CROSSOVER PLAYS TAKE THE STAGE

Shakespeare’s got company. This season’s footlights highlight an influx of pop superstars, film directors, and novelists getting theatrical. In New York, 24 Billy Joel songs set to Twyla Tharp choreography tell the story of Brenda and Eddie and other Joel characters through 20 post-prom years in MOVIN’ OUT, playing at the Richard Rodgers Theatre (212-307-4100). In Chicago, the Goodman Theatre (312-443-3800) stages LOBBY HERO, a comedy written by Kenneth Lonergan of You Can Count on Me film fame, through November 24. And this month, the Bay Area’s Berkeley Repertory Theatre (510-647-2949) opens HAROUN AND THE SEA OF STORIES, based on the Salman Rushdie novel. —