Postcard: Mad Forest

QED Productions presents
Mad Forest
A new production of Caryl Churchill's play.
Directed by Julia O'Brien
Final Week: thru March 4th
Hudson Guild Theatre
441 West 26th Street
For Tickets & Info: www.qedproductions.org

Postcard: H.M.S. Pinafore

The Vortex Theater Company presents
H.M.S. Pinafore
A radical new version of the Gilbert & Sullivan classic.
Directed by Dave Dalton
March 5 - March 31, 2007
Sanford Meisner Theater
164 11th Avenue
For Tickets & Info: www.vortextheater.com

Journey's End: 02/21/2007

If ever there was a case to be made for giving a Tony Award for for an ensemble of actors, that case is being made at the Belasco Theatre where Journey's End is currently blowing away audiences nightly. Based on the real-life experiences of playwright R.C. Sherriff, the play is a tight, tense, emotional portrait of several days on the front line in France during World Ward I. It's a pleasure to see an audience as involved and engaged in a two-and-a-half-hour, almost plot-less drama as the one I sat with this evening. David Grindley, who directed the play a few years ago in London, has assembled a perfect, mostly American cast, lead by the superb Hugh Dancy and Boyd Gaines. Let's hope that Journey's End, bucks the trend and a thought-provoking intense drama can find success on Broadway.

For tickets & Info: Telecharge

All That I Will Ever Be: 02/20/2007

Alan Ball's All That I Will Ever Be is an interesting mess of a play. There are parts that are absolutely riveting and there are parts that are absolutely stage-y in the worst sense of the word. Peter Macdissi plays a bisexual male prostitute who is constantly reinventing himself as much for his own sake as for the “pleasure” of his clients. We constantly question who Omar is, if that is even his real name. And then we question who anyone is – are we the sum of our past experiences and if so how is that different (if at all) from the story we tell to others. Its a fascinating premise and when All That I Will Ever Be plays on that premise it borders on brilliant. And then there is the rest of the play, in which characters are able to all-too-eloquently sum up their emotions, and glibly confront each other. The cast is uniformly excellent and I'm beginning to think Jo Bonney's accolades as director are truly the result of the talented casts she is lucky enough to assemble.

For tickets & info: www.nytw.org

Send Off-Off Blogway Your Show Postcard!

Off-Off Blogway loves show postcards.

If you e-mail your show postcard we will post it on the site: LudlowLad3000@aol.com

Postcard: Hotel Oracle

The Sum of Us Theatre Company presents
Hotel Oracle
A New Play About Peregrinations And Post-Its
by Bixby Elliot
directed by Stephen Brackett
March 8 to 31, 2007
at Walkerspace
46 Walker Street (in Tribeca)
For Tikets and Info: www.hoteloracle.org

Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris

...well, at least "alive", but not for long - this revival is about to close. As for "well" ...well, not really. The group numbers really soar, as does Gay Marshall in her solo songs. Former American Idol, Constantine Maroulis is charming if a bit mannered. But the real problem is the tone of the evening...cheap laughs, sentimentality, song and dance...it's all there, but jarringly so from song to song. Maybe audiences today expect more than they did in 1968, they certainly pay more.

For Tickets & Info: Telecharge

Off Off Blogway Turns 1

It was one year ago today that I started Off Off Blogway. It was a snowy night and I was on my way home from seeing a show at The Brick Theater in Williamsburg. There were only a three people in the audience, one of which was the guy at from box office. I liked the show and wanted to talk about in a way that would possibly “get the word out”. From there it became a way to put down my thoughts about the shows I see, give a “heads up” about shows that are coming soon, and a way to comment on other media coverage of the theater scene.

Thanks to all that have visited.

Follies: 02/09/2007

There is a very telling moment in the current Encores presentation of Stephen Sondheim's Follies. In the second act, Phyllis (Donna Murphy) is singing the drippingly sarcastic “Could I Leave You?” in which she is listing all the things she would no longer have to deal with if married to Ben. At one point while mentioning “the World's Best Books” Murphy takes her script (which all the actors are carrying) and slams it onto the stage. This may be a major milestone in theater history; a physical representation of the primary problem with Follies – it's cliché-ridden dog of a book. Other than its book, Follies is a great musical. City Center's Encores, which has basically become a glorified backer's audition for Broadway revivals, has assembled a very good cast; the standouts being: Donna Murphy, Mimi Hines, Michael McGrath, JoAnne Worley and especially Victoria Clark. Follies has become the ultimate underdog of a musical, for which its fans are awaiting the quintessential production. These fans were all in attendance at City Center, anticipating every moment. Alas, I don't think the penultimate production will ever arrive as long as this book is along for the ride.

For Tickets & Info: www.nycitycenter.org

Toys in the Attic: 02/06/2007

Lillian Hellman's Toys in the Attic is a strange play. It's part Suddenly Last Summer and part Rasin in the Sun. It's as melodramatic as can be and yet has some bits of wisdom, emotion and insanity, hints of incest and morphine use . Austin Pendleton's production for The Pearl Theatre Company is mostly very respectable and his cast is generally excellent. Rachel Botchan, Robin Leslie Brown, Ivy Vahanian and Joanne Camp to a fine job and Sean McNall is outstanding. Although Act One starts out a little too slow and Act Three gets slightly messy, Act Two is simply remarkable. Overall, it's a pleasure to see this odd play given life on St. Marks Place. I'd love to see The Pearl tackle The Children's Hour one day soon.

For Tickets & Info: www.pearltheatre.org