Taking Stock of Summer

Take a moment. Breathe. With the Tony deadline behind us at last, Broadway shows can now settle into their runs, whether that means erecting higher and stronger cordons around Julia Roberts, or moving past the 1000-gallon fake-blood mark at “Lieutenant of Inishmore.” The summer has arrived, and with it the busloads of tourists to fill those glittering houses. New Yorkers can finally relax, wait for the heat … and get ready to go to another show. Because theater doesn’t take a vacation.JUNESome festivals are already up and running, like the 59E59 Brits off-Broadway.The overcast weather has been the perfect complement to the English imports, which have already enjoyed a brisk start with Sebastian Haffner’s “Defying Hitler” and a reprise of Ian Kelly’s tasty “Cooking for Kings” from last year.Their main events,like Andrea Hart’s adaptation of “Nothing” will open June 7, starring Sophie Ward, followed by Dennis Kelly’s post-apocalyptic “After the End” to cool us down with thoughts of nuclear winter.The Brick, the scrappy Williamsburg space with the portable AC, cheerfully compromises itself with The $ellout Festival starting June 2, featuring such intentionally vacuous fare as an Anna Nicole Smith musical and a retelling of “Die Hard,” starring puppets. In addition, they’ve auctioned off the services of the Youngblood playwrights, who wrote a bio-play for the highest bidder on eBay.June 4 sees the start of Summerworks 2006,the resurgent Clubbed Thumb’s celebration of new works at the Ohio Theater, and on June 14th the Downtown Urban Theater Festival pops up at the Cherry Lane. But what if you long for a stand-alone play, with nothing festive about it? The Public answers the call with Macbeth, this first of this year’s free Shakespeare in the Park, starring the dour, but magnificent, Liev Schreiber.And while Mr. Schreiber is considered one of our best young speakers of Shakespeare, he could still take notes from his elder, Alvin Epstein (seen last year in “Tuesdays with Morrie”), who will start a touring production of King Lear at La MaMa on June 16th. Other noteworthy actors – largely because of their small screen credits – are working during June: “Grey’s Anatomy” termagant Sandra Oh in Diana Son’s Satellites at the Public (opening officially in early June), Wendie Malick of “Just Shoot Me” will be in Roger Kirby’s new Wall Street musical Burleigh Grimes (at New World Stages on June 13), and Eric McCormack, the recently unemployed star of “Will and Grace,” lends his snark to Some Girl(s), Neil LaBute’s fanged exploration of ex-girlfriends, on June 8th.Some of the city’s favorite new playwrights are getting beefy productions this summer. On June 2, Playwrights Horizons will wrestle with a family’s faith in The Busy World Is Hushed by Keith Bunin, quickly followed by 13P (at Walkerspace) presenting Kate E. Ryan’s Mark Smith,about a washedup has-been wrestling with the end of the 1980s. After last year’s impressively depressing “Slag Heap,”Anton Dudley returns with the urban fairy tale Getting Home at the McGinn-Cazale on June 5th, and Greg Kotis, who wrote “Urinetown,” leaks his new work, Pig Farm, at the Laura Pels Theater starting June 9th.At Second Stage, Theresa Rebeck reteams with her “Omnium Gatherum” director Will Frears for The Water’s Edge on June 15th, a squabble over lakefront property. And because New Yorkers can’t get enough of real estate drama, four days later Doug Hughes officially swings wide the doors on Richard Greenberg’s The House in Town,a 1920s tale of townhouses and toffs, at Lincoln Center.JULYBy July 5, we should all be ready for some ice, or at least the avant-curating of the Ice Factory Festival at the Ohio Theater. While they show us “what’s next” from local envelope pushers, Arielle Tepper’s SPF Festival opens the whole file folder, with 15 new plays getting week-long runs at Theater Row.The real news of the summer, as always, comes from the Lincoln Center Festival (July 10-30), which tosses its net farther than any other summer offering. From a nine-hour marathon production of J.M. Synge’s entire oeuvre, to a Julie Taymor-Eliot Goldenthal-penned operatic take on “Grendel,” they cement their title as “most intimidating” presenting body. A completely different sort of theatrical monster, Martin Short makes the lone showing on Broadway starting July 22. His Fame Becomes Me was once titled “If I’d Saved, I Wouldn’t Be Here” – but Broadway prices will only let in audiences with a sizeable nest egg of their own.If you can’t get into Mr. Short’s shtick, go for something brand new instead: Either A.R. Gurney’s world premiering Indian Blood, a story of a self righteously repressed boy at Primary Stages starting July 25th, or Seth Zvi Rosenfeld’s Everything’s Turning Beautiful.This story of two songwriters stars Bobby Cannavale and Annabella Sciorra, who at least have the “beautiful” part down before they open.AUGUSTIn the deepest of dog days, there are still a few reasons to delay your trip to the Hamptons. Starting August 8, the great Meryl Streep will be dragging the baggage of Mother Courage around the Central Park’s Delacorte, in an adaptation by Tony Kushner, directed by George C.Wolfe.That kind of theatrical one-two punch should tame even Brecht’s mighty classic, and only 10 hours in line will get you a completely free ticket.Finally, if over-nighting in the Park doesn’t tax your survival skills, and the jitneys are full, you can always head to the 10th Annual New York International Fringe Festival. With the phonebook-sized guide in hand, you should be able to see just enough … to miss the shows everyone will be talking about. Still, there are better than 200 shows on offer and a healthy sense of adventure should guarantee you at least one unforgettable experience. You can always use it to tire yourself out, as it may be the only thing that can make us grateful that summer is coming to a close.

Taking Stock of Summer

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