WHO Ian McKellen 
 THE DEAL Now that Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart have opened on Broadway in "Waiting for Godot" and "No Man's Land," McKellen, 74, has been claiming in press interviews that he plans to retire from Broadway after completing this double bill. "I think this will be my last outing on Broadway, probably, so I might as well go out with a bang doing two plays in wonderful company," McKellen told Entertainment Weekly. 
 WHO James Franco 
 THE PLAY "Of Mice and Men" 
 THE DEAL James Franco will appear on Broadway in a revival of John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men," joined by Chris O'Dowd. They'll portray George and Lennie respectively; the production will start previews at the Longacre Theatre in March. 
 THE EXPERIENCE "Queen of the Night" 
 THE DEAL Randy Weiner, producer of the unique and gigantic "Sleep No More," in which spectators walk from floor to floor and view elaborate tableaus based on "Macbeth," will now present "Queen of the Night," an environmental theatrical experience based on the well-known Mozart opera "The Magic Flute." It will be staged at the Diamond Horseshoe supper club under the Paramount Hotel, which has been vacant since 1951. The first performance will take place on New Year's Eve. 
 WHO Sutton Foster 
 THE MUSICAL "Violet" 
 THE DEAL The Roundabout Theatre Company is filling the vacant spring slot in its programming with the first Broadway staging of the Jeanine Tesori musical "Violet," with Sutton Foster in the lead. Foster starred in a one-night concert of the musical, about the cross-country journey of a young woman with a prominent facial scar, at City Center over the summer. The vacancy came up when the revival of Tom Stoppard's "The Real Thing" was pushed back to next fall in order to accommodate Ewan McGregor's schedule.

WHO Ian McKellen THE DEAL Now that Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart have opened on Broadway in "Waiting for Godot" and "No Man's Land," McKellen, 74, has been claiming in press interviews that he plans to retire from Broadway after completing this double bill. "I think this will be my last outing on Broadway, probably, so I might as well go out with a bang doing two plays in wonderful company," McKellen told Entertainment Weekly. WHO James Franco THE PLAY "Of Mice and Men" THE DEAL James Franco will appear on Broadway in a revival of John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men," joined by Chris O'Dowd. They'll portray George and Lennie respectively; the production will start previews at the Longacre Theatre in March. THE EXPERIENCE "Queen of the Night" THE DEAL Randy Weiner, producer of the unique and gigantic "Sleep No More," in which spectators walk from floor to floor and view elaborate tableaus based on "Macbeth," will now present "Queen of the Night," an environmental theatrical experience based on the well-known Mozart opera "The Magic Flute." It will be staged at the Diamond Horseshoe supper club under the Paramount Hotel, which has been vacant since 1951. The first performance will take place on New Year's Eve. WHO Sutton Foster THE MUSICAL "Violet" THE DEAL The Roundabout Theatre Company is filling the vacant spring slot in its programming with the first Broadway staging of the Jeanine Tesori musical "Violet," with Sutton Foster in the lead. Foster starred in a one-night concert of the musical, about the cross-country journey of a young woman with a prominent facial scar, at City Center over the summer. The vacancy came up when the revival of Tom Stoppard's "The Real Thing" was pushed back to next fall in order to accommodate Ewan McGregor's schedule.

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