Rude Entertainment Photos - Off-Broadway

The Rudes. They're like the cast of Star Wars or Star Trek, iconic and revered in that way that Trekkers love Leonard Nimoy or George Takei, but for Austin and its avid theatre going Rude fans, well, that, and their collaborative works with others from Helsinki to Cedar Rapids. And their current production, REQUIEM FOR TESLA, is, in its third incarnation, like a Star Trek reboot. While other theatres around town dust off the usual December holiday fare, The Rude Mechanicals, never to be usual, have resurrected REQUIEM FOR TESLA in celebration of their 20th anniversary season. It's obvious they've been around and drummed up an enthusiastic fan base. (Full disclosure: I'm one of them). On opening night for this particular production, one ebullient fan behind us waxed poetic to total strangers about each and every Rude production he'd seen (many of which I've seen myself) including the 2001 and 2003 iterations of REQUIEM FOR TESLA.

The return of 'PERFECT HARMONY,' a hit of the 2006 New York International Fringe Festival and a 2008 sold-out summer run on Theatre Row is now back on track after a dispute between the theatre manager at 45 Bleecker Theatres (the show's recent home) and the space's landlord resulted in a closing of that complex on October 13. Theatre Row General Manager Erika Feldman came to the show's rescue and offered the production a new home - The Acorn Theatre, 410 West 42nd Street (between 9th and 10th Avenues) in the Theatre Row complex. 'PERFECT HARMONY' is conceived and directed by Andrew Grosso, and written by Grosso and The Essentials. Performances resume at The Acorn on Thursday, October 21 and the official opening performance is set for Wednesday, October 27 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets for the Off Broadway run are available through Telecharge at 212-239-6200 or www.telecharge.com, and on sale through November 13, 2010. (The producers are planning to move the show to another space following this run at The Acorn.)

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director), THE PUBLIC THEATER (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Andrew D. Hamingson, Executive Director), and BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE (Tony Taccone, Artistic Director; Susan Medak, Managing Director) present the world premiere of COMPULSION by Rinne Groff, directed by Oskar Eustis, at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street, New Haven) January 29-February 28. Opening Night is Thursday, February 4.