Image Credit: Dave M. Benett/Getty ImagesA ticket, a ticket, my kingdom for a ticket! High among the new stage shows I can’t wait to see next season: a transcontinental production of William Shakespeare’s Richard III starring Kevin Spacey, who will reteam with American Beauty director Sam Mendes for the event. According to an announcement today, the show will premiere in February 2012 at Brooklyn’s BAM Harvey Theatre for a limited run, followed by a short tour and a run at London’s Old Vic Theatre from May through August 2012. (The company then plans “a more extensive world tour” from late August through October 2012.)

Spacey, who won a Tony in 1991 for Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers, seems particularly well-suited to playing the Machiavellian monarch Richard III. There’s something a little slimy about Spacey in many of his performances, and both his Oscar-winning roles — Roger Kint in The Usual Suspects and Lester Burnham in American Beauty — show what skill he has adapting his physical appearance, bearing, and mannerisms as the part requires. Playing the Bard’s famed hunchback? No problem.

A Spacey-topped Richard III marks a fitting finale to the Bridge Project, an ambitious three-year program overseen by BAM, Mendes’ Neal Street Productions, and the Old Vic (where Spacey has served as artistic director since 2003). Bridge has mounted revivals of classic plays like The Cherry Orchard and The Tempest in both New York and London, with casts that include both American stars (Ethan Hawke, Josh Hamilton) and British veterans (Rebecca Hall, Stephen Dillane). Anyone else excited about this production, PopWatchers? And what “naked villainy” would you commit to attend a performance?

Image Credit: Joan MarcusWhen Mamma Mia! debuted in New York City on Oct. 18, 2001, EW’s film critic Owen Gleiberman lavished the ABBA-inspired production with a B+ grade and lots of praise: “Mamma Mia! has no pretenses, yet for anyone whose pulse has ever been quickened by an ABBA chord change, it leaves you dizzy, uplifted, enraptured. Feeling like a number one.” The show turned on its ABBA hits, ranging from, of course, “Mamma Mia!” and “Dancing Queen” to “Lay All Your Love on Me” and “Super Trouper.”

Nearly nine years later, the show is still doing its addictive boogie eight times a week as the fourth-longest-running show currently on the Great White Way. After revisiting it as part of our series looking at the five longest-running shows, the news on how the show itself holds up is mixed. The more than 3,000 performances have taken a toll on the disco beats. Yes, the music is still toe-tappingly delightful, but some of the casting (think more youthful!) and part of the production (better colors!) could be freshened. Ultimately, though, it’s a show that will always do it for fun lovers — who can resist middle-aged singers dancing around in ABBA-inspired disco garb? Yeah, I didn’t think so. (See my full review here.) Have any of you out there seen Mamma Mia! lately? Were you inspired to get up and sing “Dancing Queen”?

Tanner on Twitter: @EWTanStransky

Tomorrow: I finish our series on Broadway’s longest-running shows with a revisit to the magic of Wicked.

More stage:
Second Take: Stage Review: ‘Mamma Mia!’
Second Take: ‘The Lion King’: The trip to Pride Rock is still full of ‘Life’
Second Take: ‘Chicago’ on Broadway: After nearly 14 years, more razzle than dazzle
Second Take: ‘The Phantom of the Opera’: Would you still swing from a chandelier for Broadway’s longest-running show?