A new play by David Jenkins might just help to give new focus to the ailing U.S. Postal Service! In the playwright’s world premiere Post Office (courtesy of Human Animals) a 19-year-old mail carrier receives advice and mentorship from an aging postal worker who is intent on telling the younger man everything he knows. Meanwhile, the 19-year-old embarks on an affair with a disillusioned housewife, who imparts lessons of a radically different stripe. Jenkins’s play considers what the decline of the U.S. Mail means for three residents of a small town, each of them linked by the mail system. It’s a timely look at the state of the American dream and the decline of an American institution. Performances take place at the New Ohio Theatre in a production directed by Josie Whittlesey, and featuring David Gelles, Anney Giobbe and Eric Hoffmann. Opening night is set for December 1.
‘DINNER’ TIME
One of the funniest plays from the Golden Age of the American Theater has got to be Kaufman and Hart’s 1939 comic evergreen The Man Who Came to Dinner, and I’m happy to report that the show is getting a holiday-time revival beginning December 4 at Theatre at Saint Clements, courtesy of The Peccadillo Theater Company. Peccadillo is an old hand at polishing off both classics and rarities, and the company’s artistic director, Dan Wackerman, will also helm the revival, which features Jim Brochu as the unforgettable, infamous crank Sheridan Whiteside and Tony Award nominee Cady Huffman as the glamorous stage diva Lorraine Sheldon. For more info, visit thepeccadillo.com.
GOING ‘MAD’
It may be the holidays, but you’ve never seen Christmas Garland quite like you will in Mad Women, a new theater piece conceived, written and performed by acclaimed writer/actor John Fleck, who takes the audience on quite a ride with a pair of fabulous madwomen, Judy Garland and his own mother, Josephine Fleck. Billed as a “psychological burlesque,” Fleck juxtaposes Garland’s drug-addled performance at the Coconut Grove in 1967 alongside spectral video images of his mother’s descent into Alzheimers. (I said Christmas Garland, I didn’t say anything about holiday cheer.) It should be a wild, creative ride from a fearless performer, who earlier triumphed in this very show at L.A.’s Skylight Theater. In New York, Mad Women will be up and running at La MaMa from December 2-11. Visit lamama.org.
IT’S ALL ‘TRU’
Interesting goings-on at Theater Resources Unlimited, where the excellent reading series TRU Voices New Musicals continues in December with the provocatively titled Oklahomo (that is not a typo, and this is not Rodgers and Hammerstein), a rocking new musical by Jesse Gage about Dave and Gary, two oversized men in undersized spandex fighting for their right to love and live. Oh, what a beautiful morning indeed! Following Oklahomo on December 12 will be Famous, about two 1940s runaways trying to transcend their unhappy family lives and seeking fortune in Hollywood’s limelight, written by the team of Yvonne Adrian, Cheryl Stern and Tom Kochan. The final entry for December is Through the Door by Judy Freed and Laurence Mark Wythe, a time traveling musical about a woman in a so-so relationship who opens her pantry door one day to come face-to-face with a 17th-century prince who is more than a little interested. All readings take place at The Roy Arias Theatre at 7 p.m. For more info, visit www.truonline.org.
GARDEN VARIETY
Oh, that Garden of Eden! In Larry Konofsky’s The Myths We Need, or: How To Begin, the story of Adam and Eve receives an erotic, absurdist and language-fueled pseudo-Jazz Age update. There’s The Boss, The Kid, and The Girl — and then The Old Broad turns up to tempt The Kid. The show is a production of Purple Repertory Theatre Company, and the cast includes Luke Forbes, Anna Lamadrid, Annie Henk, and Hugh Sinclair. Jose Zayas directs, and performances take place Dec. 2-16 at The Monkey. www.purplerep.com
TWO BY TWO
Mark December 11 as a red-letter holiday day, or evening, when Cabaret Cares, the two-time MAC Award-winning series returns to The Laurie Beechman Theatre for Holiday Duets, which benefits the excellent organization Help Is On The Way Today. Some of the theater’s brightest musical talents will be featured, including Natalie Toro, David Foley, Jr. and Liz McKendry. Showtime at 7 p.m. Make reservations at 212-695-6909.
