Music
From here to the moon and back
Four words: Dolly Parton in Vegas. When the music icon announced her first extended run there in 32 years — just six shows in December — I fully gasped in anticipatory delight. I don’t even know if I’ll actually be able to make it (the dates are tricky; the tickets are already sold out, and, predictably, going for thousands on the secondary market). But just knowing there will be a handful of nights where human sparkle meets desert neon suggests the world can sometimes make sense. MELENA RYZIK
Dec. 4-13 at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas
Theater
No pangrams in sight
Musical comedy has not been a robust genre for decades. If a show is funny, it’s too often silly; if smart, usually grim. So I’m awaiting the first major revival of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” with high hopes and a dictionary. The 2005 musical (songs by William Finn, who died in April; book by Rachel Sheinkin) challenges six middle-school contestants (and a handful of audience volunteers) with words ranging from “cow” to “phylactery” while quietly unpacking their loneliness and bravery. To use one of its best stumpers in a sentence: Helpless laughter in the face of difficulty is its timely Weltanschauung. JESSE GREEN
Begins Nov. 7 at New World Stages
Art
When an expressionist got experimental
Any excuse to revisit a great artist’s work through a fresh lens is welcome, especially in a season crowded with new things. MoMA’s exhibition “Helen Frankenthaler: A Grand Sweep” promises just that: a look at the Abstract Expressionist painter’s experiments in technique and theme, encompassing several decades from the 1950s to the 1980s. Frankenthaler’s richly hued works feel like they’re peering into some reality behind what we can see. They seem to change shape the longer we look at them, which means they bear endless repeat viewings, and that bodes well for the show. ALISSA WILKINSON
Opens Oct. 25 at MoMA
TV
Into the woods
Over the past year, I’ve been collecting breadcrumbs about “Wayward,” a Netflix drama-thriller starring Toni Collette and the comedian Mae Martin, who created the series and drew inspiration from “Girl, Interrupted,” “Get Out” and “Fargo.” “Wayward” takes place in Tall Pines, a fictional bucolic Vermont town with sinister secrets. Like much of Martin’s work, “Wayward” draws from their own troubled adolescence, and if their daring pandemic-era Netflix dramedy “Feel Good” is any indication, I expect the new show to fearlessly plumb dark truths about the human condition — and do so with style. MAYA SALAM
Begins Sept. 25 on Netflix
Books
Their names here
It’s been a long time since we’ve had a new novel by Helen DeWitt, and so I’m excited about “Your Name Here,” billed as a “collaborative novel” with Ilya Gridneff. An intriguing first chapter appeared in n+1, but that was way back when, in the prehistoric era of 2008. From the looks of it, this new book will have more in common with the sprawling genius of “The Last Samurai” than the bawdy satire of “Lightning Rods.” But who knows? DeWitt is a brilliant risk-taker. I truly have no idea what to expect. JENNIFER SZALAI
Out Oct. 21
Comedy
Ultimate flex
Cutting his teeth in the fertile Chicago scene that produced Hannibal Buress and Pete Holmes, then emerging as one of the funniest performers in alternative comedy, Kumail Nanjiani became one of the most distinctive stand-ups this century. Then he stopped. Movies and television got more of his attention. So, it’s exciting news that after touring for a few years, he is putting out his first special in a decade. His last one was called “Beta Male.” Since then, he’s gotten ripped and looks more alpha. Catching an early version of his set, he did a vulnerable bit about the public response that might be the only time I felt bad for someone getting in shape. JASON ZINOMAN
On Hulu in December
dance-Theater
The stranger sides of small-town life
The right time for Jack Ferver’s surreal brand of dark humor is typically as soon as possible. In “My Town,” a queer reinvention of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” the director, choreographer and performer presents a raw and exacting piece of dance-theater that looks at small-town life. But instead of pulling out its sweetness and spunk, Ferver explores a more haunting side of existence. Set in a rural community — inspired by Ferver’s early years in Wisconsin and the struggle of being an artist in New York City — “My Town,” with video by the filmmaker and artist Jeremy Jacob, leans into strangeness. GIA KOURLAS
Nov. 21-22 at NYU Skirball
Music
Last songs
When the folk musician Michael Hurley, an outsider and gentle surrealist, died this past April, he’d just put the finishing touches on a final album, “Broken Homes and Gardens.” I’m already impatient to hear it. I’ve got the first single, “Fava,” on heavy rotation. If the new record is anywhere near as impressive as his last one, “The Time of the Foxgloves” (2021), I’ve got my fall listening sorted. DWIGHT GARNER
Out Sept. 12
Books
Rabbit, write
I am really looking forward to “Selected Letters of John Updike,” which I plan to treat as a sort of advent calendar throughout the holidays. That this “selection” is over 900 pages tells you how integral written correspondence was to his life and career. (Bless their hearts, but I doubt the future amassed DMs of today’s best authors will deliver the same oomph!) ALEXANDRA JACOBS
Out Oct. 21
Art
Create your own Bowie show
When David Bowie died in 2016, the glam songwriter left an archive of about 90,000 items including lavish stage outfits, intimate photos, notebooks and handwritten lyrics. Fans will be able to access it all at the new David Bowie Center. About 200 artifacts will be on display at any time, but visitors can also place advance orders for anything they’d love to view, and the museum’s staff will have it ready for when they arrive. In effect, you can create your own Bowie exhibition. Why not order some of Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust-era outfits? Or the desk he wrote songs at? Or the lyric sheet to your favorite song (those for “Heroes” will be on display, don’t worry)? Music obsessive heaven. ALEX MARSHALL
Opens Sept. 13 at the V&A East Storehouse, London
Dwight Garner has been a book critic for The Times since 2008, and before that was an editor at the Book Review for a decade.
Jesse Green is the chief theater critic for The Times. He writes reviews of Broadway, Off Broadway, Off Off Broadway, regional and sometimes international productions.
Alexandra Jacobs is a Times book critic and occasional features writer. She joined The Times in 2010.
Gia Kourlas is the dance critic for The Times. She writes reviews, essays and feature articles and works on a range of stories.
Alex Marshall is a Times reporter covering European culture. He is based in London.
Melena Ryzik is a roving culture reporter at The Times, covering the personalities, projects and ideas that drive the creative world.
Maya Salam is an editor and reporter, focusing primarily on pop culture across genres.
Jennifer Szalai is the nonfiction book critic for The Times.
Alissa Wilkinson is a Times movie critic. She’s been writing about movies since 2005.
Jason Zinoman is a critic at large for the Culture section of The Times and writes a column about comedy.
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