*
Saturday, October 19
PREVIEWS→ Julie Taymor returns to her roots with her adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which will act as the opening production of Theatre For a New Audience’s new Brooklyn home. “Homeland” star David Harewood, Tina Benko, Max Casella and Kathryn Hunter star in Shakespeare’s famously fanciful comedy about magical woodland creatures, mistaken identity and hormonal love. (Theatre for a New Audience at Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Pl., Brooklyn. Info/tickets.)
Sunday, October 20
OPENING→ A Time to Kill — John Grisham’s famous courtroom drama about an idealistic Southern white lawyer charged with freeing the life of a black man who committed a crime in the name of justice — gets the Broadway treatment thanks to Rupert Holmes. Sebastian Arcelus, John Douglas Thompson, Tom Skerrit, Tony winner Tonya Pinkins, Patrick Page and Fred Thompson star under Ethan McSweeny’s direction. (Golden Theatre, 252 W. 45th St., btwn. Broadway & 8th Aves. Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets.)
Monday, October 21
GO→ Castmates of injured Spider-Man actor Daniel Curry come together to raise funds to use for his family and towards his recovery with Web of Love. The evening, hosted by Robert Cuccioli and Christina DeCicco, promises musical performances and an auction featuring tickets and backstage experiences for some of Broadway’s hottest shows like Kinky Boots, Pippin, Wicked; a month of training from Broadway’s trainer to the stars Mark Fisher; original art and jewelry and more. (6:45 PM, Nuyorican Poet’s Café, 236 E. 3rd St., btwn. Aves. B & C. Info/tickets.)
Tuesday, October 22
OPENING→ Composer Jeanine Tesori teams up with playwright Lisa Kron for the new musical Fun Home. Judy Kuhn, Michael Cerveris, Beth Malone and Alexandra Socha star in the Sam Gold-helmed coming-of-age story about a young girl discovering her sexuality amid her father’s own sexual deceptions. (Public Theatre, 425 Lafayette St. Info/tickets) PREVIEWS→ Sarah Jessica Parker and Blythe Danner star in The Commons of Pensacola. Actress Amanda Peet takes a stab at playwriting with this Madoff-esque story of a rich woman who loses everything after her Wall Street husband becomes headline news. Officially opening Nov. 21. (Manhattan Theatre Club, 131 W. 55th St., btwn. 6th & 7th Aves. Info/tickets.)
Wednesday, October 23
PREVIEWS→ The brilliant Jefferson Mays, who earned a Tony Award portraying multiple characters in I Am My Own Wife, is back on the multiple-personality trip with the new musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. Mays plays all eight members of the D'Ysquith family — who are being killed off, one by one, by a distant heir. The musical features a score by Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak and direction by Darko Tresnjak. (Walter Kerr Theatre, 219 W. 48th St., btwn. Broadway & 8th Ave. Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets.)
OPENING→ John Kander’s The Landing, starring Tony winner David Hyde Pierce and Julia Murney, opens Off-Broadway. Walter Bobbie directs the new musical from the famous Chicago and Cabaret composer. (The Vineyard Theatre, 108 E. 15th St., btwn. Union Square East and Irving Pl. Info/tickets.)
Thursday, October 24
OPENING→ “Weeds” star and Tony winner Mary-Louise Parker reunites with Manhattan Theatre Club (and with director Daniel Sullivan) for the WWI-set drama The Snow Geese. The Tony winner plays a single mother to two young boys, one of whom is destined for the battlefields. Also starring Danny Burstein, Victoria Clark, Evan Jonigkeit and Christopher Innvar. (Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 W. 47th St., btwn. Broadway & 8th Ave. Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets.)
PREVIEWS→ Ethan Hawke is the latest thespian to take on the title character in Shakespeare’s famous Scottish Play, Macbeth. The bloody tale of regicide gets its most recent revival courtesy of director Jack O’Brien and Lincoln Center Theater. Richard Easton, Malcolm Gets, John Glover, Brian d'Arcy James and Anne-Marie Duff round out the cast. Officially opens Nov. 21. (Vivian Beaumont Theater, 150 W. 65th St., btwn. Broadway & Amsterdam. Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets.)
Friday, October 25
PREVIEWS→ Ed Harris, Bill Pullman and Amy Madigan star in Beth Henley’s dark comedy The Jacksonian. Set in Jackson, MI, in 1964, Harris stars as a dentist who comes across a colorful and often dodgy crew of characters while living in a seedy motel post-breakup. Officially opens Nov. 7. (The Acorn Theatre, 410 W. 42nd St., btwn. 9th & 10th Aves. Info/tickets.)
GO→ BAM celebrates Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s classic campy musical movie, Little Shop of Horrors, with a sing-along screening featuring an appearance by none other than Seymour himself, Rick Moranis! (8 PM, Brooklyn Academy of Music. Info/tickets.)
Blake Ross is the editor of Playbill magazine. Follow her on Twitter @PlaybillBlake.
Watch the Playbill Video highlights of A Time to Kill:
