The Shaw Festival presents a thinking person's play with possibly too much to think about at once, and many in Buffalo are thinking about Curtain Up, the annual celebration of the start of the theater season.
THE DIVINE, about a three day visit in the early 20th century by actress Sarah Bernhardt to Quebec City takes on perhaps too many issues for one play, even for the Shaw Festival with its mission to mount plays by, and in the spirit of, noted reformer George Bernard Shaw. Topics covered include abuse of children by the church, abuse of children by industry, two different "coming of age" stories in one seminary, and The Divine Ms. Bernhardt.
Here in Buffalo, just in time for Curtain Up, The New Road Less Traveled Theater has a new home at 500 Pearl Street at the corner of Tupper (right behind 710 Main Theatre) where they have constructed an intimate 90 seat theater. RLT presents the world premiere of Bella Poynton's play SPEED OF LIGHT, opening on September 11th and running through October 4th.
Anthony traveled to New York for the off-Broadway production of THE LEGEND OF GEORGE MCBRIDE about an Elvis impersonator who, through a series of events, at first unwillingly crosses cultural lines and becomes a drag performer.
Javier Bustillos, founder and guiding light of Buffalo United Artists, will be honored with a star in the sidewalk on the median in front of 710 Main Theatre as part of Curtain Up. And BUA will present BUYER & CELLAR, a one man show starring Kurt Erb, about Barbra Streisand's fabulous wardrobe, at the Alleyway's Main Street Cabaret.
And the multiple Tony Award winning IN THE HEIGHTS, with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, set over the course of three days, in a largely Dominican neighborhood in Washington Heights in New York, opens at Musicalfare Theatre on Wednesday, September 9th and runs through October 11th.
