offoffBway.com

…while NYC Theaters do, um, nothing.
That said, maybe this makes sense. 9/11 is a very tough topic for New Yorkers to handle, for obvious reasons. In many ways, we don’t really want to remember it. And The Guys did start out here, at the Flea Theater. And to be fair, it is entirely possible that there are theatrical 9/11-themed events going on in the Big Apple that we know nothing about. Down and dirty reporting is not our strong suit.

Playbill News: Canadian Theatres Remember 9/11 With Performances Benefitting Firefighter Charities

The headlines are solid: Pushing Forward And Getting Nowhere by Eric Grode, and Making an Impact, but on Whom? by Kate Taylor. And yes, the Sun is an actual newspaper, even though nobody reads it. Amazing.

Les Freres is the company that brought us A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant (you can now buy the cast album for that show if you want it), as well as the more recent Heddatron. This next one features neither L. Ron Hubbard (nor Tom Cruise or even the image of the Golden Child). It is, however, a Halloween show, and that should be good for some yuks, coming from this troupe.
Their website says it will scare the Jesus into you. Apparently Every Halloween, Evangelical churches across America stage haunted houses that replace the traditional ghosts and ghouls with real depictions of evil: high school cheerleaders getting abortions, gay men dying of AIDS, and children reading Harry Potter. Now, for the first time ever, this cultural phenomenon comes to New York City- with the Church’s own script fully intact.. Children reading Harry Potter?!?!?!? Heavens to Betsy, lock up your daughters!

This Halloween, come celebrate like the true believers…

ARTS AT ST. ANN’S PRESENTS

LES FRERES CORBUSIER’S

HELL HOUSE

BEGINNING SUNDAY, OCTOBER 1

OPENING NIGHT SET FOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10
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Call us crazy, but we like site-specific theater. There’s something about being in a place that’s the same as the place where the show you are watching is taking place. (Say that ten times fast.) One of our favorites in the genre was the now-defunct En Garde Arts’ production of T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland, which starred Fiona Shaw and was nothing short of amazing. Fiona Shaw performed the famous poem in a theater that was literally falling down around you as the show went on. Easily one of the more amazing pieces seen in New York in the past 20 years, largely because of the setting.

This show is a little different. Instead of a great British actress, you’ve got a cast of 50 (-choke-), 14 directors (-double choke-), all visiting theatrical landmarks in the West Village. As they say in the press release, “OFF Stage: the West Village Fragments” long-term mission is to persuade the city to install permanent plaques at each historic Village location in order to commemorate its artistic legacy. “It’s impossible to stop all the change,” notes PWP’s Co-Artistic Director Ralph Lewis. “The reason you have to do these sorts of events is to remind people that when you do change, don’t forget that there used to be these important places and events here. It’s also a way to draw attention to some of the material that influenced our desire to be part of this community as well as to draw attention to all of these old spaces that no longer exist.” Sounds good to us. Full press release, with a lot of info about the company, Peculiar Works, is after the jump. September 21 through October 7, check out our new calendar page for the start date of these and other shows.

PECULIAR WORKS PROJECT

presents a site-specific multi-venue theater production

“OFF Stage: the West Village Fragments”

FEATURING A COMPANY OF 50 ACTORS, 14 DIRECTORS,

and VISITING A DOZEN THEATRICAL LANDMARKS

IN HISTORIC GREENWICH VILLAGE

SEPTEMBER 21 through OCTOBER 7

THREE TOURS NIGHTLY—THURSDAYS thru SUNDAYS

OFFICIALLY OPENS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
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Well, that was fast. John C. Reilly was going to be in a show at PS 122, but now he is not. Bummer. Reason given is “scheduling conflict”. If it were someone else, we might not buy it, but John seems like a good guy, so we do. Not that we know the guy, it’s just our impression that he’s not a tool.
Aside #1: isn’t it interesting how we form opinions of actors based on their on and off-screen demeanors? For example, Meryl Streep seems like a very cool lady. Hugh Grant seems like a prick. Having never met either of them for even a nanosecond, what the hell do we know? But there you are.
New press release for the show John’s leaving (boo-hoo), which is called TALE OF 2CITIES and is written by Heather Woodbury, is below.
Aside #2: This might actually be a good thing for the author of the play. Granted, it’s nice to have a big star in your play, but then everything becomes about the star. With a new play, that’s not necessarily what you want, especially if you happen to be the author of that new play.

JOHN C. REILLY WITHDRAWS FROM

HEATHER WOODBURY’S TALE OF 2CITIES

SCHEDULED TO BEGIN PERFORMANCES AT PERFORMANCE SPACE 122

OCTOBER 12 THROUGH 29

REPLACEMENT TO BE ANNOUNCED
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First there was The Maternal Instinct, and now this. (Both plays are about lesbian marriages.) Is this, dare we say, a trend?
A little pricier than usual at $30 ($19 for students), but it’s British. Everything is more expensive when it’s imported. Official info is below:

Fresh from London in its US Premiere!
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