STAGE

If the number of Broadway shows scheduled for the rest of the year is any indication, this may be the Great White Way’s bleakest season yet. Only nine shows are scheduled to open by the end of this year, according to Daily Variety. Last year’s season (June 1 to May 30) tied the 1984-85 season for the lowest total of productions ever, with 31. Although the fall season is usually the slowest time for Broadway productions (with the number increasing closer to the Tony awards cutoff date in early May), there were an average of 14 to 15 shows playing by the end of the year during the last five years, Variety reported. The declining number of shows is attributed to rising production costs and ballooning work timetables. On this fall’s slate: Neil Simon’s “Rumors,� Ron Milner’s “Checkmates� and a revival of “Ain’t Misbehavin’.�