The Citiblog

10 SHOWS TO SEE THIS WINTER By Brian Scott Lipton
January 3, 2019, 11:09.14 pm ET

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In the city that never sleeps, the theater scene never really slows down. Indeed, the next three months will provide dozens of opportunities to see great shows and great performers. Here are 10 opportunities you shouldn’t pass up!

TRUE WEST

Nearly 40 shows since it first rocked New York audiences, Sam Shepard’s “True West” remains a powerful, riveting exploration into the depths of sibling rivalry. For this go-round at the Roundabout’s American Airlines Theatre, the equally explosive Ethan Hawke and Paul Dano take on the roles of battling brothers Austin and Lee, with the ever-priceless Marylouise Burke as their wacky mom.



Photo: Jeremy Daniel

WAITRESS

Yes, given that this stunning musical adaptation of Adrienne Shelly’s film about a down-and-out server/piemaker has already run for more three years, you may wonder why it’s on this list. Well, from January 7 through February 3, the show’s multi-talented composer Sara Bareilles will once more don the apron of the unhappy Jenna, this time joined at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre by Tony Award winner Gavin Creel as Dr. Pomatter, the understanding man who changes her life in ways no one can imagine. It’s hard to imagine a more delicious combination.

BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK

Signature Theatre continues the residency of two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage with a second look at this sly satire about an African-American starlet from the 1930s who goes from maid to a demanding white actress to international film stardom and whose role in the history of Hollywood continues to be debated decades later.

ALICE BY HEART

MCC THEATER will inaugurate their new home, the Newman Mills Theater at the Robert W. Nelson MCC Theater Space (511 West 52nd Street), with this new musical by Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik (co-creators of “Spring Awakening”) set in war-torn 1930s London and inspired by Lewis Carroll’s timeless “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

An all-Yiddish version of one of the most beloved (and revived) musicals of all-time ends up as one of the hottest tickets in town. Sounds crazy, no? Well, having sold out its run in Battery Park City, the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbeine’s acclaimed production comes north to Stage 42, with Steven Skybell as the philosophical milkman Tevye and the hilarious Jackie Hoffman as meddling matchmaker Yente.


Photo: Maria Baranova

BE MORE CHILL

After a sold-out engagement last summer, this unusual musical about an unhappy teenager who suddenly becomes popular after ingesting a mini-computer called the squib – a cult favorite among tweens and teens – moves to the Great White Way’s Lyceum Theater with its original cast intact, including Will Roland and George Salazar.

KISS ME, KATE

Fans of the great Cole Porter (and who isn’t) have been yelling “Wunderbar!” for months since learning that the Roundabout is giving another Broadway revival to this brilliant comic musical about a pair of warring, soon-to-be-ex-spouses (played by Tony winner Kelli O’Hara and the dashing Will Chase) who are cast in a musical version of William Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew.” We expect to, once more, be so in love with this show!’

THE MOTHER

Just as Florian Zeller’s drama, “The Father,” proved to be a tour-de-force for Frank Langella, this companion work, making its New York debut at the Atlantic Theatre, should provide audiences to chance for one of the world’s greatest actresses, French superstar Isabelle Huppert, to display her unparalleled talents. The handsome, talented Chris Noth (forever to be “Mr. Big” from “Sex and the City”) heads the supporting cast.


Photo: Matthew Murphy

AIN'T TOO PROUD–THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE TEMPTATIONS

Having already taking the West Coast, Washington D.C., and Toronto by storm, this much-anticipated biomusical about the seminal R&B group – featuring a book by Dominique Morriseau, choreography by Sergio Trujillo and direction by Des McAnuff-- prepares to shake up Broadway’s Imperial Theatre, serving up many of the group’s legendary hits along with its tales of off-stage drama.

KING LEAR

Many theatergoers thought Glenda Jackson’s astounding, Tony-winning turn last season in Edward Albee’s “Three Tall Women” would be her final foray on Broadway. Well, think again! The fearless 82-year-old dynamo is tackling Shakespeare’s most demanding role in a gender-bending production alongside such top-tier talents as Elizabeth Marvel, Jayne Houdyshell, Ruth Wilson, Pedro Pascal and John Douglas Thompson.

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