Tom Hiddletson, Peter Dinklage, and more

Leaves are changing, I just bought some new boots that don’t really fit, and “All Too Well” by Taylor Swift is blasting from my phone: It’s fall, baby.

Autumn also means a bounty of new theatrical productions opening after the typical end-of-summer closings (we hardly knew ye, Be More Chill!). The docket is particularly exciting for 2019; in addition to some jukebox favorites, we’ve got buzzy, challenging new works from brand-new playwrights, TV faves making anticipated returns, and even a, gulp, psychological magic show!

Below, 10 NYC-based shows to check out this fall. 

1. The Great Society (now in previews)

Succession fans, this one is for you. Brian Cox (aka Logan Roy) returns to the stage to play another titan of a time — this go round, President Lyndon B. Johnson. A follow-up to last year’s Tony-winning All The Way, this play will follow Johnson’s “epic triumph in a landslide election to the agonizing decision not to run for re-election just three years later,” per the show’s website, with a cast that will portray over 50 people — including Martin Luther King, Jr., J. Edgar Hoover, and Robert Kennedy exploring a time in history where things were changing fast and whose effects we are obviously still feeling to this day. 

2. Cyrano (opens Oct. 11)

What do you do after your Emmy-winning days as Tyrion Lannister are (likely) done? Return to the stage, of course. Specifically, the Daryl Roth Theater downtown where Peter Dinklage will star in a modern take on the classic Cyrano De Bergerac, adapted by Erica Schmidt, who is also, fun fact, married to Dinklage. 

In addition to the contemporary feel, this version of the tale about a man deeming himself unlovable, who agrees to court his cousin whom he’s in love with on behalf of the guy she’s in love with, will get another update, in the form of music and lyrics by members of the rock band the National.

3. Betrayal (playing now)

Harold Pinter doesn’t mince words, and in this revival — starring Marvel favorite Tom Hiddleston — you savor the silence in his script as much as the action. Told mainly with three actors rarely leaving stage and jumping around with the timeline, Betrayal on Broadway explores the effects of a secret affair between a man, his wife, and his best friend. How do you deal with secrets? 

4. Tina: The Tina Turner Musical (opens Nov. 7)

The latest icon to get the jukebox treatment is none other than Ms. Proud Mary herself, Tina Turner. The show follows her life from Nutbush to her abusive marriage to Ike to her triumphant solo days, and is directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!). Adrienne Warren will portray Tina, and the out-of-town word is that she is incredible. 

Fair warning, it seems sort of inevitable that you’re going to (once again) have the icon’s ultra-catchy hits in your head for a good long while — and an inspiring story about a woman who overcame a lot? Well, that’s just some real great energy to take with you into 2020. 

5. Derren Brown: Secret (playing now)

Allow my colleague, and Brown superfan Alexis Nedd, to take it away after viewing an early Broadway performance:

“Secret is not a magic show, because Derren Brown is not a magician. He is a superstar illusionist in his native Britain, a keen observer of human behavior, and a magnetically entertaining, balls-out liar. In Secret, the audience is Brown’s co-star as he uses every trick in his psychological playbook to bend and twist its members to perform alongside him seemingly of their own free will, a fact that only becomes more apparent as the show builds to its completely impossible finale.”

6. Little Shop of Horrors (now in previews) 

The cast for this off-Broadway revival is a musical lover’s dream team: Jonathan Groff, Christian Borle and Tammy Blanchard will take on the story of the bloodthirsty talking plant. The ’60s-esque doo-wop score is full of standards like “Suddenly Seymour” and “Somewhere That’s Green” and the horror-infused comedy — based on the Roger Corman movie — is sure to provide the kind of dark laughs we all could use these days. ?

7. Jagged Little Pill (previews begin Nov. 3)

You oughta know: Told through the iconic songs from Alanis Morissette’s seminal Jagged Little Pill, plus some new tunes, the musical tells the story of a suburban family grappling with an opioid addiction, among other current hot-button issues. Diablo Cody (Juno, Young Adult) wrote the script, so expect crackling dialogue and at least one phrase that, honest to blog, bounces around in your head for at least a decade. 

8. Slave Play (now in previews)

You’re going to want to have an opinion on this wildly acclaimed lightning rod by Jeremy O. Harris. “It’s an antebellum fever-dream as three interracial couples converge to rip open history at the intersection of race, love, sex, and sexuality in 21st-century America,” per a release, so plan for dinner after the Broadway play with plenty to unpack and discuss. The New York Times called the work “the single most daring thing I’ve seen in a theater in a long time.” Damn.

9. Soft Power (opens Sept. 24)

A musical within a play, this new work by David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly) and Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home) at The Public explores, per the show’s site, “America’s current place in the world, told through an East-West musical from China’s point of view, in which a theater producer from Shanghai forges a powerful bond with Hillary Clinton.” 

Obviously, big and heady ideas about democracy and the 2016 election will be grappled with, and, if an out-of-town tryout is any indication, also sharp satire, goofy musical numbers, and complicated fever dreams (!).  

10. Freestyle Love Supreme (now in previews)

Meet Lin-Manuel Miranda’s pre-Hamilton, pre-In The Heights performing troupe. Melding improv comedy with hip-hop, the high-energy musical show — starring Anthony Veneziale, Chris Sullivan, Utkarsh Ambudkar and more, plus special “spontaneous” guests such as Miranda, Daveed Diggs, Wayne Brady and others — promises to be its own unforgettable, you-had-to-be-there experience every night. You’ll wanna be in the room where it happens for this limited Broadway engagement.