that girl allison

The second half the 2011-2012 Broadway officially begins tomorrow! Some could say that it began when Porgy and Bess began previews in December (and opened last week), but I guess it depends on who you talk to. The second half of a Broadway season always begins in January, in my opinion.

Anyways, I digress. Let’s get back onto the topic, shall well?  Wit, starring the incomparable Cynthia Nixon, started previews last week and it’s on the top of my list of things to see.  Luckily, it’s being produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club, so you can volunteer to usher or you can score a $30 ticket via their 30-Under-30 ticket program (if you’re under 30, that is).  

Another revival of Death of a Salesman is starting previews on February 13th and although it seems that this production was a rush job (or a lot of schedules coincided serendipitously), the cast is pretty fantastic (Philip Seymour Hoffman as Willy, and Andrew Garfield as Willy’s son Biff). It feels like the last revival of Salesman was incredibly recent (it only kind of was - it was last revived in 1999), but since I missed out on seeing that one, I’ll definitely be making an effort to see this one.

The next nine shows of the season all open in March. March is going to be an exhausting month of critics and photographers alike. The two musicals I’m most looking forward to open on in March on the 1st and the 12th, those musicals being Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, respectively. I’m excited for JCS because it has an incredible score, but aside from that I cannot imagine why they’re bringing this back to Broadway after the 2000 revival (staring Glenn Carter and Tony Vincent - the only reason to have seen that revival) didn’t do very well.  It was apparently acclaimed at the Stratford Festival last year and I’m excited to see what changes have been made by director Des McAnuff. If I’m being honest, I don’t have very high hopes because as previously stated, despite the score being top-notch, I think the book of the show is kind of unable to be saved despite anyone’s attempts to breathe life into it.  

The only exposure I have to Evita is the movie starring Madonna in 1996 and after watching it again recently I have to admit that Madge doesn’t do the score justice at all.  I love the score and I love theatre that’s historical, so I’m assuming I’ll love Evita.  I’m very excited to finally see this show come to life onstage.

The other productions opening in March include the beloved Newsies (I finally got around to watching it and it has a great score an interesting story - it was apparently very, very good at Papermill last year), The Best Man, Rebecca, End of the World, Ghost (based on the movie), Nice Work If You Can Get It, and Don’t Dress For Dinner. I know Sierra Boggess is starring in Rebecca and the score to Ghost is pretty incredible, but aside from that there hasn’t been a lot of buzz on any of the other shows.

On April 3rd, the recently announced Broadway production of a new musical called Leap of Faith (based on the Steve Martin movie) will begin previews starring Kendra Kassebaum and  Raul Esparza. The next night The Columnist, produced by Manhattan Theatre Club, will begin previews. The Columnist is a political drama about a Washington journalist and I think it sounds pretty interesting. (Again, check out MTC’s 30 Under 30 program!).

The last two shows of the season (as slated for now) are One Man, Two Guvnors on April 6th and Harvey (about a grown man who has an invisible rabbit friend) on May 18th.  Harvey is being produced by Roundabout so cheap ticket options will be available, though One Man.. is being produced commercially, so the most we can hope for is a $40 rush or a ticket off TDF.

If I had to pick my top five shows of the winter/spring, I’d say that Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Leap of Faith, Death of a Salesman, and Wit are it. What are your top five?