s freestyle rap erformances
maybe a agment, maya e full-blown umber. Since e material is difeach rent night, the y s it makes sense to vary the performers.
The downside is that you don’t know in advance who you are going to see. But the upside is that by freeing star names from the eight-showsa-week grind, it makes it possible to attract highly skilled and famed folk who just want the chance to showcase their chops in a simpatico environment, as forged by “Hamilton” director Thomas Kail. Daveed Diggs, Wayne Brady and Christopher Jackson are also on the likely list.
Night owls should note that some of the shows don’t start till 10 p.m. And note to cell phone addicts: They’re gonna make you lock your phone away in a pouch! Previews began Sept. 13; opens Oct. 2 and plays through Jan. 5 at the Booth Theatre, 222 W. 45th St. www.freestylelovesupreme.com
THE GREAT SOCIETY
An epic drama with 17 actors playing more than 50 characters, “The Great Society” is the latest presidential opus from Pulitzer Prize-winning scribe Robert Schenkkan, the writer of “All the Way,” a play about the early life of President Lyndon Johnson.
Under the direction of Bill Rauch, this sequel of sorts takes on the three most crucial years of Johnson’s life, when he was chief executive of a brief but tumultuous American era (aren’t they all?) that encompassed the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War and, just maybe, the growth of the most formidable and influential democracy in the world.
Schenkkan’s focus is as the title suggests: The idealism and trauma inherent in trying to reconcile American growth, equity, diversity and unity. Veteran Broadway actor Brian Cox stars as LBJ, Grantham Coleman plays the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and Marc Kudisch is Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley. Opens Oct. 1 at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center, 150 W. 65th St. www.greatsocietybroadway.com
THE INHERITANCE
The source is E.M. Forster’s novel “Howards End,” the story of a clash between shallow industrialists and a pair of sensual, free-thinking sisters. But the setting for this highprofile import from London is the modern-day gay community of New York City.
“The Inheritance” is a twopart, seven-hour epic, penned by the American writer Matthew Lopez and directed by Stephen Daldry (“Billy El