Off-Broadway News7 Off-Broadway Shows Closing Before the End of AugustDon’t miss these summer productions as they wrap up their final performances.
By
Olivia Clement
August 17, 2017
Karen Pittman and Namir Smallwood
Jeremy Daniel
With the fall season about to kickoff, we highlight seven summer shows not to miss Off-Broadway before they close—from world-premiere plays and newly devised pieces with limited runs, to acclaimed, extended productions.
Celia Keenan-Bolger and Anita Gillette
Joan Marcus
August 20: The National Yiddish Theatre Folskbiene ends its extended revival of Amerike—The Golden Land, a musical journey detailing the Jewish American immigrant experience. The landmark Off-Broadway company kicked off its 103rd season with Zalmen Mlotek and Moishe Rosenfeld’s 1984 musical, staged at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Yiddish with English supertitles.
August 20: The New York premiere of A Parallelogram wraps up performances at Second Stage Theatre. Bruce Norris’ dark comedy explores the things we can and can't control in life, and offers a glimpse into the challenges of mental illness. The cast is made up of Tony nominees Celia Keenan-Bolger and Stephen Kunken, as well as Anita Gillette and Juan Castano, with direction by DearEvanHansen and WarPaint director Michael Greif.
August 20: Red Bull Theater’s acclaimed production of The Government Inspector ends its second run Off-Broadway. The political satire, which stars Michael Urie and Mary Testa, transferred from the Duke on 42nd Street to New World Stages for an additional six weeks. Red Bull Artistic Director Jesse Berger directs.
August 27: What happens when a school teacher misguidedly attempts to make a child “normal”—and when that boy is the adopted human child of two puppets? That is the very premise of Stephen Kaplan’s allegorical play A Real Boy,whichconcludes its Off-Broadway engagement at 59E59 Theaters August 27. Ivy Theatre Company Director Audrey Alford (Ivy is co-producing with Athena Theatre) has put together an impressively diverse cast and design team for the staging, including trans artists, artists on the spectrum, artists of color, and an all-female management team.
A scene from The Sex Myth
August 20: Don’t miss The Sex Myth, which launched August 16 at the HERE Arts Center and is only in town for a very limited run. The show, which bills itself as a “mixed-gender, diverse, and inclusive new-generation take on the VaginaMonologues,” is a mix of personal monologues performed by real people, not actors—all with the mission to challenge our perceptions of what is “normal” when it comes to sex.
August 27: Dominique Morisseau’s acclaimed new play Pipeline ends performances in the Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center. The story, which is centered on an inner-city public high school teacher (Karen Pittman) and her only son (Namir Smallwood), takes a deep dive into the education system, race and identity politics, and what it means to grow up a black man in America. The play marks Morisseau’s return Off-Broadway following her twice-sold-out hit SkeletonCrew.
August 27: Roundabout Theatre Company wraps up its production of Meghan Kennedy’s charming family drama Napoli, Brooklyn. Jordyn DiNatale, Lilli Kay, and Elise Kibler star as the Muscolino sisters at the heart of the play, a coming-of-age drama set in Park Slope during the 1960s.
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First Look at Napoli, Brooklyn at the Roundabout Theatre
First Look at Napoli, Brooklyn at the Roundabout Theatre
The limited Off-Broadway engagement, directed by Gordon Edelstein, is set to open June 27 at the Laura Pels Theatre.
