offoffBway.com

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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Two comments about this one:
– one way to make sure your show is in the top of an alphabetical listing of shows is to start it with an apostrophe.
– is this too soon to be doing a show about the tsunami?

Well, at least it’s not a musical. And the cast sounds good, and the director also did ‘The Fartiste’ at this year’s FringeNYC. We can’t make a joke there, because it’s just… well, it’s too soon. The Fringe only just ended. Perfs start September 6th at Theater Row Studios, click here and see below for more info.

Partial Comfort Productions (winner of Best Ensemble at FringeNYC 2006 for Open House) invites you to the World Premiere of ‘NAMI . The production reunites playwright Chad Beckim with director John Gould Rubin (director of the The Fartiste at FringeNYC), the duo behind the critically acclaimed 2005 hit …a matter of choice.
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It’s not quite as catchy a title as My Life as a Dog, but it is set in 1998, which is, like, almost ten years ago. Plus the press release promises that ‘Self-Discovery Is Only A Plane Ride Away’. As if you didn’t know that already. Read below for more info on this new romantic comedy which stars Jeff Branson of “All My Children” (you know whether or not that’s important to you).

MY LIFE AS YOU
by Laura Rohrman
directed by Fritz Brekeller
presented by the Waverly Writers Collection in Association with Frendz Productions
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We told you before, but now we’ll tell you again, okay? Karen Finley is not covered in chocolate (at least not as far as we know), but she is at the Cutting Room September 8-10. This show has a lotta Liza impersonations. You know whether or not that’s for you.

September 8-10 :
KAREN FINLEY: MAKE LOVE (The Cutting Room, 19 West 24th Street).
Performance artist KAREN FINLEY honors the 5th Anniversary of 9/11
with an encore engagement of her critically acclaimed piece MAKE LOVE.
This cabaret-driven, lounge-style act co-stars drag performer and
artist Chris Tanner, pianist Lance Cruce, and a rotating roster of
LIZA MINNELLI impersonators. This encore engagement has been updated
and slightly modified to reflect current events. Friday – Sunday at
8pm. $20. For tickets call 212-352-3101 or visit
www.TheaterMania.com.

Did s/he ever leave? The Village Voice thinks s/he’s “inappropriate”, which should at least be enough to make you curious. Cutting Room, September 1-3. Check it out:

September 1-3:
JACKIE BEAT: HOW TO ACHIEVE THAT NATURAL LOOK (The Cutting Room, 19
West 24th Street).
The Village Voice recently labeled drag star JACKIE BEAT,
“inappropriate, lewd and disgusting.” And that’s why we love her. In
her annual Labor Day Weekend visit, Beat brings us a new evening of
her classic twisted songs, rude stories and bad behavior. 3 shows only
— Friday, Saturday & Sunday at 8pm. $18. For tickets call
212-352-3101 or visit www.TheaterMania.com.

We don’t know if this is still technically off-off Broadway since there’s a big time movie star performing there. On the other hand, Clare Danes did a show there, so I guess it’s not so unusual. Regardless of how many off’s one wants to use when describing the theater, there’s no denying that having the star of a huge summer movie like Talladega Nights is a cool thing. Reilly’s done theater in NYC before, notably “True West” with Philip Seymour Hoffman. (And he was so freakin’ good in Boogie Nights.) Yeah, whatever, you say? Look, the more actors who come back and do theater after their fame and success level has surpassed most folks’ wildest dreams… well, in theory that means that other actors will follow suit. That brings more attention to smaller theaters (and PS122, excellent though they are, is still smaller than the big Broadway boys uptown).
Okay, now for the potentially scary news. It’s so long you need to eat during the show.
To be fair, that’s not exactly right. There are two parts, and on some nights you can see both of them. “Kentucky Cycle”, “Angels in America”, “Nicholas Nickleby” – all long. Of them, we’re pretty sure that only “Nicholas Nickleby” had a dinner break, but that one was REALLY long (almost a full day). All were fairly well received. There was the recent Synge festival, which was long enough to need a mid-show meal, but that was more than one play. So we’re admittedly wary, but hopeful that this Tale can hold its own with other lengthy theater experiences. Details about the show and its schedule (and the other people who are in it besides Mr. Big Time Movie Star) are below.

Bi-Coastal World Premiere of Heather Woodbury’s
Tale of 2Cities
Begins at Performance Space 122
October 12 THROUGH 29

Oscar®, Golden Globe and Tony Award® Nominee John C. Reilly
Joins Woodbury’s Ensemble Cast

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MARCO MILLIONS (based on lies), is the latest from the theater ensemble Waterwell. It’s based on a Eugene O’Neill play, but not a well known one. Broadway.com put it well when they said “If asked to name a Eugene O’Neill play, Marco Millions would hardly be the first off anyone’s tongue.” No kidding.
On the other hand, that’s a smart thing to do. Does New York really need yet another production of Desire Under the Elms? Nothing against that one, or any other O’Neill, but if you’re going to do something, why do what everyone else is doing?
So Waterwell gets points for at least trying something different.
Aside: we freely admit that when reading the title of this show, we said “Huh?” and had to restrain ourselves from drooling like big dummies. Then we actually went and researched it a bit, and found that there have been a lot of nice notices for this piece (they seem to call their shows “drops” rather than, well, shows).
Decide for yourself, and as always, let us know if you see this puppy. Sorry, we mean “drop”. Press release and logo coming…. NOW!
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AGAIN with the bad puns. Well, that’s not really a pun, it’s more of a joke. But it’s still bad. (If you don’t get it, it’s a take off on the tag line for Trix cereal. Exciting we know.)
IS THERE A POINT HERE?
Yes, of course. This is a new production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The trick? It’s ALL WOMEN. Considering how many years Shakey’s plays were done with all dudes, this only seems fair.
Press release and the way cool postcard are below. If you see this show (or any other, frankly), contact us (info is here) and let us know.

Foolish Mortals Presents
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
Directed by Blake Bradford
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