Premium tickets have altered the Broadway game irrevocably, coaxing marquee names to take a gander because it no longer requires a yearlong commitment to bring the production into profit. With a big enough star, a play can announce a limited engagement of ten to fourteen weeks during which the investment can recoup and the actor in question, with a guarantee of 10% of the gross, can walk away with well over a million dollars. Not exactly what they might earn for a film but not a bad piece of change either.That principle is in effect with three of the original plays opening on Broadway this fall — “China Doll,” “Misery,” and “Therese Raquin” — while a fourth, “King Charles III,” is also a limited engagement, although its star, Tim Pigott-Smith, is not quite a household name.“China Doll” marks the return of Al Pacino in a new play by David Mamet with whom he’s collaborated before on the Broadway revivals of “American Buffalo” and “Glengarry Glen Ross.” When the production was announced last year, the playwright was characteristically profane, noting in the press release that the play, which he’d written for Pacino, “…. is better than oral sex.” The description of the drama followed as the story of a billionaire who has just bought a plane as a wedding present for his young fiancée. “He intends to go into semiretirement, and enjoy himself. He's in the process of leaving his office, and is giving last-minute instructions to his young assistant. He takes one last phone call …” Alas, the fiancée doesn’t make an appearance in the two-character play, but the assistant will be played by Christopher Denham. More importantly, the director is Tony winner Pam MacKinnon (“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”), the first woman to direct a Mamet play on Broadway. Previews begin at the Schoenfeld on October 21 and opens on November 19. The limited engagement ends on January 31.“Misery” boasts the Broadway debut of Bruce Willis in the role of Paul Sheldon, a romance writer rescued from a car wreck by his number-one fan, Annie Wilkes, and taken to her house for recuperation. The characters, created by Stephen King in a 1987 novel, have proven durable. Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her portrayal of Annie Wilkes in the 1990 hit film opposite James Caan. This time around, the deranged devotee — who will stop at nothing to keep Sheldon from killing off her favorite character Misery Chastain — will be played by Laurie Metcalf. Veteran screenwriter William Goldman (“All the President’s Men,” “The Princess Bride”) has adapted his own film script for the stage, and the world premiere production at the Bucks County Playhouse in 2012 met a mixed critical reception. That may be because thrillers are among the most difficult of genres to succeed onstage. Director Will Frears will have his hands full not only in building suspense but also in corralling Willis, who, shall we say, has long been known to register his opinions — forcefully. Previews begin at the Broadhurst on October 22 with an opening on November 15 and a closing on February 14.“Therese Raquin” holds the appeal of seeing Keira Knightly (“Pride and Prejudice,” “Pirates of the Caribbean”) on the New York stage for the first time in an adaptation of the Emile Zola classic about an adulterous affair that leads to murder. While she’s been acting in feature films since the age of 10, the British beauty has only recently assayed the theater, having made her West End debut in a 2009 production of “The Misanthrope,” which she followed up with “The Children’s Hour.” Playing the role of Camille in Therese’s loveless marriage will be Gabriel Ebert (Tony winner for “Matilda”), while Matt Ryan will play Laurent, the sexual spark that ignites the tragedy. Judith Light will play the accusatory Madame Raquin in the production directed by Evan Cabnet. Helen Edmundsen has written the adaptation, just one of dozens created from the popular 1867 novel, which has been the source of opera, radio plays, feature films, television movies, and the 2001 Harry Connick Broadway musical, “Thou Shalt Not.” “Therese Raquin” begins previews at the Roundabout’s Studio 54 on October 1 with an opening on October 29 and a closing on January 3.“King Charles III,” a play written in blank verse by Mike Bartlett, was a London sensation when it opened at the Almeida Theatre last year before transferring to the West End. How could it not be with Charles, Prince of Wales, finally ascending to the throne on the death of Queen Elizabeth II and facing an immediate constitutional crisis in the form of a Parliament bill limiting freedom of the press? With the dissolution of that governing body, riots break out across England, Prince Harry is caught up in a sex scandal with a commoner, and the ghost of Princess Diana appears to both Charles and Prince William promising to each that they will become “the greatest king of all.” Rupert Goold directs the production, starring Tim Pigott-Smith as the hapless King Charles, Margot Leicester as Camilla, Lydia Wilson as Kate, and Oliver Chris and Richard Goulding as Princes William and Harry, respectively. Previews begin at the Music Box on October 10 prior to a November 1 opening. The show closes on January 31.
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