offoffBway.com

This isn’t really off-off, but it is a review of The Wedding Singer from a New Jersey magazine, which we just thought was kinda funny.

Review: `The Wedding Singer’ (PrincetonInfo.com)

The Wedding Singer (2006 Original Broadway Cast)

The Wedding Singer: Music From The Motion Picture

The Wedding Singer Volume 2: More Music From The Motion Picture

The New Group offers this “new play with music”. With a title like that, it better have music! Ethel Merman, are you listening? (Note: we have no idea if this play has anything to do with Ethel Merman. In fact, it most likely does not.)
Seth Zvi Rosenfeld had a play produced back in 1997 called The Flatted Fifth which starred Danny Hoch; we remember folks liking that one. Seth’s done other stuff since then, this is just his latest work. The New Group is usually good for a solid production. So this one is worth a look, just based on the talent involved. Here’s the deal for those who want to know more:

THE NEW GROUP
PRESENTS THE FINAL PRODUCTION
OF ITS 2005-2006 MAINSTAGE SEASON
“EVERYTHINGS TURNING INTO BEAUTIFUL”

A NEW PLAY WITH MUSIC
WRITTEN BY SETH ZVI ROSENFELD
SONGS BY JIMMIE JAMES
DIRECTED BY CARL FORSMAN
LIMITED OFF-BROADWAY RUN
JULY 17 – AUGUST 26

OFFICIAL OPENING: THURSDAY, AUGUST 3 @ 7:00 PM

THE NEW GROUP @ THEATRE ROW
(THE ACORN THEATER / 410 WEST 42ND STREET)

The New Group proudly presents the final production of its 2005-2006 mainstage season, Everythings Turning Into Beautiful, a new play with music written by Seth Zvi Rosenfeld with songs by Jimmie James. Directed Carl Forsman, this production stars Daphne Rubin-Vega and Malik Yoba. This limited Off-Broadway engagement will play Monday, July 17 – Saturday, August 26 at The New Group @ Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street). Official Opening Night is set for Thursday, August 3 @ 7:00 PM.
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Second Stage Theatre has moved up in the world over the past several years, moving shows to Broadway (like this one, and this one) and doing most of their work at a mid-sized off-Broadway space in midtown. They did, however, wisely hold onto their jewel of a space on the Upper West Side, and here’s the latest offering there:

SECOND STAGE THEATRE
Concludes its 2006 Second Stage Theatre Uptown Series
with the World Premiere of
ALL THIS INTIMACY

Written by RAJIV JOSEPH

Directed by GIOVANNA SARDELLI

* * * * * *

PERFORMANCES BEGIN JULY 17 — OPENING NIGHT IS JULY 27

Following the world premiere of Anton Dudley’s Getting Home, Second Stage Theatre Uptown will conclude its 2006 season with the world premiere of Rajiv Joseph’s All This Intimacy, directed by Giovanna Sardelli. The play will begin previews on July 17 and officially open on July 27 at Second Stage’s uptown home, the McGinn/Cazale Theatre on Broadway @ 76th street. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Second Stage Box Office at 212-246-4422.
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An article by George Hunka about a theater company with a great name: Theater of a Two-Headed Calf.

Shaw, Kabuki, Eva Peron: The Usual Mix – New York Times

It’s not a warning, it’s the title of a play. Based on the film of the same name, it’s from the Hourglass Group, the company that did Mae West’s play SEX a few years back.

Stage Adaptation of 1932 Film Classic Makes Leap To Off-Broadway
TROUBLE IN PARADISE

“Yummy… smooth as silk” – New York Times
“Plays like a million bucks.” – Time Out

Hourglass Group in association with True Faux Productions (Christopher Atamian and Hillary Knill) bumps its critically acclaimed new stage adaptation of TROUBLE IN PARADISE to an Off-Broadway contract for an extension through July 22nd at the Hudson Guild Theatre. Conceived & directed by Elyse Singer, this adaptation of the 1932 Ernst Lubitsch film of the same name and screenplay by Samson Raphaelson is written by David Simpatico and features an original score by downtown jazz veteran Steven Bernstein & the Millennial Territory Orchestra.
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A revival of Cindy Lou Johnson’s play BRILLIANT TRACES, which was originally produced by the sadly defunct Circle Repertory Company. Those who are doing the reviving (veracious reflection theatre company) have a few words to share about why they are doing it. Read on:

BRILLIANT TRACES
by Cindy Lou Johnson

First presented by New York’s prestigious Circle Repertory Company,
this richly imaginative absurdist allegory used fantastic and often
outlandish situations and characterizations to probe into the nature
of modern relationships, both sexual and otherwise.
“Brilliant Traces is kooky, weird and definitely off-kilter, but if
taken in the right spirit, illuminating about how we live today.” — BackStage
“…deals with common issues of love and family, and does so with
characters, story and dialogue so fantastic that they could exist only
within the enchanted realm of the stage.” — NY Times
“Brilliant Traces is one of those plays in which a man and woman
battle it out in a small enclosed space, alternately repulsing and
seducing each other.” — The New Yorker
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Wouldn’t that be… fish food? Okay, okay…

In FOOD FOR FISH, young Bobbie drops pages from his novel into the Hudson River. The pages tell a story of three sisters: a stalker, an agoraphobe and a scientist with a secret plan to isolate and eliminate the gene for love. It is set in a world where men became women and women became men. But how far do you have to bend a gender before it breaks?

July 6-8, 12-15, 19-22, 27-29, 2006 at 8PM ° Kraine Theater, 85 East 4th Street NYC (btw 3rd and 2nd Avenues)

$17 / $10 with student ID ° special $10 previews July 6, and 7 ° tickets ° www.theatermania.com or call 212-352-3101

There’s also a nifty web page here.

This is our new favorite title for a show.

Isaac Byrne, Jennifer Slack-Eaton, Jared Culverhouse: nytheatre voices Interview

…maybe Axl wouldn’t have sunk his teeth into a security guard.

Axl Rose to pay guard he allegedly bit

“Catarina Oscarsson, a spokeswoman for concert organizer Ema Telstar, said the band wasn’t traveling with a publicist and would not comment on the arrest.”

Usually the publicist is to blame, so this time it’s nice to see them get credit. Sort of.

Axl Rose to pay guard he allegedly bit – Yahoo! News

Whoo-hoo! Selling out works! We knew it! Congrats to all involved. Hopefully the next step is a Brick Theater IPO…
In all seriousness, this is one of the best off-off houses in the city. So take the freakin’ L train and get out to Williamsburg to see a show! (We’re not responsible if this happens.)

The Brick Theater, Inc. shamelessly announces EXTENSIONS of several
shows in THE $ELLOUT FESTIVAL

New York, New York June 26, 2006—With the success of this year’s
$ELLOUT FESTIVAL, The Brick Theater, Inc. is proud to continue this
year’s most artistically void summer festival throughout the summer,
with the extension of several shows.

THE $ELLOUT FESTIVAL will now continue to run through Saturday,
August 26 at The Brick Theater (575 Metropolitan Avenue, between
Union and Lorimer Streets, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn). Tickets for
each show are $10, and are available by calling Theatermania at
212-352-3101 (or toll-free at 1-866-811-4111) or online at
www.theatermania.com. For more information regarding THE $ELLOUT
FESTIVAL, visit www.bricktheater.com.

THE $ELLOUT FESTIVAL Extensions:
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