See This, Not That
If you failed to follow our advice back in November and have not purchased tickets to A Raisin in the Sun, you are out of luck. Tickets to this production starring Denzel Washington are in short supply.
Instead of or in addition to A Raisin in the Sun, we recommend the beautiful production of Red Velvet just across the East River in Brooklyn at St. Ann’s Warehouse, which similarly addresses issues of racial discrimination but focuses on an actor performing in London in the 1800s.
Red Velvet stars Adrian Lester in the true story of Ira Aldridge, a young, black, American who stepped into the role of Othello at the Royal Theatre in London in 1833 and explores the behind-the-scenes drama and significant resistance that attended Aldridge taking the stage.
Potion: A Play in Three Cocktails and Cabaret are both set in bars but only Potion takes place in an actual bar and serves alcohol to the audience.
Potion is a musical, multimedia, “spoken-word opera” performance set in a magical bar that serves personality-altering potions rather than traditional alcohol. It is performed on Sundays at the People Lounge on the Lower East Side.
It’s a great alternative if you can’t find or afford tickets to the high profile revival of Cabaret starring Alan Cumming as the MC at the infamous Kit Kat Club, a 1930s Berlin cabaret lounge.
If you’re looking for some girl power at the theater, you’re better off catching the Mint Theater’s lauded production of London Wall than the overstuffed new musical If/Then starring Idina Menzel. You don’t even have to leave Midtown, the Mint is on 43rd Street and 8th Avenue.
Written by John van Druten in 1931, London Wall is a play about a group of women typists at a London law office. Despite the play’s age, it is fresh and charming with delicious, meticulous comedic performances.
If/Then, which explores the alternate paths a gal’s life can take based on seemingly small decisions, got praise for Menzel’s performance but lukewarm reviews otherwise.