Theater	Theaterweek by Anthony Chase

Over the course of the next week, a whole slew of shows will open up in Buffalo. Add to these, Buffalo United Artists’ production of Carol Lynn Pearson’s Facing East, running at Alleyway’s Main Street Cabaret; Eric Bogosian’s Humpty Dumpty at Road Less Traveled; and Nickel and Dimed by Joan Holden, being performed by Subversive Theatre Collective in the Alt Theatre in the Great Arrow Building, and there is plenty to see.

With so many choices, a roundup of what’s what might be useful:

Facing East is the story of Mormon parents coming to terms with the suicide of their gay son, and with unexpectedly meeting his lover at the grave site. Humpty Dumpty is ambiguously described as something about self-centered people isolated from the world, and things precarious. Based on Joan Holden’s book, Nickel and Dimed uses the life of one woman to show how the working poor support the life-styles of the wealthy.

Beyond the Rainbow: The New Judy Garland Musical uses Judy’s Carnegie Hall concert as the backdrop to tell the story of her life. This MusicalFare production features Loraine O’Donnell as concert Judy, and Michele Marie Roberts as biograph Judy.

The Irish Classical Theatre presents Charley’s Aunt, one of the most beloved comedies of all time. Here, playwright Brandon Thomas introduces us to Oxford classmates Charley and Jack, who hark back to a time when well-bred young men could not step out with their girlfriends unless they had a chaperone. The boys convince a pal to dress in drag and pose as Charley’s Aunt—and so the fun begins. Directed by Fortunato Pezzimenti, the production is being staged at the Andrews Theatre.

One of the great, but less appreciated Tennessee Williams plays, The Rose Tattoo is the one that starred Anna Magnani in the movie. Here we meet a Sicilian woman living on the American Gulf coast. When her husband is killed, she goes into mourning and retreats from the world, expecting her daughter to do the same. When it turns out that hubby may have been less saintly than she supposes, and a handsome stranger arrives on the scene, it all gets very Tennessee Williams, indeed. The American Repertory Theater of WNY production is directed by Christopher Standart, with an impressive cast of Buffalo actors.

O’Connell & Company bids farewell to their Snyder performance space with a return to Side by Side by Sondheim, the very popular musical revue of the 1970s—the age of musical revues. Roger Paolini directs Nicole Marrale Cimato, Robert J. Cooke, Jeffrey Coyle, Wendy Hall, Michael Tosha, and a revolving cast of local artistic directors as narrators, including Mary Kate O’Connell; Kathleen Gaffney of Studio Arena; Vincent O’Neill of the Irish Classical Theatre Company; Javier Bustillos of Buffalo United Artists; Saul Elkin of Shakespeare in Delaware Park and Jewish Repertory Theatre; and Meg Quinn of Theatre of Youth.

Always ready with the unpredictable, Torn Space opens Stivale, an original work written and directed by Dan Shanahan, starring Ivan Rodriguez, Dechen Dolkar, and Kelly Meg Brennan at the Adam Mickiewicz Dramatic Circle, 612 Fillmore Avenue—surely one of the coolest places in Buffalo to see a play—and the only one that allows smoking at the bar and has a large selection of European beers.

Enjoy.

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