Friday, April 11, 2008

Damn, Yankees, How Am I Going To Fit It All In (Or Pay For It All)?

As if there wasn't enough to catch up on Broadway and in New York already (see below or on the Stageworthy sidebar), they just announced last night that the New York City Center Encore Summer Series will feature a production of the musical Damn Yankees with Jane Krakowski during her 30 Rock hiatus, and Sean Hayes (Will & Grace) in his NY stage debut (and who did a great guest spot on 30 Rock last season)!

Jane Krakowski!!! I last saw her in Guys and Dolls with Ewan McGregor in London a few years back and if anything, she proved she's definitely a stage star! (and she's pretty funny on TV too).

OMG I have to see this! Sean Hayes as the Devil! (The last production on Broadway featured Victor Garber (Eli Stone, Alias) as the devil! (UPDATE: Ironically moments after I posted this, my sister just txt'd me that she's waiting at La Guardia and is next to Victor Garber waiting for his flight to Toronto Montreal. 10:30am 11 Apr 08)

It will run from July 5, 2008 until July 27th, 2008 only though.

This is going to cause so major scheduling headaches for me. There's so much this spring and summer, who is going have time to have a job if I'm going to try to see all this? I want to come into New York City to see Hair, the Public Theater's show in Central Park at the Delacorte Theatre. I've actually never gone and wonder how crazy the lineups will be. Jonathan Groff from Spring Awakening is in it. The lineups will be crazy. It only runs from July 22nd until August 17th 2008.

I already noted that [title of show] opens for previews on July 5th at the Lyceum so I'm going to have to see that.

This is already on top of wanting to see Saved The Musical (based on the hilarious movie with Mandy Moore as a queen bitch), running at Playrights Horizon but only from May 9th until June 22nd. Unless it gets an extension or a Broadway transfer.

And then of course, there is everything else that is already running on Broadway or is about to open (which I to continue after the jump below). What a season this is becoming! They really need to add more show times in so I can fit it all during my short visits! (I've done 3 shows in one day as my record so far, the Mat, Evening and special midnight show of something once!) How am I going to pay for this? (I'll show you how actually in an upcoming post of how to see tons of theatre without totally breaking the bank account, though most savy theatreaddicts already know but I know tons of friends ask me all the time so I think I'll share my tips. In fact, that day I saw the three shows, I only paid $98 for all three TOTAL! And that's still higher than my usual average/show price!). But seriously, so many shows to see again!

First off, there are all the musicals I need to catch up on (even though some are getting bad word of mouth) like Passing Strange, In The Heights, Cry Baby (Opens Apr. 24 though bad rumours are that the closing will be soon after), A Catered Affair (Opens Apr. 17 though apparently it's pretty slow), and South Pacific (if I can even GET tickets because it's become the HOT ticket).

At least I just saw Gypsy already (review to come next) and Glory Days (which goes into previews on April 22nd) in the original Signature Theatre production in DC. Both were so good though that I wouldn't mind seeing them again. And I already have tickets for Sunday In The Park With George at least so that's covered. And already got a deal to see She Loves Me at the Huntington Theatre in Boston.

Then there are all the plays this year! The 39 Steps (Re-opens at the Cort on Apr. 29) looks fun, Boeing Boeing (Previews Begin Apr. 19, May 4 Opening) looks silly but fun, I'd like to see Cat On A Hot Tin Roof if only for Phylicia Rashad and Anika Noni Rose alone, Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Previews Begin Apr. 12, May 1 Opening) if only for Laura Linney alone, Top Girls at the Manhattan Theatre Club (in Previews on April 15th, Opens May 7, limited run until June 22nd), and then there's all the Off-Broadway stuff including Rafta Rafta (Previews Begin Apr. 16, May 8 Opening), and the local regional stuff including Black Watch on tour and stopping in Toronto on June 6-15.

Then there are the regional festivals like Stratford for Caesar and Cleopatra with Christopher Plummer and Anika Noni Rose (Stratford Previews Begin Aug. 6, Aug. 17 Opening, though rumour has it that Rose's schedule may prevent her from actually doing it now, which is too bad) and pretty much everything they have this year. The entire Stratford Line-up including The Music Man, All's Well That Ends Well, Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, Cabaret, Love's Labour's Lost, There Reigns Love looks good (that 3 person Artistic Director thing seemed to work, too bad squabbles couldn't keep it together longer).

I'm heading to the Shaw Festival at Niagara-on-the-Lake next week to see Wonderful Town (In previews, opens May 24) and need to return for A Little Night Music

Plus I'm heading to DC again this weekend to see Kiss of the Spider Woman and The Happy Time at the Signature Theatre but will need to visit again to see The Visit (in Previews Begin May 13).

Gosh, good thing I never bought that condo or house, and I can deplete my savings on theatre instead!

1 comment:

Esther said...

I feel your pain. There's so much to see, and so little time.

On my trip to New York last summer, I saw seven musicals in five days, squeezing in a Wednesday matinee of "Spring Awakening" before catching the train home.

I'd love to see "Hair" but I don't think I'll make it back. I guess you can get an advance ticket by making a donation to the Public Theatre. I'm too old to get up at 3 a.m. to wait in line! Maybe if I were 20 years younger!

As sentimental and weak as the story is, I did love "In the Heights." And "Passing Strange" is just really different and thought-provoking, with a very appealing performance by Daniel Breaker. And I simply adored "South Pacific." I hope you can get to see it now that it's an open-ended run.