From left, Bette Midler, Tom Hanks, and Cicely Tyson will star in New York plays this spring.

Drawing Cards

Big names hit New York stages

BY DREW LIMSKY

Season after season, New York's Great White Way gets a big boost from marquee names. The attention-grabbers in shows opening this spring?

BETTE MIDLER
I'll Eat You Last: A Chat With Sue Mengers: Superagent Sue Mengers, who died in 2011, was a key Hollywood force, figuring in the careers of stars from Cher and Faye Dunaway to Steve McQueen and Burt Reynolds. Now she truly gets her due as she's portrayed by Midler in this name-dropping one-woman show.
Previews begin April 5; opens April 24. Booth Theatre, 222 W. 45th St., illeatyoulast.com

ALEC BALDWIN
Orphans: In Lyle Kessler's frequently revived, gritty parable, Baldwin plays a wily kidnapping victim who turns the tables on his captors, a pair of adult brothers.
Opens April 18. Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, 236 W. 45th St., orphansonbroadway.com

CUBA GOODING JR., CICELY TYSON, VANESSA WILLIAMS
The Trip to Bountiful: In this revival of the Horton Foote play, Tyson steps into the role that won Geraldine Page an Oscar in 1985. Tyson plays the scene-stealing restless widow who longs to visit her girlhood home, to the exasperation of her son (Gooding Jr.) and daughter-in-law (Williams).
Previews begin March 30; opens April 23 for a 14-week limited run. Stephen Sondheim Theatre, 124 W. 43rd St., thetriptobountifulbroadway.com

TOM HANKS
Lucky Guy: This posthumous play by the much-missed writer/director Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle, Julie & Julia) stars Hanks as real-life Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Mike McAlary. Eighties sitcom aficionados will note that the play reunites Hanks with his Bosom Buddies co-star Peter Scolari.
Opens April 1 for a limited run. Broadhurst Theatre, 235 W. 44th St., luckyguyplay.com