The 2011-2012 Broadway Season Is Shaping Up

Just before the July 4th holiday weekend, there was a flurry of press announcements for the fall Broadway season. Evidently, everybody wanted to get their show on the radar before going on vacation. An especially encouring trend was the number of new American plays including David Henry Hwang's "Chinglish" (pictured, from the current Goodman Theatre production), Theresa Rebeck's "Seminar," Lydia R. Diamond's "Stick Fly," and "Relatively Speaking," the triple play of three one-acts from Woody Allen, Elaine May, and Ethan Coen. There's also Jon Robin Baitz's "Other Desert Cities" and David Ives' "Venus in Fur," which played Off-Broadway in previous seasons. This many new works from non-Brits is rare. Here's a rundown of the upcoming season, starting with shows that have definite dates and theatres:

Already opened: "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" (June 14, Foxwoods)

"Master Class" (July 7, Manhatten Theatre Club at Samuel J. Friedman)

"Hair" (July 14, St. James)

"Follies" (Sept. 12, Marquis)

"Man and Boy," Terrence Rattigan revival (Oct. 9, Roundabout Theatre Company at American Airlines)

"The Mountaintop," Olivier Award-winning play on Martin Luther King, Jr. (Oct. 13, Bernard Jacobs)

"Venus in Fur," David Ives's two-character play, played Off-Broadway during 2009-10 at CSC (previews begin Oct. 13, opening TBA, Manhattan Theatre Club at Samuel J. Friedman)

"Godspell" (Nov. 7, Circle In The Square)

"Private Lives," Noel Coward's classic starring Kim Catrall (Nov. 17, Music Box)

"Bonnie and Clyde," new musical about the famous criminal couple (Dec. 1, Gerald Schoenfeld)

"Stick Fly," Lydia R. Diamond's new play about an affluent African-American family (Dec. 8, Lyceum)

"On a Clear Day You Can See Forever," revised version of the musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane (Dec. 11, St. James)

"Porgy and Bess," the classic folk opera, directed by Diane Paulus (Jan. 12, Richard Rodgers)

"The Columnist," play by David Auburn ("Proof") on newspaper columnist Joseph Alsop (Jan. 26, Manhattan Theatre Club, Samuel J. Friedman)

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