New York Spotlight: November 2007

Disney’s The Little Mermaid swims to Broadway, landing at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, beginning November 3. The musical is adapted by Pulitzer Prize winner Doug Wright from the Academy Award-winning film and the classic fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. In it, young Ariel makes a perilous bargain with a sea witch for the chance at true love. The score by Alan Menken and his late partner Howard Ashman, features terrific tunes like “Part of Your World,” “Kiss the Girl” and “Under the Sea,” as well as new songs by Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater. Newcomer Sierra Boggess plays the title role, while Broadway veterans Norm Lewis, Sherie René Scott, and Tituss Burgess co-star.

New Broadway offerings for November also include the return of Dr. Seuss How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical (St. James Theater, November 1-January 7), with Patrick Page reprising his role as the green furry creature who wants to steal Christmas; Lincoln Center’s production of Shakespeare’s Cymbeline (Vivian Beaumont Theater, November 1-January 6), starring John Cullum, Jonathan Cake, Michael Cerveris, Martha Plimpton, and Phylicia Rashad; a recently discovered Mark Twain play Is He Dead? (Lyceum Theatre, beginning November 8), adapted by David Ives and starring Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz; and a revival of Harold Pinter’s dysfunctional family drama, The Homecoming (Cort Theatre, November 23-April 13), with Ian McShane, Eve Best, Raul Esparza, and Michael McKean.

Signature continues its Charles Mee season with the world premiere musical Queens Boulevard (November 6-December 30), about a man searching for the perfect wedding gift for his bride. David Henry Hwang brings his latest play Yellow Face to the Public Theater, November 19-December 23. The quasi-autobiographical piece confronts the roles that race and ethnicity play in America. Irish playwright Abbie Spallen’s Pumpgirl, about a tomboyish pump girl and her obsession with a local racetrack star, receives its American premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club, November 8-January 13. Meanwhile, at the Vineyard Theatre, Julia Cho’s The Piano Teacher (through December 9) concerns a retired instructor — played by Tony winner Elizabeth Franz — who seeks out some of her former students.

Playwrights Horizons offers Jordan Harrison’s Doris to Darlene, A Cautionary Valentine (November 16-December 23), which takes place in three time periods and involves Richard Wagner, a young pop singer in the 1960s, and a contemporary teen. Atlantic Theatre Company presents Peter Parnell’s Trumpery (November 14-December 30), about Charles Darwin’s struggle to complete his landmark work, The Origin of the Species.

Cirque du Soleil comes to town with the world premiere of Wintuk at the Theater at Madison Square Garden (November 1-January 6). This holiday entertainment for the whole family follows one boy’s quest to find snow and adventure.

Michael Cumpsty plays the title role in Shakespeare’s Richard III (Classic Stage Company, November 1-December 9), giving his own take on Western literature’s grandest villain. Pearl Theatre Company produces George Farquhar’s 1699 comedy The Constant Couple (November 13-December 23).

Living Theatre co-founder Judith Malina stars in Maudie & Jane (November 30-February 10), about an unlikely friendship between two very different women. Noah Haidle’s Rag and Bone (Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, November 13-December 16) concerns two brothers whose family ladder store is a front for the black market sale of human hearts.

Additional plays worth noting include Robert Farquhar’s Bad Jazz (Ohio Theater, November 4-25), a chronicle of young artists pursuing a shared dream; Will Eno’s Oh the Humanity and Other Good Intentions (Flea Theatre, November 3-December 22), starring Marisa Tomei in an evening of one-acts; Rebel Voices (Culture Project, November 10-December 16), adapted from the book Voices of a People’s History of the United States; and Bob Clyman’s biomedical thriller Secret Order (59E59 Theaters, November 9-December 9).

Finally, the Christmas season begins in earnest with The Classical Theatre of Harlem’s adaptation of Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity (Duke on 42nd, November 30-December 30) and The Radio City Christmas Spectacular (November 9-December 30), which celebrates its 75th anniversary with new scenes, as well as old favorites.