Broadway Beat: See stars at the Broadway Flea Market — and a massive puppet in ‘King Kong’

The Lifespan of a Fact.  What a cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Cherry Jones, and Bobby Cannavale. A fact-checker (Radcliffe) discovers that an essay for a major magazine is largely made up. It's based on a true story and tellingly thorough in giving credit where credit is due. The writers are Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell, and Gordon Farrell, who based the play on the essay/book by John D'Agata and Jim Fingal. Performances will start Sept. 20, and the show will open Oct. 18 at Studio 54 (254 W. 54th St.).

The Waverly Gallery. A feisty old women who runs a little art gallery will not go gently into the night. If anybody can make a play about Alzheimer's disease funny, that would be Elaine May, half of the legendary comedy duo Nichols and May.  Joan Allen, Michael Cera and Lucas Hedges complete the cast. This play by Oscar winner Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea) was first staged in 1999 and was nominated for the Pulitzer in 2001. Performances will start Sept. 25, and the show will open Oct. 25 at the John Golden Theatre, 252 W. 45th St.

The Ferryman. For all who love accents as much as I do, this drama by Jez Butterworth (Jerusalem) is a treat. So thick and tasty are the accents that it's nearly in need of subtitles. In Northern Ireland in a farmhouse in 1981, an enormous family — including babies and geese — is preparing for a joyous harvest celebration when unnerving visitors arrive. This is a big (3 hours, 15 minutes), juicy, riveting epic of a play. Much admired in London last season, it will begin its American premiere Oct. 2 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, 242 West 45th St.

King Kong.  Look out, Empire State Building! A gigantic animatronic puppet, constructed for this original production in Melbourne, is coming your way. This adaptation of the famous story of the iconic beast — a monster? a tragic anti-hero? — is the latest in a long series since the 1933 movie: sequels, remakes, spin-offs, imitators, parodies, cartoons, books, video games, and theme park rides, and now a musical. (Seems inevitable, doesn't it?)  Performances will start Oct. 5 at the Broadway Theatre, 1681 Broadway (at 53rd St.).

American Son. The luminous cast here includes Kerry Washington (TV's Scandal ) and Steven Pasquale (Rescue Me and Six Feet Under),  in a play by lawyer-turned-playwright Christopher Demos-Brown.  The drama tells a tense and all-too-familiar story of terrified parents in a Florida police station who are wondering what has happened to their missing teenage son. Performances will begin Oct. 6 at the Booth Theatre, 222 W. 45th St.

Torch Song Trilogy. Harvey Fierstein's show was a hit Off-Broadway — he played the lead and won a Tony for it. And now it comes to Broadway, with Michael Urie (Ugly Betty, Buyer & Cellar) and Academy Award and Tony winner Mercedes Ruehl (The Fisher King, Lost in Yonkers).  The plot centers on Arnold, who wants a conventional happy life — a husband, a child, and bunny slippers — but who also needs, in the immortal word of Aretha, respect. Performances will begin Oct. 9 at the Helen Hayes Theatre, 240 W. 44th St.