STARRY NIGHTS
This autumn brings big names and fresh productions to New York stages
PSYCHED for fall? Josh Groban and Robert Morse are. At 35 and 85, respectively, they can’t wait to get to Broadway. “I’m working harder than I ever have in my life and I’m loving every minute,” says Groban, the multiplatinum-selling singer-songwriter who’ll make his Great White Way debut in “Natasha, Pierre &
the Great Comet of 1812.” Previewing Oct. 18 at the Imperial, Dave Malloy’s electropop opera was huge off-Broadway, when it featured Phillipa Soo, who went on to star in “Hamilton.” Now it’s Denée Benton’s and Groban’s turns as the tempestuous couple of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.”
As Groban tells The Post, it’s hardly a case of typecasting.
“I don’t drink as much as Pierre. I’m not brash like Pierre,” says the LA native. “I’m personally pretty shy and a control freak, so it’s a wonderful thrill to play someone off the handle and driven by impulse.”
And while he’s still plowing through Tolstoy’s massive novel, he says he’s amazed at how relatable its characters are “to the melodramas we create in our own lives, especially the narcissism of social media.”
He also likes the alchemy that comes with donning Pierre’s wirerimmed glasses. “They change how I look at people,” Groban says. “Luckily, they aren’t prescription.”
At 85, Morse is hardly a Broadway newbie: He made his debut in 1955’s “The Matchmaker,” conquered the town in 1961’s “How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” and had a mesmerizing solo turn 27 years ago in “Tru.”
Even so, he can’t wait to play a small but key role in “The Front Page,” previewing Sept. 20 at the Broadhurst. A hit in 1928, this comedy revival has a big, starry cast led by Nathan Lane, John Goodman, and Morse’s “Mad Men” compatriot John Slattery.
Morse tells The Post how surprised he was when his agent called, asking if he wanted in.
“I thought, ‘My gosh, that’s one of the great American plays! How did they think of me?’” They said, ‘Nathan Lane suggested you.’ I guess when Nathan Lane suggests it, they think it’s a wonderful idea!”
Morse and Lane had worked together on FX’s “The People V. O.J. Simpson” as writer Dominick Dunne (Morse) and lawyer F. Lee Bailey (Lane). When they met at a “Front Page” rehearsal, “I gave him a big hug, ” Morse recalls. “Nathan said, ‘Give me another one!’ So I hugged him again.”
What else is in store this fall? Highlights include the millennial musical “Dear Evan Hansen,” which rode a wave of raves from off-Broadway to the Belasco, where it previews Nov. 14; a revival of “Les Liaisons Dangereuses,” with Liev Schreiber and Janet McTeer as those decadent aristocrats (Oct. 8, the Booth); and Diane Lane’s return, after a mere 39 years, in “The Cherry Orchard,” the Chekhov chestnut in which she made her Broadway debut in 1977 (at age 12) opposite Meryl Streep. Stephen “The Humans” Karam penned the adaptation (Sept. 15, American Airlines).
Back, too, is “Falsettos” (Sept. 29, Walter Kerr), about New Yorkers in the age of AIDS. William Finn’s score includes “Four Jews in a Room Bitching,” this time sung by Christian Borle and Andrew Rannells. Should be interesting.
Off-Broadway, there’s literally “Plenty” to look forward to. That’s the David Hare play the Public Theater’s reviving Oct. 4 with Corey Stoll and Rachel Weisz. “SNL” fans, take note: Jason Sudeikis will make his New York stage debut in “Dead Poets Society” in the Robin Williams role of the teacher (Oct. 27, Classic Stage Company). Onward!