What a season it is turning out to be on Broadway. So many big-name talents of the stage and screen are starring in shows, it’s enough to make any autograph seeker giddy with anticipation. Though there is always a plethora of amazing talent just beyond the footlights of a Broadway show, here is a list of 10 of the biggest celebrities lighting up Broadway shows this spring.
Adam Driver in Burn This
Any fans of Star Wars out there? If so, the dark and mysterious Kylo Ren is appearing on Broadway in a revival of Lanford Wilson’s play Burn This. For those who are not enamored with that “galaxy far, far away,” we are, of course, speaking of Adam Driver. Driver is a three-time Emmy-nominated star of the TV series Girls. He also received an Academy Award nomination in 2019 for playing Flip Zimmerman in the Spike Lee film BlacKkKlansman. In 2010, he made his Broadway debut in a revival of George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession.
Keri Russell in Burn This
Fans of late ‘90s TV may adore Keri Russell for playing the title character in the drama Felicity, while others may have enjoyed her more recent Golden Globe-winning work on the spy thriller The Americans. Still others might be familiar with her films roles in We Were Soldiers, Waitress, August Rush, Dark Skies and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. However you get your Keri Russell fix, you can also find her on Broadway this spring in the revival of Burn This, starring opposite Adam Driver.
Laurie Metcalf in Hillary and Clinton
One of the most revered actresses of the contemporary Broadway stage, Laurie Metcalf is returning to the Great White Way in Hillary and Clinton. She is, of course, best known for playing Jackie Harris on the long-running television sitcom Roseanne and its spin-off The Connors. In 2018, she was Oscar-nominated for her performance in the film comedy Lady Bird. A member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Metcalf has had an auspicious run on Broadway in recent years, winning a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for A Doll’s House, Part 2 in 2017, and a Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play in 2018 for the revival of Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women.
John Lithgow in Hillary and Clinton
He’s won Emmy Awards for his work on TV’s Third Rock From the Sun, Dexter and The Crown. He’s been Oscar-nominated for his roles in the films Terms of Endearment and The World According to Garp. Other film roles include Footloose, Twilight Zone, Kinsey and Harry and the Hendersons. He’s won two Tony Awards, one for Best Actor in a Musical for The Sweet Smell of Success and one for Best Featured Actor in a Play for The Changing Room. He’s starred on Broadway in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Columnist, M. Butterfly, All My Sons and many others. Now, the multi-faceted John Lithgow is starring opposite Laurie Metcalf in Hillary and Clinton.
Bryan Cranston in Network
One generation fell in love with Bryan Cranston for his portrayal of the goofy dad on TV’s Malcolm in the Middle, while another generation rooted for his Emmy-winning turn as Walter White in the AMC crime drama Breaking Bad. Currently dazzling audiences on Broadway in the stage adaptation of the film Network, Cranston won a Tony Award in 2014 for playing Lyndon B. Johnson in the play All the Way. Film fans will also recognize his work in such movies as Saving Private Ryan, Drive, Argo and Godzilla.
Glenda Jackson in King Lear
Glenda Jackson, a star of screen and stage, is proving that age is relative as she tackles one of Shakespeare’s most challenging roles, playing the title character in King Lear (a role traditionally played by a man). She is certainly up to the challenge. At the age of 82, she is one of Britain’s most celebrated actresses, as well as a former politician of the Labour Party. She has won two Best Actress Academy Awards – one for Women in Love (1970), and the other for A Touch of Class (1973). Though she has only appeared on Broadway a handful of times, she has been a mainstay of West End theater. She is the recipient of the 2018 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her role in Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women.
Nathan Lane in Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus
Very few of Broadway’s comedic leading men have reached the stature or achieved the adoration that Nathan Lane has. His work in musicals such as Guys & Dolls, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and The Producers – not to mention his work in plays like Love! Valor! Compassion!, Angels in America and The Man Who Came to Dinner – have made him a theatrical treasure. TV audiences will know him from his recurring roles on Modern Family and The Good Wife, and filmgoers delighted in his starring roles in The Birdcage and MouseHunt. Lane is starring on Broadway this season in the absurdist comedy Gary: The Sequel to Titus Andronicus.
Annette Bening in All My Sons
It has been more than thirty years since Annette Bening last appeared on Broadway, when she was Tony-nominated for her work in the Tina Howe play Coastal Disturbances. She’s been very busy in Hollywood for three decades, making films including The Great Outdoors, The Grifters, Regarding Henry, Bugsy, The American President, Mars Attacks!, American Beauty, Being Julia, Running with Scissors, The Kids Are All Right and Captain Marvel. She has been nominated for four Oscars, once for Best Supporting Actress and three times for Best Actress. Now she’s back to Broadway, starring in a revival of Arthur Miller’s play All My Sons.
Jeff Daniels in To Kill a Mockingbird
Aaron Sorkin’s stage adaptation of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is proving to be one of the season’s most sought-after tickets. Starring in that production is film and television star Jeff Daniels. Daniels’ diverse work in film includes Terms of Endearment, Dumb and Dumber, Fly Away Home, The Purple Rose of Cairo, The Squid and the Whale and Looper. To Kill a Mockingbird is not Daniels’ first outing with Sorkin, having starred in the writer’s HBO series The Newsroom, for which he won an Emmy Award.
Audra McDonald in Frankie & Johnny in the Clair de Lune
Seeing six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald in a play or musical is the very essence of basking in the golden light of theatrical royalty. Her Broadway turns include Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Porgy and Bess, A Raisin in the Sun, Ragtime, Master Class and Carousel, each of which represent another notch in both her Tony Award and career belts. McDonald is easily contemporary theater’s most decorated star, so make sure you don’t miss her latest character creation in the upcoming revival of Terrence McNally’s Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.
Mark Robinson is the author of the two-volume encyclopedia The World of Musicals, The Disney Song Encyclopedia and The Encyclopedia of Television Theme Songs. He maintains a theater and entertainment blog at markrobinsonwrites.com.
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