(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- Welcome to the Fall Culture Preview, where we’re highlighting the best in entertainment as part of the September issue of Bloomberg Businessweek. We’ve already laid out the five museum exhibitions we’re most excited to see, the seven new TV shows to watch, the eight movies that will have people talking, and the five books to add to your reading list. Our last entry? The nine shows that will be lighting up theaters across Broadway and the West End.
In New York
The RoommateLiving legends (and old friends) Patti LuPone and Mia Farrow star in this new comedy by the very funny feminist playwright Jen Silverman about two older women who have to move in together. At the Booth Theatre from Aug. 29
McNealRobert Downey Jr. makes his Broadway debut in this original play from Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Ayad Akhtar. Downey takes on the role of a great American author with a messy personal life, a book to sell and an over-the-top obsession with artificial intelligence. At Lincoln Center from Sept. 5
The Big Gay JamboreeAfter cracking up audiences as Celine Dion in the downtown smash Titanique, Marla Mindelle is back. In a musical she co-wrote, Mindelle plays a woman who inexplicably wakes inside a gay (as in happy) golden age musical (think Oklahoma! or Brigadoon) and must use her degree in theater to escape. At the Orpheum Theatre from Sept. 14
Sunset BoulevardLast year, London audiences raved over this unhinged reimagining of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, which showcased Nicole Scherzinger’s riveting performance as tragic silent film star Norma Desmond. Director Jamie Lloyd strips the production down to the bones, incorporating live video with handheld cameras. The supporting cast, including Tom Francis as Joe Gillis, also shines brightly. At the St. James Theatre from Sept. 28
Death Becomes HerThe 1992 camp classic film starring Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn battling over Bruce Willis (and an elixir of eternal youth) makes for a supremely funny new musical—which had Chicago audiences shrieking in the aisles this summer. The show stars Megan Hilty, Jennifer Simard, Christopher Sieber and Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child. At the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre from Oct. 23
GypsyFor her next feat, six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald takes on the role of Rose in Gypsy—the first time a Black actor has played the dictatorial stage mother on Broadway. The revival, directed by George C. Wolfe, is said to have a majority Black cast, and it’s sure to be one of the most in-demand tickets in town. At the Majestic Theatre from Nov. 21
In London
A Face in the CrowdBased on the 1950s film about a folk-singing drifter who gains national fame after being discovered by a radio producer in rural Arkansas, this new show, with music and lyrics by Elvis Costello, stars the wickedly talented Anoushka Lucas. The production is artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah’s goodbye to the Young Vic, after becoming the first black Briton to be named the head of a major British theater in 2018. At the Young Vic from Sept. 10
CoriolanusDavid Oyelowo returns to the stage as Shakespeare’s tragic Roman military hero turned enemy to his nation. Lyndsey Turner, the woman behind Benedict Cumberbatch’s epic bow as Hamlet at the Barbican in 2015, directs. At the National Theatre from Sept. 11
Juno and the PaycockJ. Smith-Cameron and West End veteran Mark Rylance star in this revival of Seán O’Casey’s tragicomedy about a struggling Dublin family during the Irish Civil War who think their luck is about to change. Matthew Warchus leads the production, which honors the play’s centenary this year. At the Gielgud Theatre from Sept. 21
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