Penelope Windust

Production teams at Theatre 40 expertly present mid-20th Century British comedy better than almost any other theater in town. So it was no surprise to find out the group decided to present the riotous BREATH OF SPRING by Peter Coke to open their 51st season, directed by Bruce Gray and produced by David Hunt Stafford, the dynamic duo production team who have brought so many great shows to their stage. Written in 1958, BREATH OF SPRING has nothing to do with the season. In fact, it is a type of silver mink highly prized among fur aficionados. And while we may have differing opinions about wearing fur, there is no doubt in the mid-20th Century that lovely fur coats, stoles and jackets were often worn not only to keep warm but to show the wearer had "made it" into high society.

Director/producer/actor Charles Haid's latest theatrical directorial project ALTMAN'S LAST STAND opens February 6 at the Zephyr Theatre. In this one-man show, Michael Laskin portrays the Viennese-born Franz Altman who refused to sell his mid-town Manhattan second hand shop to corporate developers.