*
Saturday, June 15
LAST CHANCE→ The Gershwin tuner Nice Work If You Can Get It, starring Matthew Broderick and Jessie Mueller, plays its last performance on Broadway. Broderick stars as Jimmy Winter, a wealthy bon vivant who falls for a tomboy bootlegger (Mueller). Also starring Blythe Danner, Judy Kaye and Michael McGrath (Kaye and McGrath took home 2012 supporting Tonys for the roles of Estonia Dulworth and Cookie McGee, respectively). Kathleen Marshall directs and choreographs the roaring '20s-set musical that features George and Ira Gershwin classics like “Someone to Watch Over Me,” “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” “S’Wonderful” and “I’ve Got a Crush on You.” A national tour is planned for next year. (Imperial Theatre, 249 W. 45th St., btwn. Broadway and 8th Ave. Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets.)
Sunday, June 16
LAST CHANCE→ Tony winner Michael Cerveris stars as choreographer George Balanchine in the David Cromer-helmed Nikolai and The Others. Nikolai (referring to Russian composer Nikolai Nabokov, played by Stephen Kunken) imagines a weekend spent with Balanchine, Nabokov and other artistic Russian émigrés like composer Igor Stravinsky (Tony winner John Glover), artist Sergey Sudeikin (Alvin Epstein) and conductor Serge Koussevitzky (Dale Place). (Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 W. 65th St., btwn. Broadway & Amsterdam. Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets.)
Monday, June 17
GO (FREE)→ Matt Damon, Christine Baranski, Gloria Reuben, Lily Rabe, Alan Alda, Vanessa Redgrave, Liev Schreiber, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Raúl Esparza, Hamish Linklater, Jesse L. Martin and more will perform readings from Shakespeare plays as part of the Public Theater’s Public Forum series. “What Are We Worth? Shakespeare, Money, and Morals” will feature select readings along with a discussion about art and commerce led by political philosopher Michael Sandel. (The Public’s Delacorte Theater, enter at 81st and Central Park West or 79th St. and 5th Ave. Info.)
GO→ The hilarious musical fable that is Mary Rodgers and Marshall Barer’s Once Upon a Mattress (a personal favorite!) receives an extra does of hilariousness thanks to cantankerous comedienne Jackie Hoffman and drag pioneer John "Lypsinka" Epperson. In the one-night-only benefit concert for The Transport Group, Hoffman plays Winnifred the Woebegone, a princess from the marshlands who falls for the timid Prince Dauntless the Drab (David Rossmer), much to the annoyance of Dauntless’ mother, Queen Aggravain. Also starring Danny Burstein, Jill Paice and Lewis Cleale. (7 PM, Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 W. 42nd St., btwn. 9th & 10th Aves., $75-$135. Info/tickets.) OPENING→ Carla Gugino and Peter Grosz star in Daniel Pearle's Laurents/Hatcher Award-winning play A Kid Like Jake about a couple and their four-year-old son, Jake, who has a penchant for dressing up in girls’ clothing. (Through July 17, Claire Tow Theater at Lincoln Center, 150 W. 65th St., btwn. Broadway & Amsterdam. Info/tickets.)
Tuesday, June 18
OPENING (FREE)→ The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park program opens its first production of the summer, The Comedy of Errors, starring Park alumni Hamish Linklater and Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Dan Sullivan directs the 90-minute romantic comedy about the travails of two sets of twins (both played by Linklater and Ferguson) separated as children and reunited via a maze of mistaken identity, shameless flirting and wrongful imprisonment. (Through June 30, The Public’s Delacorte Theater, enter at 81st and Central Park West or 79th St. and 5th Ave. Info.)
Wednesday, June 19
OPENING→ The kitchen sink drama Unbroken Circle, about a blue-collar Texan family in the 1970s that uncovers dark secrets about its recently departed patriarch, officially opens Off-Broadway. James Wesley wrote and stars in the new play, produced by Playbill’s own Seth Rudetsky; the production also stars Juli Wesley, Anika Larsen, Lori Hammel, Stacey Bone-Gleason and Eve Plumb. (St. Luke’s Theatre, 308 W. 46th St., btwn. 8th & 9th Aves. Info/tickets.)
Thursday, June 20 OPENING→ Jennifer Westfeldt stars as a brilliant scientist looking to break the glass ceiling in 19th century London in Nell Benjamin’s new play The Explorers Club. Benjamin, the Tony-nominated songwriter of Legally Blonde, takes a decidedly different turn with the madcap comedy about a prestigious club that falls on hard times. Also starring David Furr, John McMartin and Lorenzo Pisoni. (City Center, 131 W. 55th St., btwn 6th & 7th Aves. Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets.)
Friday, June 21
GO→ Powerhouse Theatre, presented by Vassar College and New York Stage and Film, begins its 2013 season with a reading of Melissa Ross’ Nice Girl. Big names are expected for Powerhouse’s 29th season, which includes Main Stage productions and readings from the likes of Steve Martin and Edie Brickell (Bright Star), Tony winner Lin-Manuel Miranda (The Hamilton Mixtape), Hunter Bell (Found), Tony winner John Gallagher, Jr. (Slainte) and Tony winner Michael Mayer (The Musical Inspired by the Brooklyn Hero Supply Company). (Powerhouse Theater, 124 Raymond Ave., Poughkeepsie, NY. Info/tickets.)
Blake Ross is the editor of Playbill magazine. Follow her on Twitter @PlaybillBlake.
Watch highlights of Broadway's Nice Work If You Can Get It:
