metaDRAMA: Congratulations

I don't normally post press releases, but I'm a huge fan of good news, so allow me to paraphrase a few of them.

The Pied Pipers of the Lower East Side, which I called "honestly terrific" is moving from it's extended off-off-Broadway run at PS122 to the off-Broadway theater down the street, you know, the one that used to be the Pearl, and is now just "Theater 80 St. Marks." (Which is an appropriate venue for their subject matter, given that a large chunk of it is about preserving the essential but perhaps not maximally profitable pieces of a neighborhood.) They'll be there from September 10th to October 5th, and while the tickets are now $40, the show is roughly three solid hours long, so it's still worth it.

The Fringe Encores were announced, and three of the six shows I recommended pre-Fringe made it. To Viral, Powerhouse, and His Greatness, congratulations--I'll have reviews up as I get over this stomach bug and can think straight. As for my other picks, they all won Overall Excellence Awards: Remission and The Event for best solo show, and Ether Steeds, for best ensemble. (Powerhouse also got best ensemble, and Viral picked one up for best play.)

And last, but certainly not least, the New York Innovative Theater awards, which I was delighted to participate in this year, just released the list of honorary recipients. Congratulations to Maria Irene Fornes, for the Artistic Achievement Award; to Materials for the Arts for the Stewardship Award; and to the Brick Theater for the Caffe Cino Fellowship. Click here to get your tickets, and click here to see their 2009 nominees, a list which turned me on to quite a few companies I didn't know before--a list that includes, to come full circle, the Amoralists (Amerissiah)--currently doing The Pied Pipers of the Lower East Side.