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Musical revivals outpace new musicals on Broadway this fall

By: MICHAEL KUCHWARA Associated Press09/08/09 2:25 PM EDT

NEW YORK — New musicals will be in short supply this fall on Broadway, but a quintet of revivals plus one other major show at the historic Apollo Theatre will ensure that New York isn't bereft of song and dance.
The two new shows are — surprise — originals, not based on a movie, play, television series, comic strip, novel or action figure.
Up first is "Memphis," arriving Oct. 19 at the Shubert Theatre after successful runs in LaJolla, Calif., and Seattle. It's an interracial love story set against the backdrop of a momentous time for pop music — the 1950s — as rhythm and blues crosses into the mainstream and a white disc jockey, played by Chad Kimball, finds romance with a black singer, played by Montego Glover.
The story is by Joe DiPietro (author of "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change") who also co-wrote the lyrics with the show's composer, David Bryan of Bon Jovi fame.
Also on tap is a transfer from off-Broadway — "Fela!" — the life story of Nigerian superstar Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, musician, political activist and self-proclaimed hedonist. Sahr Ngaujah won raves for his portrayal of the charismatic Kuti, and for the Broadway run, the actor will be joined by the Tony-winning Lillias White as his mother.
"Fela!" will be directed and choreographed by Bill T. Jones, who collaborated on the book with Jim Lewis. Kuti's Afrobeat music will rock the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Nov. 23.
In "Bye Bye Birdie," the teenagers of Sweet Apple, Ohio, meet their idol, Conrad Birdie just before he is to be inducted into the Army. This genial 1960 musical introduced composer Charles Strouse and lyricist Lee Adams to Broadway. Now, in its first Broadway revival, "Birdie" inaugurates the reborn Henry Miller's Theatre, a new, environmentally friendly theater built behind the auditorium's original facade.
The Roundabout Theatre Company production, which opens Oct. 15, stars John Stamos as Conrad's manager, and Gina Gershon as the manager's long-suffering secretary. The teen idol is played by Nolan Funk, while Robert Longbottom directs and choreographs.
"Finian's Rainbow" has one of Broadway's most beloved scores. "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" and "Old Devil Moon" are just two of the wonderful songs written for the show by composer Burton Lane and lyricist E.Y. Harburg.
The revival is an expansion of what "Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert" did last spring at City Center. Most of its actors will be back for this satiric tale about an Irish immigrant, his feisty daughter and a leprechaun who follows them to America. The cast includes Jim Norton as Finian, Kate Baldwin as his daughter, Christopher Fitzgerald as the leprechaun and Cheyenne Jackson as the handsome labor organizer who woos the young woman.
"Finian" hopes to find its pot of gold at the St. James Theatre Oct. 29.
The stage version of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" was a big hit at the Marquis Theatre during the last holiday season. So why not bring it back again.
The musical, based on the 1954 movie classic, begins performances Nov. 13 for a run through Jan. 3. The film starred Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen. No word yet on who will play those roles for the return Broadway engagement.
"Ragtime" is one of musical theater's most ambitious shows. Based on E.L. Doctorow's epic novel of early 20th-century America, it tells the story of three distinct families — one white Anglo-Saxon Protestant, one black and one Jewish immigrant — mixing them with such real-life historical figures as Harry Houdini, Emma Goldman and Evelyn Nesbit.
The musical, which has a book by Terrence McNally and a score by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, was first seen on Broadway in 1998. This revival was done last spring at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. Look for it Nov. 15 at the Neil Simon Theatre.
Also on tap, although no theater, cast and opening date have been announced, is a production of "A Little Night Music," the Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical about rueful romance, loves lost and won. Based on the Ingmar Bergman film "Smiles of a Summer Night," it is best known for the song "Send in the Clowns." A December opening is likely.
The Apollo on West 125th Street is not technically Broadway but the famous theater will be the starting point for a major revival of "Dreamgirls," the classic Michael Bennett musical about the birth of a Supremes-like singing trio during the heyday of 1960s Motown.
A limited, four-week engagement, Nov. 7-Dec. 6, precedes a lengthy national tour. The cast features Moya Angela as the ill-used Effie White with Syesha Mercado, Adrienne Warren and Margaret Hoffman as the Dreams. Its official opening night: Nov. 22.