The legendary Arthur Laurents (pictured) is back on Broadway this year, having directed and updated his book for the current revival of West Side Story. Laurents also directed the Angela Lansbury (1974), Tyne Daly (1989), and Patti LuPone (2008) revivals of Gypsy. He told me (in front of Daly nonetheless) that of all the Momma Roses (Ethel Merman in the original 1959 and Bernadette Peters in the 2003 revival), LuPone was his all-time favorite. She will be performing with Mandy Patinkin at Shea’s on May 2.

The Broadway revival of Chicago just celebrated a milestone on March 24. It played its 5,125th performance and became the seventh longest-running show in Broadway history, surpassing Rent, which closed last year. Of the other top six, only number one, Phantom of the Opera, is still running. The new touring production of Chicago will kick off Shea’s 2009-10 Broadway series on September 22.

Matthew John LaChiusa’s new musical Giant will have its world premiere at the Signature Theater in Virginia on April 28. Based on the novel by Edna Farber (which was also the basis for the popular 1956 movie), the musical has a book written by Sybille Pearson. Coincidentally, Pearson also wrote the book for a musical written by another composer with Western New York connections, David Shire’s Baby.

Up next, the Playhouse of American Classics will present the 1931 Pulitzer Prize winner Alison’s House by Susan Glaspell. Directed by Terence McDonald, this chamber theater production will star, among others: Keith Elkins, Katie White, Jon Sommers, Mary McMahon, Susan Leist, Pamela Snyder, Jennifer Toomey Starr, Andrew Starr, and William Laurie. Performances will run April 24-26 at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society. Glaspell was a founding member of the Provincetown Players and helped launch the career of another Pulitzer Prize winner, Eugene O’Neill. By the way, the 2009 Pulitzer Prize winner for drama will be announced on April 20.

It now appears that the Irish Classical Theater Company will present Charles Dyer’s play Staircase in its summer slot, June 5-28. Directed by Greg Natale, the play will star Vincent O’Neill and Norm Sham as an aging gay couple who own a barber shop in London. The play, which was made into a movie with Rex Harrison and Richard Burton in 1969, made its debut on Broadway in 1968 starring Eli Wallach and Milo O’Shea, who received a Tony nomination. O’Shea was honored at the ICTC a few years ago.

Speaking of the ICTC, they are planning a revival of Frank McGuiness’s Someone to Watch Over Me for next season. MusicalFare is also bringing back the very popular Zooma Zooma. And BUA will bring back the also popular Southern Baptist Sissies, with Mary Moebius and Bill Schmidt recreating their roles, and a whole new set of sissies.

Dinner theater is back at Desiderio’s in Lancaster with Peter Shaffer’s farce Black Comedy (check On the Boards). The production stars John Buscaglia, Margo Davis, and Mary Ann Moselle. The play was revived in New York in 1993. It was Buffalo’s grand dame Nancy Marchand’s last appearance on Broadway.

Saul Elkin will play William Shakespeare at the Alleyway next season in the world premiere of The Careful Glover by Jim Baines. The play is the winner of the 2008 Maxim Mazumdar New Play Competition and will be directed by Neal Radice.

The Subversive Theatre Collective will present a staged reading of Bertolt Brecht’s A Man Is a Man on April 6 at 7:30pm in the Manny Fried Playhouse located in the Great Arrow building. The reading will be directed by Drew McCabe. Admission is free, with donations gratefully accepted.

The 2009 Buffalo Infringement Festival will be held July 23-August 2. The application deadline is May 1. Check out www.infringebuffalo.org.