THEATER

‘9 to 5, the Musical’

There’s no sure thing in the theater, but the Broadway-bound “9 to 5, the Musical” must be giving its producers blockbuster goose bumps. With a book by Patricia Resnick, who co-wrote the much-adored 1980 movie, and a new score by bluegrass bombshell Dolly Parton, the show revisits three overworked, underpaid employees who take revenge on their chauvinistic boss in a farcical spree aimed at cracking a heel through that low-hanging glass ceiling. Directed by multiple Tony winner Joe Mantello, the production features Allison Janney (“The West Wing”), Stephanie J. Block (“Avenue Q”) and Megan Hilty (the glorious Glinda of the Pantages’ “Wicked”) as the working-gal rebels who don’t just snatch the reins from their creepy employer (Mark Kudisch) but literally tie him up as they show just how a company can be both equitably and profitably run.

Ahmanson Theatre, Sept. 6-Oct. 19, www.centertheatregroup.org

‘The Third Story’

Funnyman Charles Busch (“The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife,” “Vampire Lesbians of Sodom”) delves into the Alice-in-Wonderland world of the screenwriter’s imagination in his new play, about a Golden Age Hollywood scribe (Mary Beth Peil) trying to stage a comeback with her son (Jonathan Walker), who has fled the biz to become a mail carrier in the Midwest. Don’t let the domestic setting fool you -- Busch, who takes a couple of roles himself, is sure to lace his story with madcap explosions. And how can it be otherwise when the comedy careens from B-movie high jinks to Russian fairy tale frenzy, to say nothing of a “botched science experiment named Zygote with seven nipples and a chemical dependency”? Some things you’ll have to be brave (and bawdy) enough to discover on your own.

La Jolla Playhouse, Sept. 21-Oct. 19, www.lajollaplayhouse.org

‘Equus’

Harry Potter makes his Broadway debut. Wait, don’t get that excited -- it’s Daniel Radcliffe who’s having his coming-out party on the Great White Way. The vehicle is Peter Shaffer’s psychological drama about a boy with a pathological penchant for blinding horses. The play seemed to run forever when it was originally done in New York in the ‘70s, but Radcliffe brings fresh excitement to it. Yes, he has a nude scene, but we’re talking legit theater here. The brilliant stage actor Richard Griffiths, late of “The History Boys,” who also has played Harry Potter’s mean Uncle Vernon, takes on the role of the psychiatrist trying to sort out this curious case of animal cruelty. And Thea Sharrock, who staged the acclaimed London revival with Radcliffe and Griffiths, directs.

Broadhurst Theatre, New York, Sept. 25, www.equusonbroadway.com

‘The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928)’

Elevator Repair Service, a New York-based offbeat experimental company with wacky Wooster Group roots, can resist anything but the impossible. In “The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928),” the group takes on William Faulkner, but don’t expect Masterpiece Theatre. If the past is prelude, there should be plenty of narrative hopscotching (perfect for Faulkner), oddball choreography (less so) and enough deadpan delivery to lay a horse low with irony -- in short, postmodern kicks given a seductive Southern twang. John Collins directs a 12-member troupe.

REDCAT, Oct. 9-12, www.redcat.org

‘The Playboy

of the Western World,’

‘The Shadow of the Glen’

Few writers marry landscape and language as lyrically as John M. Synge, the Irish playwright whose death in 1909 at age 38 didn’t stop him from having a huge influence on his country’s theater. This double bill, directed by Tony winner Garry Hynes, was originally part of an 8 1/2 -hour cycle in which Ireland’s Druid Theatre Company performed Synge’s collected dramatic works. Critics lauded the ensemble for the way it negotiated the shifts from comedy to tragedy while rooting the poetry in everyday reality. The pairing of two of Synge’s greatest works, which should satisfy most appetites, will surely demonstrate the truth of his remark that “in a good play every speech should be as fully flavored as a nut or apple.”

Freud Playhouse, UCLA, Oct. 14-18, www.uclalive.org

‘U.S. Drag’

Theater folk have been keeping an eye on Gina Gionfriddo since she burst onto the scene with “After Ashley,” a play about media exploitation and all-too-real grief. Her “U.S. Drag,” a winner of the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for women playwrights, is a satire about the murderous lengths Americans will go to obtain their 15 minutes of fame. Two ambitious young women (self-described as “nonreflective and solutions-oriented”) decide that the answer to their financial woes and frustrating anonymity lies in catching a serial killer who’s apparently as elusive as Beckett’s Godot. Directed by Darin Anthony, this Furious Theatre Company offering explores how we’re all increasingly contestants on the most cringe-worthy reality show.

Carrie Hamilton Theatre/Pasadena Playhouse, Oct. 25-Nov. 22, www.furioustheatre.org

‘Billy Elliot: The Musical’

The pirouetting pop juggernaut based on Stephen Daldry’s 2000 film is finally arriving on Broadway after rousing audiences in London’s West End since 2005. With a book and lyrics by Lee Hall (who wrote the original screenplay) and a propulsive score by Elton John that, if not exactly blazing with originality, gets the job done, the show touchingly tracks a young man’s journey toward realizing his dream of becoming a ballet dancer despite hostile working-class pressures. In his economically depressed coal-mining town in northern England, boys aren’t supposed to wear tights and dance in front of mirrors -- especially not in the 1980s, when Margaret Thatcher’s policies have all the men’s tempers on a hair trigger. But rest assured, for all the sentimental obviousness of the work, Billy’s embattled path culminates in a waterfall of triumphant tears. Daldry’s fleet-footed staging, which in London demonstrated an unerring knack for returning us to the story’s emotional score, features choreography by Peter Darling.

Imperial Theatre, New York, Nov. 13, www.billyelliotbroadway.com

‘Ivanov’

Anton Chekhov’s early play is typically granted a place below his four masterpieces (“The Seagull,” “Uncle Vanya,” “Three Sisters” and “The Cherry Orchard”). But for all its occasional lapses into melodrama, the quiet originality and acute psychology of the work make it well worth knowing. The story of a disconsolate or “superfluous” man who seems to have everything but a sense of purpose, it measures the gap between our lofty ideas and our compromised being. Performed in German with English supertitles, the production that UCLA Live is bringing to town, directed by Bulgarian-born director Dimiter Gotscheff, strips the play of its realist trappings to better discover the troubled existential heart of Chekhov’s protagonist.

Freud Playhouse, UCLA, Dec. 3-7, www.uclalive.org

‘Shrek the Musical’

Can DreamWorks come between Disney and its virtual monopoly on magical kiddie shows on Broadway? Well, “Shrek the Musical” steps in with more than a fighting chance. The computer-animated film proved to be a monster at the box office, but the production doesn’t seem to be resting on name recognition. Serious theatrical talent has been lavished on this project: David Lindsay-Abaire, who won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for his play “Rabbit Hole,” adapted the book, and Jeanine Tesori, who wrote the score for “Caroline, or Change,” composed the music. Brian d’Arcy James plays the lovable swamp creature, who falls for Princess Fiona (the marvelous Sutton Foster) and teaches a lesson on the relationship of love to beauty.

Broadway Theatre, New York, Dec. 14, www.shrekthemusical.com