April showers are raining on Broadway this month with last-minute openings for productions to be eligible for this year’s Tony Awards (the cut-off date is April 28). It was tough list to narrow down, but these are the three that we’ve got our eyes on (with a bonus show just for good measure!)
Jessie Mueller in ‘Waitress.’ (Photo: Jeremy Daniel via The Broadway Blog.)
Waitress
Broadway’s favorite darling and Tony winner Jessie Mueller (Beautiful: The Carol King Musical) leads the cast as Jenna, a waitress and expert pie maker in a small town who dreams of a way out of her loveless marriage. A baking contest in a nearby county and the town’s new doctor may offer her a chance at a fresh start, while her fellow waitresses offer their own recipes for happiness. With music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles, book by Jessie Nelson, and direction by Diana Paulus (Pippin, Finding Neverland), this team of female powerhouses promises to deliver a heaping serving of musical theater.
Waitress
Brooks Atkinson Theatre
256 West 47th Street
Opening night: April 24
Fully Committed
Our favorite funny man Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family) finally returns to Broadway in a hilarious revival of Becky Mode’s one-person play, which was originally an Off Broadway tour de force.
You think you’re having a bad day at work? Meet Sam. He covers the red-hot reservation line at one of New York’s most exclusive restaurants, juggling desperate diners, scheming socialites, name-dropping wannabes, celebrity divas, panicked waiters and a fame-hungry chef. And in this sidesplitting comedy, Ferguson plays all 40 characters!
Fully Committed
Lyceum Theatre
149 West 45th Street
Opening night: April 25
Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 And All That Followed
If there’s one show that might have just as much historical resonance and reinvention than runaway hit Hamilton, it’s this star-packed, behind-the-scenes look at the 1921 musical that redefined Broadway.
This retelling is helmed by director George C. Wolfe and stars Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Billy Porter, Brandon Victor Dixon, Joshua Henry, Brooks Ashmanskas, and features choreography by Savion Glover. Put on your tapping shoes, this is going to be one wild ride!
Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 And All That Followed
Music Box Theatre
239 West 45th Street
Opening night: April 28
BONUS PICK
Glenn Close in ‘Sunset Boulevard’ at the English National Opera. (Photo: Richard Hubert Smith via The Broadway Blog.)
Skip the pond and head to the English National Opera’s revival of Sunset Boulevard, starring its original Broadway leading lady, Glenn Close. Critics are raving about her performance!
Sunset Boulevard
English National Opera
Through May 7, 2016.
