Off & Off-Off Broadway

[Gothampc]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 10:10pm

For many years, I enjoyed Off Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway shows because the theaters were smaller and more intimate. What are some of your Off-Broadway memories?

Faith Prince in Falsettoland singing "Holding to the Ground". I saw it at the Lortel and Prince put over this dramatic showstopper superbly.

Zombie Prom. It was silly and campy and a lot of fun.

Other People's Money. Great acting.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 10:16pm

The two greatest memories of "Off-Broadway" both actually happened this year. The Scene and Blackbird.

Both had incredible acting, strong scripts, and strong direction. Blackbird is a play I still think about.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 11:16pm

So so many -- maybe more shows there than on Broadway including:

How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel
Spinning Into Butter by Rebecca Gilman
The Long Christmas Ride Home by Paula Vogel
The Lisbon Traviata by Terrence McNally
Slavs! by Tony Kushner
Caroline or Change
Elaine Stritch at Liberty
Blackbird by Adam Rapp
Bug by Tracy Letts
Take Me Out by Richard Greenberg
Full Gallop
As Bees in Honey Drown by Douglas Carter Beane
Fully Committed
Jitney by August Wilson
A Number by Caryl Churchill
Far Away by Caryl Churchill
Cloud Nine by Caryl Churchill
The Beard of Avon by Amy Freed
Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage
Three Tall Women by Albee
The Play About the Baby by Albee
[title of show]
First Lady Suite by LaChiusa
Gross Indecency by Moises Kaufman
The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman
The Wooster Group's The Emperor Jones
The Wooster Group's The Hairy Ape
Venus by Suzan-Lori Parks
F*CKing A by Suzan-Lori Parks
The Destiny of Me by Larry Kramer
The Lieutenant of Inishmore by Martin McDonagh
Betty's Summer Vacation by Chris Durang
The Marriage of Bette and Boo by Chris Durang
Pterodactyls by Nicky Silver
Well by Lisa Kron
Little Shop of Horrors (OOBC at the Orpheum)
The Blacks (Classical Theatre of Harlem)
Wit
This is Our Youth by Ken Lonergan
The Waverly Gallery by Ken Lonergan
Nixon's Nixon
Vita and Virginia
The Mystery of Irma Vep by Charles Ludlam

Updated On: 11/16/07 at 11:16 PM

[Jane2]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 11:25pm

My favorite off broadway play-Lobby Hero by Kenneth Lonergan

show-Hedwig and the Angry Inch by John Çameron Mitchell
and Stephen Trask

[Little-Lotte]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 11:39pm

Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris...just an amazing production!

[GladysBumps]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 11:51pm

The entire venue is so much more conducive to subtle, honest, un-amplified performances, besides you can see their faces!

This season alone, "Scarcity" at Atlantic, and "100 Saints" at Plawright's were standouts for me.

I confess to having seen "Scarcity" four times just to breathe the same air as the magnificent Kristen Johnson and Jesse Eisenberg. These performances were beyond inspired, as was the entire company. And they just kept getting better . . . and better . . . and better.

Then there was Jeremy Shamos' master class in how to nail a direct address to the audience monologue in "100 Saints."

And if you are an actor and have not yet seen Angelica Torn as Sylvia Plath in "Edge," you are missing work on a par with not only her mother, Geraldine Paige, but Kim Stanley, Shirley Knight, Lee Remick and Kate Burton. She's all those broads rolled into one, and yet, her own person. Get thee to Bleeker Street!

Does anyone know an amazing "downtown" actress named Diedre O'Connell? She's opening in "Rag and Bone," the new play at Rattlestick this week. Judith Ivy hires her, everybody who knows their ass hires her, she saves plays, but she's never really . . . I don't think she's ever made a living in the business. This is a lady who has to be seen to be believed. The woman couldn't have a false moment on stage if you put a gun to her head. It's the level of work so many of us strive for.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/16/07 at 12:23pm

Some of the best shows I have ever seen have been off-broadway: THE LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE and--beating a dead horse here--IPHEGENIA 2.0 come to mind.

Even shows that didn't work, like BERNARDA ALBA, have been a lot more interesting than many of the Broadway hits I have seen.

[robbiej]

Posted: 11/16/07 at 12:24pm

One of my favorite things about off and off-off Broadway is the getting to see actors who have yet to 'make it':

Andrian Lennox in DINAH WAS.
Keith Nobbs in STUPID KIDS
Mark Ruffalo in THIS IS OUR YOUTH

Three terrific performers in wonderful roles.

Being a dedicated off-off Broadway performer, it's also wonderful to see those you work with make it to the big time:

Spencer Kayden in URINETOWN
Bruce Sabath from COMPANY

It's a rich and varied world that is utterly worth checking out.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 11/16/07 at 1:39pm

There is so much I have NOT seen, but some of my fave Off Bway moments:

Crowns at Second Stage
Spain at the Lortel (MCC)
I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (Original Cast)
When Pigs Fly
seeing Uta Hagen onstage in Mrs. Klein (first show ever in NYC)
various plays at the Atlantic

I'm sure there are some I am forgetting. But more importantly, I am reminded that I NEED to see more theatre.