Broadway welcomes big stars this fall

It's shaping up to be an especially busy fall on Broadway -- and a starry one, with Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Keira Knightley and George Takei making debuts, and vets such as Al Pacino and Matthew Broderick returning. Paste BN's Elysa Gardner looks at what's on tap:

Spring Awakening (previews begin Sept. 8, opens Sept. 27)

Brooks Atkinson Theatre

Deaf West Theatre brings the Tony Award-winning musical account of repressed youth back to Broadway, revisiting Duncan Sheik's haunting score and Steven Sater's book and lyrics in a production performed simultaneously in American Sign Language and spoken (and sung) English. The cast includes Marlee Matlin, Camryn Manheim and Patrick Page.

Fool for Love (previews begin Sept. 15, opens Oct. 8)

Samuel J. Friedman Theatre

Nina Arianda, an actress who has shown an affinity for tempestuous characters, and Sam Rockwell traverse Sam Shepard's stormy terrain as former lovers facing off in a Mojave Desert motel. Daniel Aukin directs the Manhattan Theatre Club production, staged in association with the Williamstown Theatre Festival.

Old Times (previews begin Sept. 17, opens Oct. 6)

American Airlines Theatre

Clive Owen stars in a Roundabout Theatre Company staging of Harold Pinter's look at the mysteries of love and memory. Acclaimed actor and Pinter veteran Douglas Hodge directs a cast that also includes Eve Best and Kelly Reilly, with original music provided by Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke.

The Gin Game (previews begin Sept. 23, opens Oct. 14)

Golden Theatre

Living legends James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson will share a stage for the first time since 1966, playing two folks of a certain age who meet on the porch of their nursing home. Gin rummy plays a key role in the relationship that develops in this Pulitzer Prize-winning play.

Dames At Sea (previews begin Sept. 24, opens Oct. 22)

Helen Hayes Theatre

More than 45 years after providing a breakout role off-off-Broadway for a very young performer named Bernadette Peters, this winking homage to '30s musicals finally arrives on Broadway, with a cast that includes John Bolton, Mara Davi, Lesli Margherita and, in Peters' old role, Eloise Kropp.

Thérèse Raquin (previews begin Oct. 1, opens Oct. 29)

Studio 54

Broadway newbie Keira Knightley plays the tortured title character in Emile Zola's tragedy of longing, betrayal and guilt, presented here in a new adaptation by Helen Edmundson, commissioned by the Roundabout Theatre Company. Gabriel Ebert, Matt Ryan and Judith Light co-star.

Sylvia (previews begin Oct. 2, opens Oct. 17)

Cort Theatre

Matthew Broderick and Julie White play a New York couple whose lives are upended by the arrival of a canny canine creature, played by recent Tony Award winner Annaleigh Ashford. Daniel Sullivan directs the new staging of A.R. Gurney's comedy, which also features Robert Sella.

On Your Feet! (previews begin Oct. 5, opens Nov. 5)

Marquis Theatre

A new musical traces the lives and hits of Gloria and Emilio Estefan, the veteran pop singer and her producer/entrepreneur husband (played by Josh Segarra and Ana Villafañe). Oscar-winning Birdman screenwriter Alexander Dinelaris wrote the libretto, with Broadway veteran Jerry Mitchell directing and Sergio Trujillo providing choreography.

Allegiance (previews begin Oct. 6, opens Nov. 8)

Longacre Theatre

Star Trek alum, advocate and social media darling George Takei stars with Lea Salonga in a new musical following a Japanese-American family through World War II's internment and beyond. Telly Leung co-stars in the show, which features a book by Marc Acito and music by and lyrics by Jay Kuo.

King Charles III (previews begin Oct. 10, opens Nov. 1)

Music Box Theatre

Anglophiles, rejoice: British royalty is the subject of yet another play imported from the West End. Prince Charles is the subject, and here we watch him ascend the throne, and try to figure out what to do from there. Tim Piggott-Smith reprises his much applauded performance in the title role.

A View From the Bridge (previews begin Oct. 21, opens Nov. 12)

Lyceum Theatre

A London-based, Olivier Award-wiining production of Arthur MIller's dark American classic, focusing on a Brooklyn longshoreman who becomes obsessed with his teenage niece, comes to New York, marking the Broadway debuts of Belgian director Ivo van Hove and his British company.

China Doll (previews begin Oct. 21, opens Nov. 19)

Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre

Al Pacino returns to Broadway in another David Mamet play -- this time a new one, described as focusing on "objects of desire." A wealthy man, a beautiful young woman and a fateful phone call are involved. Pam MacKinnon, a Tony winner for her searing 2012 revival of Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, directs.

Misery (previews begin Oct. 22, opens Nov. 15)

Broadhurst Theatre

A new play by William Goldman, who famously adapted this Stephen King novel for the screen, casts Bruce Willis as the romance novelist whose car veers off the road. Laurie Metcalf plays the overzealous fan who rescues him, sort of.

School of Rock (previews begin Nov. 9, opens Dec, 6)

Winter Garden Theatre

The hit movie about a struggling rocker-turned-substitute teacher who forms a band with fifth graders has been adapted by Andrew Lloyd Webber, who crafted new tunes (with lyrics by Glenn Slater) to accompany a few songs from the film. Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey) crafted the book, and Alex Brightman steps into Jack Black's role as Dewey Finn.

The Color Purple (previews begin Nov. 10, opens Dec. 10)

Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre

R&B star and Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson makes her Broadway bow in John Doyle's characteristically stripped-down interpretation of the musical, first staged at London's Menier Chocolate Factory. The cast also includes Cynthia Erivo, reprising her starring role as heroine Celie (who befriends Hudson's seductress, Shug Avery), and Orange Is the New Black's Danielle Brooks.

Fiddler On the Roof (previews begin Nov. 12, opening Dec. 17)

Broadway Theatre

Bartlett Sher, whose celebrated revivals of great American musicals include Lincoln Center Theater's The King And I and South Pacific, brings back Tevye (played here by Danny Burstein) and his loving, struggling family. Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter will provide dance and movement based on Jerome Robbins' original staging.

The Illusionists -- Live On Broadway (previews begin Nov. 19)

Neil Simon Theatre

The holiday season hit returns to New York with more magic and spectacle, including three new performers -- The Daredevil, The Deceptionist and The Unusualist -- promising to stun with their stunts and sleights of hand.

Noises Off (previews begin Dec. 17, opens Jan. 14)

American Airlines Theatre

Michael Frayn's wildly funny show within a show is revived by Roundabout Theatre Company, with stage and screen vets Andrea Martin, Campbell Scott, Tracee Chimo, Daniel Davis, Megan Hilty, Jeremy Shamos and Kate Jennings Grant.

Our Mother's Brief Affair (previews begin Dec. 28, opens Jan. 20)

Samuel J. Friedman Theatre

Linda Lavin stars in the New York premiere of a Richard Greenberg play, as a woman who makes a provocative confession about her past to her grown children. Lynne Meadow directs the MTC production.