As the sticky heat of summer recedes and gives way to the breezy, crisp days of fall leisurely nights can no longer be spent outside your favorite restaurant sipping wine and making aimless small talk. As shorter days and cooler evenings usher you inside, why not be literally ushered inside to indulge in the lively theater of the season? From Broadway debuts and revivals, to displays of skill and expertise in dance, here are 15 must-see stage events happening this fall.
Credit, clockwise from top left: Julie Taymor, New York City Ballet, Associated Press, Roundabout Theatre Company
Faustin Linyekula: New York – The Metropolitan Museum of Art features the work of Faustin Linyekula, a Congolese choreographer that delves into his country’s traumatic past and present premiering his work “in conversation” with the Met’s Kingdowm of Kongo collection. (Runs September 9 and 10 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Photo: Agathe Poupeney
Unwanted – Rwandan choreographer Dorothée Munyaneza heads this passionate and impactful piece inspired by the women who survive wartime rape and their stories. Unwanted studies the physical and psychological scars left by such callous acts and meets it with teeming emotion. (Runs September 21 and 22 at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, New York)
Video still via the Baryshnikov Arts Center
New York City Ballet – Four new works will be featured in the ballet’s gala kickoff this year, with fashion by Fernando Garci and Tsumori Chisato. The company will also perform Peter Martin’s The Chairman Dances, and October 7 will see Rebecca Krohn’s final performance after nearly 20 years in Balanchine’s Stravinsky Violin Concerto. (Opens September 28 through October 15 at the David H. Koch Theater, New York)
Video Still from the New York City Ballet
Time and the Conways - Marking the play’s first time back to Broadway since its premiere in 1938, Time and the Conways follows a post-WWI British family full of hope and promise for the future that lies ahead of them. But a lurch 19 years into the future finds them living lives they couldn’t possibly have imagined. Elizabeth McGovern (Downton Abbey) and Anna Camp (Pitch Perfect) star in the production. (Opens October 10 at the American Airlines Theater, New York)
Photo: Roundabout Theatre Company
M. Butterfly – Despite our evolved ideas on gender, the passionate and grandeur of David Henry Hwang’s story of an ill-fated love affair between a French diplomat and a Chinese male soprano disguised as a woman are sure to enthrall in this new production helmed by Julie Taymor. (Opens October 26 at the Cort Theatre, New York)
Credit: Julie Taymor
American Ballet Theatre – Choreographers Jessica Lang, Benjamin Millepied, and Alexei Ratmansky help launch the American Ballet Theatre’s fall season with world premiere pieces. (Runs October 18 through October 29 at the David H. Koch Theater)
Credit: American Ballet Theatre
Mean Girls – Tina Fey adapted her beloved 2004 film for the stage; her husband, Jeff Richmond, who wrote the music for 30 Rock, composed the songs; and Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde) penned the lyrics. Get a peek in D.C. before it heads to Broadway in March. (Opens October 31 at National Theatre, Washington D.C.)
Credit: Mean Girls the Musical
Summer: The Donna Summer Musical - The disco goddesses’ legacy should be in good hands with director Des McAnuff (Jersey Boys), who knows how to make pop come alive for the theater, and a book co-written by Colman Domingo. (Opens November 7 at the La Jolla Playhouse, La Jolla, California)
Credit: Associated Press
The Band’s Visit – Following a critically acclaimed and twice-extended sold-out premiere Off-Broadway at Atlantic Theater Company, The Band’s Visit is finally coming to Broadway proper. With music and lyrics by Tony Award nominee David Yazbek (The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), the musical follows an Egyptian Police Band as it arrives in Israel to play a concert. After problems at the border, the band is left with no place to stay and is taken in by the locals, their lives tangling unexpectedly. (Opens November 9 at the Ethel Barrymore Theater, New York)
Photo: Ahron R. Foster
The Children – After an acclaimed run across the pond in London, The Children, the newest play from Lucy Kirkwood, makes it’s Broadway debut with its acclaimed original cast. As a pair of retired nuclear engineers live out their days in a remote cottage on the British coast, an old friend comes knocking at their door with a shocking reason for her visit. (Opens November 28 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, New York)
Photo: Johan Persson
Meteor Shower - Four-time Tony Award-winner Jerry Zaks directs this Ojai-based play by Steve Martin that finds two couples at a dinner party on a sweltering night. But one couple isn’t just looking for a casual evening with friends as a meteor shower illuminates the night sky. Amy Schumer makes her Broadway debut alongside Michael Kegan-Key as one couple, with Broadway vets Laura Benanti and Alan Tudyk starring opposite them. (Opens November 29 at the Booth Theatre, New York)
Photos: Associated Press
The Parisian Woman – Academy Award nominee Uma Thurman (Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction) makes her Broadway debut in grand style in The Parisian Woman. As socialite Chloe, Thurman grapples with an uncertain future in Washington D.C. in this play by Beau Willimon (House of Cards), directed by Pam MacKinnon (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?). Held afloat by her charm and wit, Chloe learns quickly that, in the wake of the 2016 election, powerful friends are the only ones worth having. (Opens November 30, Hudson Theatre, New York)
Photo: Associated Press
Once on the Island – Actor Michael Arden tried his hand at directing with the 2015 revival of Spring Awakening, to glorious results. Lightning could strike twice with his Broadway revival of this 1990 favorite about life in the French Antilles. (Opens December 3 at Circle Square Theatre, New York)
Credit: Once on the Island the Musical
SpongeBob Squarepants – How will Tina Landau, the queer director behind Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Head of Passes and Wig Out!, tackle a grand-scale Nickelodeon tuner? Will SpongeBob finally come out? We’ll find out in this new Broadway adaptation. (Opens December 4 at the Palace Theatre, New York)
Photo: Nickelodeon
Trisha Brown Dance Company – Trisha Brown’s dance company persists after the death of Brown in March, and late this fall they’ll be showcasing some of her iconic work from late in her life. “Geometry of Quiet,” “Groove and Countermove,” and “L’Amour au Théâtre” will be the chosen features this December. (Runs December 12 through December 17 at the Joyce Theater, New York)
Photo: Trisha Brown Dance Company
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