Tour - Broadway Theatre: Up Close & Personal

Broadway Open House Tours provide an insider look at Manhattan's Theatre District. You will visit 15 different Broadway playhouses, including exclusive access to at least two theatre interiors. An in depth history of the Great White Way with exclusive stories about the stars who performed in each of the venues will forever change the way you think of Broadway. Tours depart Tuesday through Saturday at 10:00am from the Broadway Ticket Center at the Times Square Visitors’ Center (Broadway between 46th and 47th Streets.) For more information and to purchase tickets, please call (212) 239-6200 or go to their web site, www.livebroadway.com.

 

Off-Broadway

The Ark, a new musical that sheds a new light on the story of Noah, his family and the animals that floated two by two. Opening on October 14 at the 37 Arts Theatre, 450 West 37th Street (between Ninth and Tenth Avenues) this Michael McLean, Kevin Kelly musical stars Paul Harmon and Annie Golden. The play, which features music ranging from pop to gospel, offers us a close look at a family’s struggle and the love it takes to overcome challenges.

In the Wings, a new comedy with music featuring Marilyn Sokol and Peter Scolari is set in 1978 and tells the story of a couple’s big break when they are cast in a new musical, I Married A Communist, written by their svengali-like acting teacher, Bernardo. The play opens on September 9 at the Promenade Theatre, 2162 Broadway at 76th Street and is scheduled for an open-ended run.


The Great American Trailer Park Musical opens on September 15 at Dodger 340 West 50th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues). This new musical comedy is the story of an agoraphobic, Dr. Phil-loving housewife who must save her marriage when a hot, young stripper moves in next door and gets friendly with her husband. It is scheduled for an open-ended run.

Atlantic Theater Company has produced great plays utilizing an artistic ensemble of prominent actor, writers and directors since its inception seventeen years ago. For more information on the following shows please call the theatre at (212) 645-8015 or go to their web site, www.atlantictheater.org.

The hilarious and poignant new play, Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow by extraordinary young writer, Rolin Jones opens August 31 at the Mainstage Theatre, 336 West 20th Street (Between Seventh and Eighth Avenue.) Desperate to find her birth mother in China, Jenny, an average girl who re-engineers obsolete missile components for the U.S. Army uses her technological genius to devise a new form of human contact.

Harold Pinter’s first play, The Room and his most recent one-act, Celebration complement each other in this riveting double-bill. Celebration opens on a wedding anniversary in an ultra-trendy restaurant, with three successful couples jockeying for the upper hand. In contrast, The Room reveals a shabby one-room London flat and descends into a nightmare world of insecurity and uncertainty. The production opens on November 16 at the Mainstage Theatre, 336 West 20th Street.

Playwright, Martin McDonagh’s scorchingly black comedy, The Lieutenant of Inishmore set in 1993 on the island of Inishmore, off the coast of Ireland follows the story of, Padraic, a terrorist with no feeling for those he blows up, who has an obsessive attachment to Thomas, his beloved cat. When the cat mysteriously dies the town’s folk must conceal it fearing that 'Mad Padraic' will suspect foul play and takes revenge. The play opens on February 8 at the Mainstage Theatre, 336 West 20th.

Written in 1891 by Frank Wedekind and banned for 70 years, Spring Awakening is the haunting and powerful tale of tragic young love. Grammy nominated singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik and playwright Steven Sater breathe new life into masterpiece with their beautifully dark musical adaptation. The production opens on May 10 at the Mainstage Theatre, 336 West 20th.

For nearly forty years the award-winning, Classic Stage Company has been committed to re-imagining the classical repertory for a contemporary American audience. Opening the 2005-2006 Michael Cumpsty plays William Shakespeare’s Hamlet at the Classic Stage Theatre, 136 East 13th Street (between Third and Fourth Avenues) beginning November 2 with an anticipated closing date of December 15. An exquisite re-telling of classic tragedy. For more information on this show or to find out about their complete 2005-2006 season please contact them at (212) 677-4210 x13 or go to their web site, www.classicstage.org.

Founded in 1996 the Flea Theatre, 41 White Street has become a downtown beacon for creative artists of every discipline, and for audiences seeking bold and inventive work. The fall 2005 season includes A.R. Gurney’s, Screen Play, a politically inspired play set in Buffalo, New York and Ashley Montana Goes Shore in the Ciacos or What Am I Doing Here?, a series of piercingly funny vignettes about aging, angst, missed opportunities, New York, new age, the next big thing and the last hurrah. For additional information please call the theatre at (212) 226-2407 or go to their web site, www.theflea.org.


Lincoln Center Theatre is celebrating 25 years of producing classics from Ibsen to Shakespeare as well as award-wining contemporary plays and musicals. For additional information on the following please contact the theatre at (212) 239-6200 or go to their web site, www.lct.org.

Third, a new play by Wendy Wasserstein opens in previews at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, (150 West 65th Street (between Broadway & Amsterdam) September 29 with an offical opening date of October 24. The play starring Jason Ritter, Charles Durning, Amy Aquino, Gaby Hoffman and Dianne Wiest is a candid, uncompromising portrait of a woman at a crossroads in her life. College professor, Laurie Jameson's seemingly ordered life as a wife, mother and daughter, as well as educator, is thrown into disarray after she accuses a student of plagiarism, the aftermath of which forces her to question the values and ideals she has clung to for so long.

Sarah Ruhl’s new play, The Clean House opens at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, in November 2005. Ruhl's work, about a well-ordered household that is turned upside down when an intriguing new maid arrives, was a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist. Exact opening date to be announced.

The House of Bernarda Alba, a new musical based on Federico Garcia Lorca's play of the same title opens in previews at the Mitzi E. New House Theatre, on January 26 with an official opening date of February 23. The musical follows the story of a tyrannical mother who dominates her five unmarried daughters - all of whom harbor a secret passion for one man. The repressed environment leads to an explosion of hatred, jealousy, despair and passion all ending with tragic consequences.

The House in Town, a new play by Richard Greenberg set in 1929 right before the stock market crash opens in previews at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, on May 11 with an official opening date of June 8.

The MCC Theatre Company is celebrating their 20th year producing works that cause audiences to reexamine the world. For additional information please call them at (212) 279-4200 or go to their web site, www.mcctheater.com.

Colder Than Here by Laura Wade explores one woman’s exploits after finding out that she will soon die. Myra, a housewife tries, for once, to be the model homemaker, wife, and mother, turning her household topsy-turvy as she sets her sights on a few domestic tasks to complete before she leaves this world. She will arrange every last detail of her own funeral and relentlessly try to force her fractured family to communicate with each other. The play stars Judith Light and Lily Rabe and opens at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, 121 Christopher Street on September 7 and will run through October 15.

The Wooden Breeks, an ingenious dark, comic fairytale by Glen Berger opens February 7, 2006 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, 121 Christopher Street and is scheduled to run trough March 11, 2006. In a marvelously imaginative world of dreamers and schemers, a village tinker turned poet is tormented by the memory of a beautiful young girl he adored and who left him with her child and many painful reminders of their doomed romance. He tries to ease his pain by conjuring up a hilarious and extremely moving theatrical tale.

Manhattan Theatre Club is one of the only institutions in the U.S. solely dedicated to producing new plays and musicals. For additional information please contact them at (212) 399-3030 or go to their web site, www.mtc-nyc.org.

The Other Side, a powerful and provocative new play by Ariel Dorfman is set in a country at war. A man and a woman spend their days identifying the casualties until peace is established and a border-guard arrives creating chaos. The play opens in previews on November 10 at CityCenter’s, Stage I Theatre and will officially on December 6, 2005.

John Patrick Shanley’s new drama, Defiance is set on a United States Marine Corps base in North Carolina in 1971. Two officers, one black and one white, are on a collision course over race, women, and the high cost of doing the right thing. Previews begin at CityCenter’s, Stage I Theatre on February 9 with an official opening date of February 28.

Pulitzer Prize winner, Nilo Cruz’s new play, Beauty of the Father, tells the story of a young women who travels to Spain to visit her estranged father and becomes romantically involved with a charming, Moroccan. The play is scheduled to open in winter 2006 at CityCenter’s, Stage II Theatre, 131 West 55th Street (between Sixth and Seventh Avenues.) Dates to be announced.

Based on a Totally True Story, Roberto Aguiree-Sacasa’s new comedy takes the audience into the chaotic world of Hollywood moving making to witness a young playwright’s struggle with a Hollywood producer who would like to turn his play into a horror film. The play is scheduled to open in winter 2006 at CityCenter’s, Stage II Theatre. Dates to be announced.

Primary Stages, one of New York’s premier theatrical companie, scelebrates their 21st season with two exceptional new pieces. For additional information please contact the theatre at (212) 840-9705 or go to their web site, www.primarystages.com.

The Right Kind of People by actor/writer/director, Charles Grodin opens at the 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street (between Madison and Park Avenue) on January 24 and is expected to run through March 5. The sardonic comedy centers on a fashionable Fifth Avenue co-op board as they face issues of race, gender, and social status.

Marta Góes’ drama, A Safe Harbor for Elizabeth Bishop opens at the 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street (between Madison and Park Avenue) on March 21 and is anticipated to run through April 30. Amy Irving stars as legendary poetess Elizabeth. Overflowing with love, loss, politics, and sexual intrigue, A Safe Harbor for Elizabeth Bishop takes you on a journey of redemption and self-acceptance through the power of poetry.

The Signature Theatre has season-long explorations of a single-living playwright's body of work engaging the Playwright-in-Residence in every aspect of the creative process. The 2005-2006 season features Pulitzer Prize winner, August Wilson’s Two Trains Running; the New York premiere of his one-man show, How I Learned What I Learned and World Premiere of Wilson's first new work following his cycle plays. To further explore Mr. Wilson’s body of work, Signature will undertake an ambitious 10-Play/10-Day staged reading marathon of all ten of Mr. Wilson's 20th-century cycle plays. For additional information please contact the theatre at (212) 244-7529 or go to their web site, www.signituretheatre.org.

The Roundabout Theatre Company is committed to re-energizing classic plays and musicals as well as developing and producing new works by some of today's great writers and composers. For information on the following plays please contact the theatre (212) 719-1300 or go to their web site, www.roundabouttheatre.org.

Noah Haidle’s new play, Mr. Marmalade opens on November 1 at the Laura Pels Theatre, 111 West 46th Street (between 6th & 7th Avenues) with and runs through January 29, 2006. In this outrageous new comedy, adult behavior is interpreted by two very smart children in a game of make believe. This imaginary world involves around a too-busy businessman, Mr. Marmalade who never has time for the child who adores him and his wife, Lucy a homemaker with a precocious vocabulary and killer skills in the kitchen.

Entertaining Mr. Sloane, Joe Orton’s comic whirlwind of lust, lies, and lunacy, opens at the Laura Pels Theatre, 111 West 46th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues) in winter of 2006. Depicting a handsome stranger, his libidinous landlady and her gender-bending brother the comedy plays out a sexual tug of war, sparking a series of murderously funny events that are certainly not for the faint of heart or humor.

Playwrights Horizons is a writer's theater company dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers and lyricists, and to the production of their new work. For additional information please contact the theatre at (212) 279-4200 or go to their web site, www.playwrightshorizons.org.

The New York Premiere of James Lapine’s, play Fran’s Bed opened on August 30 at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, 416 West 42nd Street with an anticipated closing date of Ocotber 9. Mia Farrow stars as Fran, a woman incapacitated by her overbearing family and at a midlife crossroads. She guides the audience on an unpredictable and colorful journey into her past in an effort to explain her present situation.

The World Premiere of Sarah Schulman’s play, Manic Flight Reaction opens at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre on October 13 with an anticipated closing date of November 6. This razor-edged comedy follows a middle-aged professor who must confront the demons of her idealistic past when her daughter learns that one of her mother's past liaisons is the wife of the leading presidential candidate.

Christoper Durang’s new play, Miss Witherspoon opens at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre on November 11 and is expected to run through December 18. In this play Veronica, a misguided, spiritually self-denied women is continually sent back to earth by a Hindu spirit guide who tries to make her live lives she adamantly refuses to.

Grey Gardens, a new musical by Doug Wright, Michael Korie and Scott Frankel opens at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre in the spring of 2006. The musical features Christine Ebersole playing Edith Bouvier Beale the deliciously eccentric cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and her adult daughter, “Little” Edie played by Mary Louise Wilson. These once socialites move to East Hampton, New York and become notorious recluses, living in a dilapidated 28-room mansion when craziness ensues.

Pen, a new play by David Marshall Grant featuring J. Smith-Cameron opens at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre in spring of 2006. Pen is a sly, perceptive new play about finding love, losing control, and making sacrifices. It focuses on a mother confined to a wheelchair and her obsessive control on her college-bound son.

Keith Bunin’s new play, The Busy World is Hushed opens at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre in spring of 2006. Hannah, a minister and bible scholar, finds her faith at odds with that of Thomas, her estranged, wayward son.

The Vineyard Theatre is committed to nurturing the work of emerging playwrights and composers, while providing more established artists with a supportive environment in which to experiment, take risks, and grow. For additional information please contact the theatre at (212) 353-0303 or go to their web site, www.vineyardtheatre.org.

The magnificent new epic musical by Kirsten Childs, Miracle Brothers opened on August 28 at the Vineyard Theatre, 108 East 15th Street at Union Square. This sweeping, melodious, funny and deeply moving musical, set in Brazil, features a Samba-inspired score and features an unforgettable cast of characters including sexy and determined slave girls, sassy pirate kings, evil plantation owners, Spanish noblemen, and a singing chorus of devilish river dolphins.

The New Group is commitment to developing and producing powerful, contemporary works. For additional information contact them at (212) 279-4200 or go to their web site, www.thenewgroup.org.

Mike Leigh’s, Abigail’s Party staring Jennifer Jason Leigh opens at The New Group Theatre, 410 West 42nd Street in November of 2005. The New York premiere of this classic satire of British suburbs in the 1970's is a biting, hilarious tale taken straight from life.

The Music Teacher by Wallace Shawn is a unique and startling blend of theatre and opera in which a young teacher and his brilliant female student conceive and perform a new operetta about creation and obsession. The musical is scheduled to open in February 2006 at The New Group Theatre.

Seth Zvi Rosenfeld’s Everything’s Turning Into Beautiful starring Bobby Cannavale and Annabella Sciorra opens in spring of 2006 at The New Group Theatre. This musical story of two songwriters facing their forties and failure takes an unexpected turn when they are faced with the possibility of new love.

The new one-man show written and performed by Michael Brandt, A Spalding Gray Matter explores questions from actor/writer Spalding Gray's illness, disappearance, and assumed suicide as a way of understanding parallel events in Mr. Brandt’s own recent experiences. The play is scheduled to open at The New Group Theatrein May 2006

Food for Thought – Lunch Hour and Cocktail Hour Theatre provides a home for the often-neglected one act play. Enjoy either a buffet-style sandwich lunch or, during the cocktail hour, drinks and hors d’oeurves. Both presentations are held at the National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park Square. For the lunch hour events, guests should arrive just before at 12:30pm and for the cocktail hour events, guests should arrive by 5:30p.m. Following refreshments, you will enjoy a one-act play written by an award-winning writer and read by New York’s finest actors. The plays are presented in a simple fashion, without the trappings of lights or set. To make a reservation or for additional information on their complete 2005-2006 schedule, please call (212) 362-2560 or go to their web site, www.foodforthoughtproductions.com.

Lunch Hour
May 18 – Hughie by Eugene O’Neill

 

The New Victory Theatre, 209 West 42nd Street is the first theater dedicated to presenting a year-round season of high quality professional works for children and families. For additional information please call the theatre at (646) 223-3020 or go to their web site, www.newvictory.org.

April 28 - May 21 - Showcasing the power of the human spirit, renowned children’s author and illustrator, Maurice Sendak's colorful stage designs are the vibrant setting for Tony Kushner's adaptation of two operas, Brundibar and Comedy on the Bridge. In Brundibar, a brother and sister join forces with some talking animals and a throng of children to outwit the sinister organ grinder, Brundibar, and earn enough money to buy milk for their sick mother. Performed 55 times by the children of the Terezin concentration camp, this inspiring work proved to be a powerful protest against the Nazis and continues to provide the timeless message that good can overcome evil. What happens when a pair of sweethearts, a businessman, his wife and a professor become trapped between two warring armies on the middle of a bridge? An opera of course! With nowhere to go and plenty of secrets to hide, these five townspeople become embroiled in a Comedy on the Bridge that is full of love, betrayal and utter merriment.