Now that the new Broadway season is underway, everybody’s wondering: What’s going to be this year’s big hit? Last fall, nobody expected Kinky Boots to be strutting it’s glamorous heels to the top of Broadway’s gross and attendance charts like it has, and yet there it is. A smash hit. No one can truly predict when a Broadway show will find its perfect, to quote Kinky, niche market. But, I believe there’s one way to make an educated guess: the directors. I may be a bit biased, but I fervently believe that a director’s vision can be all that’s necessary to send a show soaring. We’ve got so many legendary directors working their magic this season, I’m practically hyperventilating just thinking about it. Here’s the five we’re most looking forward to.
5) Bartlett Sher for The Bridges of Madison County.
Sher, the Resident Director of Lincoln Center Theatre, is best known for his poignant, gorgeously romantic love stories, from The Light in the Piazza to South Pacific. Another pairing with leading lady Kelli O’Hara, as well as with Jason Robert Brown’s new score for what is being billed as “Broadway’s most romantic new musical”… Well, it’s just perfection. I’m probably going to cry.
4) Alex Timbers for Rocky: The Musical.
Yo, Alex! I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Rocky as a musical? It’s certainly going to be interesting. But, they couldn’t have chose a better director than the guy that’s perhaps made the biggest splash in New York over the last few years- Alex Timbers. He’s inventive, contemporary and is always finding new, unique ways to tell stories that might seem too large for the stage. From Peter and the Starcatcher to Here Lies Love, Timbers knows how to get the adrenaline pumping, and that’s precisely what I’m expecting from his staging of Rocky.
3) Susan Stroman for Bullets Over Broadway.
She’s the reigning director/choreographer goddess known for too many shows to count, though you might be familiar with a little show she did called The Producers, and she’s back this season with two productions! Her signature stagecraft is already racking in mid-number applause over at the Neil Simon Theatre in Big Fish, but I just can’t wait for her next project. It’s another screwball comedy based on an iconic film, written by a comic legend. With Stroman at the helm, we might just have a new Producers-sized–hit. Who knows! We can dream!
2) Mike Nichols for Betrayal.
Forget the fact that it’s a classic Pinter play. Forget the fact that it stars Daniel Craig and spouse. Forget the fact that it already has an advance that Michael Riedel refers to every five minutes. Just forget all of that. The simple fact that Betrayal has Nichols at the helm is reason enough to see this revival. He may be 81 years old, but he’s still going strong, and garnering more acclaim than ever. He’s an icon, and his work spans half a century, though you may be more familiar with his direction of Spamalot or the recent Death of a Salesman revival. Regardless, I’m sure this production will be practically perfect.
1) John Tiffany for The Glass Menagerie.
Since we’re talking about things that are practically perfect, I have to hand the top spot to the show that’s already the talk of the town- The Glass Menagerie. Tiffany’s production is being described as exquisite and touching. His work with movement director Steven Hoggett on Once mesmerized audiences, and this new collaboration is meriting similar lauding.