Concluding July 26
The City of Conversation (Off-Broadway at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater). The Lincoln Center Theater Off-Broadway production of Anthony Giardina's The City of Conversation features John Aylward, Phillip James Brannon, Kristen Bush, Beth Dixon, Barbara Garrick, Jan Maxwell, Luke Niehaus, Kevin O’Rourke and Michael Simpson. The City of Conversation, according to press notes, "tells the story of political hostess Hester Ferris (played by Jan Maxwell), a behind the scenes mover and shaker in the nation’s capital, and of the political gains and personal losses that her choices inflict on her family over a period of 30 years, from the waning days of the Carter administration to the beginning of the Obama presidency." Visit LCT.org.
Concluding July 27
Of Mice and Men (Broadway at the Longacre Theatre). The hit revival of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men stars James Franco, Chris O'Dowd, Leighton Meester and Jim Norton. Adapted from his own classic novel, Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, according to press notes, is "an essential adventure, an inspirational portrait of the American spirit and a heartbreaking testament to the bonds of friendship.… [The play] tells the story of George (James Franco) and Lennie (Chris O'Dowd), an unlikely pair of friends drifting from job to job across the farms and fields of California, holding fast to their dream of one day having an acre of land they can call their own." The production has been selected as the first Broadway show to be filmed by National Theatre Live. Visit OfMiceAndMenOnBroadway.com.
Buyer & Cellar (Off-Broadway at the Barrow Street Theatre). The acclaimed Off-Broadway production of Jonathan Tolins' one-man comedy Buyer & Cellar currently features Barrett Foa. Stephen Brackett directs the production, which is billed this way: "Alex More has a story to tell. A struggling actor in L.A., he takes a job working in the Malibu basement of a beloved mega-superstar. One day, the Lady Herself comes downstairs to play. It feels like real bonding in the basement, but will their relationship ever make it upstairs? Buyer & Cellar is an outrageous comedy about the price of fame, the cost of things, and the oddest of odd jobs." Visit BuyerAndCellar.com. The Who and the What (Off-Broadway at the Claire Tow Theater). Tala Ashe, Greg Keller, Nadine Malouf and Bernard White star in the LCT3 New York premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar's The Who & The What, directed by Kimberly Senior. Here's how the play is billed: "The Who & The What tells the story of Zarina (Malouf), a brilliant and outspoken Pakistani-American writer, who goes to great lengths to please her family, even dating a convert to Islam (Keller) to please her traditional father (White). But when her father and sister (Ashe) read the manuscript of Zarina's novel about women and Islam, a confrontation ensues which threatens to tear their family apart for good." Visit LCT.org.
Donogoo (Off-Broadway at the Mint Theater Company). Donogoo, Jules Romains' dark comedy that is rarely performed in the United States, is directed by Gus Kaikkonen, who penned the new translation. The play's 66 characters are played by Ross Bickell, Mitch Greenberg, George Morfogen, Jay Patterson, Paul Pontrelli, Dave Quay, Douglas Rees, James Riordan, Megan Robinson, Kraig Swartz, Scott Thomas, Brian Thomas Vaughan and Vladimir Versailles. "Lamendin is a desperate man suffering from an existential crisis," press notes state. "Le Trouhadec is a professor of geography who longs for election to the Academy of Sciences. Together they unwittingly set in motion a stock market swindle of global proportions. Investors, pioneers and prospectors alike are driven to seek their fortune in Donogoo, a place that doesn't exist — or does it?" Visit MintTheater.org.
