There are a lot of exciting new shows coming to the Great White Way this fall! A total of 17 shows will be opening before the end of the year, and Broadway looks like it will have a very strong season.

Note: for the purposes of this article, only shows that are officially opening before the end of the calendar year are included.

Joan Marcus)

FOLLIES
Currently running
Closes Jan. 22
Marquis Theatre
The Broadway transfer of Steven Sondheim's 1971 musical has, to understate, a veteran cast. Bernadette Peters (who has been in pretty much every Sondheim show ever) leads the cast, along with Jan Maxwell ("City of Angels," "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"), Danny Burstein ("South Pacific," "The Drowsy Chaperone"), Ron Raines ("Guiding Light") and Elaine Page ("Cats" on the West End [she originated the role of Grizabella], "Sunset Boulevard"). The production transferred from The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, where it was very successful, and it seems to be enjoying similar success on Broadway. Last week, it made over $1 million and played at 95% capacity. Eric Schaeffer, a DC-area director and Sondheim aficionado, directs.

MAN AND BOY
Currently in previews, opens Oct. 9.
Closes Nov. 27
American Airlines Theatre
Frank Langella ("Frost/Nixon") stars in the limited run of this 1963 play by Terence Rattigan ("The Deep Blue Sea"). Langella will play a ruthless businessman and the play focuses on the impact of his career on the rest of his life — namely, his family relations. The economic climate of the show is unstable, much like life today. It looks like this Roundabout production will try and make an almost 50-year-old play relevant again.

THE MOUNTAINTOP
Currently in previews, opens Oct. 13
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
Samuel L. Jackson makes his Broadway debut in "The Mountaintop," an account of the night before Martin Luther King, Jr's assassination. Angela Bassett completes the cast as Carmae, a maid at his hotel. The play opened on the West End in London to positive reviews.

RELATIVELY SPEAKING
Currently in previews, opens Oct. 20
Brooks Atkinson Theatre
The first new show of the season isn't exactly a show; "Relatively Speaking" is composed of three one-act plays by veteran writers Woody Allen, Ethan Coen and Elaine May. The stellar set of authors is accompanied by an equally stellar cast, featuring Steve Guttenberg (who is perhaps best-known for the "Police Academy" movies), Marlo Thomas (from the 60s TV show "That Girl" and the St. Jude's Hospital commercials), Julie Kavner (the voice of Marge and others on "The Simpsons"), among many others.

CHINGLISH
Previews start Oct. 11, opens Oct. 27
Longacre Theatre
Another new work that will grace the Broadway stage this season is David Henry Hwang's "Chinglish." The play, which debuted at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago this past summer, is about a businessman trying to find her footing in China. Leigh Silverman, who also directed Hwang's "Yellow Face" at the Mark Taper Forum in 2007, will be at the helm. The show received very positive reviews in Chicago and extended beyond its original run. "Chinglish," as the name implies, will not solely be performed in English; some portions will be in Mandarin with English subtitles.

OTHER DESERT CITIES
Previews start Oct. 12, opens Nov. 3
Closes Jan. 8
Booth Theatre
Jon Robin Baitz's play about a rich Republican family with a closet chock-full of skeletons will be appearing on Broadway this fall after a very well-received Off-Broadway run last winter. "Other Desert Cities" boasts a star-studded cast, featuring Judith Light ("Who's the Boss?," "Ugly Betty"), Stockard Channing ("Grease," "The West Wing"), Rachel Griffiths ("Brothers and Sisters," "Six Feet Under") and many others. Joe Mantello, who has directed a good fraction of the shows currently running on Broadway and appeared last summer in "The Normal Heart," directs here as well.

GODSPELL
Previews start Oct. 13, opens Nov. 7
Circle in the Square Theatre
The long-awaited revival on Stephen Schwartz's 1970s musical is finally Broadway-bound! It was supposed to open in the fall 2008 season with Gavin Creel ("Hair") and Diana DeGarmo ("American Idol," "Hair") and a slew of other actors. Many of that cast will appear in this incarnation, including Uzo Aduba, Celisse Henderson, Morgan James and Telly Leung. Oddly enough, Wallace Smith, who succeeded Josh Henry as Favorite Son in "American Idiot," is now playing Judas in Henry's place. Hunter Parrish ("Weeds," "Spring Awakening") will play Jesus. The cast is full of young musical theater talent and will hopefully breathe new life into this aging show.

VENUS IN FUR
Previews start Oct. 13, opens Nov. 8
Closes Dec. 18
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
Another Off-Broadway transfer will be gracing the stage this season, this time in the form of David Ives' "Venus in Fur." This very grown-up play deals with the lengths to which a young actress will go to obtain the lead in a playwright's new show. Hugh Dancy ("Black Hawk Down," "The Big C") will portray the writer opposite Nina Arianda ("Midnight in Paris," "Win Win"), who is reprising the role from the Off-Broadway production. Ives is well-recognized for his adaptations of older plays, like "Is He Dead?" and "A Flea in Her Ear." The play itself has received positive reviews, so hopefully the Broadway production will live up to its already-high expectations.

HUGH JACKMAN, BACK ON BROADWAY
Previews start Oct. 25, opens Nov. 10
Closes Jan. 1
Broadhurst Theatre
Hugh Jackman returns to Broadway singing some of his favorite songs, including selections from "The Boy From Oz" (a role for which he won a Tony in 2004). It looks to be a very self-indulgent show, with Jackman singing his favorite show tunes to an adoring audience; the same show was consistently sold-out in San Francisco and Toronto.

PRIVATE LIVES
Previews start Nov. 6, opens Nov. 17
The Music Box Theatre
This oft-revived Noël Coward play will appear for its eighth time since originally appearing in 1931. However, the most recent revival was almost a decade ago. The comedy of manners is about a divorced couple who end up in adjacent hotel rooms on their respective honeymoons with their new spouses. Kim Cattrall ("Sex and the City") plays the wife opposite Paul Gross ("Due South," "Passchendaele"). This production will transfer from Toronto, where it is currently playing. Prior to the Toronto run, it was on the West End in spring of 2010 with Matthew Macfadyen as the husband. Richard Eyre ("Mary Poppins," the original production of "Arcadia") directed all three incarnations.

SEMINAR
Previews start Oct. 27, opens Nov. 20
The Golden Theatre
One of the most eagerly awaited plays of the season is Theresa Rebeck's new work, "Seminar." Rebeck ("The Understudy," "NYPD Blue"), who also debuted "Poor Behavior" this season (at the Mark Taper Forum), has written a play about four writers who are in a seminar with one of literature's most preeminent writers, but things quickly take a sour turn. Alan Rickman will play the professor with Hamish Linklater ("The New Adventures of Old Christine"), Lily Rabe ("The Merchant of Venice"), Jerry O'Connell ("Jerry Maguire," "Stand By Me") and Hettienne Park ("The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide…") portraying the students.

AN EVENING WITH PATTI LUPONE AND MANDY PATINKIN
Previews start Nov. 16, opens Nov. 21
Closes Jan. 13
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
This touring concert series starring Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin (which was at the Ahmanson in 2009) will stop on Broadway this winter. Lupone, who is well-known for playing Eva in "Evita," Rose in the most recent Broadway revival of "Gypsy," and for playing Fantine of "Les Misérables," and Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Sunset Boulevard," in the original West End casts of both productions, was last seen on Broadway in "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown." Mandy Patinkin also has a pedigreed past, having originated the roles of Georges Seurat in "Sunday in the Park with George" and Che in "Evita" on Broadway. He also is no stranger to film and TV, having played Inigo Montoya in "The Princess Bride" and starred in "Criminal Minds" and "Dead Like Me."

BONNIE AND CLYDE
Previews start Nov. 4, opens Dec. 1
Schoenfeld Theatre
The newest musical from Frank Wildhorn ("Jekyll & Hyde," "The Scarlet Pimpernel") follows the story of Depression-era outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. The musical's website has a few of the tracks available to stream, and the show seems to have an exciting new sound — very rockabilly and very different from standard musical theater fare. Laura Osnes (winner of the "Grease: You're the One That I Want!" reality TV show, the current revival of "Anything Goes") and Jeremy Jordan ("Newsies" at Paper Mill, "West Side Story") appear in the title roles. The show premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2009 with Osnes as Bonnie, and then Jordan joined her at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, FL last winter. Jordan has been running all over the New York area between rehearsing for this show and performing "Newsies," so it will be interesting to see how he handles that physical stress.

STICK FLY
Previews start Nov. 18, opens Dec. 8
Cort Theatre
Alicia Keys presents Lydia R. Diamond's "Stick Fly" this season, a play about an affluent African American family on vacation. It has been produced to positive reviews at various regional theaters. The Broadway cast includes Ruben Santiago Hudson ("Lackawanna Blues," "Seven Guitars"), Dulé Hill ("Psych," "The West Wing"), Mekhi Phifer ("8 Mile," "ER"), Tracy Thoms ("RENT" [on Broadway, at the Hollywood Bowl, and in the movie], "Wonderfalls), Rosie Benton (who originated her role in the Arena Stage [Washington, DC] and Huntington Theatre Company [Boston] productions) and Condola Rashad ("Ruined"). Kenny Leon (the most recent revivals of "Fences" and "A Raisin in the Sun") directs.

ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER
Previews start Nov. 12, opens Dec. 11
St. James Theatre
Harry Connick Jr. stars in this re-conception of Alan Jay Lerner ("Brigadoon," "My Fair Lady," "Camelot") and Burton Lane's ("Finian's Rainbow") short-lived 1965 tale of confused identities. This production, which was workshopped at the Vineyard Theatre Off-Broadway in 2009, seems to have taken many liberties with the script, even changing the gender of one of the main characters. Some numbers have also been cut. David Turner ("Arcadia," "Sunday in the Park…") and Jessie Mueller (who is making her Broadway debut with many Chicago credits to her name). Michael Mayer ("Spring Awakening," "American Idiot," "Thoroughly Modern Millie") directs.

LYSISTRATA JONES
Previews start Nov. 12, opens Dec. 14
Walter Kerr Theatre
"Lysistrata Jones" rounds out the fall season as the last show to open in 2011 with another adaptation of an older work. However, this time, Douglas Carter Beane and Lewis Flynn are re-imagining Aristophanes' ancient Greek play. Both works concern women withholding sex to get what they want out of their male partners. In the Greek play, they do this to end the Peloponnesian War; in the musical, they do this to get their high school's basketball team to finally win a game after 30 years. The musical received positive reviews Off-Broadway this past spring, though the transition from their former 99-seat theater to a much larger Broadway house (the Walter Kerr seats almost 1,000 people) should be an interesting one to watch.

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