For many people, Broadway is one of the most magical places on earth.  It is the destination for both avid theater goers to experience the best of live singing, dancing, and acting; and for performers whose dreams of stardom culminate in reaching the Great White Way. What often goes unnoticed by teachers and audience members alike is the vibrant and vital Off Broadway community in New York–often the breeding ground for all facets of great theater including innovative directing, playwriting, songwriting, and acting.

First, what is Off Broadway?  Technically, Off Broadway simply means a theater that is less than 499 seats. Many times, productions that start Off Broadway are critically successful and popular with audiences that they makes their way to larger Broadway theaters – winning many top industry awards in the process.  In recent years,  Spring Awakening, Passing Strange, Grey Gardens, Rock of Ages, and (title of show) have all made incredibly successful transfers from Off Broadway to the Broadway Stage. Avenue Q and Rent also have the distinction of having started their lives Off Broadway, subsequently becoming smashes on Broadway, and are now back Off Broadway where they are still impacting the New York theater scene.

The city is blessed with an abundance of Off Broadway theater companies that tend to focus on the playwright and composer, whether they are emerging or well established artists. As in the past, the upcoming season presents a wealth of opportunities for groups coming to New York City to experience extraordinary theater – often before new works make their way to Broadway, and always presenting great deals for student groups on a budget!

Playwrights Horizons tends to present new works by gifted emerging playwrights. This season we see six New York premieres at Playwrights including Completeness by Itamar Moses, Milk Like Sugar by Kirsten Greenidge, Maple and Vine by Jordan Harrison, Assistance by Leslye Headland, The Big Meal by Dan LeFranc, and Rapture, Blister, Burn by Pulitzer Prize finalist Gina Gionfriddo.

Taking a bit of a different approach, Signature Theatre Company focuses on a single playwright each season.  Last season, Signature celebrated their 20^th anniversary with three plays by Tony Kushner including his masterpiece Angels in America, and this season will see the launch of the theater’s new home called Signature Center!  When the Center opens in February 2012, Signature will examine the works of Anthol Fugard—the South African playwright, director and actor who was just honored with a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement this past June.

Primary Stages consistently produces some of the most enjoyable and interesting plays.  This spring, Primary Stages presents the world premiere of Rx by Kate Fodor, a quirky comedy which explores romance, healing, and prescription drugs. Following Rx’s run at Primary Stages is The Morini Strand, the New York premiere by Willy Holtzman.  This play is inspired by the true story of concert violinist Erica Morini and her legendary Stradivari Violin.

Perhaps it is the West Village appeal where the Lucille Lortel is located, or maybe it is the quality of plays enjoying their world premieres, but celebrities seem to gravitate into the major roles in MCC Theater’s productions.  Last season alone, David Duchovny, Amanda Peet, Laurie Metcalf, and Joely Richardson all graced the stage of the Lucille Lortel.  This spring, the star could be Stephen King himself as his classic horror story Carrie returns to the New York—a rare instance in which MCC is presenting a musical.  This show is legendary for how badly it flopped in its 1988 Broadway incarnation inspiring such books as Not Since Carrie:  Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops. Due to its subject nature and the history of the show, this is bound to be one of the most anticipated stage productions New York has to offer this season.  The music by Michael Gore and Dean Pitchford (both of Fame) is quite marvelous, and the original book writers have teamed with director Stafford Arima to completely re-envision the story.   The great Marin Mazzie (Next to Normal, Kiss Me Kate) stars as Carrie’s radically disturbed evangelical mother, while Molly Ranson (August: Osage County) plays the title character.

Another Off Broadway musical bound to get attention is Once, produced by New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW).  Once is based on the hit independent film musical of the same name which won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Song (Falling Slowly).  This wonderfully quaint love story takes place over the course of one week in Dublin, and explores the romance between an Irish musician and a Czech immigrant. The creative team is stellar and includes set and costumer designer Bob Crowley (History Boys, Mary Poppins) and lighting designer Natasha Katz (Aida, Coast of Utopia)—both of whom are Tony award winners for their work.  Other NYTW spring productions worth taking note of are Food and Fadwa, a story about a Palestinian woman living in the West Bank who is know for her incredible culinary dishes; and An Iliad, based upon Homer’s epic poem stars Denis O’Hare, who also serves as the play’s co-creator along with Lisa Peterson.

Roundabout Theatre Company and Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) are two non-profit theater companies that have a presence strongly felt on Broadway as well as Off Broadway.  Roundabout’s Off Broadway offerings this year are Sons of the Prophet starring Tony award winner Joanna Gleason; and Look Back in Anger, John Osborne’s pivotal work from last century.  MTC presents two world premieres this season:  We Live Here by Zoe Kazan is a look at a wedding weekend filled with secrets and painful memories; and Close Up Space is a comedy about an obsessive book editor with a major deadline looming, and stars the impeccable David Hyde Pierce (Tony and Emmy award winner).

This is only a small sampling of what awaits your group Off Broadway – where one can experience an entirely different side of New York theater. It really is worth taking a look at what these companies have to offer. Off Broadway performances may take place in smaller theaters, but they are often some of the most exciting productions around. If you are looking to provide a truly well rounded educational theater experience for your students, don’t pass up on the opportunity to explore this vital part of New York’s theater scene!

- Justin Steensma

As summer comes to a close and teachers and students return to the classroom to begin a new year of educating, learning, and performing; so the cycle of an exciting Broadway season begins. Many legendary composers whose names are synonymous with the Great White Way are represented this season, including Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz, George Gershwin, Jule Styne, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Burton Lane.

Funny Girl and Evita are musical retellings of real life women who made a tremendous impact on their own worlds:  Funny Girl’s Fanny Brice willfully conquered Broadway, and Evita’s Eva Peron spiritedly influenced the entire country of Argentina. The original stars of both shows became the toast of Broadway due to their masterful portrayals and unstoppable steel pipes.  In fact, Barbra Streisand became an international household name, and Patti LuPone skyrocketed into musical theater history as a result of their two iconic performances.  As this is the first Broadway revival for both shows, it will be interesting to experience different women in these roles, and to see how audiences will react.  Elena Roger as Eva Peron has a proven track record in the role, given her acclaim in the London production of Evita, but Broadway fans really have their eyes on Lauren Ambrose, of Six Feet Under fame, to see how she will do filling the oversized shoes of both Fanny Brice and Streisand in Funny Girl.   In addition, Ricky Martin, a potentially thrilling choice for the role of Che, will return to the Broadway stage in Evita. Without question, he has the charisma and stage presence for the role, but eyes and ears will be focused on him to see if the great pop voice he possesses will be able to withstand the challenging score for eight performances a week, and if he can command the full dramatic range of the role! Musically, both scores are masterpieces for each of respective composers.  Andrew Lloyd Webber reached his zenith with Evita after successful outings with Jesus Christ Superstar and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  Jule Styne had a number of hits prior to Funny Girl including the Bells Are Ringing and Gentleman Prefer Blondes, but none besides Gypsy have had the staying power and recognition of the incomparable songs in Funny Girl.

Two other musicals that have been performed in countless regional theaters and high schools, but are also celebrating their first Broadway revivals, are On a Clear Day You Can See Forever and Godspell.  The latter was the first full work that Stephen Schwartz ever wrote for the stage although it ran Off Broadway before coming to Broadway a few years later (and not before Pippin officially became Schwartz’s first show to premiere on Broadway). The show is based on the parables found in the Gospel of Matthew, and will star Hunter Parrish (of Weeds) as Jesus—a fitting choice for the head of a young energetic cast of ten that never leave the stage.  A tidbit worth noting is that Godspell will be playing at Circle in the Square Theatre which is connected to the Gershwin Theatre where Wicked is now playing, so that entire building complex is truly now The House of Stephen Schwartz.  And if the recent rumor in the NY Post is true that Jesus Christ Superstar is returning to Broadway this spring, audiences will have the opportunity to see two very different interpretations of shows inspired by the Gospels.

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever presents the most fun look at reincarnation ever explored, but don’t expect to see a recreation of the Streisand movie on stage.  This is a complete re-imagining of the story – with a gay man playing the psychiatric patient consumed with problems regarding his boyfriend, smoking, and past lives.  While some may be concerned that the book of this classic show is being re-written, and that the Lerner/Lane score is being augmented with many additional songs not present in the original production –Harry Connick Jr. starring as the psychiatrist intent on curing his patient should be more than enough reason for anyone to check out this intriguing revival!

Another revival that is getting a bit more press about its reimagining is Porgy and Bess.  Diane Paulus who directed the stellar Hair revival a few seasons ago is now re-inventing the classic Gershwin opera for Broadway.  There are many (including Stephen Sondheim) who have taken issue with recent comments that Paulus and other cast members have made on how this Porgy is better than previous revivals. That subject would require an entirely separate blog post – and has been written about extensively already – but based on the fact that no Broadway revival of Porgy and Bess has lasted more than a few months—is there a chance Paulus actually might be on the right track?  Let’s hope that with the glorious Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis in the title roles that this production exceeds the hype and lives up to the glory of the Gershwin’s score.

Every season there seems to be a Stephen Sondheim revival that is expertly executed. In recent years, The Great White Way has seen Sweeney Todd, Company, Sunday in the Park with George, and A Little Night Music. This season is no different, as Follies has just begun previews. The cast boasts the most impressive list of stars this including Bernadette Peters, Jan Maxwell, Danny Burstein, Ron Raines, and the first lady of the West End stage, Elaine Page. Follies contains some of Sondheim’s best known songs including I’m Still Here, Broadway Baby, and Losing My Mind.

Despite the plethora of revivals, there still is room for a few new musicals as well.  Ghost the Musical, based on one of the most popular movies of the ‘80’s, is enjoying much success in London, and will float its way to Broadway in March.   Rebecca, the classic novel and subsequently classic Hitchcock movie, is now hoping to be a classic musical.  Bonnie and Clyde, the true story of two young criminals, may be Frank Wildhorn’s first Broadway hit after a decade and a half of noble attempts with no financial payoffs for the producers.   Matthew Broderick and the delightful Kelli O’Hara (The Pajama Game, The Light in the Piazza, and South Pacific) will star in Nice Work if You Can Get It, the Kathleen Marshall directed piece which incorporates the Gershwin songbook into a brand new story.  I am looking forward to this, but hope that Broderick will at least attempt to infuse some excitement into his part. (I would settle for an “I’m not bored, I swear” attitude, as all of his recent Broadway outings scream “I’d rather be taking a nap, and might not even be alive.”)  A possible guilty pleasure coming to Broadway is Lysistrata Jones, based on the classic Greek comedy updated to a university setting.  For me, the most exciting thing about this new musical is that most of its creative team collaborated together previously for Xanadu, which became a hilarious cult classic.

Moving onto straight plays, there are some exciting revivals and new works coming this season. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman returns to Broadway starring Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, and directed by the superb Mike Nichols.  Chinglish, a new comedy by Tony Award Winner David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly) is a comedic attempt to explore differences in customs, language, and basic human conduct between an American and the Chinese province he is visiting on business.  Noel Coward will have his presence felt on Broadway once again with the revival of Private Lives, starring the sultry Kim Cattrall.  Samuel L. Jackson stars in The Mountaintop, which is a reimagining of the night before Martin Luther King’s assassination. This could be a very powerful look at the state of mind of King before his death.  Tracie Bennett reprises her tour de force as Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow this spring – a fictionalized account of Garland’s life a few months before her death.  Her performance was purportedly astounding in London, and hopefully this play is a celebration of her life as opposed to another drugged out, spastic Judy impersonation (the real Judy always seems to be more infinitely interesting than the people who try to inhabit her, but based on the reviews and audience reaction in London—we might have a winner on our hands).

This upcoming season certainly looks thrilling with great revivals, great stars, and potentially great new works.  If all goes as planned, we’re in for a feast! For more information about all of these shows and more, check out our Broadway and Beyond Performance Guide, and stay tuned for a look at the off-Broadway season next…

- Justin Steensma