Fall Theater Previews

KINDNESS

Ask theater junkies what Off-Broadway show they’re most excited for this season, and you’ll probably get a resounding answer of Stephen Sondheim’s new musical, Road Show. But it’s Kindness, a smaller contemporary play, that’s most peaked my interest. Kindness, which opens on Oct. 13 and began previews Thursday evening, premieres at Playwrights Horizons’ more intimate Peter Jay Sharp Theater. It’s a New York story of a mother and her son who flee to the city from their crumbling life in Illinois—she spends a night at a high-profile musical with a cab driver, while he befriends a girl at their hotel. But the press overview isn’t necessarily what had me hooked. Written by Adam Rapp, brother to original Rent sensation Anthony Rapp, Kindness is the playwright’s latest endeavor into human suffering and strained relationships. When I transferred to Barnard, avoiding orientation activities, I read Rapp’s Red Light Winter during one of my first days on campus. His skill with words made a lasting impression, and while I haven’t yet managed to see a staged production of his work, I certainly won't miss this opportunity. It doesn’t hurt that Annette O’Toole, who played Martha Kent on Smallville for six seasons, is also starring in Kindness. As a recently converted Smallville fan, I’m excited to see O’Toole tackle a perhaps darker matronly figure when she takes to the stage. —Laura Hedli

SHREK
Broadway is no stranger to musical adaptations of popular movies—like... well, basically half of the shows currently on Broadway. Still, there’s something about the new musical version of Shrek, opening this December, that’s especially appealing to me. Maybe it’s because Shrek was my favorite movie in seventh grade. Maybe it’s because the legitimately talented Sutton Foster and Christopher Sieber (who will always be the dad from Two of a Kind to me) are starring in the production. Most likely, though, it’s because I’m convinced that this show is going to be fabulously awful. I can see it now: A section of trumpets playing a sonata of fart noises while a green-tinged Brian D’Arcy James and a dude in a donkey suit frisk about the stage; Sieber, as it was noted in an early review of the show, portraying the villainous Lord Farquaad’s short stature by spending the entire play on his knees; A host of trite fairy tale clichés that were inevitably skewed better in the last revival of Into the Woods. If all goes according to plan, Shrek should win this year’s Little Mermaid Memorial Award for Biggest Trainwreck—and I plan to be in the front row while it happens. —Hillary Busis

BILLY ELLIOT
Having been a dancer myself since preschool, I can only imagine the artistic and physical demands of performing in a dance-driven Broadway musical eight times a week. With the much anticipated opening of one such show, West End transport Billy Elliot, its barely teenaged stars must carry out the aforementioned task while also supporting the entire weight of the performance on their shoulders. The pressure on any new Broadway cast is high, but in the case of this particular show, it’s even higher—Billy Elliot and its young stars must live up to expectations set after the show’s smash hit success in London. Because of this hype, it’s only natural that Billy Elliot—which officially begins previews on Oct. 1—is the Broadway show I am most looking forward to seeing. I have read article after article displaying nothing but critical acclaim for this show, and I am both curious and anxious to find out if it can survive the transition to Broadway and receive the same degree of praise from audiences across the pond. This is partially because the plot focuses on events that may be hard for the average American to get particularly excited about: British life during the UK miners’ strike of the 1980s and a boy who does ballet. Still, the movie was a blockbuster hit and the musical is bolstered by a score by Elton John—surely good omens for Billy Elliot’s success. As a dance-lover and Broadway aficionado at heart, I’m a sucker for any musical that could be (or has been, in this case) labeled as “life-changing.” —Maddy Kloss