LAST CHANCE: Variations, Desire, Castle, Shanghai and Christmas

By Adam Hetrick
19 May 2009

A stage and screen veteran dances her final minuet on Broadway and a steamy O'Neill classic concludes its limited Broadway run, while Off-Broadway loses a 1918 shocker, a true-life account of prison and a coming-of-age tale.

Here's Playbill.com's weekly "Last Chance" reminder to catch Broadway and Off-Broadway productions before they close.

Concluding May 21

  • 33 Variations (Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre). Emmy and Oscar-winning actress Jane Fonda earned a Tony nomination for her Broadway return in the Moisés Kaufman play. Fonda portrays a musicologist who is in a race against time to uncover the mysteries of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations. For tickets visit Telecharge.com.

    Concluding May 23

  • The Castle (Off-Broadway at New World Stages). Vilma Ortiz Donovan, Kenneth Harrington, Angel Ramos and Casimiro Torres share their personal, real-life experiences of incarceration and life beyond in the production conceived and directed by David Rothenberg. For tickets visit Telecharge.com.

  • Christmas Is Miles Away (Off-Broadway at the Connelly Theatre). The Babel Theatre Project presents the U.S. premiere of Chloe Moss' coming-of-age play about three childhood friends whose lives take different paths as one goes off to war. For tickets visit BabelTheatreProject.

    Concluding May 24

  • Desire Under the Elms (On Broadway at the St. James Theatre). Tony winner Brian Dennehy, Carla Gugino and Pablo Schreiber star in Robert Falls' critically praised one-act staging of the provocative O'Neill family drama that centers on the forbidden and turbulent love affair between a son and his young stepmother. For tickets visit Telecharge.com.

  • The Shanghai Gesture (Off-Broadway at the Julie Miles Theatre). The Mirror Repertory Theatre production of the John Colton play stars Tina Chen as the proprietress of a successful Shanghai brothel catering to society's elite who reveals a few life-shattering secrets over the course of a dinner party. For tickets visit Telecharge.com.