Julie Taymor and a starry "Tempest"…Mrs. Warren Brings Cherry Jones back to Broadway…Sutton Foster invades the City of Angels…and another Broadway go 'round for Laura Linney

Blake

Saturday, October 2, 2010
GO? The New York Film Festival will host a special screening of the Julie Taymor-helmed film adaptation of The Tempest starring Helen Mirren, Alfred Molina, Alan Cumming, Russell Brand and Chris Cooper. Taymor will appear for a discussion about the film in an HBO Films talkback on Oct. 3. (7 PM and 10 PM, Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, Broadway btwn. 66th and 64th Sts., info/tickets)
Sunday, October 3
OPENING? Emmy and Tony winner Cherry Jones returns to the Broadway stage with George Bernard Shaw’s groundbreaking play Mrs. Warren’s Profession. Jones plays Kitty Warren, whose chosen profession of the title clashes (with tragic consequences) with the morals and ideals of her daughter, played by Sally Hawkins. (American Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd St., btwn. 7th & 8th Aves., Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)

LAST CHANCE? Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong may be green to Broadway, but he’s a stage vet having rocked concert halls with his Grammy-winning band for nearly two decades. Armstrong brings his rock star swagger to the role of St. Jimmy for one last day in the Tony-nominated show American Idiot. (St. James Theatre, 246 W. 44th St., btwn. Broadway and 8th Ave., Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)

Monday, October 4

GO (LA)? Reprise Theatre Company—under the artistic direction of Jason Alexander—invites Broadway’s leading lady to the West Coast for An Evening with Sutton Foster. Another Tony winner, Betty Buckley, will also join forces with Reprise to present her cabaret show with Playbill’s own Seth Rudetsky, early next year. (8 PM, UCLA’s Freud Playhouse, $85-$115, info/tickets)

Tuesday, October 5
GO (FREE)? Tony winners Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime) and Susan Birkenhead (Jelly’s Last Jam) join forces with the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) and the ASCAP Foundation to present a special seminar on women composers entitled “Our Turn: Women Who Write Musicals.” Theatre critic Peter Filichia moderates. (5 PM, Lincoln Triangle Barnes and Noble, 1972 Broadway at 66th St., info)

Wednesday, October 6
OPENING? Experimental theatre troupe Elevator Repair Service presents Gatz, a marathon reading and theatricalization of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.” Gatz is set in an office where employees discover and read the classic tale of Nick Carraway and his adventures with the mysterious Mr. Gatsby over the course of six-and-a-half hours. (Through Nov. 28, The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St., $140/marathon, student/rush tickets available, info/tickets)

Thursday, October 7
(RE)OPENING? Time Stands Still, the Tony-nominated drama by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Donald Margulies, returns to Broadway bringing with it most of its stellar original cast—Laura Linney, Brian d’Arcy James and Eric Bogosian. Screen vet Christina Ricci will make her Broadway debut in the role originated by Alicia Silverstone. (Cort Theatre, 138 West 48th St., btwn. 6th and 7th Aves., Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)

GO?The annual New York Cabaret Convention will kick-off with a special tribute to Marian Seldes. Angela Lansbury, who starred with Seldes in Deuce, will present her former co-star with the “Award of Appreciation” at the Convention’s opening night gala that includes performances by Barbara Carroll, Andrea Marcovicci, Jeff Harnar and others. Other performances during the convention include a tribute to Noel Coward (with a special appearance by Elaine Stritch and Christine Ebersole) and a Saturday night medley of cabaret heavy hitters including Malcom Gets, Karen Akers and Avery Sommers. (Through Oct. 9, Jazz at Lincoln Center, for tickets and information about the Convention visit mabelmercer.org)
Friday, October 8
GO? Jazz at Lincoln Center presents the great Nancy Wilson in a show celebrating her 50-year career. Wilson promises to reprise songs from her classic recordings with Cannonball Adderley and George Shearing and to “show all the young singers how it’s really done.” (Through Oct. 9, 7:30 PM and 9:30 PM, The Allen Room in the Time Warner Center, Broadway and 60th St., 5th fl., $55-$65, info/tickets)