2011 Broadway Preview

2011 is here, and whether it’s musical blockbusters like Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, star-driven vehicles like Daniel Radcliffe in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, musical adaptations of popular movies like Sister Act, or provocative new plays like The Motherf**ker with the Hat, it seems that there really is something for everyone coming to Broadway. TheaterMania has the rundown, listed in order of official opening date.

The Importance of Being Earnest (American Airlines Theatre, January 13)
The Roundabout Theatre Company gets things started with its revival of the popular Oscar Wilde comedy. Brian Bedford directs the production, and plays the role of Lady Bracknell. The cast also features Santino Fontana as Algernon Moncrieff, David Furr as Jack Worthing, Dana Ivey as Miss Prism, Charlotte Parry as Cecily Cardew, Sara Topham as Gwendolyn, and Paxton Whitehead as Reverend Chausible.

Good People (Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, March 3)
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire’s latest work focuses on a woman living in Boston, who, after being fired, turns to an old flame in an attempt to embark on a new start. Oscar winners Frances McDormand and Estelle Parsons star, alongside Tate Donovan, Becky Ann Baker, and Renee Elise Goldsberry.

That Championship Season (Bernard Jacobs Theatre, March 6)
Brian Cox, Jim Gaffigan, Chris Noth, Jason Patric, and Kiefer Sutherland comprise the starry cast of this revival of Jason Miller’s 1972 Pulitzer Prize winner, which reunites a high school basketball coach and four members of the team that he guided to the state championship 20 years earlier.

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark (Foxwoods Theatre, March 15)
This new musical is already the most controversial show of the season, beset by numerous injuries that have captured media attention and numerous delays to the show’s official opening. The show’s creative team — including director Julie Taymor and composers Bono and The Edge from the band U2 — are busy making changes to this stage treatment of the popular Marvel Comics superhero, which stars newcomer Reeve Carney in the title role.

Arcadia (Barrymore Theatre, March 17)
Tom Stoppard’s intriguing play, set in a stately home in two different time periods, is revived by renowned British director David Leveaux. Billy Crudup, who starred in the original Broadway mounting, returns in a different role, joined by the likes of Margaret Colin, Raúl Esparza, Grace Gummer, Byron Jennings, and Lia Williams.

Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical (Palace Theater, March 20)
The popular 1994 movie about a trio of Australian drag artists who embark on a cross-country journey is transformed into a musical blockbuster, starring Tony Sheldon, Will Swenson, and Nick Adams. The score is made up of well-known dance-floor songs, and the producing team includes none other than Bette Midler!

Ghetto Klown (Lyceum Theatre, March 22)
John Leguizamo brings his newest solo show to Broadway, taking audiences from his adolescent memories in Queens, to his work in the 1980s avant-garde theater scene, and then on to his Hollywood career.

The Book Of Mormon (Eugene O’Neill Theatre, March 24)
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have teamed up with Robert Lopez, the Tony Award-winning composer of Avenue Q, for a musical about a pair of mismatched Mormon boys on a mission. Hilarity is sure to ensue.

How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (Al Hirschfeld Theatre, March 27)
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe returns to Broadway in this musical revival about a wily window washer’s rise up the corporate ladder. The cast also features Tammy Blanchard, Christopher J. Hanke, Rose Hemingway, John Larroquette, and Michael Park.

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (Richard Rodgers, March 31)
Multi-award-winning actor Robin Williams headlines Rajiv Joseph’s darkly comic tale, narrated by a tiger held captive in the Baghdad Zoo, and following the intertwined lives of two American marines and one Iraqi gardener.

Anything Goes (Stephen Sondheim Theatre, April 7)
Tony Award winner Sutton Foster heads the cast of the Roundabout’s revival of the classic Cole Porter musical. This production, which features the revised book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman that debuted in the 1997 Broadway revival, also features the talents of Colin Donell, Laura Osnes, John McMartin, Jessica Walter, and Tony winner Joel Grey.

Catch Me If You Can (Neil Simon Theatre, April 10)
This new musical from Tony Award winners Terrence McNally, Marc Shaiman, and Scott Wittman is based on the popular 2002 Steven Spielberg film of the same name. Aaron Tveit plays a world-class con artist pursued by a straight-arrow FBI agent, played by Tony Award winner Norbert Leo Butz. Tom Wopat and Kerry Butler round out the principal cast of the production, which is directed by Jack O’Brien, choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, and designed by David Rockwell.

The Motherf**ker with the Hat (Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, April 11)
Comedian Chris Rock makes his Broadway debut in this world premiere play by Stephen Adly Guirgis about a couple dealing with issues of addiction. The cast also includes Bobby Cannavale, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Annabella Sciorra, and Yul Vázquez.

War Horse (Vivian Beaumont Theater, April 14)
The National Theatre of Great Britain brings its acclaimed production to New York. The work, based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo, and adapted by Nick Stafford with the Handspring Puppet Company, is set during World War I as Joey, young Albert’s beloved horse, is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France.

Wonderland: A New Alice. A New Musical (Marquis Theatre, April 17)
Frank Wildhorn wrote the music for this update to Lewis Carroll’s classic story. Janet Dacal stars as a modern-day Alice who goes down the rabbit hole in search of her daughter.

Sister Act (Broadway Theatre, April 20)
Four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks directs this new musical, featuring a score by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater, based upon the 1992 film about a disco diva put into protective custody in a convent. Patina Miller plays Delores, the singer forced to get into the habit.

Jerusalem (Music Box Theatre, April 21)
Tony Award winner Mark Rylance, who made a memorable impression earlier this season in La Bete, returns for the second half of the season in Jez Butterworth’s play in the role that won him an Olivier Award for Best Actor.

The House of Blue Leaves (Walter Kerr Theatre, April 25)
Ben Stiller made his Broadway debut in the original production of this modern classic by John Guare, playing the role of Ronnie Shaughnessy. Now he takes on the lead role of zookeeper and songwriter wannabe Artie Shaughnessy, alongside fellow stage and screen stars Jennifer Jason Leigh and Edie Falco.

Fat Pig (Belasco Theatre, April 26)
Dane Cook, Josh Hamilton, and Julia Stiles will be featured in the Broadway premiere of Neil LaBute’s provocative drama about a conventionally handsome guy who finds his romance with a plus-sized woman to be more challenging than he imagined.

The People in the Picture (American Airlines Theatre, April 28)
Two-time Tony Award winner Donna Murphy makes a welcome return to Broadway in this new musical, focusing on a theater star in pre-war Poland who is now a grandmother in New York City and who is determined to pass on her stories to the next generation.

Which show are you most looking forward to? Please comment below.