Time again for Curtain Up!, the traditional opening of Buffalo’s professional theater season. While the event itself takes place on Friday, September 20, most of the shows will linger for a few more weeks.

As always, the event is “theatrically designed” in three acts.

Make reservations with any of the Theater District’s fine restaurants, or join Buffalo native and renowned playwright A. R. Gurney under the bright white tent set in the middle of Main Street, just north of Tupper Street, for a creative black-tie gala dinner.

A cash bar cocktail party begins at 5:30 pm, dinner is served at 6:15pm.

All Curtain Up! performances on September 20th start at 8pm. For details about the full run of these shows, see On the Boards.

A brand-new and tuneful hit stage show adapted from the most beloved program in television history! Young or old, everybody really does love Lucy!

What women can or cannot do at night in Buffalo’s old Theater District is the preoccupation of businessmen, politicians, and lawyers in this world premiere drama. (See review in this issue.)

From the hills of Tennessee to our seventh president, some call him our greatest, others a poor man’s Hitler.

A wildly imaginative new comedy about how we memorialize the dead, how remembering changes us, and how we search for connections in this technologically obsessed world.

A sixth generation Utah Mormon reclaims his “Donny Osmond” smile in this incredible true story told with humor, song, and The Book of Mormon, written and performed by award-winning actor/playwright Steven Fales.

L’amour is in the air and intrique mounts as desperate young lovers and impudent servants attempt to deceive the old fuddy-duddy who holds sway over their hearts.

This French farce features a self-styled Parisian lothario who intermittently romances three fiancèes; airline hostesses with frequent “layovers”, until they all land at the same time.

A musical review that highlights the music of a bygone era in the manner it was meant to be heard—with great singers and a 13-piece big band!

This hilarious comedy is a cross between I Love Lucy and Some Like It Hot, with enough twists and turns to leave you rolling in the aisles.

This Tony Award-winning musical is a tuneful and touching tale of one family’s struggle to stay together, stay fabulous and, above all else, stay true to themselves.

When a playwright auditions an apparently hapless young actress, the young woman leads him on a journey that provides both carnal and cerebral excitement.

A talented cast of two create a multitude of characters to delight and confound. A penetrating look at Americana featuring Pamela Rose Mangus and Mary Kate O’Connell.

An intimate musical embracing the lives of three women who reunite, reveal, reconcile, and share the promise of tomorrow set to gospel, rhythm and blues, funk, and folk.

A thread of love binds two lives with a great deal of help from the US Mail. Buffalo native A. R. Gurney at his most touching and whimsical.

Provocative, funny, and hopeful tales of this city’s challenges, achievements, and aspirations as seen through the eyes, minds, and hearts of some of Buffalo’s favorite playwrights. (See review in this issue.)

Free screening of the movie Chicago.

Just when you thought it was safe to think, “mentalist” Marc Salem comes to town…and no brain is sacred.

An explosive and deliciously bizarre encounter between the father of the Nuclear Bomb and Lilith, Adam’s first wife in the Garden of Eden.

A whimsical musical for ages four and up. Best friends Frog and Toad celebrate and rejoice in their differences that make them unique and special.

It began as a groundbreaking book, became a controversial film, and for 20 years has placed its infamous mark on the live stage. Now it’s at Torn Space.

Seamlessly blending the agony of Greek tragedy and the ecstasy of American gospel music with the ground-shaking thunder of a gospel revival meeting.

The story of the evolving relationship between a stage veteran and a promising young actor. (Note: JRT does not perform on Friday night.)

When the theaters let out, the Theater District comes alive with free outdoor entertainment, including the George Scott Big Band, the Bar-Room Buzzards, the Albrights, Zydeco, Gravitational Bull, and Pat Ruof. Rub elbows with actors, directors, singers, dancers, and even stage managers!

Don’t miss Artvoice’s crowning of the Curtain Up! King and Queen at midnight and more surprises!

And it’s all free!