Tuesday, October 19 – Sunday, October 31, 2004
All programs will take place at Tribeca Cinemas, 54 Varick Street (except The Downtown Plays, which will be held at Pace University). Performances are Tuesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are $35. Visit www.tribecatheaterfestival.com or www.dramadept.org or call (212) 941-2450.
Downtown Plays
The short Plays at Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University (3 Spruce St. between Park Row and Gold St.) are a two-week run of world-premiere short plays by some of the theater community’s leading playwrights:
My Beautiful Goddamn City by Jon Robin Baitz: A passionate conversation between two sisters and a Tribeca restaurant owner touches on their struggles with grief, political accountability and life south of 14th St.
He Meaning Him by Douglas Carter Beane: Over lunch, an actor and his agent push for the film rights to a new play from an unwilling, anti-Hollywood playwright.
Trying To Find Chinatown by David Henry Hwang: A chance meeting of two men downtown propels an exploration of legacy and personal identity.
Union Square by Neil LaBute: A man trying to find his way Downtown from Union Square stops to ask directions from a homeless man, and winds up sharing the details of his marriage and the unexpected contents of his lunch bag.
Happy For You by Warren Leight: Five New Yorkers gather together to watch the Oscars in ambiguous support of their Oscar nominated friend.
True To You by Kenneth Lonergan: A powerful businessman must convince his devoted secretary to cover for him after the government indicts him for fraud.
Late Night, Early Morning by Frank Pugliese: Waiting for the subway, a man and a woman attempt to connect early one morning.
Pride and Joy by Paul Rudnick: A mother lovingly expounds about her diverse children before a support group for parents.
Psyche In Love by Wendy Wasserstein: At a downtown Bat Mitzvah, the Rabbi tells a colorful story about the human heart and imagination in a word of troubled times.
PANEL DISCUSSIONS
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22, 8 p.m.: LIT BY LIGHTNING: TENNESSEE WILLIAMS TODAY Director Michael Kahn (Five By Tenn) Ethan Hawke (Henry IV, Before Sunset) Ben Gazzara (Dogville, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) Wendy Wasserstein (The Heidi Chronicles, An American Daughter) and others talk about Tennessee Williams’ lasting influence on the screen, stage, and printed page.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 8 p.m.: TRIBECA TALKS: NEIL LABUTE A conversation with writer, director and playwright Neil LaBute, whose new works Fat Pig and This is How it Goes, will debut in New York this winter. LaBute is the author of the stage plays The Distance From Here and The Mercy Seat. His films include The Shape of Things (a film adaptation of his play by the same title), In the Company of Men and Your Friends & Neighbors.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 8 p.m.: THE LIGHTS ARE BRIGHT…OFF BROADWAY A discussion with Jim Simpson (Artistic Director of The Flea Theater), Kenneth Lonergan (This is Our Youth, The Waverly Gallery, Lobby Hero), Stephen Adly Guirgis (Jesus Hopped The ‘A’ Train, Our Lady Of 121st Street) and others about the independent lure of Off Broadway.
Tickets are $20.
FREE READINGS AT TRIBECA CINEMAS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 6:30 p.m.: THE VINEYARD THEATER presents The Internationalist by Anne Washburn, directed by Ken Rus Schmoll.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22, 6:30 p.m.: THE CULTURE PROJECT presents Her Hair Went With Her, by Zina Camblin and directed by Leigh Fondakowski, a new play about two African-American women combing through the gray standards of beauty and searching for their identities amidst stereotypes.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.: NAKED ANGELS presents Dear Mr. President by Daniel Voll and directed by David Warren at 5pm. The FBI believes an assassin wants to kill the president, only to discover that he just wants to kiss him. Inspired by the true story of the night an FBI agent tried to keep a cross-dresser from kissing Ronald Reagan.
Yes! We Have No Pajamas by Nicole Burdette and directed by Brian Mac Devitt, featuring Tim Hutton and Bill Sage (6:30 pm)
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 9 p.m.: Timmy The Great based on the book by Sandra Hochman and Ted Danielak. Savion Glover directs and choreographs this closed preview of a poetic, upbeat and dance-filled musical, with themes of ageism and anti-war sentiments. At Tribeca Film Center at 375 Greenwich St.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 9 pm: NAKED ANGELS presents Tuesdays@9, its free weekly session of new writing.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 6:30 pm: LABYRINTH THEATER presents The Secret Lives of Losers by Megan Mostyn-Brown. Abandoned by her mother for more exotic pursuits, nineteen-year-old Neely is left with a game show loving, meth addicted little brother, a best friend strapped with a baby he doesn’t want and a lame job at the local Amoco.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 6:30 p.m.: NEW YORK THEATRE WORKSHOP presents Carol Churchill’s This is a Chair.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.: THE NATIONAL THEATRE WORKSHOP OF THE HANDICAPPED presents Cripperella or The Cracked Glass Slipper, an original musical presented as a live radio drama written by Rich Orloff with music and lyrics by John Spalla. Directed by NTWH Founder and Artistic Director Rick Curry, S.J., this fractured fairytale is a charmingly entertaining and not-too politically correct tale of a disabled heroine searching for love in an able-bodied kingdom.
OTHER FREE READINGS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20 – SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23: MCCARTHYISM REVISITED at Metropolitan College of New York, in conjunction with Woodie King Jr.’s New Federal Theater. The program will begin with a discussion on Wednesday, October 20 at 6 pm; all events are free. For more information, please visit urbaninstitute@ metropolitan.edu.
STAGE ON SCREEN SERIES
This film series will focus on movies that highlight the process and craft of making theater as well as classic plays adapted for the screen. Celebrity guests will introduce and host discussions following the films. Tickets to each screening are $10.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 7 p.m.: WAITING FOR GUFFMAN. Cast member BOB BALABAN will be on hand for a rare big-screen showing of Corky St. Clair’s quest to make “Red, White and Blaine” the best pageant ever.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23, 7 p.m.: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. Watch Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh in this classic adaptation directed by Elia Kazan and join special guests for a discussion about Streetcar’s impact on subsequent films and plays.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 3 p.m.: ALL ABOUT EVE. Academy Award-nominee CELESTE HOLM joins actor, writer and drag legend CHARLES BUSCH for an afternoon that’s “all about Eve.”
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 7 p.m.: BROADWAY: THE GOLDEN AGE, BY THE LEGENDS WHO WERE THERE. Join director RICK McKAY for a special presentation of his comprehensive, award-winning chronicle of a true American art form as told by those who shaped it. Also featuring a sneak peek of McKay’s follow-up “Broadway: The Next Generation” and special guests from both films.
WWW Downtown Express
