Above and beyond the valley of the ultra showgirls, an over the-top dark musical comedy inspired by and shamlessly plagiarized from “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls,” & “Showgirls,” PYRAMID CLUB THEATER, 101 Ave. A., Fri., 7:30 p.m., open ended, $12, 212-505-1700, x14.
African nights, set in Colonial Africa where decadent Europeans and Americans are living in “Happy Valley,” an exotic Kenyan enclave of the rich and infamous, WINGS THEATER, 154 Christopher St., Mon., Thu.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 3:30 p.m., through June, $19, 212-627-2961.
Arden of faversham, based on a sensational true story, following Alice Arden, her lover Mosby, and a gallery of rogues and rakes as they plot to murder her husband Arden, an avaricious landowner, METROPOLITAN PLAYHOUSE, 220 E. Fourth St., Thu.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 4 p.m., through May 15, $15-$19, 212-995-5302.
Art, life & showbiz, an evening length tribute to life in the theater and the theater in life, drawn from the lives of three performers for an insider’s look at those who are at home on stage and on stage at home, FEZ, 380 Lafayette St., Sun., 8 p.m., through May 16, $20, 212-533-2680.
As i lay dying, the New York premiere of this stage adaptation of Faulkner’s famous novel, the story of a poor family in rural Mississippi struggling with fire, flood, and each other as they cart their dead mother’s body across the state to be buried, OHIO THEATER, 66 Wooster St., Sun., 2 & 6 p.m., Mon.-Tue., 7:30 p.m., through May 25, $15, 212-868-4444.
The Balcony, a brothel catering to the elaborate fantasies of the occupying forces & their court provides illusions to those involved in a raging war where the lines of reality & fantasy become blurred, THE RED ROOM, 85 E. Fourth St., Mon., 7 p.m., Thu.-Sat., 8 p.m., through May 29, $10-$15, 212-868-4444.
Blackbird, grim show that mixes gritty honest with remarkable generosity & compassion, a Desert Storm veteran with a herniated disk & a 19 year old runaway with a heroin addition share the Christmas holiday in a run down squat on Canal St., BLUE HERON ARTS CENTER, 123 E. 24th St., Mon., Wed.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 7 p.m., through May 22, $40, 212-868-4444.
Boston show services, two one act plays: “Hind Sight,” about a 58 year old piano teacher called in by a detective to answer questions regarding the death of a 15 year old student, and “Behind the Closed Door,” about two friends who decide whether or not to commit a violent crime, SANFORD MEISNER THEATER, 164 11th Ave. at 22nd St., through May 15 & 19-22, 8 p.m., May 16 & 23, 3 p.m., $15-$20, 917-898-0249.
The bourgeois gentleman, 17th century French farce about a self-made man who tries to buy his way into society, in which song and dance are woven into the spoken dialogue, JEAN COCTEAU REPERTORY THEATER, 330 Bowery, through June 6, call for performance schedule and ticket prices, 212-677-0060.
BlUE MAN GROUP: TUBES, a multi-faceted and unique performance by silent and blue-faced iconoclasts and actors/ dancers/musicians, ASTOR PL. THEATER, 434 Lafayette St., open-ended run, Tue.-Thur., 8 p.m., Fri., 7 & 10 p.m., Sat., 4, 7 & 10 p.m., Sun., 2, 5 & 8 p.m., $55-$65, 254-4370.
Counsellor-at-law, a tightly plotted melodrama about a cynical attorney’s struggle to avoid disbarment, observing how far this man has strayed from the liberal values of his youth as he battles a new anti-semitic revival, BANK STREET THEATER, 155 Bank St., Thu.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 3 p.m., through May 30, $15, 212-868-4444.
De la guarda, the off Broadway, death defying sensation where gravity is not an option continues its succesful run, DARYL ROTH THEATER, 20 Union Square East, at 15th St., Tue.-Fri., 8 p.m., Fri., 10:30 p.m., Sat.-Sun., 7 p.m., Sat., 10 p.m., open ended, $20-$55, 212-239-6200.
Downtown urban theater festival, annual showcase of urban theater opens with “Orenthal,” a play that compares O.J. Simpson to Othello, ABRONS ARTS CENTER, 466 Grand St., through May 22, call for schedule & show information, $15-$20, 212-807-1337.
Engaged, a complicated plot of a train wreck, con artists, broken promises, love gone wrong and a daisy chain of marriage proposals in which matrimonial vows are batted about like balloons, LUCILLE LORTEL THEATER, 121 Christopher St., Tue.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 3 p.m., through May 16, $60, 212-239-6200.
Finding grafenberg, an original play directed by Graham Brown that documents a group of young workers who go “from the bedroom to the boardroom in 69 minutes,” THE SECOND STORY THEATER, 476 Broome St., 2nd fl., Wed.-Sat., 8 p.m., through May 15, $15, 212-868-4444.
