New York Spotlight: October 2008

David Mamet is well represented on Broadway this month, with two revivals of his plays hitting the boards. Speed-the-Plow (Barrymore, beginning October 30) features Jeremy Piven, Raul Esparza, and Elisabeth Moss in this play about Hollywood producers engaged in the eternal debate of art versus money. Meanwhile, American Buffalo (Belasco, beginning October 31), follows three men who plot to steal a rare, valuable nickel, and stars Cedric the Entertainer, John Leguizamo, and Haley Joel Osment, with direction by Robert Falls.

Elton John’s hit British musical, Billy Elliot has arrived at the Imperial. Based on the 2000 film of the same name, the show tells the tale of a young boy with a dream of being a dancer. Stephen Daldry directs, and the book and lyrics are by Lee Hall. A trio of young actors — David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish — alternate in the title role, and the principal cast also includes Haydn Gwynne, Gregory Jbara, and Carole Shelley.

Lincoln Center Theatre presents the Broadway transfer of Horton Foote’s Dividing the Estate (Booth Theatre, beginning October 23), which received a glorious production Off-Broadway last season from Primary Stages. Director Michael Wilson reunites the entire original cast, headed by Elizabeth Ashley, Hallie Foote, Penny Fuller, Devon Abner, and Arthur French.

LCT has two other offerings this month: Noah Haidle’s Saturn Returns (Mitzi Newhouse, beginning October 16), stars Robert Eli, John McMartin, and James Rebhorn as the same man at three stages of his life. Meanwhile, the LCT3 initiative kicks off with Matt Sax’ solo hip-hop musical Clay, at the Duke on 42nd Street (October 6-November 9).

Stephen Sondheim’s newly reworked Road Show debuts at The Public Theater (October 28-December 28). Featuring a book by John Weidman and direction by John Doyle, the show tells the story of two brothers (played by Michael Cerveris and Alexander Gemignani) whose quest for the American Dream turns into a test of morality and judgment. Acclaimed monologist Mike Daisey brings his latest, If You See Something, Say Something to Joe’s Pub (October 15-November 30).

Christine Lahti, Michael Cristofer, and Laura Odeh star in Primary Stages’ New York premiere of Lee Blessing’s A Body of Water (59E59 Theaters, October 3-November 9), which is about a middle-aged couple who wake up one morning not knowing who they are. It runs in rep with Daniel Jenkins and Robert Stanton’s two-hander Love Child (October 12-November 19).

Jason Biggs, Peter Scanavino, and Michele Federer are among the stars of Second Stage Theatre’s revival of Howard Korder’s Boys’ Life (October 2-November 16), which focuses on three college buddies who don’t seem able to grow up. John Gallagher, Jr. and Chris Noth star in Beau Willimon’s much-anticipated Farragut North (Atlantic Theater Company, October 22-November 29), about a young press secretary who falls prey to backroom politics.

The Roundabout revives David Rabe’s Streamers (Laura Pels, beginning October 17) about four young soldiers in 1965, about to be sent to Vietnam. Meanwhile, Michael Hayden heads the cast of the Roundabout Underground production of Steven Levenson’s The Language of Trees (October 4-December 14), about an American translator sent into a U.S. war zone in the Middle East.

Legendary director Peter Brook helms The Grand Inquisitor, adapted from The Brothers Karamazov, and co-presented by Theatre for a New Audience and New York Theatre Workshop, where the play performs October 22-November 23. Manhattan Theatre Club presents Itamar Moses’ Back Back Back (beginning October 30), set in the world of professional baseball, and directed by Daniel Aukin.

There are stars aplenty Off-Broadway. Andre De Shields stars in Cato (Flea Theatre, October 10-November 2), about the Roman statesman who participated in an unsuccessful civil war against Julius Caesar. Keith Carradine stars in Anthony Horowitz’s thriller Mindgame (SoHo Playhouse, beginning October 28), about a pulp crime novelist who gets an interview with a notorious serial killer. James Naughton headlines Irish Rep’s revival of Henrik Ibsen’s The Master Builder (October 10-November 30), about a ruthless but successful architect. And Campbell Scott stars as a crooked reporter in Ronan Noone’s solo play, The Atheist, presented by The Culture Project at the Barrow Street Theatre (beginning October 7). Constantine Maroulis leads the cast of the new jukebox musical Rock of Ages (New World Theatre), while the musical Sessions (Kaufman Theatre, opening Ocotber 28), about a therapist and his patients, is headed by Maya Days and John Hickok.

Elsewhere around town, Black Watch (St. Ann’s Warehouse, October 9-November 30), about a Scottish Army regiment, returns following a critically acclaimed run last season. The New Group presents Kevin Elyot’s Mouth to Mouth (Theatre Row, October 20-December 13), about a gay writer living with AIDS, who may have played an unscrupulous part in the unraveling of his best girlfriend’s family. Soho Rep presents the late Sarah Kane’s provocative play, Blasted (October 2-26), which tells of an encounter between a young woman and a middle aged journalist.