Concluding Nov. 18
An Enemy of the People (Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre). Manhattan Theatre Club's production of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People, adapted by British dramatist Rebecca Lenkiewicz and directed by Tony winner Doug Hughes, features Tony winner Boyd Gaines as the title character, with Richard Thomas as his mayor-brother. According to MTC, "In this fast-paced, two-hour thriller, Dr. Thomas Stockmann (Gaines) discovers a toxic secret that threatens the health of his entire community. The doctor expects to be hailed as a hero, but his brother, Mayor Peter Stockmann (Thomas), believes the information will destroy the town, forcing the men into a passionate confrontation of political will and personal ethics." Visit ManhattanTheatreClub.com.
Wild With Happy (Off-Broadway at the Public Theater). The Public Theater's world premiere of Wild With Happy, an absurdist-flavored new play about family, death and healing, is written by Tony Award nominee Colman Domingo, who also stars. The play, according to the Public, is "a deeply imaginative and utterly outrageous new work that explores the bizarre comedy that lies within death and healing. Gil, an actor who’s struggling to carve out his own new life, finds his worlds colliding when his mother dies and he decides to have her cremated. But where should he scatter the ashes? And can he make a fairytale ending for her in the one place that made her wild with happy?" Visit PublicTheater.org.
House for Sale (Off-Broadway at the Duke on 42nd Street). The world-premiere stage adaptation of "Freedom" author Jonathan Franzen's autobiographical essay "House for Sale" is adapted and directed by Daniel Fish. House for Sale has an original score by Polly Pen and features Rob Campbell, Merritt Janson, Lisa Joyce, Christina Rouner and Michael Rudko. According to the Transport Group, "House for Sale follows Franzen as he travels to his childhood home in Missouri to sell the family house following his mother's death. Beset by memory and feeling a keen burden to sell the property for a price his exacting mother would accept, Franzen purges the home of personal artifacts, unearths hidden mini-treasures, and selects the realtor who will sell this reliquary of family memories. Exploring ideas of change, loss, and the value of the 'quintessential American Dream,' House for Sale is a daring exploration of the merging of art forms as well as an examination of the very essence of the human condition." Visit TransportGroup.org.
Son of a Gun (Off-Broadway at The Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row). Son of a Gun, with music and lyrics by Don Chaffer, additional music and lyrics by Lori Chaffer and a book by Chris Cragin and Don Chaffer, stars American Idiot's Van Hughes and Hair's Ryan Link. The darkly comic folk rock musical "tells the story of Danderhauler Agamenon Khrusty, heir apparent to the Khrusty family band," according to press notes. "When Dan meets the love of his life, an awkward opening act named Lucy Sunshine, he's forced to confront his charismatic but domineering father." Visit TheatreRow.org.
