Broadway Steps into Spring With a Bevy of Great New Shows to See

This spring will be one of Broadway's busiest as there are several highly-anticipated new shows getting ready for their opening night bows, including musical movie adaptations, classic revivals and original plays. On the musical front, A Catered Affair, a new show starring Harvey Fierstein, Faith Prince and Tom Wopat, is an adaptation of the 1956 film about a 1950's Bronx couple in turmoil over how they should spend their life savings --on a new business or a lavish dream wedding for their only daughter. The 90-minute musical with no intermission is set to open April 17. Cry Baby is another film adaptation bringing the 1950s to life. Set in Baltimore and based on the cult favorite John Waters' film of the same name, this show takes on teen angst with a bad boy-good girl storyline and opens on April 24. And Mike Nichols directs Morgan Freeman and Frances McDormand in The Country Girl, a drama revolving around a washed up alcoholic actor's Broadway comeback, opening April 27. On the comedy front, Boeing Boeing starring Christine Baranski takes flight on April 19. The farce centers around an architect living in Paris who has been successfully juggling three fiancées who are all stewardesses. Film star Laurence Fishburne comes to Broadway in a one-man show about the first African American Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, in Thurgood, set to open April 30. Oscar-nominated actress Laura Linney opens May 1 in the adaption of the classic French novel, Les Liaisons Dangereuses. This dark comedy is filled with seduction, betrayal and a battle of the sexes amongst aristocracy prior to the French Revolution. And if you are in the mood for a little Shakespeare, Patrick Stewart, of "Star Trek" fame, takes on Macbeth beginning April 8. Additionally, two shows are not new to the great white way, but have extended their run and are definitely worth a look. Stephen Sondheim's classic musical Sunday in the Park With George will now play through June 1 and August:Osage County, a critic favorite about a dysfunctional family, will continue its once limited run indefinitely.

Caroline Tamer is a journalist, communications professional and the author of the Broadway fan and news blog, www.broadwayundercover.com