The Three Sisters of Anton Chekhov's famous play are still waiting to get to Moscow in 2001 in 3 Sisters Lounge, the latest classical theatre adaptation from off-off-Broadway's Alternative Theatre Machine, opening Sept. 6. The play, which sets the Russian drama in a lounge bar where a live DJ spins trip-hop, ambient and techno music, plays Center Stage through Sept. 15.

Olga, Masha and Irina have waited 100 years to get to Moscow and they're still not there. The three ladies haven't aged a day, but time has changed around them, as the modern music and the TVs showing "The Poseidon Adventure" and "Towering Inferno" attest. The text they speak is Chekhov, but maybe this time the three sisters will actually escape to the big city.

ATM also created The Pelican (Or 'For the Birds') based on August Strindberg's play and House/Wives: Notes on a Doll's House and The Stepford Wives. Alternative Theatre Machine was founded in 1999.

3 Sisters Lounge features Browne Smith (Olga), Becca Greene (Masha), Paula Ehrenberg (Irina), Barbara Sauermann (Natasha), Steve Sherling (Vershinin), Roger Nasha (Solyony), Jason St. Sauver (Andrei, the DJ), Tom Bartos (Tuzenbakh) and Jenny Bold (Anna, the waitress).

Tickets are $15. Center Stage is located at 48 West 21st Street. For reservations, call (212) 696-8936. Alternative Theatre Machine is on the web at http://www.atm-nyc.org. — By Christine Ehren