5 Shows to See in New York This Month

1. Out of Order
I wanted to make sure you caught Carl Holder’s wonderfully creative Out of Order, which is now in its final week at East Village Basement. Holder has taken the worn-out confessional solo show genre and reimagined it as a parlor game, dividing the play into 36 scenes and performing them in the order he randomly draws from a punch bowl centerstage. It’s a clever commentary on the role of chance in our lives, but Holder’s energetic and vulnerable performance really makes the show soar. Both intelligent and playful, this is what off-off-Broadway should be all about.

2. The Gospel at Colonus
Lee Breuer and Bob Telson’s The Gospel at Colonus premiered at BAM in 1983, going on to play a Broadway run in 1988. New York audiences have a rare opportunity to see this musical that reinvents the myth of Oedipus as a Pentecostal ritual—which should look especially striking with the Hudson River rolling by in the background. The show takes place in the outdoor amphitheater on Little Island, which is emerging as one of my favorite performance venues in the city. Shayok Misha Chowdhury, who is on a roll this year with Rheology and Prince Faggot, directs. Catch it before it closes on July 26!

3. Memnon
Classical Theatre of Harlem is back for its annual summer show at Marcus Garvey Park. Written by Will Power and directed by Carl Cofield, Memnon is about the warrior-king of Ethiopia, who joined the Trojan War on the side of Troy. The play made its debut last summer at the Getty Villa in Los Angeles, and the lead actors of that run (Eric Berryman as Memnon, Andrea Patterson as Helen, Jesse Corbin as Achilles) have followed the production to New York for this East Coast debut. CTH takes reservations for this free performance, but walk-ins are also welcome. TheaterMania critic Pete Hempstead called the production “elegant.”

4. Joy: A New True Musical
The biggest new musical of July is Joy: A New True Musical, which stars Betsy Wolfe (Tony nominated for & Juliet) as inventor Joy Mangano, who went from struggling single mom to home shopping mogul (you may have her “Miracle Mop” in your broom closet right now). It’s an inspiring story set to music by AnnMarie Milazzo, with a new book by Ken Davenport. The first-rate creative team includes director Lorin Latarro (who created the delightful bubble wrap tap choreography in last year’s The Heart of Rock and Roll) and choreographer Joshua Bergasse, who really impressed me with his dances for Smash. I’m crossing my fingers for a big Performance Platforms production number.

5. Ginger Twinsies
Finally, writer-director Kevin Zak invites us back to a more innocent time—1998—for the story of long-lost twins who accidentally reunite at sleepaway camp and hatch a plot to get their estranged parents back together. Ginger Twinsies, subtitled “A Parent Trap Parody (Legally Speaking),” will have you thinking back to a time when Lindsay Lohan was a fresh-faced newcomer still living in the United States, Bill Clinton’s infidelities were our greatest national crisis, and all things seemed possible. Russell Daniels and Aneesa Folds star as twins Annie and Hallie in what promises to be a laugh-out-loud summertime rom