arts & entertainment New York! New York! Heading to the Big Apple? Check out our roundup of new musicals and plays (some Tony-nominated) with Jewish connections. Alice Burdick Schweiger Special to the Jewish News BROADWAY Anything Goes, starring Sutton Foster (who spent part of her growing-up years in Troy), with Joel Grey and Jessica Walter, is a revival of the Cole Porter classic. As the S.S. American heads out to sea, two unlikely pairs set off on the course to find true love. Nine Tony nominations, including Best Revival of a Musical. At the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, 124 W 43rd St. (212) 239-6200. Arcadia, a revival of playwright Tom Stoppard's 1995 Tony-winning Best Play, is set in England and switches back and forth between 1809 and 1993 as present-day scholars piece together clues about a 19th- century teenage girl and her years-ahead- of-the-time mathematical theory. The cast of the comedy includes Billy Crudup (who made his Broadway debut in the 1995 pre- miere of Arcadia) and Noah Robbins. Tony nominee for Best Revival of a Play. Closes June 19. At the Ethel Barryntore Theatre, 243 W 47th St. (212) 239-6200. Baby It's You, a jukebox musical that tells the story of New Jersey housewife Florence Greenberg, who teams up with songwriter Luther Dixon to launch the career of the girl group the Shirelles, features Brandon Uranowitz in a dual role as Greenberg's blind son, Stanley, and a music promoter named Marvin. At the Broadhurst Theatre, 235 W 44th St. (212) 239-6200. Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, directed by Venezuelan-born Moises Kaufman, takes place in 2003 Baghdad during the Iraq War when a caged tiger inside the Baghdad Zoo attacks one man and is shot by another. The ghost of the tiger (Robin Williams in his Broadway debut) haunts the streets of Baghdad searching for the meaning of life. Oak Park native Jeffrey Seller is one of the producers. Closes July 3. At the Richard Rodgers Theatre, 226 W 46th St. (212) 307-4100. Born Yesterday, a Washington, D.C.-set com- edy about sex, politics, a corrupt business- man and his showgirl mistress, was written by Garson Kanin in 1946 and originally ran on Broadway starring Judy Holliday (who reprised her role in a 1950 film adaptation). This revival stars Jim Belushi as the busi- nessman. Closes July 31. At the Cort Theatre, 138 West 48th St. (212) 239-6200. Catch Me If You Can, like the Leonardo DiCaprio/Tom Hanks 2002 film and the book upon which it is based, is about a charming con artist who disguises himself as a pilot, doctor and lawyer while being pur- sued by the FBI. Starring Norbert Leo Butz and Aaron Tveit. Music and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and his life partner, Scott Wittman (Hairspray). Four Tony nominations, includ- ing Best New Musical. At the Neil Simon Theatre, 250 W 52nd St. (212) 307-4100. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, star- ring Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) as a young window cleaner rising from the mail room to vice president of advertising at the World Wide Wicket Company, features music and lyrics by Frank Loesser. Eight Tony nominations, including Best Revival of a Musical. At the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, 302 W 45th St. (212) 239-6200. Priscilla Queen of the Desert, like the Australian film on which it is based, tells the story of a Sydney-based performing trio who take their show to the middle of the outback while traveling on an old bus they nick- name "Priscilla." With a book by Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott, this musical features songs from the likes of Madonna and Cyndi Lauper, as well as drag queens, outlandish costumes and energetic dance numbers. At the Palace Theatre, 1564 Broadway, between 46th and 47th streets. (877) 250- 2929. Sister Act, produced by Whoopi Goldberg, who starred in the 1992 film version, features music by Alan Menken and tells the story of a disco diva who witnesses a murder and is put in protective custody in a convent, The House of Blue Leaves, a revival of a 1966 satirical comedy by John Guare set in New York about a zookeeper/wannabe songwriter who is trying to deal with a schizophrenic wife, a mistress and a visit from Pope Paul VI, stars Ben Stiller, Tony- nominated Edie Falco and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Closes July 23. At the Walter Kerr Theatre, 219 West 48th St. (212) 239-6200. The Normal Heart, written by Larry Kramer and starring Tony-nominated Ellen Barkin and Joe Mantello, focuses on the early years of the AIDS crisis in New York City. Mantello plays Ned Weeks, a gay Jewish founder of an HIV advocacy group. Directed by Joel Grey and George C. Wolfe. Nominated for Best Revival of a Play. Closes July 10. At the John Golden Theatre, 252 W 45th St. (212) 239-6200. OFF-BROADWAY Tony-nominated Donna Murphy as Bubbie and Rachel Resheff as her granddaughter Jenny in People in the Picture, a musical about mother love, Yiddish theater and the Holocaust. People in the Picture is a musical about three generations of Jewish women in 1977 New York City, including Bubbie/Raisel (Donna Murphy, Tony nominated for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, in a dual role), a former star of the Yiddish Theater in pre-war Poland. Bubbie's granddaughter Jenny, played by Rachel Resheff, the real- life granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, embraces Bubbie's stories of the Yiddish past, but her daughter, Red (Nicole Parker), a television writer and single mother, doesn't want to look back. Klezmer-inflected music by Mike Stoller and Artie Butler. Book and lyrics by Iris Rainer Dart, the author of Beaches. Closes June 19. At Studio 54, Broadway and 54th St. (212) 719-1300. disguised as a nun. Directed by Jerry Zaks. Five Tony nominations, including Best New Musical. At the Broadway Theatre, Broadway and 53rd St. (212) 239-6200. The Book of Mormon, from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, along with Avenue Q composer Robert Lopez, is an outrageous musical comedy, geared toward adults, about two young missionaries (Tony- nominated Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells) who go to Uganda to try to convert the natives to the Mormon religion. Currently the only first-run, non-adaptation, non-review musical on Broadway, it leads the pack with 14 Tony nominations, including Best New Musical. At the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, 230 W 49th St. (212) 239-6200. Cradle and All is a new comedy by Daniel Goldfarb (Modern Orthodox, which played at JET earlier this season), in which a Jewish couple in Brooklyn Heights have trouble getting their newborn to sleep while their neighbors are contemplating getting married and starting a family. Closes June 19. At Manhattan Theatre Club at New York City Center, Stage 1, 131 W. 55th St. (212) 581- 1212. The Adventures of Hershele Ostropolyer is a musical about a Jewish Robin Hood who mobilizes an entire community to thwart the evil intentions of the town's leading citizen, the miserly Reb Kalmen. Closes June 26. At the Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Ave. at 25th St. (866) 811-4111. The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide To Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures, written by Tony Kushner, takes place during a family reunion in Brooklyn and explores family connections, marriage, sex and politics. Closes June 12. At the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St. at Astor Place. (212) 967-7555. The Tony Awards airs 8 p.m. Sunday, June 12, on CBS. Catch numbers and scenes from nominated, some of which are listed above. May 26 • 2011 41