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Prequels to Upcoming Theater Events and Sequels to Reviews & Features
by Elyse Sommer
Short Term Events |
The Classic Stage Company .The Classic Stage Company will be mounting its first ever musical in 2013. It will be a new take on Stephen Sondheim's 1994 musical Passion which starred Donna Murphy and had its fans (including yours truly). It lasted at the Longacre for 283 performances. The can-do DiCapo Opera Company company which does a musical with operatic ties each season did a lovely production in 2003 (my review) but otherwise Passion has been seen only at regional theaters like the one our Philadelphia critic caught in 2001 (Passion in Philadelphia). With John Doyle at the helm (and no, his actors will NOT be doubling up as musicians!) this should be another buzz-y event for this downtown company. LABrynth Theater Company continues its FREE Barn Reading Series at the Bank Street Theater (155 Bank Street). Admission is free and LABPASS members ($35 for a pass) can make advanced reservations though seating will be first come, first served, so it's advisable to arrive at the theater at least one half-hour before each reading is scheduled to begin. The schedule of the upcoming plays of the series below. Complete casting will be announced at a later date. Mentor By Webb Wilcoxen. Directed by Jill DeArmon. January 28 & 29 8:00 p.m.
Between You, Me & The Lampshade By Raúl Castillo. Directed by Felix Solis and featuring David Anzuelo, Audrey Esparza, Lyle Friedman, Alex Flores & Daphne Rubin-Vega February 2 & 3. 8:00 p.m.
For additional information, or to order a LABPASS Membership t www.labtheater.org
The Horatio Alger Festival, Not free, but live theater at not much more than a movie ticket. Metropolitan’s Seventh Annual Living Literature Festival from January 16 – 29, 2012. The Horatio Alger Festival, will play at 9th Space, 150 East Ninth Street (Ninth Street and 1st Avenue. Each new work is presented five times over the festival unless otherwise noted. $18. tickets at www.metropolitanplayhouse.org, or by phone at 212 995 5302. The festival featuresone-act and full-length plays, ranging from adaptation to biographical fantasy, all inspired by Alger and his work. Alger's legacy as the man who made the rags to riches story an American staple, is familiar to all; less well known are his actual stories, and the story of his own life, with inspirational and nefarious twists of its own. The lineup is as follows:
Shifting for Himself, or Gilbert Greyson's Fortunes (An adaptation) by Michael Schwartz (Philadelphia) Shifting for Himself (or Gilbert Greyson's Fortunes) is an adaptation of the typical Horatio Alger story--a young man finds himself poor, but through hard work, good manners, and some good luck, he gets the best of cheaters, schemers, and layabouts in end-of-the-19th century New York City. Can pluck, integrity, and innocence prevail on Wall Street? In Horatio Alger's world, you bet your boots it can!
Another Horatio Alger Story (A new play, set in the present) by Jason Jacobs (New York) An impassioned teacher leads his impressionable student in an exploration of Alger's life and work ... but the charms of fiction are threatened by dangerous facts. Is there a true "Horatio Alger story?" What secrets do these tales conceal?
The Return of Ragged Dick (An alternative biography) by Dan Evans, A LuLu LoLo Production In 1866, young Horatio Alger, Jr. arrives in New York, an ex-Unitarian minister and budding author disgraced as a pederast. Twenty years later, a fearsome stranger from the Amazon Rain Forest suddenly appears on the doorstep of this now popular but near- bankrupt author with surprising results.
Horatio Alger's Boys (A biographical fantasy) by David Lally (New York and Los Angeles) Prey or victim? A scandalous incident in Horatio Alger's past may affect his future. A "ripped from the headlines" story, the saga of Horatio Alger did not begin and end with his "rags to riches" stories.
Pluck (Staged Reading - A special work-in-progress for $10) by Adam Klasfeld, in which he Devil narrates the despicable fall and triumphant rise of Horatio Alger, Jr., a fallen minister turned unlikely prophet for the American gospel of wealth. In 1866, scandal strikes a Unitarian church in a coastal New England town as elders investigate Alger for "gross immorality and ... the abominable and revolting crime of unnatural familiarity with boys." Alger escapes arrest on the first train to New York, and one bitter deacon predicts he will “serve the Devil by writing novels.”
59E59 Theater News. This ever busy venue has announced their Winter 2012 season. Here's a line-up of what's on offer. . .Thursday, January 12 – Sunday, January 29. ONE THOUSAND BLINKS, written by Nick Starr, directed by Malinda Sorci. Morgan is willing to do anything to break his pattern of underachievement and get his floundering relationship with his girlfriend back on track. But when he takes a job overseas translating the work of a demanding and oddly alluring Professor of Engineering, Morgan’s desperate quest for productivity threatens to destroy his relationship and, perhaps, kill him.
Friday, January 13 – Sunday, February 5. THE FALL TO EARTH, by Joel Drake Johnson, directed by Joe Brancato. With Deborah Hedwall, Amelia Campbell, and Jolie Curtsinger. A mother and her adult daughter travel to an unfamiliar town in search of answers. A local policewoman becomes the emotional catalyst for their journey to discover the truth and themselves. All three become the wiser as they embark on this quest to heal family wounds.
Friday, February 3 – Saturday, February 25. LOVESICK, by Lia Romeo, music and lyrics by Tony Biancosino, conceived and directed by Michole Biancosino. Amy gets dumped by Chuck right before prom. Susie and Stacy are bridesmaids and think the groom is gay. Brad and Doug have a bro-mantic moment in the elevator. Brian and Jessica wake up after a night only one of them remembers. A collection of modern love songs and stories set on the most dreaded day of the year: Valentine’s Day.
Thursday, February 9 – Sunday, March 4. POETIC LICENSE, written by Jack Canfora, directed by Evan Bergman Upcoming Poet Laureate John Grier, comfortably ensconced as a professor of literature in a renowned university, owes much of his success to his wife, Diane, who has been aggressively shepherding his career. When their daughter and her new boyfriend return home for the weekend, hidden secrets are revealed that threaten to destroy the professor’s esteemed reputation and career.
Thursday, March 1 – Saturday, March 31. ETERNAL EQUINOX, written by Joyce Hokin Sachs, directed by Kevin Cochran. Art, sex, conquest and love collide on a fall day in 1923 when the dashing mountaineer George Mallory, who coined the phrase “because it's there,” pays a surprise visit to Charleston, the summer home of two of Britain's most important artists, the Bloomsbury Group painters Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell.
Tuesday, March 6 – Sunday, April 1. THE MARIA PROJECT, written and performed by Marcella Goheen, directed by Larry Moss. A Spanish-American tale that gives voice to Maria Salazar. Through the voices of family over three generations, the story deconstructs a family history down to the secret that shaped its destiny.
With the Signature's new Frank Gehry-designed home at 480 W. 42nd Street, near 10th Avenue, comes an expanded residency program, entitled Residency Five initiative. Playwrights chosen to initiate the program will be Annie Baker, Will Eno, Katori Hall, Kenneth Lonergan and Regina Taylor. The program guarantees each playwright three world-premiere productions of new plays over the course of a five-year residency. This is the first program of its kind in the American theater. Residency Five playwrights receive a significant cash award, full health benefits, a stipend to attend theater, access to Signature’s resources and staff, and like all of Signature’s playwrights, a place at the center of the artistic process
The Residency One Athol Fugard Series will feature Blood Knot (previews beginning in January 31st), My Children! My Africa! and the New York premiere of The Train Driver. Mr. Fugard will direct Blood Knot and The Train Driver. Ruben Santiago-Hudson will direct My Children! My Africa! Signature’s Legacy Program, a homecoming for past Signature Playwrights-in-Residence, will feature the World Premiere of Edward Albee’s Laying an Egg, The Residency Five plays will include Katori Hall’s Hurt Village, directed by Patricia McGregor, Will Eno’s Title and Deed, directed by Judy Hegarty Lovett. Kenneth Lonergan's playm still TBA will be a World Premiere.
The Signature price initiative continues but with the cost per ticket during the initially announced run period now $25 instead of $15. Subscriptions are on sale now by calling the Box Office at 212-244-PLAY or visiting the newly redesigned www.signaturetheatre.org.
Kelli O'Hara is returning to Broadway next April, and this time opposite Matthew Broderick in a new musical comedy NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT directed and choreographed by three-time Tony Award-winner Kathleen Marshall. The book by two-time Tony Award-winner Joe DiPietro follows Billie Bendix (Kelli O'Hara), a tough-as-nails bootlegger who meets up with wealthy playboy Jimmy Winter (Matthew Broderick) on the weekend of his nuptials. It will feature a hit parade of iconic George and Ira Gershwin songs as well as some unknown gems in their catalog. It's a new take on a classic 1920’s musical farce. Additional casting, venue and creative team will be announced shortly.
TACT/The Actors Company Theatre's next r Mainstage productions is Lost in Yonkers, the 1991 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Neil Simon is a memory play set in 1942 Yonkers. Bella is 35-years-old, mentally challenged and living at home with her mother, stern Grandma Kurnitz. As the play opens, ne'r do-well son Eddie deposits his two young sons on the old lady's doorstep. He is financially strapped and taking to the road as a salesman. The boys are left to contend with Grandma, with Bella and her secret romance, and with Louie, her brother, a small-time hood in a strange new world called Yonkers. TACT Co-Artistic Director Jenn Thompson directs. Performances begin Tuesday, March 14th, 2012. Opening Night is Thursday, March 22nd at 7:30pm. Performances will continue through April 14th. The cast and creative team for both productions will be announced at a later date. Follow the Classic Stage Compan'sy (CSC) successful addition to it's Chekhov Cycle with The Cherry Orchard they will present the following:In February, CSC veteran and Academy Award-winner F. Murray Abraham will star in Bertolt Brecht’s Galileo, taking on one of the great roles in the modern repertory, directed by Brian Kulick. From February 1 to March 11.
Beginning March 28, two-time Tony Award winner Bebe Neuwirth will star as Titania in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Tony Speciale. Through May 6.
The 2011-12 season will also reunite CSC with the Graduate Acting Program of the Columbia University School of the Arts. The Young Company's program will feature Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing from March 6 to March 18. And in April, CSC will bring back its popular Open Rehearsal Series, featuring a company of seasoned actors and directors exploring a classic text over the course of three Monday evenings. This coming season will focus on Shakespeare’s Antony & Cleopatra, on April 16, 23 & 30. iate Artistic Director Tony Speciale.
Mark your calendar for the Encores! 2012 season.
The invaluable Encores! 19th season will open in City Center’s newly restored and renovated theater on February 8, 2012 with Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, and will continue with Rodgers and Hammerstein’s rarely seen Pipe Dream on March 28¸ followed by Jule Styne and Leo Robin’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes on May 9. For the first time, each musical will play for seven performances.
Still to Come in the Public Theater's 56th Season is set to include the following: January 19 – February 5, 2012. GOB SQUAD’S KITCHEN (You've Never Had It So Good) devised and performed by Gob Squad. The German/British collective Gob Squad reconstructs Warhol's films in the quest to illuminate the past for a new generation, reflecting on the nature of authenticity, the here and now, and the hidden depths beneath the shiny surfaces of modern life. The group was a hit at The Public’s 2011 Under the Radar Festival.
February 21 – March 25, 2012. World Premiere of THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAN by Nathan Englander, directed by Barry Edelstein. Adapted short story of the same name in which Stalin’s secret police have rounded up 26 writers, the giants of Yiddish literature in Russia. As judgment looms, a twenty-seventh suddenly appears: Pinchas Pelovits, unpublished and unknown. Baffled by his arrest, he and his cellmates wrestle with the mysteries of party loyalty and politics, culture and identity, and with what it means to write in troubled times. When they discover why the twenty-seventh man is among them, the writers come to realize that even in the face of tyranny, stories still have the power to transcend.
May/June 2012. World Premiere FEBRUARY HOUSE. Music and Lyrics by Gabriel Kahane. Book by Seth Bockley. Directed by Davis McCallum. Visionary and flamboyant editor George Davis transforms a dilapidated Brooklyn boarding house into a bohemian commune for the leading lights of 1940s New York. Residents include novelist Carson McCullers, composer Benjamin Britten, poet W.H. Auden, and the infamous Gypsy Rose Lee. The luminaries of 7 Middagh Street form a tumultuous makeshift family, and search for love, inspiration, and refuge from the looming war in Europe. Inspired by true events.
Forthcoming from Playwrights Horizons 2011/2012 Season.
RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN. World Premiere of a new play commissioned by Playwrights Horizons by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Obie Award winner Gina Gionfriddo (Becky Shaw). Directed by Peter DuBois (Becky Shaw, Measure for Pleasure, Jack Goes Boating, Artistic Director of Huntington Theatre Company)ASSISTANCE. the New York premiere of a new play by Leslye Headland (Bachelorette), directed by Trip Cullman (A Small Fire, The Drunken City and Manic Flight Reaction at PH, Bachelorette)
THE BIG MEAL. the New York premiere of a new play by Dan LeFranc (Sixty Miles to Silver Lake for P73/Soho Rep, In the Labyrinth at Soho Rep), directed by Obie Award winner Sam Gold (Circle Mirror Transformation and the current Kin at PH, Tigers Be Still, The Aliens, The Coward), presented at Playwrights Horizons' smaller Peter Jay Sharp Theater.
Though the Lincoln Triangle location of the giant book chain will shutter and be replaced by a clothing chain (Century 21). . .the company will continue the series which often featured theater events at its remaining locations.
The Upper East Side flagship B&N at 150 East 86th Street will serve as the primary location for Broadway and theatre-related performance events. The location features an enclosed space, capable of seating up to 175 people, and includes a grand piano, as well as professional sound and lighting. The B&N located on the Upper West Side (2289 Broadway) will host group discussions and talkbacks with casts and artists.Good Deals for handicapped theater lovers:
The mission of the Theater Development Fund (TDF0 is to increase access to theater for all audiences. That's why their TAP program is a boon for anyone who's hard of hearing or deaf, l has ow or no vision ore requires special seating according to need. There is no annual fe to obtain an a 50% discount for special need orchestra tickets but you must be a TAP member and provide evidence of eligibility. To check out details and other TDF services, see the website: www.tdf.org/tap. To obtain an application for TAP membership: 212/729-4537 or email tap@tdf.org. TDF launches off-Off @ $9-- a new online service building off-Off Broadway audiences by providing $9 advance eTix to TDF members. This allows TDF members to explore the smaller stages, beyond Broadway and Off Broadway, where innovative artists are creating new and adventurous works. There will be no handling fee. The program begins at an opportune time as we are in the midst of the many play festivals around the city. (most listed in Curtainup's Off-Broadway Listings
To learn more information: www.tdf.org.
Short Term Events
Striking 12. Dec. 26 to Dec. 31 at The Metropolitan Room 34 West 22nd Street, This charming holiday concert musical by the pop trio GrooveLily and librettist Rachel Sheinkin, returns to New York City for a brief run. for details see our review during its Off-Broadway run Tickets are $35, with a two-beverage minimum. For reservations, for schedule details and tickets (212) 206-0440 or www.metropolitanroom.com. |
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