 There is a host of famous faces treading the boards of Broadway stages this year (and a few in DC too!). So many, in fact, that I decided to make a list so as not miss telling you about that one actor you've always wanted to see in person. By the way, if you're wondering about seeing shows in previews (I've given the dates of the first previews of each show below), the preview period can improve your chances of actually seeing the actor in whom you're interested (in a long run, that well-known actor may leave the role), and discounts may be available. Reviews won't be published yet (that happens on the official Opening Night), and the point of previews is to continue working on the show with the benefit of an audience, so a show in the early days of previews may differ slightly from the one an Opening Night audience will see. Personally, I make it a point to see shows in previews so that I'm not influenced by published reviews, and can "meet" the show on my own terms. Is there someone below who'll motivate you to buy a ticket? Click on the photos to be linked to the webpage for each show.
Attention Breaking Bad, and American history, fans! Bryan Cranston will bring Lyndon Baines Johnson up close and personal from the stage of the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway in the new play, All The Way, beginning previews Feb 10 '14 and closing Jun 29 '14. The show ran nearly three hours when I saw it in Boston at the American Repertory Theater, so keep that in mind! 
After having seen Daniel Radcliffe in three different stage productions, I feel confident in saying that he's a truly wonderful, versatile and daring actor. He makes his third appearance on a Broadway stage in this spring's The Cripple of Inishmaan, which had a successful run on the West End in London (where I saw it last summer). As with many Irish plays, it's a dark comedy with a deep humanity. I wouldn't suggest it for the young ones (it's just not a children's story); older teens and up would be appropriate. Previews begin Apr 12 '14 and the show closes Jul 20 '14. 
Playwright Terrence McNally's last Broadway show was a revival of Master Class (which also starred Tyne Daly). He and Tyne Daly are back with the new play, Mothers & Sons, about a mother coming to know her late son through a visit to his former partner, now married to a new man. Costarring with Daly will be Frederick Weller, well known to television audiences from the series In Plain Sight and many other television appearances over the past twenty years, and Bobby Steggert, who just completed a run in Broadway's Big Fish. Previews begin Feb 23 '14. 
Alongside Chris O'Dowd (from HBO's Girls), James Franco (Oz The Great and Powerful) will make his Broadway debut in the revival of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, at the Longacre Theatre. Previews begin Mar 19 '14 and the run ends Jul 27 '14.  (photo courtesy of show website)
A revival of The Elephant Man will come to Broadway in the fall of 2014, starring American Hustle's Academy Award nominee, Bradley Cooper (the original production won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1979; the most recent revival was in 2002 and starred Billy Crudup). No theater or preview start date have yet been announced.  (photo courtesy of show website)
Not surprisingly, it's Macbeth for Branagh; a long-time Shakespearean actor on stage and in films. He'll be at the Park City Armory in NYC from May 30 '14 - Jun 22 '14.  (photo courtesy of show website)
It's been ten years since the last revival of Lorraine Hansberry's classic 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun about three generations of a black family fighting neighborhood racism in Chicago. Beginning previews on Mar 8 '14 and closing Jun 15 '14, the cast also includes Sophie Okonedo (from the film Hotel Rwanda) and Anika Noni Rose (Broadway and film star in Dreamgirls). 
Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway is becoming a stage musical, starring Zach Braff and shepherded by a creative team featuring Tony Award winners Susan Stroman (direction/choreography) and William Ivey Long (costumes; also designing costumes for Cabaret). Previews begin Mar 11 '14. 
Critics and audiences have had high praise for the new musical, After Midnight, featuring the music of the Jazz Age and the poetry of Langston Hughes. Different lead actors will headline the show; the first being Fantasia Barrino, who has performed in the role since the show opened in previews on Oct 18 '13. Dulé Hill (TV's The West Wing; Psych; last on Broadway in Stick Fly in 2012) costars, and will continue in that role when k.d. lang takes over from Fantasia from Feb 11 '14 - Mar 9 '14 (Edmonds' and Braxton's run is planned from Mar 18 '14 - Mar 30 '14). 
We're now very familiar with Neil Patrick Harris as a multi-talented song and dance man from his highly acclaimed performances on the annual Tony Awards presentations, but it's been ten years since he has appeared on Broadway (in Sondheim's Assassins). Well, he's back! Harris will be playing the title role of a transgender musician in the rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch; with previews beginning Mar 29 '14 and closing Aug 17 '14.  (photo courtesy of show website)
Roundabout Theatre Company will present a revival of Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing (it won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1994 and for the revival in 2000), featuring Ewan McGregor. Previews begin Oct 2 '14 and is scheduled to run through Jan 4 '15.  (photo courtesy of show website)
NYC's Roundabout Theatre Company is presenting a revival of Cabaret at Broadway's Studio 54 theatre, starring Alan Cumming (reprising his role from the '09 Broadway revival) and Oscar-winner Michelle Williams in her Broadway debut. The show begins in previews on Mar 21 '14 and runs through Aug 31 '14. 
The Realistic Joneses is a new play by Will Eno (a Pulitzer Prize finalist), about neighboring couples, both with the last name of Jones, whose lives weave together after they meet. Previews begin Mar 13 '14 and the show closes Jul 6 '14.  (photo courtesy of show website)
Although no details have been announced, Glenn Close has confirmed that she will appear in a play (not a musical) in the fall of 2014 (here she is at the opening of Bette Midler's I'll Eat You Last in Apr '14)  In the Washington DC area, you have the chance to see:
Mother Courage and Her Children, Arena Stage Jan 31 - Mar 9 ’14.
Camp David, Arena Stage Mar 21 - May 4 ’14
Healing Wars, Arena Stage Jun 6 - Jun 29 ’14 (theatrical dance event)
Mark Twain Tonight, National Theatre Apr 4 - 5 ’14
They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway....so are the performers. Enjoy! p.s. Don't forget the fun of stopping by the stage door after the show! :) 
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