THE DANGERS OF TOBACCO to Open Theater 86's New West 39th Street Home

Theater 86 will launch its next chapter with Anton Chekhov's The Dangers of Tobacco, the first production to premiere in the company's new home on West 39th Street in the heart of the Garment District. Performances run August 28-30, kicking off a fundraising series to support the company's official opening in October.

Chekhov's The Dangers of Tobacco is traditionally staged as a monologue: a single hapless lecturer, supposedly there to warn audiences about smoking, who instead unravels into a confession of a stifled, henpecked life. Director Aleksey Burago's production keeps that lone speaker - played by Tom Schubert - but breaks the play wide open around him. Soprano Elena Mindlina appears as nearly everyone and everything haunting his head: his overbearing wife, a buzzing bee, a biting bedbug, the nightmares and daydreams he can't quite escape. The result turns a short comic monologue into a full theatrical world, driven by live opera singing and violin.

"Chekhov's real target in this play is hypocrisy - the gap between what we say and what we actually feel," said Burago. "He uses humor to expose that gap, but underneath the comedy is something deeply compassionate: a wish for people to be honest with each other and with themselves. That's what we're chasing with all this music and mayhem - not just jokes, but a way toward tenderness. For an independent theater, losing a longtime home can feel like losing part of your identity. But theater has always turned necessity into imagination, and this production is our first step into a new space and a new future. We want audiences there at the beginning."

Theater 86's former home at West Park Presbyterian Church was a vital gathering place for the company's artists and audiences. Rather than let that loss end the story, the company is treating it as the opening scene of the next one.

Tickets to The Dangers of Tobacco are $40 for a 70-minute performance. Audiences won't just be watching the first show in a new space - they'll be helping bring that space to life.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Aleksey Burago is the artistic director of Theater 86 and the director of The Dangers of Tobacco. A graduate of the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS), he studied under the renowned director Pyotr Fomenko, and The New York Times has praised the visual precision of his work, once likening its simplicity to "a tiny, finely honed blade." Burago emigrated from Russia to New York in the early 1990s and founded Theater 86 - originally known as the Russian Arts Theater and Studio - going on to direct more than sixty New York productions, including an Obie-nominated On the Eveand a Time Out New York Critic's Pick staging of Ah, My Dear Anderson. His recent production of Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita ran for four sold-out engagements and was called "maliciously inventive" by the Wall Street Journal.

Tom Schubert is an acclaimed Brazilian-American actor whose international career spans theater, television, film, voiceover, and commercial work. Beginning in Sao Paulo he performed in stage classics such as Shakespeare's Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, and appeared on popular national television shows including the teen series Sandy & Junior on Globo TV. In New York city for over twenty years, he has studied and further developed his acting skills under established award winning professionals of the Tony, Obie, Drama Desk and Screen Actors Guild Awards, like Austin Pendleton and Hellen Gallahger.

His recent portrayal of Woland in Mikhail Bulgakov's 'The Master and Margarita or the Devil comes to Moscow ' at Theater 86 has been critically praised by Charles Isherwood (The Wall Street Journal) and Sara Holdren (Vulture/New York Magazine). Other recent credits at 86 include Evgene Schwartz's 'The Dragon' (Lancelot), Alexander Dumas's 'The Three Musketeers (Athos/Louis XIII/Duke of Buckingham) and Dante Alighieri's 'Inferno' (Dante). Passionate about Anton Chekov's stories, Tom's been in The Seagul (Trigorin) and Lady with a Lapdog (Gurov), also directed by Aleksey Burago, someone he has had the pleasure of collaborating with for nearly two decades. Thrilled to rejoin Elena Mindlina on stage in their fourth production at 86, he’s excited about getting to sing with Mindlina, who’s also his singing coach. A magnetic multilingual  performer with a resonant baritone, Schubert brings charisma,  precision, wit, and emotional danger to Ivan Ivanovich Nyukhin, Chekhov’s unraveling lecturer.

Dr. Elena Mindlina is an acclaimed American soprano, violinist, and actress whose career spans opera, concert music, musical theater, chamber performance, and drama. Known for her versatility, refined musicianship, and command of repertoire across five centuries and thirteen languages, she has appeared at The Town Hall, Merkin Hall, Symphony Space, 54 Below, the National Opera Center, and the Harvard Musical Association. Her world-premiere recording for Toccata Classics earned a five-star review from BBC Music Magazine.

Mindlina has performed leading roles in New York’s Theater 86 productions and appeared in Roberta and South Pacific, as well as Scott Siegel’s Great American Songbook and Broadway’s Greatest Hits at 54 Below. In 2022, following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she collaborated with Aleksey Burago to create and premiere a staged musical protest at CSUN ChamberFest, transforming chamber music into an act of public witness. In this production, Mindlina unites her dramatic presence, operatic voice, and violin artistry in Burago’s singular two-actor staging. A Doctor of Musical Arts, she is also a respected bel canto and diction specialist whose students perform internationally, appear at major festivals, and win international competitions. 

ABOUT THEATER 86

Theater 86 is an independent New York theater company dedicated to intimate, artist-centered productions that bring classic and contemporary writing into immediate conversation with audiences. Following the loss of its former home at West Park Presbyterian Church, the company is building a new performance space and beginning a new chapter in its artistic life. Its fundraising series will lead to the company's official opening in October.

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

The Dangers of Tobacco
By Anton Chekhov
Directed by Aleksey Burago
Featuring Tom Schubert and Elena Mindlina
With live opera singing and violin performance
90 minutes, no intermission
Tickets: $40

August 28 at 7:30 p.m.
August 29 at 7:30 p.m.
August 30 at 3:00 p.m.

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