Yes, Virginia, there is a John Waters! And what perverse fun it might be to take a sleigh ride with the fabulously dirty-minded filmmaker/author laureate of Baltimore this time of year. And that’s perhaps the idea behind A John Waters Christmas, Mr. Waters’s acclaimed one-person show in which he spreads his own version of Yuletide cheer for the holidays. You can catch him in all his Xmas-rated glory for two nights only December 19 and 20 at B.B. King’s on 42nd Street. For more info, visit www.joshwoodproductions.com.
BOWTIES THAT BIND
In 1929, Federico Garcia Lorca, arguably Spain’s most well-known poet and dramatist, spent nine months in New York as a guest lecturer and student at Columbia University, an experience that changed both his life and work, and resulted in his still-celebrated collection of poems, “Poet in New York.” In the innovative new multi-disciplinary theater piece Wearing Lorca’s Bowtie, 15 members of AENY-El Puente, Spanish Artists in New York, come together to “dream” about Lorca and his trip, and to explore the reasons artists continue to be drawn to the city to make their lives in art and leave themselves vulnerable to the particular brand of loneliness that the city can evoke. Josh Hecht and Ignacio Garcia-Bustelo are the directors, and performances run December 8-17 at The Duke on 42nd Street. Visit www.dukeon42.org.
LE CRIME PARFAITE?
How could the perfect crime go so wrong? Eh, merde! In Stick Up! (Braquage), which arrives at HERE on December 16 courtesy of France’s acclaimed Companie Bakélite, comedy, thrills and calamity collide as two high-class cat burglars bungle their way from one misadventure to the next. As perhaps only the madcap French could perform it, the show uses objects to tell a tale of a heist gone awry, from scaling skyscrapers and high-octane car chases to run-ins with the mob and ticking time bombs — what Companie Bakélite has pioneered as “object-theatre.” Olivier Rannou is the performer, and Rannou, Arnaud Ladagnous, and Alan Floc’h are the writer/creators. The fun happens for six performances only, through Dec. 18, at the Dorothy B. Williams Theater at HERE. Visit www.here.org.
DOLLARS AND SENSE?
Is Sex really Good and is Money really Bad? According to playwright Michael Weller, maybe so, as he explores that theme, and a few others, in three premiere one-act comedies grouped under the title Sex Good, Money Bad, which is being presented this month by Broken Watch Theatre Company (www.BrokenWatch.org). No surprise, then, that sex and money are the focus of the plays, which take place in various locales, from a small apartment to a small dorm room, in which the occupants are visited by a few larger than life characters who manage to throw a wrench into all their plans. Some get sex, some get money, and some get... but all will not be revealed here! The cast includes Ethan James Duff, Halley Wegryn Gross, Michael Sazonov, Sam Tsoutsouvas and Jeff Ward, under the direction of Drew DeCorleto and Tony Speciale, and performances run through December 18 at WorkShop Theater Company’s Main Stage Theater.
EL SID
Find the nearest mistletoe and pucker up for Robert Farquhar’s stiff upper lip comedy Kissing Sid James, in which two lonely no-hopers, Eddie and Crystal, throw caution to the wind and decide to spend a festive weekend together in an English seaside. But can they find true love amongst warm beer and cold fish and chips? Or should they have just stayed home and played Scrabble with their mums? This new English comedy arrives at 59E59 Theaters in a production courtesy of Red Lion Theatres and Cracking Up Productions, direct from a sold-out run in London. Charlotte McKinney and Alan Drake co-star, and performances begin Dec. 13. For more info, visit www.britsoffbroadway.com.
CONGRATS...
The prestigious Clive Barnes Award, named for the longtime theater and dance critic Clive Barnes, is presented annually to celebrate the work of young actor and dancers. Inside InkMJ Rodriguez, who is currently starring as Angel in the revival of Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical RentNew World Stages (www.siteforrent.com). The nominees for this year’s award included, along with Mr. Rodriguez, his co-star from Rent Annaleigh Ashford, Jennifer Damiano of Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark and Josh Grisetti of Enter Laughing.
