Broadway spring preview

'Next to Normal' makes the leap from Off-Broadway to Broadway this spring (Credit: Joan Marcus)

The race for the little medallion called Tony is on! Noms will be announced on May 5, followed by the fete itself on June 7 at Radio City Music Hall. Plays and musicals will be crowding Broadway stages, and several shows are deep into their runs (and some contenders, like “The Seagull” and “Speed-the-Plow”, have even closed). Each one is carefully built to hook audiences. Metromix breaks down the spring season based on four common lures.

Star vehicles
If you put a famous actor onstage, your audience will come. Often, they'll prop up an unknown property or add zip to a limp script. It doesn't matter who's behind “33 Variations”, or even how good it is; what does matter is, it's got a role for Jane Fonda. The same goes double for “Impressionism”, which sees Jeremy Irons romance Joan Allen. Or quadruple for “The God of Carnage”, a turbulent French affair between Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini, and Marcia Gay Harden.

Other spring shows see a successful star extending their ranges in dramatic classics. Geoffrey Rush and Susan Sarandon play royalty in a French tragicomedy, “Exit the King.” The producers of “Blithe Spirit”, meanwhile, have an eye on fun, by putting Angela Lansbury and Rupert Everett in Noel Coward's classic '40s comedy.

Classic revivals
If a show attracted audiences before, it should draw them in again. A musical like “West Side Story” backs up that proposition by marrying quality with sheer entertainment value. And just last week, producers thumbed their nose at critics by betting that even a mediocre production of “Guys and Dolls” is good enough to make a buck.

Straight dramas are a tougher sell. Some theatergoers won't pass up the chance to see "Joe Turner's Come and Gone” a high-minded, substantial work by the late August Wilson. But are there enough of them to fill the house in this economy? Similarly, tourists looking for escapism probably won't line up for the existentialism of Beckett's “Waiting for Godot”, even with Nathan Lane leading the cast.

Confoundingly, the select class of nonprofit Broadway theaters keep betting their endowments on less-than-essential revivals. MTC exhumes another ‘30s backstage farce, “Accent on Youth”, and hopes that the comic chops of David Hyde-Pierce can carry the show. Roundabout tries the same strategy by sticking Matthew Broderick into “The Philanthropist”, a deconstructed British farce (think Stoppard-lite).

Imports from London and Off-Broadway
If a show has already earned acclaim, audiences will follow it to Broadway. These kinds of shows come from two directions: Off-Broadway and London. British theater has a reputation (deserved or not) for intellectual heft. Of course, it's hard to imagine any local high-profile troupe taking a risk on a German historical epic like the Donmar did with “Mary Stuart.” Ditto for “The Norman Conquests,” a trilogy of interconnected comedies produced by Kevin Spacey's Old Vic Theatre.

The Off-Broadway transfers, while rarely cutting edge, export trends and introduce artists to a wider audience. Neil LaBute, popular downtown for his corrosive work, finally makes the leap with his “Reasons to Be Pretty.” And would “Rock of Ages” or “Hair” be rocking the Rialto if last season's rock success “Spring Awakening” hadn't paved the way? And occasionally, you'll get a surprise, like “Irena's Vow”,a pocket drama about the Holocaust that audiences adored enough to get investors interested.

Built for Broadway
If a show tours the U.S. with its director, writer and crew watching nightly for problems and working daily to fix them, it should be ready for the Rialto. Once upon a time, this was the well-worn path to Broadway. Now, only two shows take that route. “Next to Normal” has been retooled and refined since it visited Off-Broadway last season. Advance word is, it'll be great.

Then there's “9 to 5: The Musical”, a musical adaptation of the hit ‘80s movie comedy. It may not win any Tonys, but it should tempt the tourists who want to have a little fun on vacation. And why not? There's something for everyone on Broadway this spring!