OCTOBER 31
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
VILLAGE HALLOWEEN COSTUME BALL
To delight its community and celebrate the creativity that comes with the season, Theater for the New City (TNC), 155 First Ave., will present its annual Village Halloween Costume Ball October 31. A large outdoor festivity will be held from 3:30 PM to 7:00 PM outside the Theater on East Tenth Street between First and Second Avenues (or if it rains, in a big tent), featuring performances and a costume competition for kids. This will be followed by indoor performances from 7:00 PM to 11:00 plus ballroom dancing to Art Lillard's Heavenly Swing Band and MisterPablo (Latin Dance band) and an aerial dance concert by Constellation Moving Company. An indoor restaurant (The Witch's Cauldron) opens at 7:00 PM, where guests can eat dinner for $4 with delightful gourmet dishes donated by local restaurants. Admission is free for the outdoor program and $20 for the indoor festivities. Costumes or formal wear are requested.

COMPLETE INFO: www.jsnyc.com/season/halwn2024.htm
PHOTOS: https://photos.app.goo.gl/prEwwsQct9R5SC9G7

NOVEMBER 8 TO DECEMBER 1
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
"ORSON'S SHADOW," WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY AUSTIN PENDLETON
To share a hit show of its Spring season with the largest possible audience, Theater for the New City (TNC), Crystal Field, Executive Artistic Director, will present a remounting of its production of "Orson's Shadow," written by Austin Pendleton and directed by Mr. Pendleton and his longtime close friend and colleague David Schweizer, from November 8 to December 1. The reprise is an Off-Broadway production of Axial Theatre, Oberon Theatre Ensemble and Strindberg Rep in association with Fortify.space and Michael Howard Studios.

COMPLETE INFO: www.jsnyc.com/season/orson2.htm
PHOTOS: https://photos.app.goo.gl/sS1dXqHDPS6jp1ep6

NOVEMBER 21 TO DECEMBER 8
LA MAMA E.T.C.
CZECHOSLOVAK-AMERICAN MARIONETTE THEATRE IN "FOWL PLAY: CONFERENCE OF THE BIRDS"
An original puppet rock opera inspired by Farid us-Din Attar’s 12th century Sufi poem “The Conference of the Birds,” as re-told by contemporary illustrator and author, Peter Sis. In the story, a flock of birds seek their leader in vain. Performers will portray the birds on their quest over mountain ranges, through deserts and forests. Puppets, objects and costumes will be designed in the style of Sis's colorful illustrations; and include feather boas, scarves, flags, flowers, banknotes, traffic tickets, dry leaves, newspapers, political and sales flyers, plastic bags, cans & bottles. Diretced by Vit Horejs. Score created by Avi Fox-Rosen, using some of the original music by Czech Rockstar, Michael Kocab (Prague).  Choreography by Martha Tornay in collaboration with the performers and directed by Horejs.

COMPLETE INFO: www.jsnyc.com/season/fowl.htm
PHOTOS: https://photos.app.goo.gl/esD7PQMDG2bqUrut8

JANUARY 9 TO 26, 2025
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
"THE GIGGLING GRANNY"
Marilyn Chris performs the debut run of "The Giggling Granny," a solo play written for her by Marsha Lee Sheiness about the serial Killer Nanny Doss, who murdered five husbands and six other family members in Alabama, North Carolina, Kansas and Oklahoma between 1927 and 1954. A true story about the most mesmerizing, innocent and likable serial killer (looking for true love) that you ever going to meet! Directed by Jim Semmelman.

Ms. Chris is well known for her 18 years on “One Life To Live” playing Wanda Webb Wolek, for which she received the best supporting actress Award from The TV Magazine writers and Editors. Her Broadway appearances include “Brighton Beach Memoirs” (as Aunt Kate), "Lenny" (as Sally) and “The Birthday Party" (directed by Alan Schneider). She played Naomi, the paranoid mother of Allen Ginsberg, in "Kaddish," directed by Robert Kalfin, which opened at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in February 1972. Chris won an Obie Award for her performance. She also won a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award and a Variety Critics Poll.

JANUARY 10 TO 19, 2025
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
50TH ANNUAL THUNDERBIRD AMERICAN INDIAN DANCERS' POW-WOW AND DANCE CONCERT
A Pow-Wow is more than just a spectator event: it is a joyous reunion for native peoples nationwide and an opportunity for the non-Indian community to voyage into the philosophy and beauty of Native culture. Traditionally a gathering and sharing of events, Pow-Wows have come to include spectacular dance competitions, exhibitions, and enjoyment of traditional foods.There will be dances, stories and traditional music from Native Peoples of the Northeast, Southwest and Great Plains regions. The event has become a treasured New York tradition for celebrating our diversity by honoring the culture of our first Americans. TNC donates all proceeds from the event to college scholarship funds for Native American students. Throughout the performance, all elements are explained in depth through detailed introductions by the troupe's Director and Emcee Louis Mofsie (Hopi/Winnebago).

2024 PRODUCTION PHOTOS: https://photos.app.goo.gl/cdngGP9j8jaHQy7G8
2019 PRODUCTION PHOTOS: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ebLLGRPPQVHjJsxt8
RECENT YEARS' PHOTOS: https://goo.gl/photos/tcrxbtPYtF2hdvhV6 and https://goo.gl/photos/SLr4PXEHJrsq34j9A
HISTORICAL PHOTOS of Pow-Wows from 2004 to 2015: https://goo.gl/photos/wUcenp6ZcPDcBCYD7

JANUARY 30 TO FEBRUARY 16
TEATRO CIRCULO, 64 EAST 4TH STREET
"BLOOD WEDDING" BY FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
First Maria Ensemble presents a bilingual (English-Spanish) production of "Blood Wedding" by Federico Garcia Lorca in collaboration with Cambalache Theatre Company. Celeste Moratti directs. Translated by Michael Dewell and Carmen Zapata. Performed by an international company with actors from Argentina, Poland, Armenia, The Netherlands and Brazil with live music by two Italian musicians, Francesco Santalucia and Papaceccio. This is the third production at Teatro Circulo for First Maria Ensemble, which has hitherto presented all-Shakespeare. It is led by Celeste Moratti, an Italian-born actress who, before founding this company, was best known for both realistic and surrealistic leading roles in the "Pathological Theater" productions of Dario D'Ambrosi. Her vision is informed by her work at La MaMa and The Living Theater. Cambalache Theatre Company was founded this year by two Argentine actresses, Carmen Ezcurra and Cecilia Wisky, who named their troupe after the famous tango "Cambalache"!

VIDEO ON DEMAND

"USED AND BORROWED TIME" BY SOPHIA ROMMA
"Used and Borrowed Time," written and directed by Sophia Romma, is now available on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Roku and the Vyre Network. This experimental avant-garde film, a psychological drama phantasma, has amassed over 45 festival awards and 26 festival film selections. An interracial couple's idyllic love rises above the hatred of a vengeful white supremacist family in segregationist Alabama during the 1960s. The film pays homage to the French New Wave films of Goddard, Truffaut and Agnès Varda. It has been translated from its original English into Greek, Spanish and Italian.

COMPLETE INFO: www.usedandborrowedtime.com

THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY & NEW YIDDISH REP PRODUCTION OF "THE DYBBUK"
"The Dybbuk" is arguably the most well-known play in the Yiddish theater lexicon. It was premiered on December 9, 1920 by the Vilna Troupe at the Eizeum theater in Warsaw. Its success catapulted that company onto the International stage. It has since been translated into 27 languages and performed worldwide. From December 9-13, New Yiddish Rep celebrated the play's 100th birthday with a live performance streamed from Theater For The New City. A recording of the production has now been released for the general public to view on Vimeo.

MORE INFO: www.jsnyc.com/season/Dybbuk.htm

"Feathers of Fire" is the most elaborate shadow theater experience ever created, and this recording, captured on an actual theater stage, transforms it into a video-on-demand production for all ages. The story is adapted from Shahnameh (the Persian Book of Kings) and tells the action-packed tale of two star-crossed lovers of old Persia. Zaul, an outcast albino boy, is brought up by a bird-goddess and grows up into a wise ruler. He enters into a forbidden love with Rudabeh, a princess who is the granddaughter of the dreaded Serpent King. Their young, impetuous romance survives many precarious adventures before they finally receive blessings for their union. When they ultimately have a child, it is Rostam, "the Hercules of Iran." Aspects of the story are reminiscent of "Romeo and Juliet," "Rapunzel," "The Firebird" and "Jungle Book."

The piece is created and directed by Hamid Rahmanian, a 2014 Guggenheim fellowship-winning filmmaker/visual artist living in Brooklyn. It is endorsed by Francis Ford Coppola, who called the production "Fantastic! One of the greatest epics of all time and my favorite Shahnameh brought to life in a spectacular fashion by Hamid Rahmanian with shadow puppets design and cinematic wizardry."

COMPLETE INFO: www.jsnyc.com/season/feathers.htm