Hot shows seek homes
Producers eyeing empty theaters
CALL it Broadway Monopoly — the game producers, landlords and other insiders love to play when theaters suddenly open up. With so many shows circling the Great White Way, two or three could land this season, but only if they find theaters.
The Nederlander will be free once “War Paint” closes on Sunday. Patti LuPone, who stars with Christine Ebersole, needs a hip replacement. Though she’s been in pain for months, she hasn’t dropped a performance.
“I don’t miss,” she told me. “But I gotta have this taken care of.” Uma Thurman starts previews Nov. 9 in “The Parisian Woman,” at the newly restored Hudson Theatre. But
Beau Willimon’s drama is scheduled to run only through March, so the Hudson’s in play.
The Cort is another theater insiders suspect will open up this season. “M. Butterfly,” directed by Julie Taymor and starring Clive
Owen, opened there last week. I was rooting for a Taymor comeback after the debacle of “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.” But the critics weren’t kind. The $4.5 million production is struggling and could fold by the end of the year.
So what shows are circling the Nederlander, the Hudson and the Cort?
“The Honeymooners,” which just premiered at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse, could easily slip in before the Tony cutoff date in May. Based on the beloved ’50s TV show, the musical received a warm review from the Times. (Variety, however, gave it the ice pick: “lumbering,” “scattershot,” “tiresome.”) Several investors who trekked out to Jersey say the show has its charms, especially the cast: Michael McGrath (Ralph), Leslie Kritzer (Alice), Michael Mastro (Ed) and Laura Bell Bundy (Trixie).
I doubt “The Honeymooners,” should it hit Broadway, would give Tina Fey’s “Mean Girls” and the excellent “The Band’s Visit” much competition at the Tonys. But the title’s a winner and is sure to draw tourists this summer.
Speaking of summer, there’s “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.” It debuts next week at San Diego’s La Jolla Playhouse with three actresses playing the disco diva at different stages in her life: Storm Lever (Duckling Donna), Ariana DeBose (Disco Donna) and
LaChanze (Diva Donna). You can’t rule this one out, if only because the director is Des McAnuff, who staged the smash “Jersey Boys.” Investors who saw a workshop in New York weren’t mad about the script but said those Summer songs — “She Works Hard for the Money,” “Love To Love You Baby” and “Last Dance” — are as catchy as ever.
The money for this one’s in place, and if it gets good reviews, the Broadway disco ball’s going to spin.
Finally, let’s not rule out “Hadestown,” directed and developed by Rachel
Chavkin, who staged “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812.” The show, based on the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, won raves at the New York Theatre Workshop.
It’s ready to go to Broadway, and could certainly be a last-minute surprise hit.