For theater companies across the United States, the start of the new season finds them still in a time of uncertainty, with audiences not yet returning to pre-pandemic levels. It makes sense, then, that a lot of fall programming favors the comfortable familiar: revivals of well-known quantities and fresh takes on classic stories. This list leans more towards the adventure of an entirely new work — but it’s also accompanied by a fascinating adaptation.
‘Cold case‘ An Inupiaq woman from an Alaska Native village fights to retrieve her aunt’s body from an Anchorage morgue in this new drama from Cathy Tagneck Rexford (HBO’s “True Detective: Night Country”). The script won Barry and Bernice Stavis Playwright AwardPrevious winners include Sanaz Tusi’s “Wish You Were Here”. DeLanna Studi directs. (Sept. 6-22 in Juneau, Alaska and Oct. 11-20 in Anchorage; Perseverance Theatre)
‘Prelude to a musical kiss‘ Rita and Peter are young, beautiful and in love when an elderly stranger supernaturally swaps bodies with her: his soul in Rita’s, hers in his. 1988 by Craig Lucas Legend of a playWhich happened in 1992 A rom-com movieNow Daniel Mays (Lucas’ associate “Amelie,” The Musical) and Sean Hartley. Kenneth Farron directs. (Sept. 10-Oct. 19; Milwaukee Repertory Theatre)
‘Primary Trust’ Ebony Booth’s compelling, painful, gently funny Play about a lonely man Slipping quietly through the cracks of a small American town won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for drama. This fall, production is ramping up across the country, with Mt Signature Theatre Arlington, Va. in (Sept. 10-Oct. 20); Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, Mass. (Sept. 18-Oct. 13); La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla, Calif., where Nud Adams, who staged the off-Broadway premiere, directs (Sept. 24-Oct. 20); This Goodman Theatre in Chicago (Oct. 5-Nov. 3); And Seattle Repertory Theatre (Oct. 24-Nov. 24).
‘Oh happy day!‘ Playwright Jordan E. Cooper rejoins forces with director Stevie Walker-Webb, who staged Cooper’s wild sketch satire.There is no mo’“On Broadway. This new comedy, a reimagining of the story of Noah’s Ark, features original music by gospel singer Donald Lawrence and stars Cooper as an estranged son who unexpectedly arrives at a family barbecue in Mississippi. (Sept. 19-Oct. 13; Baltimore Center Stage)
‘My best friend’s wedding‘ When the hot guy who used to be your trusted friend is engaged to someone else, is it bad form to try to win him over for you? Julia Roberts-Dermot Muller’s classic rom-com gets the musical treatment in this Ron Bass-Jonathan Harvey adaptation, with songs by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Kathleen Marshall (“Anything Goes”) directs the premiere. (Sept. 26-Oct. 27; Ogunquit Playhouse, Ogunquit, Maine)
‘BABBITT‘ Matthew Broderick stars as George F. in Joe DiPietro’s new adaptation of Sinclair Lewis’ satirical novel. Stars as Babbitt, the soul-dead embodiment of middle-class American conformity. Christopher Ashley, who staged the play last fall at the La Jolla Playhouse in California, directs a cast that also includes Ann Harada, Ali Stroker and Judy Kaye. (Oct. 1-Nov. 3; Shakespeare Theater Company, Washington, DC)
‘American idiot‘ Center Theater Group and Deaf West Theatrewhich went to Broadway with a 2003 revival.big river,” collaborate on this new staging of the punk-rock opera with music by the band Green Day. Snehal Desai directs an ensemble of deaf and hearing artists, who will perform simultaneously in American Sign Language and English in a Deaf West style. (Oct. 2-Nov. 10; Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles)
‘Falcon Girls‘ Playwright Hilary Bettis (“72 miles to go…”) revisits the world of his rural Colorado upbringing in this autobiographically inspired coming-of-age story. Set in the 1990s, the drama follows the teenage dramas of six girls Horse judging team with national ambitions. May Adrels directs the premiere. (Oct. 10-Nov. 2; Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, Conn.)
‘Janiyad‘ The mythical Penelope waited long years for the return of her wandering lover, Odysseus. In the decades since the September 11 attacks, grieving, hopeful Jane has done the same for her lost husband. Rob Melrose directs this new play by Anna Ziegler (“Photograph 51“). (Oct. 11-Nov. 3; Alley Theatre, Houston)
‘RUTKA‘ of a 14-year-old Jewish girl diary It’s the basis of a new indie-rock musical about his restless, longing, increasingly dangerous life in Poland in 1943, starring Jocelyn McKenzie and Jeremy Lloyd-Styles (both formerly of the Brooklyn band Pearl and the Beard) and a book. by Nina Bieber (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”). Wendy C. Goldberg directs. (Oct. 13-Nov. 10; Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park)
Arena stage The theater will present three premieres under one roof: Joan Leguizamo’s play “Other Americans” (Oct. 18-Nov. 24), directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson and starring Leguizamo as the embattled owner of a laundromat in Queens; Matthew Libby’s “data” (Oct. 31-Dec. 15), a Silicon Valley thriller directed by Tyne Raffaelli; and Ken Ludwig’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot mystery “Death on the Nile” (Nov. 22-Dec. 29), Hana S. Directed by Sharif. (Arena Stage, Washington, DC)
‘Leroy and Lucy‘ The legend of Robert Leroy JohnsonA real-life Mississippi bluesman said he traded his soul for musical talent, informs this new two-hander by Ngozi Anyanwu (“The Last of the Love Letters“), starring John Michael Hill (“pass over“) and Brittany Bradford (“This comunence”) as strangers who meet at a square at night. Avoye Tiempo (“Wedding band”) directs. (Oct. 24-Dec. 15; Steppenwolf Theater Company, Chicago)
‘Diary of a Tap Dancer‘ Virtuoso taper Iodel Cassel, who did the choreography The jaw-dropping tapes in the recent Broadway revival of “Funny Girl” are passionate ambassadors of her art form. In this new play with music and dance titled J She has used for a long time For a series of dance pieces, Cassel honors her female ancestors in the tapes. Torya Beard directs. (Dec. 12-Jan. 4; American Repertory Theatre, Cambridge, Mass.)
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