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Review: 'Not a Celebration, But an Evening of Entertainment': "Cabaret in Captivity: Songs and Sketches from Terezin"

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Cabaret in Captivity: Songs and Sketches from Terezin Conceived by Edward Einhorn Developed and directed by Edward Einhorn and Jenny Lee Mitchell Musical direction, arrangements, and piano by Maria Dessena Presented by Untitled Theater Company No. 61  at different venues monthly January 28-April 16, 2023 (also available on demand) Photo courtesy of Untitled Theater Company No. 61 Many of those well-versed in 20th century history – even on this marking of Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27 – may not know the place name Terezin or have heard of the Theresienstadt ghetto. Established by the Nazis in November 1941 in German-occupied Czechia, this camp was – and in the contemporary imagination, remains – a contradiction: a place of great suffering and starvation; a way-station or transit point connecting the Jews of Europe to death in Auschwitz. And yet, this was a model camp – a camp good enough to convince the Red Cross that conditions in Europe’s concentration camps were just fine. It
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News: Teatro Círculo Annoucnes CALLBACKseries and DANCEseries 2023 Season

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SEIS cast: Mario Mattei, María Fontanals, Yessi Hernández and Mauricio Martínez. Teatro Círculo , one of the main bilingual Latino theatre companies in New York City, will begin its 2023 Season in February with its CALLBACKseries and DANCEseries at the Chain Theatre in Manhattan (312 West 36th St., 3rd floor). For 28 years, Teatro Círculo has been presenting Spanish Golden Age theater plays and contemporary theater works in New York City. With its CALLBACKseries, which began in 2015, and its DANCEseries, which began in 2017, it fosters and supports independent artists. As part of CALLBACKseries2023, from February 16 to 26, Teatro Círculo will present Seis , by Federico Roca, a tribute to six transgender women murdered in Uruguay between 2012 and 2013. Of the six cases, only one has been resolved. Seis , directed by Pablo Andrade, will be performed in Spanish with overtitles in English. In this staging, humor and prejudice serve to present the humanity of the victims. The cast, wi
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Review: "The Machine Stops" Offers a Faithful and Eye-Catching Sci-Fi Adaptation

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The Machine Stops Adapted and directed by Kevin Ray Presented by KEVIN RAY | WORKS at the The Mark O'Donnell Theater at the Entertainment Community Fund Arts Center 160 Schermerhorn St, Brooklyn, NYC January 27-February 5, 2023 L to R: Lya Lanne, Rachel Rhea Shannon, Augustus W. Cook II, & John Teresi. Photo by Jonathan Levin. English writer E. M. Forster's (1879-1970) 1909 dystopian science fiction story "The Machine Stops" includes much that now seems prescient, albeit necessarily and interestingly limited by its era: videoconferencing and music or literature at the push of a button make appearances, for instance, but that these or any other technologies could be wireless was clearly still unthinkable. The story may also strike audiences as having gained additional contemporary resonance in how its characters' physical isolation; disinclination to touch one another; and system of, as the narrative puts it, bringing things to people rather than people to thi
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News: Free Performance and Discussion of Brooklyn Abolitionist History Musical "Color Between the Lines" at Irondale, Feb 4

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Image courtesy The PR Social Irondale , now celebrating forty years of artistically ambitious, cutting-edge theatre, presents live performances, excerpts, and discussion around their 2012 original production of Color Between the Lines with Behind the Scenes and Between the Lines , Saturday, February 4 at 7:30 p.m. A work created as part of In Pursuit of Freedom, a collaboration with the Brooklyn Historical Society and the Weeksville Heritage Center, this musical theater piece was devised by eight members of the Irondale ensemble and explores the abolitionist struggle in Brooklyn. The first major public history project to tell the unknown story of Brooklyn’s abolitionists, the work celebrates the unknown, ordinary people who did extraordinary things in perilous times. In honor of Irondale’s 40th anniversary, admission is free to all. In the decades after the Revolutionary War, the anti-slavery movement gained ground in New York City, and Brooklyn became home to one of the largest concen
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Review: Season 14 of The Fire This Time Festival Is Blazingly Good

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The Fire This Time Festival : Season 14: Ten-Minute Plays Plays by Andrea Frierson, Cris Eli Blak, kl, Zachariah Ezer, Steve Harper, Phillip Gregory Burke, and Goldie E. Patrick Directed by Goldie E. Patrick Presented by FRIGID New York at The Kraine Theater 85 E 4th St., Manhattan, NYC January 16-29, 2023 Darell J. Hunt, Monique A. Robinson, Malikha Mallette, & Broderick Clavery in Tower . Photo by Danté Crichlow In its 14th year, the annual The Fire This Time Festival continues to bolster its status as a must-see event on NYC's theatrical calendar. The Festival's program of ten-minute plays provides a showcase for early-career playwrights of African and African American descent, and this year's fantastic selections, under the accomplished direction of Goldie E. Patrick and realized by an outstanding cast, stand out even among the high-quality work of previous years. The Festival also features two different staged readings , the first of short plays by The Fire This T
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News: A Trio of Upcoming Performances for "Saudades," a New Play by and about Brazilian Immigrants

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Saudades , a new play by and about Brazilian immigrants, will have three NYC performances in the coming weeks: first, a staged reading accompanied by live Brazilian music and cocktails at the Consulate General of Brazil on January 30th, followed by two performances at  LPAC's Rough Draft Festival  on February 17th and 18th.    Saudades , written by Fernando Segall and directed by Marina Zurita, is about Laura (Ana Moioli), a young Brazilian-American woman who embarks  on a trip of self-discovery to Brazil, searching for her long-lost mother, Luiza (Julia Burnier). After growing up believing that her Brazilian mother had passed away when she was a child, Laura finally discovers that her mother is alive – living in Brazil after leaving Laura’s father for another man – and decides to go after her. Divided  between wanting to go through this journey by herself and being immensely scared of it, she ends up making a friend on the plane who becomes a powerful ally – Pedro (Dylan Jernet),
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News: Unattended Baggage Presents the Second Annual Immersive Experience of "The Love Letter Plays"

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Just in time for Valentine's Day, Unattended Baggage is remounting last year's production of The Love Letter Plays , a socially distant immersive experience. These sensual (and hilarious) letters are written by Jessica Chen (NYC-based TV writer, actress, and producer), Ena Da (iconic memer @park_slope_arsonist on Instagram), and Ruthy Ferrera (Bronx-born comedienne). This year's production includes a new exciting, hilarious, sensual, and interactive twist. Each letter is a self-contained story told through different mediums guaranteed to make you laugh (and maybe make you feel something a little spicy as well). Let’s just say these are the kind of Valentine's Day letters that would make Venus and Cupid blush. It should be unsurprising, then, that  The Love Letter Plays is recommended for ages 18+ and contains sexual language. Audiences will receive all three of their letters by Valentine’s Day 2023 (tickets must be reserved by January 20, 2023). The show is conceived b
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