Middletown by will eno October 27 - 30 * black box
WINNER! of the inaugural Horton Foote Award for Most Promising New Play of 2010 "Middletown" is a deeply moving and funny new play exploring the universe of a small American town. As a friendship develops between longtime resident John Dodge and new arrival Mary Swanson, the lives of the inhabitants of Middletown intersect in strange and poignant ways in a journey that takes them from the local library to outer space and points between.
snow Angel by David Lindsay-Abaire december 1 & 2 * Black Box
When the quiet town of Deerpoint, Vermont is hit by the biggest blizzard in 107 years, a mysterious girl named Eva steps out of a snow bank and into the lives of 15 confused teenagers who are asked to help her in her search. What Eva's searching for -- and who she truly is -- becomes a mystery that baffles, divides, and energizes the teens of Deerpoint. Told through journal entries and interactions among the students over the course of a single snow day, Snow Angel is a funny and eerie tale of teen angst, discovery, and the power of believing.
hairspray feb 2 - 5 * Auditorium Theater
For ''Hairspray'' is, above all, Nice. This may be regarded as faint praise in New York, capital of Type A personalities. But Nice, in this instance, doesn't mean bland. Think of it spelled out in neon, perhaps in letters of purple and fuchsia. That's the kind of Nice that ''Hairspray'' is selling. And it feels awfully good to pretend, for as long as the cast keeps singing, that the world really is that way. - Ben Brantley, NYT Review August 16, 2002 |
Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson April 5 - 9 * Black Box
“Sometimes you have to take back the country,” carols the crowd that throngs around Jackson in “Bloody Bloody,” reprising the song that opens the show, “Populism, Yea, Yea,” one of Mr. Friedman’s rousing, nose-thumbing anthems in the ironically sincere (or sincerely ironic) style known as emo. The people here may be drinking white lightning, but make no mistake: this is a tea party.
Don’t assume, though, that “Bloody Bloody” is a satire of a single contemporary political phenomenon. What Mr. Timbers and Mr. Friedman are examining is a fierce emotionalism in American politics that transcends party lines and has existed for centuries. Though the United States may have been founded on the rational principles of the Enlightenment, this show suggests that what really makes it run — then and now — is the crazy, mixed-up energy of enduring adolescence. Idealism, resentment, a short attention span, a fear of being perpetually misunderstood and a ravenous sense of entitlement are mixed together here in one big, gawky, sexually charged package: America, the eternal teenager. And who better to lead this restless, appetite-driven creature than a red-blooded rock star? - Ben Brantley, NYT April 6, 2010 |