New Blog: THEATER OF THE TIMES

So, now that THE NEW YORK TIMES is charging for content, Ludlow Lad has started a new blog recapping theater reviews from The Paper of Record in a new blog:

THE THEATER OF THE TIMES

Enjoy!

Last Chance: Here At Home & The Tempest

This weekend is the closing for two excellent shows that Ludlow Lad can highly recommend.

31 Down's HERE AT HOME is an hypnotic and disorienting piece about war. It is expertly directed and designed.

And Target Margin is finish off their 20th Anniversary Season with Shakespeare and THE TEMPEST complete with a Globe-like reconstruction and an original score.

Both shows are worth checking out before they disappear.

The NON-Broadway Drama Desk Award Winners

Being an non-Broadway show nominated for a Drama Desk Award is sort of like being invited to Thanksgiving dinner, but being forced to sit a the Children's Table. Off Broadway shows are eligible for Drama Desk Awards, are often nominated, but seldom win.

So here are the NON-Broadway Drama Desk Award Winners for 2011:

Outstanding Book of a Musical:

Adam Mathias, See Rock City + Other Destinations

Outstanding Music in a Play:
Wayne Barker, Peter and the Starcatcher

Unique Theatrical Experience:

Sleep No More
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Congratulations and see you next year!

The 2011 OBIE Awards

The winners of the 2011 OBIE Awards were announced tonight at Webster Hall. And the winners are:

Best New American Play
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity by Kristoffer Diaz (Second Stage)


Lifetime Achievement
Repertorio Espanol and its co-founder and artistic director, René Buch


Performance
F. Murray Abraham, sustained excellence of performance
André Braugher, The Whipping Man (Manhattan Theatre Club)
Michael Chernus, In the Wake (Public Theater)
Ethan Hawke, Blood from a Stone (The New Group)
Hamish Linklater, The School for Lies (Classic Stage Company)
Laurie Metcalf, The Other Place (Manhattan Class Company)
Thomas Sadoski, Other Desert Cities (Lincoln Center Theater)
Scott Shepherd, Gatz (Elevator Repair Service / Public Theater)
Brenda Wehle, The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism With a Key to the Scriptures (Signature Theatre / Public Theater)
Charlayne Woodard, The Witch of Edmonton (Red Bull Theater)

Playwriting
Samuel D. Hunter, A Bright New Boise (Partial Comfort Productions)
Jonas Hassen Khemiri, Invasion! (The Play Company)

Direction
Austin Pendleton, Three Sisters (Classic Stage Company)
Roger Rees and Alex Timbers, Peter and the Starcatcher (New York Theatre Workshop)
Leigh Silverman [pictured right], In the Wake (Public Theater) and Go Back to Where You Are (Playwrights Horizons)

Design
Jill BC Du Boff, sustained excellence of sound design
Donyale Werle, sustained excellence of set design

Special Citations
Design and choreography, Sleep No More (Punchdrunk Theatre) Felix Barrett, Livi Vaughan, Beatrice Minns, Maxine Doyle, Stephen Dobbie, Euan Maybank, and David Israel Reynoso
Young Jean Lee, We're Gonna Die (13P / Joe’s Pub)
debbie tucker green and Leah C. Gardiner, Born Bad (Soho Rep)

Obie Grants ($2,500 to each theater)
Metropolitan Playhouse
Wakka Wakka

The Ross Wetzsteon Award
Belarus Free Theatre

SILENCE! The Musical! - It's Baaaaaaaaak!

Originally produced at the New York International Fringe Festival in 2005, Silence! The Musical! is back for a commercial run in NYC. The always-hilarious Jenn Harris is also back as Clarice Starling (the Jodi Foster part) and Brent Barrett will play Hannibal Lecter.

Silence! The Musical! will run June 24 - August 13 at Theater 80 St. Marks.

Fridays at 8pm
Saturdays at 8pm &10:30pm

Tickets are: $48, $38 and $25

For Tickets and Info: www.silencethemusicalnyc.com

Clubbed Thumb Summerworks 2011

The terrific Clubbed Thumb Summerworks has announced this summer's three shows:
ENFRASCADA
by Tanya Saracho
directed by Jerry Ruiz
In which Alicia tries to make time go backward, ensnarling her expressive friends, their conjurers and a lot of jars. with Flora Diaz, Annie Henk, Anna Lamadrid, Jessica Pimentel, Christina Pumariega
June 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11 at 8:30 PM TICKETS

OUR LOT
by Kristin Newbom & W. David Hancock
directed by May Adrales
In which three siblings clear out their dead step-dad's trash. Or is it their legacy? And who gets the haunted van? with Joanna P. Adler, Nathan Hinton, Mariann Mayberry, Paul Niebanck
June 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18 at 8:30 PM TICKETS

CIVILIZATION (ALL YOU CAN EAT)
by Jason Grote
directed by Seth Bockley
In which ambitious gurus, entertainers, wage slaves and a giant pig let their appetites get the better of them. with Jeff Biehl, Reyna de Courcy, Judith Hawking, Melissa Miller, Andres Munar, Melle Powers, Tony Torn
June 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25 at 8:30 PM TICKETS

2011 Lucille Lortel Award Winners

Outstanding Play
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity
Produced by Second Stage Theatre;
Written by Kristoffer Diaz

Outstanding Musical
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
Produced by The Public Theater and Center Theatre Group
in association with Les Freres Corbusier;
Music and Lyrics by Michael Friedman, Book by Alex Timbers

Outstanding Solo Show
Mike Birbiglia's My Girlfriend's BoyfriendProduced by Ron Delsener and Mike Lavoie;
Written and Performed by Mike Birbiglia

Outstanding Revival
Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes
Part 1: Millennium Approaches,
Part 2: PerestroikaProduced by Signature Theatre Company;
Written by Tony Kushner

Outstanding Director
John Collins, Gatz

Outstanding Choreographer
Steven Hoggett, Peter and the Starcatcher

Outstanding Lead Actor
Christian Borle, Peter and the Starcatcher

Outstanding Lead Actress
Laurie Metcalf, The Other Place

Outstanding Featured Actor
Thomas Sadoski, Other Desert Cities

Outstanding Featured Actress
Kristen Schaal, The Coward

Outstanding Scenic Design
Donyale Werle, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

Outstanding Costume Design
Gabriel Berry, The Coward

Outstanding Lighting Design
Ben Stanton, The Whipping Man

Outstanding Sound Design
Mikhail Fiksel, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity

Special Awards
Lifetime Achievement Award: Lynne Meadow

Service to Off-Broadway Award: Gary Glaser

Outstanding Alternative Theatrical Experience:
Gatz - Produced by The Public Theater