Winter 2002

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March 9, 2002

The Syringa Tree continues to dazzle audiences at Playhouse 91 in New York City, fourteen months after its opening. This adventurous solo show explores the memories and experiences of a white South African girl beginning in 1963. As she grows and matures, the stark realities of the apatheid system become self-evident, leading to both tragedy and redemption. The play was written by and initially performed by Pamela Gien. At Playhouse 91 the role was assumed by fellow South African native actress Kate Blumberg. Ms. Gein is currently performing The Syringa Tree at The National Theatre in London.

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March 2, 2002

The New York Times reported yesterday that British Actor and author Simon Callow is negotiating the Broadway arrival of his successful London solo show, The Mystery of Charles Dickens, this spring. "Mr. Callow is a man of many talents," writes, On Stage and Off columist Jesse McKinley. "Respected as a film director ("The Ballad of the Sad Cafe") and biographer (books on Orson Wells and Charles Laughton), Mr. Callow is perhaps best known to American audiences for his work in films like "Shakespeare in Love" and "Four Weddings and a Funeral." He originated the stage role of Mozart in the 1979 Royal National Theatre's premiere of Peter Schaffer's "Amadeus."

Mystery is an allusion to Dicken's unfinished final novel "The Mystery of Edwin Drood." which was itself adapted into a stage musical by Rupert Holmes some years ago. But the author is the focus of this show and his dramatic final years are recounted by some of his more memorable characters, including Magwich the Convict. Ms. Havisham, Mr. Macawber, Bill Sykes and others. Written by Dickens biographer Peter Ackroyd, the play opened to great reviews on London's West End in the autumn of 2000. If it makes it to New York's great white way, it will join at least five other solo shows currently being presented on Broadway.

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March 2001~ BERKOFF is "ONE MAN" in NYC
February 20, 2002

Acting virtuoso, Steven Berkoff, is dazzling audiences at 45 Bleecker Street in Soho with his new solo-show,
ONE MAN.
And reviewers from all the major media have weighed in as well.
"Berkoff is back" proclaimed The Village Voice. New York Times reviewer, Bruce Weber, described him as "pathologically an actor."

It features three separate solo pieces, his adaptation of Poe's horror short "The Tell-Tale Heart," and his own "Actor" and "Dog." In each, Steven demonstrates his range of talents, from mime to vocal theatrics. By the end, it is clear the audience has witnessed a master at his own game.

This successful show has just been extended twice and is available for booking.

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February 10, 2002

The solo form is well represented both on and off Broadway this winter. Stage veterans, Elaine Stritch and Bea Arthur are each performing their own music/talk memoir shows in the heart of the theatre district. Roundabout Theatre Company is featuring movie star Kevin Bacon in a new solo show, "An Almost Holy Picture" at the American Airlines Theatre on 42nd Street. And the always provocative John Leguizamo is at the Royale in "Sexaholic...a love story."

Down in Soho, a clever show called "Underneath the Lintel" is in its fourth month at the Soho Playhouse (15 VanDam). It's about a goofey librarian who becomes utterly befuddled over the mystery of who deposited a book 113 years overdue. The Playwright is Glenn Berger. Scott Morfee produces.

And the hit solo show "Late Nite Cathechism," in which a dictorial yet lovable nun enlightens the audience about all things Catholic, continues to sell briskly at its own theatre located on the eighth floor of an office building at 320 W. 37th Street (at ninth Ave.).

The solo form is alive and well.
NYC FLIES SOLO