Angels and Mockingbirds Descend on Broadway

Nathan Lane and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett in Angels in America
at London's National Theatre
Credit: Helen Maybanks

There's been a flock of new Broadway announcements lately. The smash hit National Theater revival of Tony Kushner's two-part epic Angels in America will be winging its way from London to New York and the long-gestating stage adaptation of the beloved classic To Kill a Mockingbird has confirmed an opening date. Angels will begin performances Feb. 23, 2018 at the Neil Simon Theatre prior to a March 21 opening night. Most of the London cast including Nathan Lane and Andrew Garfield will be repeating their performances which were seen in cinemas worldwide as part of the NT Live series. The only cast member not to make the trek will be Russell Tovey (whose bare chest caused an audience member to swoon during A View from the Bridge). Denise Gough will repeat her performance as the delusional Harper Pitt, but first she will repeat her Olivier Award-winning turn as an alcoholic, drug-addicted actress in People, Places and Things at St. Ann's Warehouse. Speaking of Harpers, the stage version of Harper Lee's classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird to be adapted by The West Wing's Aaron Sorkin was first announced months ago. Producer Scott Rudin took out a two-page ad in the New York Times announced the show will open on Dec. 18, 2018. I picked up a copy of the print edition of the Times recently (I hadn't looked at it in ages) and I was astonished at how few ads there were in the theater section. Tony winner Bartlett Sher (South Pacific, Golden Boy) will direct.

In other news, Bernadette Peters will be the new Dolly when Bette Midler leaves the hit revival next January and Victor Garber will take over for David Hyde-Pierce as Horace Vandergelder with an opening night set for Feb. 22. It's rare that replacements get their own separate opening night, usually because the producers are confident the new reviews will bring in new audiences....Mean Girls has also set an official opening date of April 8 (previews begin March 12) at the August Wilson Theatre following a run at Washington DC's National Theatre. Below is a calendar of the 2017-18 Broadway and Off-Broadway season and beyond since there are so many firm dates for 2018-19 now.

Sept. 11--Fucking A (Signature Theater)

Sept. 12--On the Shore of the Wide World (Atlantic Theatre Company)

Sept. 13--To Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday (Playwrights Horizons/Mainstage)

Sept. 17--In the Blood (Signature Theatre)

Sept. 18--Charm (MCC/Lortel)

Sept. 25--Mary Jane (New York Theatre Workshop)

Sept. 25--A Clockwork Orange (New World Stages)

Sept. 26--The Treasurer (Playwrights Horizons/Peter Jay Sharp)

Sept. 28--As You Like It (CSC)

Oct. 10--Time and the Conways (Roundabout/AA)

Oct. 10--Measure for Measure (Public/Elevator Repair Service)

Oct. 12--Springsteen on Broadway (Walter Kerr)

Oct. 19--Torch Song (Second Stage)

Oct. 24--The Portuguese Kid (MTC/CIty Center Stage I)

Oct. 24--The Last Match (Roundabout/Laura Pels)
Oct. 25--People, Places and Things (St. Ann's Warehouse)

Oct. 26--M. Butterfly (Cort)

Oct. 30--Howard Crabtree's When Pigs Fly (Stage 42)

Oct.-Nov.--Marcel/The Art of Laughter (TFANA/Polonsky Shakespeare Center); Ilyria (Public Theatre)

Nov. 9--The Band's Visit (Barrymore)

Nov. 12--Junk (LCT/Vivian Beaumont)

Nov. 14--Actually (MTC/Studio II)

Nov. 15--Latin History for Morons (Studio 54)

Nov. 29--Meteor Shower (Booth)

Nov. 30--The Parisian Woman (Hudson)

Dec. 3--Once on This Island (Circle in the Square)

Dec. 4--The Spongebob Musical (Palace)

Dec. 12--The Children (MTC/Friedman)

Dec. 17--Farinelli and the King (Belasco)

2017--Sherlock Holmes, Singin' in the Rain, Pat Benatar Musical

2017-18--An Enemy of the People, To Kill a Mockingbird
Jan.-Feb.--He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box (TFANA/Polonsky Shakespeare Center)

Bernadette Peters

Feb. 22--Hello Dolly with Bernadette Peters and Victor Garber (Shubert)
March 1, 2018--Amy and the Orphans (Laura Pels/Roundabout)
March 8, 2018--The Minutes (Theatre TBA)
March 15--Escape to Margaritaville (Marquis)

March 21-Angels in America (Neil Simon)
March 22-Frozen (St. James)
March 29--Three Tall Women (John Golden)
March 2018--Lobby Hero (Second Stage/Helen Hayes)
March-April--The Winter's Tale (TFANA/Polonsky Shakespeare Center)
April 8--Mean Girls (August Wilson)

April 11--Children of a Lesser God (Studio 54)
April 12--Carousel (Imperial)
April 19--My Fair Lady (Vivian Beaumont/LCT)
April 22--Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Lyric)
April 24--Travesties (Roundabout/American Airlines)
April 26--The Iceman Cometh (Bernard B. Jacobs)

Spring 2018--The Flamingo Kid, The Boys in the Band

June 21--Skintight (Roundabout/Laura Pels)

July 2018--Straight White Men (Second Stage/Helen Hayes)

Aug. 18--Getting the Band Back Together (Belasco)

Gregory Peck and Brock Peters in
the 1962 film version of To Kill a Mockingbird

Dec. 18--To Kill a Mockingbird

Fall 2018--King Kong (Broadway)

Future--Mighty Real: A Fabulous Sylvester Musical, The Cher Show, The Devil Wears Prada, Jagged Little Pill, Working Girl, Half-Time, Roman Holiday, The Wiz, Camp David, Photograph 51 

2017-18 Broadway Season 

New Plays

1984

The Children

Farinelli and the King

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Junk

Meteor Shower

The Minutes

The Parisian Woman

New Musicals

The Band's Visit (transfer from Off-Broadway)

Escape to Margaritaville

Frozen
Mean Girls

Prince of Broadway

The Spongebob Musical

Play Revivals

Angels in America
Children of a Lesser God

An Enemy of the People

The Iceman Cometh

Lobby Hero

M. Butterfly

Marvin's Room

Three Tall Women

Time and the Conways

Travesties

Musical Revivals

Carousel

My Fair Lady

Once on This Island

Specialties/Solos
Latin History for Morons

Michael Moore: The Terms of My Surrender

Springsteen on Broadway

2018-19 Broadway Season

New Plays
To Kill a Mockingbird

Musicals
Getting the Band Back Together
King Kong

Play Revivals
Straight White Men