Paul Simon’s The Capeman in concert… Heights sees Sparks…. One more door slam for Tenor…and the Fringe Festival brings international theatre to NYC.
Blake
Friday, August 13 
GO? Zach Braff (a Golden Globe and Emmy nominee for his work on the long-running sitcom “Scrubs”) joins stage vets Bobby Cannavale and Sutton Foster for a kinky kinda show called Trust. The play revolves around a married man (Braff), his wife (Ari Graynor) and the dark (and often funny) world of S&M, orchestrated by a dominatrix (Foster) and her partner (Cannavale). Written by the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of "About a Boy" and director of "American Pie," Paul Weitz. (Through Sept. 12, Second Stage Theatre, 305 W 43rd St., corner of 8th Ave., info/tickets)
Saturday, August 14 
GO (FREE)? New York City’s Bryant Park has been a hotbed of fun ‘n’ free events this summer including A Grimm Reality, a modern-day mash-up of classic Brothers Grimm fairy tales brought to life by the environmental theatre troupe THEATRE 4the PEOPLE. Intended for adults and children 8 and up. (6:30pm, Bryan Park Reading Room, info)
GO? If you liked American Idiot and want to hear more of Green Day’s catchy, punk rock tunes, then you’re in luck! The band hits the road for a summer tour, featuring songs from the Tony-nominated show as well as other hits made famous by the Grammy-winning group’s 20 years ruling the Billboard charts. The tour will take the punk pioneers to Boston, Toronto, Detroit, Dallas, Denver, Phoenix and Los Angeles later this month. (PNC Bank Center, Holmdel, NJ, info/tickets)
Sunday, August 15 
BEFORE IT CLOSES? Ken Ludwig’s door-slamming farce Lend Me a Tenor tells the hilarious story of an opera company gone berserk due to the passing (or more like passing out) of its headliner. Features outstanding performances by Justin Bartha, Tony Shalhoub and Anthony LaPaglia — but it’s Jan Maxwell’s Tony-nominated, brief-but-memorable performance as a screaming scorned wife that steals the show. (Music Box, 239 W. 45th St., btwn. Broadway and 8th Aves., Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)
--watch scenes from Lend Me a Tenor--
BEFORE IT CLOSES (FREE)? A group of nearly 75 hip-hop dancers, known as Centrifugal Force, will close out Lincoln Center’s annual free festival, Out of Doors. The group, led by former Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey choreographer Emilio “Buddah Stretch” Austin, Jr., Fela! cast member Adesola Osakalumi and Gus Solomon, Jr., a professor at NYU, promises “the raw energy of street dance [set against] the formal grandeur of Lincoln Center.” (5pm, Josie Robertson Plaza, center of Lincoln Center at Columbus Ave. btwn. 62nd and 65th Sts., info)
Monday, August 16 
GO (FREE) ? A concert version of the Paul Simon musical The Capeman, comes to the Delacorte Theater for a limited engagement. Tony nominee Diane Paulus directs the musical based on the life of Salvador Agron, a notorious Nuyorican gang member. Free tickets are available, as are a select number of paid, priority seats. Email [email protected] for information on paid tickets. (Delacorte Theater, Mid-Park at 80th Street at the Southwest corner of the Great Lawn)
GO? The cast of Next to Normal will join its Tony-winning composer Tom Kitt for Times Talks' Summer Nights on Broadway series to discuss the groundbreaking Pulitzer Prize-winning musical about a family dealing with a tragic loss and bi-polar disorder. Kitt is also scheduled to perform following the talk. (6pm, Times Center, 242 W. 41st St., btwn. 7th and 8th Aves., $15, info/tickets)
Tuesday, August 17 
GO (FREE)? Broadway knew him from his many antics with the Ziegfeld Follies, but comedian and vaudeville star W.C. Fields found national recognition thanks to his appearances in films from the ’30s and ’40s like “My Little Chickadee” with Mae West and “The Bank Dick.” The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts hosts a special exhibit entitled "The Peregrinations & Pettifoggery of W.C. Fields," featuring photos, personal effects and memorabilia from Fields’ life. (Through Aug. 21, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, info)
Wednesday, August 18 
GO? The 14th annual New York International Fringe Festival plays host to over 1,200 different performances from around the world. Highlights include Terms of Dismemberment, a new musical from director/choreographer (and three-time Tony winner) Hinton Battle; The Timing Of A Day, a play by newcomer Owen Panettieri that follows three roommates whose lives intersect when an unforeseeable tragedy enters their lives; Bunked! a new musical about summer camp counselors featuring “Ugly Betty” and The Temeramentals star Michael Urie; and Picking Palin, a comedy from Stephen Padilla about how a certain first-term Alaska Governor became the 2008 Republican Vice Presidential candidate. (New York International Fringe Festival runs Aug. 13-29 in 20 venues around New York City, Click here for a full schedule of events)
Thursday, August 19 
GO? “American Idol” alums have been littering the Broadway boards for years. The latest casting from this talented brood is Jordin Sparks, “Idol’s” season six winner. Sparks will play the role of Nina Rosario in the Tony-winning musical In the Heights. (Through Nov. 14, Richard Rodgers Theatre, 226 W. 46th St., btwn. Broadway and 8th Aves., Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)
