With so many shows announced to open before the deadline for the 1997 Tony Awards, Broadway theatres will be at a premium again this spring. Here's a little guide -- as of Jan. 10, 1997 -- to what's going (and staying) where and what's still available. Asterisk means an upcoming opening or transfer:
Ambassador: Noise/Funk
* Booth: Defending The Caveman w/Michael Chiklis (reopens Jan. 29)
Broadhurst: Once Upon A Mattress
Broadway: Miss Saigon * Brooks Atkinson: Play On! (opens March 20)
* Circle In The Square: Stanley (opens Feb. 1997)
* Cort: An American Daughter (opens April 13)
Eugene O'Neill: Grease! to Feb. 23, then Annie
* Gershwin: Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus (John Gray)(Jan. 25-Feb. 1); Candide (opens Apr. 29).
* Helen Hayes: Last Night Of Ballyhoo (opens Feb. 27)
Imperial: Les Miserables
John Golden: Master Class
* Longacre: The Young Man From Atlanta (opens March 27)
* Lunt-Fontanne: Titanic: The Musical
Majestic: The Phantom Of The Opera
Marquis: Victor/Victoria
Minskoff: Sunset Boulevard
* Music Box: Barrymore (opens March 25)
Nederlander: Rent
Neil Simon: The King And I
Palace: Beauty & The Beast
* Plymouth: Jekyll & Hyde> (opens April 28)
* Richard Rodgers: Steel Pier (opens April 24)
* Roundabout: Three Sisters (prev: Jan. 22); London Assurance (opens April 30)
* Royale: Dream (opens April 3)
* Sam S. Shubert: Chicago (moves from Richard Rodgers, Feb. 12)
St. James: . . . Forum with Whoopi Goldberg
Virginia: Smokey Joe's Cafe
* Vivian Beaumont at Lincoln Center: The Little Foxes (opens Apr. 27)
Walter Kerr: Present Laughter
Winter Garden: Cats
Theatres Available?
Belasco
Ethel Barrymore: (An Ideal Husband closes Jan. 26)
Lyceum
* Martin Beck (Whistle Down The Wind, scheduled for April 17, but postponed to June 15 -- pushing it into next season)
Shows A-lookin' (as of Jan. 10, 1997)
The Life (producers targeting April but waiting for a theatre to open up. Would prefer a musical-size theatre but would settle for an 1,100-ish seat house. Will it be the Barrymore?)
Miscellaneous
Jane Eyre (postponed to 1997-98 season)
Ragtime (due for Broadway next season, Dec. 1997) at a new theatre being built by its producer on 42nd Street.
--By David Lefkowitz