THE ROYAL FAMILY
This is a welcome revival of a 1927 comedy, co-written by Marx Brothers’ scripter, George S. Kaufman, and then-popular novelist Edna Ferber, about the day-to-day, off- stage dramas of a famous acting family, very much like the Barrymores. Here, the cast of 16, including many familiar to Tony award voters, like Rosemary Harris, Tony Roberts, Jan Maxwell and John Glover, along with SNL alumnus Ana Gasteyer, carry on like roarin’ '20s pop stars, under the direction of the redoubtable Doug Hughes. (Ana Gasteyer and Tony Roberts pictured above.)
Samuel J. Friedman Theater, 261 W. 47th St., (212) 239-6200. Previews Sept. 15, opens Oct. 8–Nov. 22.

WISHFUL DRINKING
If you read Carrie Fisher’s Postcards From the Edge, you know she has a rewarding sense of humor about life’s ups and downs. Here the blessed and/or cursed daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, one time wife of Paul Simon, and most memorably, Star Wars’ Princess Leia, gives us a solo show based on her most recent memoir, directed by Tony Taccone.
Studio 54, 254 W. 54th St., (212) 719-1300. Opens Oct. 4–Jan. 3, 2010.

NIGHTMARES: VAMPIRES
Leave it to director/showman Tim Haskell to ratchet up his annual Halloween season walk-through haunted house with a focus on the current vampire craze. For the past six years, taking frights to new heights, Haskell and a group of devilishly inspired artists, Psycho Clan, have designed increasingly clever, and scary, environments. This year’s mecca for thrill seekers is set in a vampire museum; so expect some of the exhibits to do more than just lie there.
The Noho Event Center, 623 Broadway, (212) 352-3101. Sept. 25–Nov. 7. $30.

COMME TOUJOURS HERE I STAND
Since 1991, Annie-B Parsons and Paul Lazar, co-artistic directors of Big Dance Theater, have created 15 expansive works that combine text, visuals, music and dance into their own exciting hybrid form, that is both beautiful and resonant. Here they reinvent Agnes Varda’s New Wave film, Cleo from 5 to 7, about a pop singer going through her normal Parisian afternoon, while anxiously awaiting the results of a medical exam.
The Kitchen, 512 W. 19th St., (212) 255-5793, ext. 11. Oct. 1-4 and 7-10.

MEMPHIS
Here’s an original (for a change) Broadway musical, penned and composed by the pair who brought the recent rocking, and very satisfyingly funny, Toxic Avenger to our shores: Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan (music and lyrics) and Joe Di Pietro (book and lyrics). Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys) is handling the choreography, and Christopher Ashley (Xanadu) directs. Set in the underground music clubs of the segregated ‘50s, a young white DJ falls hard for both the new “rock ‘n roll” and a sexy black singer named Felicia.
Shubert Theater, 225 W. 44th St., (212) 239-6200. Previews Sept. 23, opens Oct. 19.

THE ARCHERY CONTEST
John Jahnke’s Hotel Savant produces plays that are lovely to look at, sexy, funny and mysteriously beguiling. Here Jahnke introduces us to a couple who is questioning not only their own marriage, but the idea of marriage in general: the good Reverend Kendrick and his wife, Mercy. He then throws into the mix two teenagers (also a couple) and a hunky sexton. Fivesome anyone?
P.S. 122, 150 First Ave., (212) 477-5288. Previews Oct. 2, opens Oct. 3–18.