Broadway Shows News May 2008

Spring is finally in the air and those April showers are bringing more than just May flowers this season. Broadway is welcoming some exciting new shows and revivals that are sure to have audiences buzzing! April seems to be the month for some pretty big names lighting up the marquee. Several new shows are opening and bringing with them some pretty impressive names.

Hollywood meets New York … The Country Girl opens at Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre for a limited engagement and stars Academy Award winners Morgan Freeman and Frances McDormand in this backstage theater drama. This is the first major mounting of this production in over thirty years. Macbeth comes to Broadway for sixty-four performances only after a sold-out run in London. The Shakespearean classic stars Patrick Stewart in his Olivier Award nominated role. Stewart is best known for his role as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the Star Trek: Next Generation television series and films. Also on the New York stage is Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei in Top Girls and Tony Award winning actor Laurence Fishburn in the acclaimed play Thurgood. As you can see from the above names The Great White Way appeals to some very strong talent.

In other Broadway news a few shows that were scheduled to close are extending their runs. The Broadway sensation of the nineties was scheduled to close on June 1, 2008 but due to popular demand Rent will now appear through September 7, 2008. The Thirty-Nine Steps ended its limited engagement run on March 29, 2008 only to continue in a new theater on April 29, 2008. This tongue-in-cheek Hitchcock thriller will begin again at the Cort Theatre. The smash hit from London and the winner of the 2007 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy is obviously gaining popularity on the American stage. Also extending its run in a new theater is the family drama August Osage County. It will begin performances on April 29, 2008 at the Music Box Theatre.

Legally Blonde has announced a nationwide tour that kicks off on September 23, 2008. So if you can’t make it to Broadway this is a great opportunity to see a fantastic production. Stay tuned for a theater near you!

Coming this summer to New York are a few shows that will be sure to spark an interest! Look for an update next month on productions such as Godspell, A Tale of Two Cities and Equus.