‘Best in Show: The Dog in Art’ Even Titian painted pooches. Honest. And alongside his dogs in this show are dogs by figures ranging from Andrew Wyeth and Jeff Koons to famous animal painters like George Stubbs and lesser-knowns like John Sargent Noble (right). Sure to be a howling crowd-pleaser. Oct. 1, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
‘The Pirate Queen’ The Tony-winning creators of “Les Misérables” and the producers of “Riverdance” have teamed up to mount this new musical based on a 16th-century Irish chieftain named Grace O’Malley. The world premiere is Oct. 3, Chicago
‘Lorna Simpson’ When you see the words “photographer, conceptualist, installation artist” applied to one person, you usually groan. But Simpson, a 46-year-old African-American artist, handles all those roles–and some filmmaking, too–with entertaining panache. Catch her traveling exhibition. Opens Oct. 4, Miami Art Museum
‘A Chorus Line’ Ready for one singular sensation all over again? The legendary 1975 musical about showbiz “gypsies” was the longest-running show on Broadway when it closed in 1990. Now it’s high-kicking back in a revival (above) staged by Bob Avian, who was co-choreographer with the late Michael Bennett, the creative force behind the original. Oct. 5, Broadway
Denver Art Museum Architect Daniel Libeskind–who made his name with his winning plan for Ground Zero–finally has his first project in the United States ready to launch: an edgy new museum building, wrapped in silvery titanium, with shapes as jagged as the Rocky Mountain peaks that rise beyond it. Oct. 7
‘Brice Marden: A Retrospective’ The coolest, handsomest, highest-priced–and consistently excellent–American abstract painter out there will be at the biggest, most important, most elegant modern-art museum. Together at last! Oct. 22, Museum of Modern Art, New York
‘The Times They Are A-Changin’ ’ First Twyla Tharp fashioned a Broadway hit from Billy Joel’s music (“Movin’ Out”); now she’s goin’ down that road with Bob Dylan, using his songs and her superoctane choreography (below) to tell a coming-of-age story. Oct. 26, Broadway
‘The Coast of Utopia’ In his three-play epic, Tom Stoppard zooms in on the radical intelligentsia in 19th-century Russia. This restaging of a 2002 British production, with Stoppard’s revisions, has 30 actors including Billy Crudup, Ethan Hawke and Richard Easton. Part one opens Nov. 5, Lincoln Center, New York
‘Mary Poppins’ A spoonful of sugar makes the cash registers ring! This London hit, based on both the original book and the Walt Disney movie, brings our favorite flying nanny and chim-chim-chireeing chimney sweep (above left) to take up their duties on this side of the pond. Nov. 16, Broadway
