September 2018 Highlights on Broadway and Beyond

Check out our guide to the biggest theatrical events of the month.

As the 2018-2019 Broadway season shifts into a higher gear this month, there's a handful of new, exciting shows for theatre fans to look forward to. After last season's shortage of new plays, this September alone sees the official openings of two Broadway premieres, whilst preview performances begin on the Great White Way for two more Broadway premieres.

On the other hand, we sadly have to say goodbye to three Broadway productions this month and so we'd like to urge you to catch the following before the final curtains fall...

September 9 - The Broadway premiere of Young Jean Lee's thought-provoking drama Straight White Men, directed by Anna D. Shapiro, plays its final performance at the Hayes Theater on September 9, 2018. It's your final chance to catch Golden Globe nominees Armie Hammer and Josh Charles in their Broadway debuts in this unconventional look at the most privileged of human species...

September 16 - It could be your "Best Day Ever" if you get down to the Palace Theatre before September 16, 2018, because you'll experience the wonderful, whacky and whimsical world of Bikini Bottom - the home of Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants musical. This crowd-pleasing tuner surprised purists and wowed critics and features a tour-de-force performance by Tony Award nominee Ethan Slater in the title role.

September 16 - At the other end of the musical spectrum, last season's Broadway revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel is also set to shutter on September 16, 2018. Featuring Tony Award-winning new choreography by Justin Peck, this classic and classy musical features stirring performances from Joshua Henry and Jessie Mueller as troubled, star-crossed lovers Billy Bigelow and Julie Jordan, and a Tony Award-winning performance by Broadway favorite Lindsay Mendez as Carrie Pipperidge.

September 16 - And finally, the Broadway premiere of Gettin' The Band Back Together is aslo scheduled to play its final performance at the Belasco Theatre.

So, without any further ado, let's take a look at some of the eagerly anticipated highlights of the month on the Great White Way...

September 5

Manhattan Theatre Club kicks off its 2018-2019 Broadway season with a U.S. premiere as One Man, Two Guvnors scribe and Olivier Award nominee Richard Bean returns to the Great White Way with his new comedy, delving into the perilous world of snooker (a sport similar to pool). The Nap promises a host of colorful characters, dodgy dealings and snooker balls flying left, right and center, as the tournament unfolds live on stage. Under the careful direction of Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan, we can promise you that you'll be doing anything but napping, if you choose to take a trip down to MTC's Broadway home at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre from September 5, 2018. An official opening is set for September 27.

The Nap Tickets are available now for performances from September 5 through to November 11, 2018.

September 11

On September 11, 2018 the much-loved stage veteran Rosemary Harris will finally return to Broadway as she assumes the role of Mrs. Higgins in Lincoln Center Theater's acclaimed revival of My Fair Lady at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. She may be known internationally as Aunt May in the Toby Maguire-led "Spider-Man" movie franchise, but to theatre aficionados, she'll always be known for her prolific stage career which includes an astonishing nine Tony Award nominations (with a win for originating the role of Eleanor in The Lion in Winter back in 1966). Tony Award winner and "Game of Thrones" star Dame Diana Rigg is scheduled to play her final performance in the tuner on September 9.

My Fair Lady Tickets are available now for performances through to March 3, 2019.

September 20

Perhaps the most eagerly anticipated new play of the fall is the world premiere of The Lifespan of a Fact, directed by Tony Award nominee Leigh Silverman, which begins previews at Studio 54 on September 20, 2018. Boasting a 24-karat cast of Daniel Radcliffe, two-time Tony Award winner Cherry Jones and two-time Tony Award nominee Bobby Cannavale, the new drama is based on John D'Agata's essay What Happens There and centers on the Las Vegas suicide of teenager Levi Presley. What will happen when Jim Fingal (Mr. Radcliffe) is enlisted to check the facts of the piece written skilfully, but evidently with a great deal of poetic licence, by D'Agata (Mr. Cannavale)? Clocking in at just over an hour and a half, expect this one to be an ethical rollercoaster ride and a perfect accompaniment to our times of "Fake News" hysteria.

The Lifespan of a Fact Tickets are available now for performances from September 20, 2018 through to January 13, 2019.

September 25

- The next Broadway premiere to begin previews on the Great White Way promises to be a deeply personal, emotional and heartwrenching experience. Academy Award winner Kenneth Lonergan's 'memory play' The Waverly Gallery was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2001 and is finally getting its much-deserved Broadway bow at the Golden Theatre from September 25. The story follows grandmother Gladys Green (played by comedy legend Elaine May), a longtime owner of a small art gallery in Greenwich Village, her decent into dementia and its impact on her family, especially her grandson. Ms. May will be supported on stage by frequent Lonnergan collaborator and Tony Award nominee Michael Cera, Oscar-nominated star of Lonnergan's "Manchester by the Sea" Lucas Hedges, Tony Award winner & 3-time Oscar nominee Joan Allen, and Tony Award winner director David Cromer.

The Waverly Gallery Tickets are available now for performances from September 25, 2018 through to January 27, 2019.

- On the same evening, Roundabout Theatre Company celebrates the official opening night of Theresa Rebeck's world premiere comedy Bernhardt/Hamlet at Broadway's American Airlines Theatre. Oscar Nominee and Golden Globe, Tony & Olivier Award Winner Janet McTeer stars as international stage icon Sarah Bernhardt, who famously took on her biggest (and most audacious) challenge back in 1899... the role of Shakespeare's Hamlet! With Tony Award winner Glenda Jackson set to take on the role of King Lear in New York next spring, this season promises to be brimming with female empowerment. An insight into the woman who managed to break boundaries over a century ago will be most interesting... but how will it fare with the Broadway critics? To be, or not to be a smash hit... that is the question!

Bernhardt/Hamlet Tickets are available now for performances through to November 11, 2018.  

And here's a few important dates for your diary to fill you in on what's going down Off-Broadway this month... 

September 4 - The New Group's kicks off its 2018-2019 Off-Broadway season with the world premiere of Sharr White's The True, which begins preview performances at the Pershing Square Signature Center.

September 11 - Previews begin for the North American premiere of Bob Dylan-infused musical play Girl from the North Country at the Public Theater.

September 12 - What the Constitution Means To Me begins previews at New York Theatre Workshop and the Primary Stages production of Final Follies begins previews at Cherry Lane Theatre, whilst MCC Theater's New York premiere of Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties celebrates its official opening at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.

September 14 - Popcorn Falls, directed by two-time Tony Award winner Christian Borle, begins preview performances at the Davenport Theatre.

September 24 - Jomama Jones returns to Off-Broadway with Black Light, which begins its limited engagement at the re-christened Greenwich House Theater.

September 25 - The New York premiere of Mother of the Maid, starring 6-time Academy Award nominee and 3-time Tony Award winner Glenn Close, begins preview performances at the Public Theater.

September 26 - The Atlantic Theater Company world premiere production of Fireflies and the Irish Repertory Theatre's New York premiere of On Beckett, conceived and performed by Tony Award winner Bill Irwin, begin previews off-Broadway.

September 27 -  The Roundabout Theatre Company's off-Broadway premiere of Apologia, starring Tony & Emmy Award winner Stockard Channing, begins preview performances at the Laura Pels Theatre.

So, that about does it for all of this month's theatrical highlights, but be sure to check again next month for our guide to October 2018 on the Great White Way, as the Broadway season switches to fifth gear! Until then, Broadway fans!