I have other interests, I swear...

It's not just theater. I like, um...Bruce Springsteen, and uh, music in general. And I like books. And that's about it.

But anyway, I was just thinking about the 2009-2010 theater season, and I came to an interesting realization. I've always been more of a musical person than a straight play person, but then I realized that I'm much more excited for the upcoming straight plays. Here's a preview of the season:

At the Schoenfeld, we have A Steady Rain, with Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman. That will be fantastic, and not just because I love the cast. The story sounds great. I mean, cops in Chicago. How can that go wrong? Previews begin today, and I can't wait for reviews.

At the Jacobs, we have God of Carnage, with Marcia Gay Harden, Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, and James Gandolfini. I LOVE that cast. It won the Tony for Best Play, then went on hiatus for the summer and came back on Tuesday. I NEED to see this. It's about two sets of parents who get together after one son beats up the other family's son on the playground, and it is supposedly fantastic. And Marcia Gay Harden won the Tony for that role.

At the Golden (sad. I'll miss Avenue Q), is Oleanna, with Julia Stiles and BILL PULLMAN. Love him. Basically, Oleanna is about the relationship between a professor seeking tenure, and his female student who accuses him of sexual harrassment. Again, a compelling story with a cast that I love.

At the Music Box is Superior Donuts, which is literally about a donut shop. The cast is relatively unknown, but it was written by Tracy Letts, who is brilliant and wrote August: Osage County (I need to get to Boston in May to see that tour). She won the Tony for that, and I have a good feeling about this one.

And last but certainly not least, can we talk about what's happening at the Broadhurst? Three words. Hamlet. Jude Law. That's all I need to say about that one.

And the musicals for this season suck. I mean, Burn the Floor looks like shit, Fela! looks like shit, Memphis looks like shit, and I have zero interest in seeing these. And none of them will last. I think that the Spiderman musical has potential, given that Bono did the music and it's a Julie Taymor production, but that's had so many problems and has such a ridiculous production cost that I'll be surprised if it happens as planned. Plus, with Disney just buying out Marvel, something might change with the production. The one musical that I'm super excited for is Bye Bye Birdie. Matt Doyle, John Stamos, Gina Gershwin, Allie Trimm. It will be great. Previews start tonight. I'll be going soon. Maybe the weekend of the flea market. And who can complain about $20 tickets? I love hiptix. Best program ever.

So I guess I won't have to worry about buying cast recordings this year, haha.