Oh dear, there is so much to do this WEEK AHEAD! Here's how to manage it all.
Saturday, February 22
OPENING→ After almost a year-long hiatus, Gerard Alessandrini's Forbidden Broadway returns to New York in an updated version of the long-running spoof musical, now named Forbidden Broadway: Alive and Still Kicking. No show is safe from Alessandrini's poison pen, including newbies Pippin, Kinky Boots, Matilda The Musical and Motown. (Davenport Theatre, 354 W. 45th St., btwn. 8th & 9th Aves. Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets.)
LAST CHANCE→ Tony winner Paulo Szot joins four-time Tony nominee Danny Burstein in a new production of Johann Strauss Jr.'s opera Die Fledermaus, revamped by Tony-nominated writer Douglas Carter Beane and director Jeremy Sams. (Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center Plaza, btwn. W. 62nd & 65th Sts. & Columbus & Amsterdam Aves. Info/tickets.)
GO→ A new documentary about the lives of actors who understudy and stand-by for the leading men and women of Broadway hits New York theatres for a limited engagement. "The Standbys" follows Ben Crawford, Merwin Foard and Aléna Watters as they wait in the wings — literally — for the moment they might be called upon to star in a Broadway show. (Through Feb. 27, The Quad Cinema, 34 W. 13th St., btwn. 5th & 6th Aves. Info/tickets.)
Sunday, February 23
PREVIEWS→ Terrence McNally brings his four-time Tony-winning talents back to Broadway in a new play starring his frequent dramatic cohort, Tony winner Tyne Daly. In Mothers and Sons, Daly plays a mother who shows up on the doorstep of her late son's ex-partner (Bobby Steggert). (Golden Theatre, 252 W. 45th St., btwn. Broadway & 8th Ave. Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets.)
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| Cherry Jones and Celia Keenan-Bolger | ||
| photo by Michael J. Lutch |
GO→ Tony-winning In the Heights star and creator Lin-Manuel Miranda continues his "Sunday Movies" series at Washington Heights' historic United Palace Theatre with a screening of the classic movie musical "West Side Story." The film's Anita, the legendary Rita Moreno, will join Miranda for a talkback! (5 PM, United Palace Theatre, $5-$15, 4140 Broadway at 175th St. Info/tickets.)
Monday, February 24
OPENING→ David Henry Hwang's newest drama Kung Fu takes a look at the life and legacy of a young Bruce Lee as he travels from Hong Kong to try to make it in Hollywood. "So You Think You Can Dance" star Cole Horibe plays the martial arts icon; Leigh Silverman directs. (Pershing Square Signature Theatre Center, 480 W 42nd St., btwn. 9th & 10th Aves. Info/tickets.)
GO→ The third annual TEDxBroadway conference features some of the most progressive minds in the theatre striving to make the industry more dynamic, profitable and engaging. This year's lineup features Tony, Grammy and now Oscar-nominated composer Bobby Lopez; groundbreaking Tony-winning director Diane Paulus; "Crowd Fund Economics" scribe David Drake; comedian Lea DeLaria; and others. (11 AM-6 PM, New World Stages, 340 W. 50th St., btwn. 8th & 9th Aves., $100. Info/tickets.)
Tuesday, February 25
GO→ Tony and Oscar-winning scribe John Patrick Shanley sits down with director Doug Hughes for an intimate discussion as part of the Drama League's "Up Close" series. The pair is currently represented on Broadway with the Ireland-set rom-com Outside Mullingar, starring Debra Messing and Brían F. O'Byrne. (7 PM, Drama League Theater Center, 32 Avenue of the Americas, off Church St., $15-$35. Info/tickets.)
Wednesday, February 26
PREVIEWS→ Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice's 1992 Academy Award-winning animated film "Aladdin" makes its stage debut at the house Disney re-built, Broadway's New Amsterdam Theatre. Tony-winning director Casey Nicholaw is at the helm of the beloved story of a street urchin whose wishes come true thanks to a magic genie and a flying carpet. Officially opens March 20. (New Amsterdam Theatre, 214 W. 42nd St., btwn. 7th & 8th Aves. Info/tickets.)
PREVIEWS→ Tony winner Nina Arianda and Tony nominee Kathleen Chalfant star in David Grimm's Tales from Red Vienna, about the widows of World War I who find their lives upended when their husbands don't return from battle. Ruined director Kate Whoriskey is at the helm. Officially opens March 18. (New York City Center, 131 W. 55th St., btwn 6th & 7th Aves. Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets.)
Thursday, February 27
GO→ Tony and Oscar nominee Jeff Daniels returns to Broadway's living room, 54 Below, for another evening of humor and downhome, good ol' tunes. Songs like "If William Shatner Can, I Can Too", "You Can Drink An Ugly Girl Pretty" and "Have a Good Life (Then Die)" feature the guitar-slinging movie and stage star in a way you haven't seen him before. (Through March 1, 54 Below, 254 W. 54th St., btwn. Broadway & 8th Ave. Info/tickets.)
Friday, February 28
GO (FREE)→ Just in time for Broadway's newest revival of Lorraine Hansberry's groundbreaking drama A Raisin in the Sun, starring Denzel Washington, the New York Public Library opens a special exhibit entitled "A Raisin in the Sun: Lorraine Hansberry's Dream on Broadway." (Through March 7, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at The New York Public Library, 42nd St. & 5th Ave. Info.)
