Best of Off Broadway Blog, News, New York, Tickets, Plays, Musicals

Casting Complete for Off-Broadway Musical Adding Machine

Casting is complete for the forthcoming New York premiere of the musical Adding Machine, which won the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Musical at Chicago's Next Theatre Company last season. Performances begin off-Broadway on February 7 at the Minetta Lane Theatre, with opening night set for February 25, directed by David Cromer (Orson's Shadow).

Joining the previously announced trio of Cyrilla Baer as Mrs. Zero, Joel Hatch as Mr. Zero and Amy Warren as Daisy (all of whom appeared in the original production) will be Joe Farrell as Shrdlu, Jeff Still in multiple roles as the Boss, Fixer and Charles, Adinah Alexander as Mrs. Two, Niffer Clarke as Mrs. One, Roger E. DeWitt as Mr. Two and Daniel Marcus as Mr. One.

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Vanessa Simmons Gets The ‘Actor’s Rap’

Beginning January 31st, Actress, entrepreneur and daughter of Reverend Run, Vanessa Simmons is to star in The Actor’s Rap, a new major off-Broadway production written, produced, and directed by playwright and Obie-Award winning actor J Kyle Manzay.

Michael Shawn of Hot 97 fame also stars in the play.

The hip-hop infused comedy, where pop culture meets satire, examines the downward spiral of an African-American actor who begins to lose roles — and a girlfriend — to a famous rapper-turned-actor. Fed up, the play’s protagonist takes matters into his own hands hatching a plan to kidnap his rival (the rapper) by calling upon his classically trained actor buddies to help him pull off the caper. What ensues next is a hilarious sequence of events sure to leave audiences in stitches.

The major Off-Broadway production of The Actors Rap will debut on January 31st at the Engleman Recital Hall of the Baruch Performing Arts Center with runs until March 1, 2008.

“I think that it’s good that people are giving rappers the opportunity to be film stars, but at the same time I feel that because of a name, real hard working actors miss out on great parts where they know they can deliver,” says Vanessa Simmons, who had a reoccurring role on the legendary soap opera The Guiding Light.

As the eldest daughter of hip-hop pioneer, Reverend Run, Vanessa will star alongside the play’s writer, director and producer J Kyle as Lil’ Tease.

'Sisters, Such Devoted Sisters' Begins Limited Off-Broadway Run

The limited Off-Broadway engagement of Russell Barr's Sisters, Such Devoted Sisters, directed by Michael Imperioli begins performances tonight, Wednesday, January 23 through Saturday, February 16 at Studio Dante (257 West 29th   Street).  Opening Night is set for Saturday, January 26 at 8PM.

"Many dark nights spent in the seedy depths of Glasgow's nightlife underworld shape drag queen Bernice Hindley's account of drug-fueled escapades, prostitution and club violence.  Despite the harsh realities of a nightcrawler lifestyle, Bernice tells this story with a wicked sense of humor.  Sisters, Such Devoted Sisters presents a shocking and darkly funny stream of consciousness that introduces a full cast of characters, including Bernice's dysfunctional family and friends.  In this engaging tale of survival, Russell Barr, as Bernice, the tattered Versace-wearing queen, brings to life more than a dozen characters, from a porn-obsessed grandfather to a gang of angry, very violent drag queens," explain press notes.

Playwright and performer Russell Barr appeared in Out of Joint's hit productions of Mark Ravenhill's Shopping and F**king and Some Explicit Polaroids in London's West End.  His film credits include Pure, Regeneration, The Gathering Storm, Land Girls, About a Boy and the lead role in The Slab Boys.  Sisters, Such Devoted Sisters won the inaugural Carol Tambor Award for the Best Production at the Edinburgh Festival in 2004.  It has since enjoyed three sold-out runs in London and been performed at theater festivals around the world, including the Brits Off Broadway festival in New York in 2005.  Russell Barr's second play, The Super Slash Naughty XXXmas Story, involves 12 Jack Russell terriers - one of which plays the baby Jesus - and a midget.  His third play, Caravan, will premiere in London in 2008.  His fourth piece, a musical, is also forthcoming.

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Albee Will Direct Albee at Off-Broadway's Cherry Lane; Ivey Stars

       

Playwright Edward Albee, whose Me, Myself and I is currently making its premiere at New Jersey's McCarter Theatre, will direct two of his early one-acts at the Cherry Lane Theatre.

As previously reported, the Cherry Lane will present Albee's The American Dream and The Sandbox at the Off-Broadway venue March 11-April 19 with an official opening March 25. Both productions will feature Tony Award winner Judith Ivey, Drama Desk Award winners Myra Carter and George Bartenieff as well as Kathleen Butler, Harmon Walsh and Jesse Williams (Sandbox only).

Written in 1959, The Sandbox, press notes state, "introduces one of America's most dysfunctional families, a grasping, materialistic married couple who stage a perverse seaside idyll destined to end in the demise of the wife's aged mother. In this pioneering work, Albee manipulates clichés of language and social mores, breaking the fourth wall and purposefully destroying the audience's illusion of passive observation of the action of the play."

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'Apartment 3A' by Jeff Daniels Premieres Off-Bway Jan.26

The Clockwork Theatre is pleased to announce the production of Apartment 3A, written by acclaimed actor Jeff Daniels and directed by Owen Smith. Apartment 3A will play a 3-week limited engagement at Off-Broadway's Beckett Theatre (410 West 42nd Street) Performances begin Saturday, January 26 through Saturday, February 16. Opening Night is Friday, February 1 at 8PM.

The production features scenic design by Olga Mill, costume design by Jocelyn Melechinsky, lighting design by Joshua Windhausen, and sound design by R. Canterberry Hall & Scott Anderson. Stephanie Cali is the Production Stage Manager.

"Apartment 3A concerns Annie Wilson, a Director of Fundraising at the local PBS station who is left reeling from the loss of what she thought was the love of her life. After moving into a shabby, but conveniently vacant apartment, she searches for a reason to hope again when she meets a next-door neighbor who teaches her what it truly means to be in love forever, and how to have faith in what is to come. Daniels cleverly weaves his unique style of humor into this captivating, charming play," state the press notes.

Secrets of a Soccer Mom to Open Off-Broadway

Caralyn Kozlowski, Nancy Ringham, and Deborah Sonnenberg will star in Secrets of a Soccer Mom, a new play by Kathleen Clark, at the Snapple Theater Center, February 9-April 30. The production, which will open officially on March 20, will be directed by Judith Ivey.

In the play, three women leave their traditional spot on the sidelines to play in the annual mother-son soccer game. Clark is best known as the author of Southern Comforts. The creative team will include Jeff Croiter (lighting design), Elizabeth Flauto (costume design), Lex Liang (set design), and Zach Williamson (sound design).

Ivey is the recipient of the Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Obie Award, and countless others for her stage and film work as an actress and her directing credits include The Butcher of Baraboo, Fugue, Southern Comforts, Steel Magnolias, and More.

Off-Broadway: The Other (Great) White Way!

Broadway: the gold standard for New York theatre - or is it?

If you read between the queues (that would be the folks lining up for theatre tickets in New York), you'll find that some of the hottest shows on Broadway arrived via Off-Broadway. Want proof? How about a trio of Tony-winning musicals: Rent (1998), Avenue Q (2004) and Spring Awakening (2007)? And let's not forget two of this Broadway season's anticipated new arrivals: In the Heights and Passing Strange.

But when it comes to New York's ever-shifting theatre scene, Off-Broadway is actually less a launching pad for the Great White Way than it is a proving ground. When you head Off, you have access to classical theatre revivals, rarely produced works and once-in-a-lifetime limited runs - often involving the talents of major name performers (see sidebar, below).

One of Off's biggest selling points, though, has to be its collection of long-running shows - cult favorites among New Yorkers who just can't seem to get enough, and word-of-mouth must-sees for visitors to the Big Apple.

There is a second generation of long running Off-Broadway shows headed by I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, a charming musical revue about relationships that began its run in 1996. Admittedly, the other contenders surfaced post-millennium - Altar Boyz (2005); My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish & I'm In Therapy! (2006), and a 2006 revival of The Fantasticks (yes, the offspring of the original that opened in 1960 and ran for 42 years) - but they each have a that special "something" that keeps audiences coming back for more!

Drama Desk Ceremony Held May 18th

The 53rd Annual Drama Desk Awards will take place on Sunday, May 18, 2008, at 9PM at the F.H. LaGuardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City, it was announced by Executive Producer Robert R. Blume and William Wolf, President of the Drama Desk.

The nominations will be announced at a news conference on Monday, April 28, at 9AM at the New York Friars Club (57 East 55th Street). Plans for televising, web casting and radio broadcasting the awards ceremony will be announced shortly.

The Drama Desk is unique in that Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway shows compete equally in the same categories. In its ongoing effort to honor excellence in the New York theater, the Drama Desk deems a seventeen-performance minimum necessary to qualify for award eligibility, barring any extraordinary circumstances, as may be determined by the Drama Desk Board or by the Nominating Committee. The nominee's cocktail reception, where they receive their nomination certificates, will be held Thursday, May 1 from 4-7PM at Arte Café (106 West 73rd Street).

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Journey's End's Ahlin to Star in Solo Comedy Gray Area Off-Broadway

John Ahlin, who recently appeared in the Tony-winning Broadway revival of Journey's End, will bring his play Gray Area to Off-Broadway's Barrow Group Theatre beginning Feb. 13.

Ahlin will star in the one-man comedy he penned, which will officially open Feb. 18 under the direction of Barrow Group artistic director Seth Barrish.

Gray Area, according to press materials, begins as "New York's leading drama and social critic decides to call it quits. He spends his final radio broadcast, a bitter farewell, firing salvos at a variety of targets, saving a savage barrage against Civil War re-enactors for last. He discovers he has picked the wrong fight when three hardcore re-enactors take profound offense and stage a 'redress for the ages.' What ensues can only be described as; the Civil War's last battle; a full out black-white, blue-gray, blue-red raging debate by characters who are, ironically, the most colorful because they come from the opposite ends of the spectrum."

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'Rafta, Rafta..." by Ayub Khan-Din Debuts Off Broadway 4/22

Next up for The New Group will be Rafta, Rafta... by Ayub Khan-Din. Previews will begin Tuesday, April 22 and the show is set for a limited 8-week Off-Broadway run.

East is East playwright Ayub Khan-Din returns to The New Group with Rafta, Rafta..., "the story of two Anglo-Indian families in London joined by the marriage of their children.  Newlyweds Atul and Vina are starting their new lives under the groom's parents roof, and Vina's family has to reluctantly let her go.  How much scrutiny can a new marriage take?" state press notes.

A hit at London's National Theatre in 2007, The New Group is pleased to present the American premiere this Spring.  Ayub Khan-Din's East is East appeared at The New Group in 1999.