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Broadway Beat | Here are fall’s hot new productions, and two weeks of two-for-one deals

"Moulin Rouge!" and Percy Jackson's "Lightning Thief" are two red-hot musicals. Tom Hiddleston is in Pinter's "Betrayal." Lin-Manuel Miranda does improv.

Karen Olivo as Satine and Aaron Tveit as Christian in "Moulin Rouge!," now on Broadway.
Karen Olivo as Satine and Aaron Tveit as Christian in "Moulin Rouge!," now on Broadway.Read moreMatthew Murphy

As another Broadway season begins, curtains have started rising up and down Broadway on enticing shows, with many more to come. Here are some that caught my eye:

  1. Moulin Rouge! The stage adaptation of the Baz Luhrmann movie, starring Karen Olivo and Aaron Tveit, opened in July to reviews featuring words like “extravagant,” “spectacular,” and “dizzying blast of color.” Booking well into 2020, the show seems to be a bona fide hit. (At the Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 W.45th St.)

  2. Betrayal. Harold Pinter’s tricky play is about marriage and friendship and what happens when a man has a long affair with his best friend’s wife. The tricky part is that the play unfolds backwards; as the characters get younger, they get happier. This production stars The Avengers’ Tom Hiddleston. (Opened Thursday at the Jacobs Theatre, 242 W. 45th St.)

  3. The Height of the Storm. What a cast! Celebrated actors Jonathan Pryce and Eileen Atkins star in this London import about the inevitability of change as a long, happy marriage begins to disintegrate. (Previews begin today, opening Sept. 24 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 W. 47th St.)

  4. The Great Society. Playwright Robert Schenkkan wrote All the Way, a recent hit about President Lyndon B. Johnson’s first year in office. He now continues his LBJ bio-drama in this new play, covering the Vietnam War and civil rights years. Brian Cox is Johnson, Richard Thomas appears as Hubert Humphrey, and David Garrison is Nixon. (Currently in previews, opening Oct. 1 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center, 150 W. 65th St.)

  5. Slave Play. A transfer from off-Broadway, this multi-prize-winning show triumphed at the New York Theatre Workshop last year, and most of the original cast returns for the Broadway production. Written by Jeremy O. Harris, it’s about the white supremacy movement and sex: a fearsome combination. (Previews begin today opening Oct. 6 at the Golden Theatre, 252 W 45th St.)

  6. Freestyle Love Supreme. Attention, Lin-Manuel Miranda fans! The creator and original star of Hamilton has, with Thomas Kail and Anthony Veneziale, created a hip-hop improv show. It was a sell-out last season off-Broadway, and will play 16 weeks. (Previews begin Sept. 13, opening Oct. 2 at the Booth Theatre 222 W. 45th St.)

  7. The Sound Inside. Mary Louise Parker returns to Broadway in a remounting of the production from last year’s Williamstown Festival. This play by Adam Rapp (Red Light Winter) casts Parker as a professor whose life is complicated by a student. (Previews start Sept. 14, opening Oct. 17 at Studio 54, 254 W. 54th St.)

  8. The Rose Tattoo. Tennessee Williams’ minor work (his minor works are often better than many playwrights’ major works) is about a woman who is at first an overripe and voluptuous wife and then a slatternly, grief-stricken widow. Marisa Tomei plays — against type — Serafina, and, judging by out-of-town previews, she is a pleasure to watch. Her co-star is Emun Elliott (Game of Thrones, A View From the Bridge at the Young Vic), making his Broadway debut. (Previews start Sept. 19, opening Oct. 15 at the American Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd St.)

  9. Linda Vista. A new play by Tracy Letts (Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner) is always an occasion. This new show stars Ian Barford (who previously appeared in Letts’ August: Osage County) as a divorced, 50-year-old man having a mid-life crisis. Self-discovery is the tough road this “brutally comedic” play walks. (Previews begin Sept. 19, opening Oct. 10 at the Helen Hayes Theatre, 240 W 44th St.)

  10. The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical. Rick Riordan’s best-selling novel is now adapted for the stage by Joe Tracz (book), Rob Rokicki (music and lyrics), and Patrick McCollum (choreography). A cast of seven will play 47 characters. (Previews start Sept. 20, opening Oct. 16 at the Longacre Theatre, 220 W. 46th St.)

  11. The Inheritance. The winner of this year’s Olivier Award for Best New Play, The Inheritance, written by Matthew Lopez and directed by Stephen Daldry, is being hailed as the next Angels in America. A two-part epic about the HIV/AIDS crisis, it is based loosely on E.M. Forster’s Howards End. Most of the British cast is crossing the pond, but not Vanessa Redgrave; her role will be played by Lois Smith. (Previews begin Sept. 27; opening Nov. 17 at the Barrymore Theatre, 243 W. 47th St.)

Attention must be paid

Hal Prince, the Penn grad who became king of the Broadway musical, died July 31 at the age of 91. He’ll be honored at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (at Lincoln Center) in an exhibition opening Sept. 18. “In the Company of Harold Prince: Broadway Producer, Director, Collaborator” celebrates some of his most famous shows: West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Company, Sweeney Todd, and Phantom of the Opera.

Two twofers

  1. “Broadway Week” is offering two-for-one tickets for many major shows until Sept. 16. Details are at nycgo.com/broadway-week.

  2. “Off Broadway Week” follows, Sept. 23 to Oct. 6, also with two-for-one tickets. Details at nycgo.com/off-broadway-week.