Carol Rosegg News

February of 2008 has turned out to be a heck of a terrific month for non-traditional and daring Off-Broadway musicals. (Do we have any more opening by tomorrow night?) Following the exhilarating Next To Normal and the entrancingly Dadaist The Blue Flower we now have Joshua Schmidt (music and libretto) and Jason Loewith's (libretto) haunting chamber piece, Adding Machine, based on Elmer Rice's 1923 Expressionist drama. To call it 'old-fashioned' would be misleading, but one of the pleasures of Adding Machine is that it recalls a time when political and social protest musicals were not uncommon among Gotham's theatrical offerings.

1959 was a heck of a good year for Broadway overtures.  The majestic trumpet fanfare and lowdown bump and grind of Gypsy's is generally regarded as the best in musical theatre, but there was also the rousingly rhythmic curtain-raiser to Fiorello! and, my personal favorite, Philip J. Lang's beautiful interpretation of Bob Merrill's music for Take Me Along, which touches on so many moods of the show while continually building the toe-tapping climax of The catchy title tune.

You would think that Edith Wharton's fizzy little comic novel, The Glimpses Of The Moon, might have been a perfect property for Rodgers & Hart or Kern, Wodehouse & Bolton to musicalize when it was fresh off the presses in 1922.  But no, it took until 2008 for New Yorkers to get a glimpse, not to mention a pleasant earful, of a brand new frothy little musical charmer based on her book, courtesy of a couple of moderns, Tajlei Levis (book and lyrics) and John Mercurio (music).

Figaro runs April 25 through June 8. This show marries Mozart and Theatre de la Jeune Lune, the Tony Award-winning artists who brought you The Miser in 2006. No Child… runs May 11 through June 1. It's the stunning solo show about America's public schools from Obie Award-winner Nilaja Sun.

'American Girls', the new play by Hilary Bettis, is a fascinating but inconclusive look into the psyche of America's youth, exemplified by two 14-year-old Christian girls who enter the adult sex industry.

New Georges, the OBIE Award-winning downtown theater company founded in 1992, will present Artistic Director Susan Bernfield's new politically charged comedy-drama 'STRETCH (a fantasia), ' directed by Emma Griffin (Five Course Love), with music by Rachel Peters.

BroadwayWorld.com has learned the the Jill Santoriello penned A Tale of Two Cities, which played the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida in the Fall of 2007 will open on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on September 18, 2008.

Signature Theatre Company presents the world premiere of Paradise Park by 2007-2008 Playwright-in-Residence Charles Mee; officially opening Sunday March 2.

Timothy Busfield and Helen Stenborg star in the dark comedy Vigil at Westport Country Playhouse, now playing through March 15.

The new musical Passing Strange is truly bringing something 'strange' to today's world of musical theatre... originality. Shaped out of personal life experiences, 'Passing Strange' utters a refreshing sound for the streets of Broadway. The cast dive-into their eclectic mix of characters and the roots of this adventurous new musical which seeks 'the real.'

Secrets of a Soccer Mom, written by Kathleen Clark and directed by Judith Ivey, will officially open Wednesday, March 5 at The Snapple Theater Center (Broadway at 50 Street)

The New Group proudly presents the US premiere of Mike Leigh's Two Thousand Years, set for a limited Off-Broadway engagement through March 8; officially opening tonight Thursday February 7 at 7PM at The Acorn Theatre (Theatre Row) at. Scott Elliott directs.

Creation Production Company will present the world premiere of Susan Mosakowski's full-length drama Man-Made, which she will also direct. Man-Made will be presented at the Ohio Theatre, 66 Wooster Street (between Spring and Broome Streets). Previews begin February 29, and the official Opening Night will be Sunday, March 2 at 7PM. Performances will run through Saturday, March 22.

Feinstein's at Loews Regency continues its Spring 2008 season with the debut of Andrea McArdle for one night only on Sunday, February 10.

The Butterfly - adapted from Patricia Polacco's book of the same name by Charles Greenberg (Music) and Barbara Zinn Krieger (Book & Lyrics) and directed by David Schechter - will be presented by Making Books Sing, the New York-based company dedicated to turning culturally and historically significant books for young readers into musical works for the stage, with performances in the Bronx at the Lovinger Theatre at Lehman College from January 28 to February 1; in Brooklyn at the Goldstein Theatre at Kingsborough Community College from February 4 to 8; in Manhattan at Symphony Space from February 9 to 12; and in Queens at Laguardia Performing Arts Center at Laguardia Community College from February 14 to 15.

NEW THIS WEEK: Best Bet: Glory Days! New Audition Notices! Local Playwright wins competition! MET to present KILLER JOE! Much more!

The world premiere of George Packer's new play Betrayed, will officially open Wednesday, February 6 at 7PM, after beginning performances on Friday, January 25 at Culture Project's SoHo theater

REVIEW: Cirque Dreams: Jungle Fantasy arrives at Baltimore's Hippodrome Theatre for a two week stay.

Playwright Edward Albee directs 'The Sandbox' and 'The American Dream' at The Cherry Lane Theatre; to star Judith Ivey, Myra Carter and George Bartenieff.

Sand, a new play by Trista Baldwin directed by Daniella Topol, about three young American soldiers in a wind-swept, ever-shifting Middle East desert, will have its world premiere at Women's Project, Julie Crosby, Artistic Director, when previews begin Friday, February 1 at 8PM for an opening Sunday, February 10 at 7PM at the Julia Miles Theater