Broadway in Your Own Backyard

You could pay $36 for a roundtrip ticket on Metro-North, $30 (if you’re lucky) for dinner in Manhattan, and $125- $175 for one ticket to a Broadway show... or you could catch a production of Broadway’s next big hit at the Powerhouse this summer for $35, pay nothing for parking, and bring a pre-show picnic to enjoy by Sunset Lake. Save your money for summer vacation, and let Powerhouse entertain you this summer!

Written by the Emmy-nominated writer Stephen Belber (Match) and directed by Lucie Tiberghien, Geometry of Fire opens on the Powerhouse mainstage, running from June 27 through July 8. The timely play features Logan Marshall-Green (The O.C.), and tells the story of two men, one a Marine reservist sniper back from Iraq, and the other a Saudi American searching for the cause of his father’s death. Their lives collide in the midst of the Iraqi conflict. “This play is an intimate, humorous exploration of the complications of war and the effects on those involved.”

John Patrick Shanley returns this season with a brand new musical that debuts at the Martel Theater. After tackling heavy political and ethical issues in many of his previous works (Doubt), Shanley moves in a new direction with Romantic Poetry: A Musical Play. Featuring Mark Linn Baker and Anastasia Barzee, the play is directed by Shanley, who has joined forces with Tony Award and Academy Award nominee composer Henry Krieger (Dreamgirls). Running from July 19 through 29, the musical is “a New York champagne evening of six interrelated plays in two acts, the subject of which is the lyrical expression of amour.” According to Ed Cheetham, Powerhouse producing director, this production started out as a play containing a few songs before growing into a musical and is a must-see. Shanley’s a good writer. You can always count on him for something that’s entertaining and provocative.”

The Martel Theater is also the venue for two other musicals, held as concert readings:

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, book by Stephen Fischer, music and lyrics by artists from East Memphis Music, directed by Oz Scott, is the story of rival groups of black and white high school students, set in Memphis during the Civil Rights Movement. The students’ relationships “are tested by the hope, pain, turmoil, and excitement of the times.” Providing the musical backdrop are the Motown hits of Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, the Staple Singers, Wilson Picket, and Sam & Dave. June 29 and 30.

The Boy Who Heard Music, story, music, and lyrics by Pete Townshend, adapted and directed by Ethan Silverman, is a “hallucinatory tale of the rise and fall of a band made up of three teenagers from different ethnic backgrounds – seen through the eyes of an aging rock star.” July 13 and 14.

In the Susan Stein Shiva Theater, two workshops will be held with four performances in the Inside Look! series:

Dance of the Holy Ghost, by Marcus Gardley, directed by Leah C. Gardiner, follows a “bitter and defiant” jazz musician through a life of ups and downs, crushes and failed marriages in a story that “chronicles his ability to come to terms with the family he’s laid to waste, and to the one great love of his life.” July 13-15.

Callie’s Tally, by Betsy Howie and directed by Loy Arcenas, is a wickedly funny play that sheds new light on parenting – “three generations of women learn what love is and tally what it costs.” July 20-22.

The Susan Stein Shiva Theater will also hold a free Readings Festival of nine plays in development. These are free, but reservations are recommended. The first festival takes place June 22-24, the second July 27-29.

Also enjoy free Outdoor Performances by the Powerhouse Apprentice Company, who will perform abbreviated versions of classic plays and new works including Uncle Vanja by Anton Chekhov, Shakespeare’s As You Like It, and A Long Fatal Love Chase by Sarah Gmitter. The Apprentice Company will also pre- sent Ruins (see “Paradise Lost”) every Thursday in July, performed in the galleries of the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center.