The Memorial Day weekend, which tends to lure people outdoors rather than into one-person monologues in theatres, seems the perfect time for the Public Theater to offer a special on Lisa Kron's award-winning solo show, 2.5 Minute Ride.
For performances May 28-30, a buy-one-get-one-free offer is being extended for matinee and evening shows. Tickets can be bought by phone or in person at the box office, on Lafayette Street. In addition, 2.5 Minute Ride patrons get 10 percent off at Joe's Pub, the eatery off the lobby of the Public.
A spokesperson for the show said the special is designed to perk up sales over the traditionally slumpish holiday weekend.
Kron's 75-minute yarn, which won her an OBIE Award, tells of a trio of life-inspired stories: her visiting a concentration camp with her ailing father, attending a family wedding with her lesbian lover and spending time at Cedar Pointe, the Sandusky, OH, amusement park, where a rollercoaster takes her clan for a "2.5 minute ride."
For information about the Memorial Day special, call (212) 947-8844 or (800) 432-7250 and ask for code TPNA241. The special offer is available at the box office, too. *
Kron's solo show is on such a hot streak at the Public it will now go to June 13, beyond its initial May 9 extension close date.
A spokesperson for the Public said Kron's memory piece -- which was also nominated for a Drama Desk Award in the category of Outstanding Solo Performance -- must close June 13. Kron will join the other Lesbian Brothers for a revival of Brave Smiles at PS 122, June 18-27.
2.5 Minute Ride, began performances March 17 and officially opened March 28 and was originally scheduled to end April 18.
Kron, one in the comedy troupe called Five Lesbian Brothers, previously took her Ride to CA's Marin CenterStage, San Francisco's Magic Theatre and Rhode Island's Trinity Rep.
The show's title refers to the "Mean Streak" roller coaster ride in Sandusky, OH, which Kron took with her father -- who was taking nitrogen pills for a heart condition at the time. His philosophy about the Holocaust (in which his parents died): "If it weren't for the good fortune of being born a Jew, I might have become a Nazi."
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As part of The Five Lesbian Brothers, Kron appeared in The Secretaries and Brides Of The Moon at New York Theatre Workshop. Recently, she returned to NYTW in Paul Rudnick's The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told.
Director Mark Brokaw, who for the past couple years can do no wrong, has directed such successes as This Is Our Youth, As Bees in Honey Drown, The Dying Gaul and How I Learned to Drive.
For tickets and information on 2.5 Minute Ride call (212) 239-6200.
-- By Kenneth Jones
and Robert Simonson and David Lefkowitz
