Theater

AN STYLE='font-weight: bold'>Biggest Buzz
When Harry Meets Susan
Newcomers to Broadway usually need a veteran hand to guide them along. Harry Connick Jr., like Mel Brooks, has grabbed hold of the best. The jazz singer, pianist and sometime actor is making his theater debut as the composer and lyricist for the new musical Thou Shalt Not. The show's director — and the reason it's the fall's most eagerly anticipated musical — is Broadway's current miracle maker, director-choreographer Susan Stroman, who won a Tony for staging Brooks' The Producers. It's not hard to see what attracted Connick to the show: it's an adaptation of Therese Raquin, Emile Zola's novel of adultery and murder, transplanted from 19th century Paris to post-World War II New Orleans, the musician's hometown. The lure for Stroman? Well, it's hard to resist a chance to achieve a theatrical grand slam: four (count 'em) hits on Broadway running simultaneously. (Along with The Producers, the others are her dance musical Contact and the revival of The Music Man.) She's assembled a solid cast, including Craig Bierko (The Music Man), Kate Levering (42nd Street) and Debra Monk (this summer's Seagull in Central Park). Thou Shalt Not is just one in a jam-packed lineup of musicals scheduled for Broadway this fall. Among them: Thoroughly Modern Millie, based on the 1967 movie; the Broadway debut of Stephen Sondheim's 1991 musical Assassins; and the New York City arrival of the show that has made Abba fans the world over scream with delight, Mamma Mia! No telling what we'll get from Connick and Stroman, but one thing is for sure: it won't be Dancing Queen. (Opens Oct. 25.)

Critic's Pick
Fully Engaged Gender Warfare
Screenwriter Neil Labute first won attention for his fierce dissection of the battle of the sexes in films like In the Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbors. He displayed an even grimmer view of human nature, along with some pretty fine writing, in his 1999 play Bash, a series of monologues that reveal the depravity lurking beneath the surface of ordinary lives. So the rave reviews that greeted his new play The Shape of Things when it premiered in June at London's Almeida Theatre can't help making a serious theatergoer's heart race. The drama, about a college guy who falls under the spell of a manipulative female artist, is making a gratifyingly swift transfer to New York City, retaining its London cast — Paul Rudd, Rachel Weisz, Gretchen Mol and Frederick Weller — and LaBute as director. Look for another unsettling evening, lots of theater-page debates and a battle for tickets. (Opens Oct. 10.)