As we sludge our way through shortened days, runny noses, and slushy streets, any joy we manage to muster seems sandwiched between beyond-cockeyed optimism and those daunting laundry lists known as New Year’s resolutions. Nevertheless, while these post-holiday weeks test our perky mettle (“2013, I hardly knew ye”), at least here in the Big Apple you can cash in your Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway chits for the guaranteed antidote of first-rate theatrical escapism.
In the toodle-oo department, January 5th marks the end of four Broadway shows: limited runs like Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays and Betrayal starring the new millennium’s 007, Daniel Craig, and his Oscar-winning spouse, Rachel Weisz; the charming new musical First Date; and the revival of Annie, ending its year-plus run at the Palace with Tony winner Faith Prince as the tipsy villainess Ms. Hannigan.
Faith Prince and Emily Rosenfeld in Annie. Photo: Joan Marcus
January 5th also marks the closing date of one of Off-Broadway’s most legendary shows as Fuerza Bruta ends its six-year run at Union Square’s the Daryl Roth Theatre. An unconventional theatrical phenom, the production is known for dazzling audiences from all angles—most notably overhead, where performers slip, slosh, and slide to cutting-edge rock in a transparent-ceiling playground. Worth noting: the creative forces behind Fuerza Bruta (and its predecessor, De La Guarda) are launching a new show before winter is out. The details remain undercover as we go to print, but I’ll venture a pretty sure guess that it will shatter theatrical bounds over and over again.
Photo: Chad Batka
Formerly a member of the 1/5 Closers Club, Natasha, Pierre and the Comet of 1812—a sublimely original musical take on War and Peace—has extended through January 19th. Highly recommended for anyone with a passion for Russian taste sensations, transformative venues (in this case, a posh tent-turned-supper club in the Theatre District), and striking originality in concept, execution, and performances.
Jessie Mueller as Carole King in Beautiful. Photo: Joan Marcus
As for openings, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical—in previews since last November—will celebrate its opening on January 12th at Broadway’s Stephen Sondheim Theatre. The show features an extraordinary score of hits churned out by King and first husband Gerry Goffin during the ’60s and early ’70s. (FYI: King and Goffin were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.) The buzz following the musical’s debut in San Francisco has been impressive, including kudos for both Tony nominee Jessie Mueller as King and Jake Epstein as Goffin.
Also opening in January are two dramas. The first to open will be Roundabout Theatre’s production of journalist Sophie Treadwell’s Machinal, a play inspired by the 1927 scandal-driven trial of Ruth Snyder, who was convicted of murdering her husband. Rebecca Hall (The Town, Vicky Cristina Barcelona) leads the cast in what promises to be a tour-de force portrayal of a woman pushed to the brink. The second drama to debut is Manhattan Theatre Club’s Outside Mullingar by Tony-winning playwright John Patrick Shanley. A romance that’s been described as a kind of “Irish Moonstruck,” this world premiere stars Emmy winner Debra Messing (Will and Grace) and Tony winner Brían F. O’Byrne (Doubt).
Finally, in a surprising and splendid casting coup, Bebe Neuwirth, who picked up Tony in 1997 for her take on that murderous vamp known as Velma Kelly in the long-running hit Chicago—and returned ten years later as her jailhouse rival, Roxie Hart—is back in the cast playing Matron “Mama” Morton for an eight-week limited engagement from January 14th through March 9th. Talk about redefining the term “Broadway Legend”—Viva la Neuwirth!