New York Spotlight: May 2011

There are no new Broadway shows starting up this month, but there’s still plenty happening Off and Off-Off-Broadway!

Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominee Carey Mulligan stars in Atlantic Theater Company’s production of Through a Glass Darkly (New York Theatre Workshop, May 13-July 3), about a woman whose tenuous grip on reality keeps everyone in constant motion around her. Jason Butler Harner, Ben Rosenfield, and Chris Sarandon are also featured in the cast.

Signature Theatre completes its Tony Kushner season with The Illusion (Peter Norton Space, May 17-July 10), which the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright freely adapted from Pierre Corneille’s L’Illusion Comique. The cast includes Peter Bartlett, Sean Dugan, David Margulies, Amanda Quaid, Lois Smith, Henry Stram, Merritt Wever, and Finn Wittrock.

Maria Dizzia and Greg Keller star in Daniel Goldfarb’s two-hander Cradle and All, presented by Manhattan Theatre Club at New York City Center – Stage I, May 10-June 19. In the play, Annie and Nate have a baby who won’t sleep, while Claire and Luke are losing sleep over the decision to get married and start a family. More parenting drama can be seen at The Public in Jonathan Marc Sherman’s Knickerbocker (May 6-29), wherein a man prepares for the birth of his first son while ensconced in his favorite restaurant booth. Mia Barron, Alexander Chaplin, Bob Dishy, Christina Kirk, Zak Orth, and Ben Shenkman are featured.

Playwrights Horizons and New York Theatre Workshop co-present the new musical The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World (Playwrights’ Mainstage Theatre, May 2-July 3), based on a true story, and about a working class dad who believes his vision of rock n’ roll destiny for his three talentless daughters will be the family’s one-way ticket out of hardship and obscurity. The cast features Peter Friedman as the dad, with Kevin Cahoon, Annie Golden, Jamey Hood, Steve Routman, Cory Michael Smith, Sarah Sokolovic, and Emily Walton.

Transport Group presents the new musical Lysistrata Jones (Judson Memorial Church, May 15-June 19), featuring a book by Douglas Carter Beane and music and lyrics by Lewis Flinn, which is based on the Ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes. This version is set at Athens University, where head cheerleader Lysistrata Jones swears to hold out on “giving it up” until the school’s basketball team breaks a 30-year losing curse by winning a game. Another new musical in a classical vein is The Sphinx Winx (Beckett Theatre, May 3-July 24), described as a “misinterpretation of ancient Egyptian history” and starring Bruce Sabath as Julius Caesar, Bret Shuford as Marc Antony, and Erika Amato as Cleopatra.

Lillias White, Billy Stritch, David Burnham, Sally Mayes, Howard McGillin, and Rachel York star in the musical revue, The Best is Yet to Come: The Music of Cy Coleman (May 18-July 3), part of 59E59 Theaters’ Americas Off Broadway festival. Other festival entries include Jack Finnegan’s solo, City Love Song (May 3-15); the post-9/11 drama, World Trade Center View (May 19-June 12); and the new musical, I Married Wyatt Earp (May 20-June 12).

Mint Theater Company revives Rachel Crothers’ A Little Journey (May 12-July 10), set entirely on a westbound train over the course of a four day trip, and telling the story of a proud but broken young woman who believes that things cannot possibly get any worse — until disaster strikes. The New Group presents One Arm (May 19-July 2), based on an unproduced Tennessee Williams’ screenplay, and adapted and directed by Tectonic founder Moisés Kaufman.

Mike Burstyn once again plays the title role in The National Yiddish Theatre – Folksbiene’s musical The Adventures of Hershele Ostropolyer (Baruch Performing Arts Center, May 15-June 26), about a beloved folk hero and compassionate jester who battles injustice armed only with his wits. Joshua Grenrock and Catherine Schreiber’s Desperate Writers (Union Square Theatre, beginning May 16), focuses on a pair of struggling writers who will do anything to get their script sold.

Ryan O’Connor Eats His Feelings (Laurie Beechman Theatre, May 2-23) is a musical journey of the author’s experiences as a compulsive overeater. As part of the show, each weekly installment will feature O’Connor interviewing Tony-nominated guests from the 2010/2011 Broadway season. Also at the Beechman, The FringeBENEFITS Series (May 5-August 11) will offer a taste of 15 of the most beloved shows from the past 15 years of FringeNYC.

Also of note: Austin Pendleton directing a revival of Lanie Robertson’s Woman Before a Glass (Abingdon Theatre, May 13-29); Target Margin Theater’s production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest (HERE, May 4-27); Reggie Watts and Tommy Smith’s Radio Play (PS 122, May 6-22); writer/director Zack Russell’s Just Cause (The Flea Theater, May 6-June 6), Irish Rep’s production of The Shaughraun (through June 12); Ronan Noone’s new play, Little Black Dress (Theatre at St. Clement’s, May 1-28); Blessed Unrest’s ArtCamp SexyTime FootBall (Interart Theatre Annex, May 5-23); and The Roadsters’ What Happened in Ohio (Fourth Street Theatre, May 5-22).