My Broadway Wish List

Every year at this time of year, whether I'm headed to New York City or not, my thoughts turn to Broadway.  The Tony Awards are nearing (we'll be getting to predictions very soon, likely next week), and I make my annual list of what spring shows I wish I was seeing (or will actually be seeing).  This year, I'm listening to my inner-Suze Orman and not going, but that doesn't mean that I'm taking part in a little personal theater-loving masochism and making a list of the five shows that I would be seeing if I were going (I always attend five, trying to have a mixture of musicals and plays, though this year admittedly I'm a bit more play-induced than usual).  My selections, in no particular order:

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

The Barrymore Theatre

A magnetic-looking play (just look at the set in the above picture!), about a fifteen-year-old boy who is accused of killing a dog and then sets off to find the real culprit, this looks fascinating.  I am not ranking these, but this would probably be the first ticket I would buy if I were shopping (which I'm not...hangs head for not being better at financial-planning).

Fun Home

Circle in the Square Theatre

One of the advantages of making this list hypothetically and not actually doing it is, as I live in Minnesota and have to buy my tickets in advance, I might not have heard the terrific reviews for this fascinating-looking musical based on the novel by Alison Bechdel.  This looks likely to win Best Original Musical, and would be toward the top of my To Do list.

Skylight

The John Golden Theatre

While the idea of 65-year-old Bill Nighy and 29-year-old Carey Mulligan playing former lovers skeeves me out a bit, I will admit that this play by David Hare looks intriguing, and both are consummate actors who consistently are engaging, and have the sorts of showmanship that would probably play well on the stage.

The Audience

The Schoenfeld Theatre

Sometimes you just have to see a movie star in real-life (attitudes like mine are why Broadway shows are so star-driven these days).  The play looks splendidly intriguing, with Dame Helen Mirren reprising her role as Queen Elizabeth II and having conversations with eight different prime ministers from her reign.

On the Twentieth Century

American Airlines Theatre

In theory I should see The King and I, both because I suspect it's better and because it seems to be the musical that will finally net Kelli O'Hara her Tony (it's in sixth place, for the curious, so if one of these had been sold out it would have been the first place I had headed).  However, I love Chenoweth on Broadway and am a sucker for her comic skills.

Those are my Broadway wish list this year-how about you?  What are you catching (or would you be catching) on the boards this season?