Broadway A-listers are out in full force this month, performing (Jude Law in Hamlet; Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman in A Steady Rain; Sienna Miller and Jonny Lee Miller in After Miss Julie; James Gandolfini, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeff Daniels and Hope Davis in God of Carnage, etc.), harvesting awards (Emmys for Cherry Jones in 24, Kristin Chenoweth in Pushing Daisies and Alec Baldwin of 30 Rock), and hosting high-profile theatrical events, like last month’s blow-out celebration of Broadway performers, “Broadway Salutes” (MC: Brian Stokes Mitchell), and Primary Stages’ upcoming “25th Anniversary Gala” (November 9th) with Charles Busch and Julie Halston sharing the dais.   

Naturally, this means that pre- and post-theatre haunts like Sardi’s, Angus McIndoe, Thalia and Joe Allen’s are filling up regularly with celebrity faces --- and the fans that love them.  

But back to theatre and the season at hand as new shows move from previews to opening nights to (hopefully!) sell-outs.   

The Mamets

If the last few seasons were a feast for David Mamet addicts -- offering Broadway revivals of his classics American Buffalo and Speed-the-Plow, as well as his 2008 political comedy November with Laurie Metcalf (currently doing double duty in the Neil Simon comedies Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound) and Nathan Lane (who will be going Gomez in The Addams Family Musical in the spring) -- Fall 2009 is an all-you-can-eat buffet.   

The line started forming on September 9th when the Atlantic Theater Company began previews for Two Unrelated Plays by David Mamet: Keep Your Pantheon and School, featuring a number of noted stage and screen actors, including Brian Murray and John Pankow. Both plays are comedies, the first a farce about an acting troupe in ancient Rome and the second “a comic discourse on recycling, poster design and the transmission of information.” [Thru 11/1; www.atlantictheater.org]  

As for Mamet’s Broadway presence, first up is the playwright’s provocative 1992 two-person drama Oleanna, with Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles reprising their roles from a run earlier this year at L.A.’s Mark Taper Forum. (Worth noting: a) Stiles had played the part of Carol in the 2004 London production opposite Aaron Eckhart; b) this is the first time Oleanna has been done on Broadway; and c) the show’s director is Tony winner Doug Hughes, who also directed the current Manhattan Theatre Club revival of Kaufman and Ferber’s The Royal Family starring Ana Gasteyer, John Glover, Rosemary Harris, Jan Maxwell and Tony Roberts.)  

Speaking of directors, Mamet himself is at the helm of his new play, Race (previewing 11/17 for a 12/6 at Broadway’s Ethel Barrymore Theatre) and being seriously secretive when it comes to revealing the show’s plot. Nevertheless, the unadorned title and jaw-dropping cast -- David Alan Grier, James Spader, Richard Thomas and Kerry Washington -- along with Mamet’s reputation for aggressive button-pushing, pretty much guarantees a gloriously incendiary premiere.

The Musicals

Regarding the current crop of musicals now in rehearsals or previews, only two are not revivals: Memphis, an interracial love story between a white DJ and a black singer during the 1950s, from the same musical team responsible for Off-Broadway’s newest cult classic hit, The Toxic Avenger -- Bon Jovi founding member David Bryan (composer) and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change creator Joe DiPietro (book and lyrics); and Fela!, following the life of composer/performer and activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti, starring Sahr Ngaujah, who channeled the title role in last season’s Off-Broadway sell-out, and Tony winner Lillias White (The Life).

Memphis, too, hits Broadway with solid accolades, including an acclaimed West Coast debut and the same leads that prompted regular standing ovations -- Chad Kimball and Montego Glover.

Meanwhile, the season’s formidable new revivals have already begun sparking audience interest, thanks to a first-rate infusion of star voltage from Cheyenne Jackson in Finian’s Rainbow and the all-star package that dominates the cast of Bye Bye Birdie: Gina Gershon, John Stamos, Bill Irwin, Jane Houdyshell and Dee Hoty.   

And in case you hadn’t noticed, E.L. Doctorow -- who recently re-entered the literary limelight with a vengeance with the publication of his new book about the Collyer brothers, Homer & Langley -- is simultaneously adding to his stage credits, courtesy of the return of the Tony-winning musical based on his iconic novel, Ragtime. Featuring the same company that impressed the socks off theatregoers last spring at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., don’t be surprised to find the relatively unknown cast shining as brightly on Broadway as their predecessors -- Audra McDonald, Marin Mazzie and Brian Stokes Mitchell -- did in 1998!