B'way Update: The Cottage, Jerry Mitchell Is Busy, Betty Boop, La La, etc.

Eric McCormack will return to Broadway 
this summer in The Cottage.

A new comedy entitled The Cottage will play the Hayes Theater on Broadway this summer. Inspired by the light comedies of Noel Coward, the play by Sandy Rustin will be directed by Tony winner Jason Alexander (Seinfeld, Jerome Robbins' Broadway) and star Emmy winner Eric McCormack (Will and Grace, The Music Man 2000 revival, Gore Vidal's The Best Man), and Tony nominees Laura Bell Bundy (Legally Blonde) and Lili Cooper (Tootsie, Spongebob Squarepants). Previews begin July 7 prior to a July 24 opening. Set in the English countryside in 1923, the plot concerns Sylvia Van Kipness who decides to reveal her love affair to her husband and her lover's wife. The play had a developmental workshop at Manhattan Theatre Club in 2017 and regional productions including The Barter Theater in Abington, Va., and Queens Theater in the Park.

In other news, Tony winning director-choreographer Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots, La Cage revival) will be

keeping busy. He has been announced as the stager of two productions--BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical and a London staging of The Devil Wears Prada. BOOP!, based on the classic cartoon character voiced by Mae Questel and created by Max Fleischer, will have a pre-Broadway engagement at Chicago's CIBC Theater Nov. 19-Dec. 31. The music will be by Grammy winner David Foster, lyrics by Susan Birkenhead (Jelly's Last Jam) and book by Tony winner Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone). Previous possible Boop musicals were announced in 2004 and 2008 but never came to fruition.

Though no dates have been announced, the Chicago Tribune reports that Mitchell will direct and choreograph a London production of the musical The Devil Wears Prada which received mixed reviews for an earlier Windy City iteration. That production was directed by Anna D. Shapiro (Tony winner for August: Osage County and artistic director for Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater.) The music is by legendary Elton John, lyrics by Shaina Taub (Suffs, Shakespeare in the Park's Twelfth Night and As You Like It), and book by Kate Wetherhead.

Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in
La La Land.

Another film property is coming to Broadway. A stage version of the 2016 Oscar-winning movie musical La La Land. A tribute to such classic screen musicals as Singin' in the Rain, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, and An American in Paris, La La Land follows the romance of an actress and a jazz musician as they try to realize their dreams in Los Angeles. Directed by Tony winner Barlett Sher (represented this season on Broadway by Pictures from Home and Camelot), the show will feature music by Justin Hurwitz with lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul , the same team behind the film’s soundtrack and score. The book is by Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar (Disgraced) and Matthew Decker.

“I’m thrilled to reunite with Lionsgate and the incredible team behind La La Land to adapt the movie for the Broadway stage, the next exciting chapter in its evolution,” said Marc Platt, who produced the film. “We’ve assembled a world-class team to create a musical that will delight La La Land’s millions of current fans and introduce the property to a whole new audience.” La La Land was nominated for 14 Oscars, tying the record for most nominations set by All About Eve and Titanic. It won six awards, but lost Best Picture to Midnight. Presenter Warren Beatty mistakenly announced La La as the winner in one of the monst memorable goofs in Oscar history.

2022-23 Broadway/Off-Broadway Schedule
Feb. 16--The Wanderers (Roundabout/Laura Pels)
Feb. 23--The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window (BAM)

Feb. 26--black odyssey (CSC)
Feb. 27--Elyria (Atlantic Theater Company)

Feb. 27--Obie Awards (Tunnel 5)

Feb. 28--The Seagull/Woodstock NY (The New Group/Signature Theatre)

March 1--the best we could (a family tragedy) (MTC/City Center Stage I)

March 5--The Trees (Playwrights Horizons)
March 8--Crumbs from the Table of Joy (Keen Company/Theater Row)

March 9--A Doll's House (Hudson)

March 13--The Coast Starlight (Lincoln Center/Mitzi Newhouse)

March 15--The Harder They Come (Public)

March 16--Parade (Bernard B. Jacobs)

March 16--Arden of Faversham (Red Bull Theater/Lucille Lortel)

March 19--Dancin' (Music Box)

March 23--Bad Cinderella (Imperial)

March 26--Sweeney Todd (Lunt-Fontanne)

March 30--Life of Pi (Schoenfeld)

April 4--Shucked (Nederlander)

April 11--Regretfully So the Birds Are (Playwrights Horizons)

April 12--Fat Ham (AA)

April 13--Camelot (Lincoln Center/Vivian Beaumont)

April 17--Room (James Earl Jones)

April 19--Peter Pan Goes Wrong (Barrymore)

April 20--The Thanksgiving Play (Second Stage/Hayes)

April 23--Prime Facie (Golden)

April 24--Good Night, Oscar (Belasco)

April 25--Summer, 1976 (MTC/Samuel J. Friedman) 

April 25--Outer Critics Circle nominations announced

April 26--New York, New York (St. James)

April 29--Fuenta Ovejuna (TFANA/Polonsky Shakespeare Center)

May 2--Tony Award Nominations Announced

May 4--Primary Trust (Roundabout/Laura Pels) (previews begin; opening TBA)

May 5-- Days of Wine and Roses (Atlantic Theatre Company) (previews begin; opening TBA)

May 16--King James (MTC/City Center Stage I)

May 16--Outer Critics Winners announced

May 19--Drama League Awards (Ziegfeld Ballroom)

May 25--Outer Critics Circle Awards (Bruno Walter Auditorium/Lincoln Center Library)
May--Wet Brain (Playwrights Horizons)

June 11--Tony Awards (United Palace)

June 22--Once Upon a One More Time (Marquis)
June 28--Hamlet (Delacorte/Shakespeare in the Park) 

July 9--Orpheus Descending (TFANA/Polonsky Shakespeare Center)

July 20--Here Lies Love (Broadway)

July 24--The Cottage (Hayes)

Aug. 3--Back to the Future (Marquis)

2022-23 (no dates or theaters yet)

Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death, Black Orpheus, Come Fall in Love--The DDLJ Musical, Pal Joey, Square One

Winter 2022-23

Dark Disabled Stories (Public)

Spring 2023 

Good Bones (Public)

Shadow/Land (Public)

Summer 2023

Purlie Victorious

Fall 2023

Merrily We Roll Along

Poor Yella Rednecks (MTC/City Center Stage II)

2023, 2024 and Beyond

Game of Thrones, The Great Gatsby, Frida, the Musical, High Noon, The Mousetrap

Future--BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical, The Devil Wears Prada; Ella: An American Miracle; Everybody's Talking About Jamie; The Griswolds' Broadway Vacation; Harmony; I Need That; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; The Karate Kid; La La Land; Lempicka; Our Town; The Nanny; The Normal Heart/The Destiny of Me; Sing Street; Smash; Soul Train; What a Wonderful World; The Who's Tommy; Working Girl