This August is shaping up to be one of the steamiest on record -- at Off-Broadway theatres, that is. An incendiary school pageant about the 16th president, a feverish production from the world's hottest comedy juggling troupe, an interactive musical featuring the hottest radio hits of the 80s, as well as a sultry cast at Second Stage, a sizzling drama at Primary Stages, and a scorching look at an undiscovered chapter in the history of baseball, race and feminism... Off-Broadway is on fire this month!

	4PLAY: THE FLYING KARAMAZOV BROTHERS A unique blend of music, comedy, dance, theater, and juggling that will appeal to young and old alike, 4PLAY features The Flying Karamazov Brothers, New York's lunatics at the apex of their ambidextrous and alliterative ability. Their show is a combination of humor, both physical and verbal, ranging from high brow to low brow to mono brow. Watch the Flying K's as they prove with each performance that chaos and unexpected events in our lives are the best part of being human. Minetta Lane Theatre. Now in previews, opens August 9.
	ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S BIG GAY DANCE PARTY A fourth-grade Christmas pageant in Lincoln’s rural Illinois hometown sets off a firestorm of controversy when it calls into question Honest Abe’s sexuality. A thought-provoking, laugh-out-loud funny, and uniquely American story unfolds, offering surprises at every turn. Each of the three acts lets the audience see the story from a different character’s viewpoint – and at each performance the audience decides in which order the acts are performed, creating a Rubik’s Cube-like theatrical event. A truly democratic theatergoing experience! What could be more American than that? Acorn Theatre at Theatre Row. Now in previews, opens August 12.
	ALL-AMERICAN GIRLS ALL-AMERICAN GIRLS is a tale of racism, deceit and betrayal after the coach of an all-Negro female baseball team goes missing in 1945 Chicago. The drama captures an era in American history when women were called on to keep baseball alive as the men went off to fight in World War II. Layon Gray, the writer and director of the long-running Off-Broadway hit Black Angels Over Tuskegee, continues to expand African-American theatre with ALL-AMERICAN GIRLS, his latest work. Actors' Temple Theatre. Previews begin August 4, opens August 25.
	POWER BALLADZ The arena rock extravaganza you’ve been waiting for - part hilarious comedy, part sexy love story, and 90 minutes of wicked rock featuring some of the greatest anthems ever written by man, woman, or beast. The formula is simple - take some awesome rock singers and give them a full band, tons of lights, a killer fog machine, a video projection screen, and lots of leather and long hair. In POWER BALLADZ the band knows how to rock, but when the high school sweetheart of one of the band members stumbles into the concert after over ten years apart - will he be man enough to finally score the girl of his dreams? Midtown Theater at HA! Comedy Club. Previews begin August 5, opens August 19.
	SECRETS OF THE TRADE In show business, it's all about who you know. Or is it? Andy Lipman, a smart, ambitious kid from Long Island, dreams of a career on Broadway and hopes that his idol, theater legend Martin Kerner, can give it to him. Will Kerner open Andy's door to success, or will their complicated relationship force him to question a life in the theater? Primary Stages at 59E59. Now in previews, opens August 10.
	TRUST Harry is rich. Harry is married. But when Harry doesn't trust any of it is enough, he looks to find something real in the most unlikely of places. TRUST - a new play by Paul Weitz, Oscar-nominated screenwriter of About a Boy and director of the film American Pie, explores the corrosive effect of power on relationships. Starring Zach Braff, Bobby Cannavale, Sutton Foster and Ari Graynor. Second Stage Theatre. Now in previews, opens August 12.

Looking for something fun to do with the kids this weekend? Check out John Tartaglia’s IMAGINOCEAN, which is celebrating its landmark 100th performance (and the release of the show’s original cast album) with discounts, giveaways, and special free events throughout the city.

IMAGINOCEAN has been delighting children of all ages at New World Stages since it opened back in late March. From the fertile imagination of John Tartaglia, creator of The Disney Channel’s “Johnny and the Sprites,” this spectacular 60-minute musical utilizes spectacular black light puppetry and smorgasbord of musical styles to tell a tale about three fishy friends in search of a treasure deep under the sea.

DISCOUNTS: Buy a family four-pack of tickets to performances on Saturday July 24 and Sunday July 25 for just $100 (a savings of $56). To purchase, visit www.BroadwayOffers.com, or call 212-947-8844 and mention code JTFAMPK710. Tickets are regularly priced at $39, or $156 for four tickets.

GIVEAWAYS: All children in the audience on July 24 and 25 will receive a special IMAGINOCEAN sticker and poster.

CITY-WIDE EVENTS:
Saturday, July 24 at 1pm – Brooklyn’s Coney Island Beach.
The cast of the show will participate in the Coney Island Sand Sculpting Contest, and do a life performance on the Boardwalk at West 10th Street.

Wednesday, July 28 at 7pm – Barnes & Noble, 150 East 86th Street
Join John, the cast and puppets for a live performance and CD autograph session to celebrate the 100th performance and the release of the original Off-Broadway cast recording.

Performances for John Tartaglia's IMAGINOCEAN are scheduled for Wednesdays at 11am and 2pm; Saturdays at 11am, 2pm, and 4:30pm; and Sundays at 12 noon and 3pm. Tickets, normally priced at $39, can be purchased through through

Die-hard theater-goers are camping out overnight for a chance to snag free tickets to the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park production of The Merchant of Venice, but Pacino isn’t the only freebie in town. Here's another deal Shylock would love: since 1989, children’s theatre stalwart Theatreworks USA has presented a summertime Off-Broadway production free of charge. Their 2010 production, WE THE PEOPLE: AMERICA ROCKS! is premiering this week at the (blessedly air-conditioned and indoor) Lucille Lortel Theatre.

Jamie LaVerdiere, Badia Farha, Colin Campbell McAdoo and F. Michael Haynie. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Imagine the lovechild of Altar Boyz and Schoolhouse Rock, and you’ll get some idea of WE THE PEOPLE. An ambitious teen is running for student council president but has difficulty in completing her campaign speech on "What American Government Means to Me.” Luckily, America’s original boy band, The Founding Fathers (Washington, Jefferson, Adams and Franklin) show up to inspire her via an array of songs written by some the best young composers and lyricists in NYC. Along the way this Fab Four teach this modern student (and the audience) about How a Bill Becomes a Law, How the President is Elected, The First Amendment, and more.

Sure, the aim is education, but if anyone can make it fun and entertaining, Theatreworks USA can. After all, this is the company that scored multiple award nominations by turning the kiddie book Click, Clack, Moo into a deliciously warped tale about labor negotiation last summer, and by joyfully stripping away the Broadway excesses of Seussical the Musical in 1997.

According to Theatreworks USA’s website, a limited number of free tickets will be made available to individuals each show day at the theatre on a first come, first served basis.

Monday- Friday: tickets for each day’s performances will be distributed beginning at 9:30AM (this includes the 10:30am tickets, 1pm tickets as well as 6pm tickets for Thursday night shows)
Weekends: Tickets will be distributed one hour prior to curtain time.

Since tickets to weekday daytime shows are mostly earmarked for social service groups and camps, public ticket availabilty is best for Thursday evenings and weekend performances. Click HERE for the full performance schedule.

Theatreworks USA is a non-profit company, and its Free Summer Theatre program is entirely underwritten by grants and donations from corporations, foundations, and individuals. For more information on supporting Free Summer Theatre, click HERE.

The performance schedule for WE THE PEOPLE: AMERICA ROCKS is: Mondays at 10:30am, 1pm; Tuesdays at 10:30am, 1pm; Wednesdays at 10:30am, 1pm; Thursdays at 10:30am, 1pm, 6pm; Fridays at 10:30am, 1pm; Sundays and 3pm. Exceptions: Exceptions: 10:30am only on Thurs 7/8 and Fri 7/9, added 10:30am perf on Sat 7/10, no perf Sun 7/11, no 10:30am perf on Wed 7/14. All performances will be held at The Lucille Lortel Theatre, 121 Christopher Street.

The lives of American Presidents have long inspired the imaginations of writers and artists. It seems that every years brings a new must-read biography or a controversial new drama on film or television. Off-Broadway theatre also often gets into the act with docu-dramas, one-man shows, satirical musicals and more. In honor of Independence Day, we’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite Off-Broadway plays and musicals that created theatrical fireworks by using U.S. Presidents as major characters.

ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS
Winner of the 1939 Pulitzer Prize upon its Broadway premiere, this drama by Robert E. Sherwood received its first New York revival in a 1963 Off-Broadway production. Hal Holbrook starred as Lincoln, with his wife Ruby as love interest Elizabeth Edwards, and his son David as Lincoln’s son, Tad. The original production featured a cast of 49, but the show was scaled-down a bit for Off-Broadway: the cast numbered “only” 31. Incidentally, Holbrook later won an Emmy Award for playing the same role in an otherwise unrelated television mini-series based on a Carl Sandburg biography.

ANNIE WARBUCKS
Given the monstrous success of the 1977 Broadway hit musical Annie, in which a plucky Depression-era orphan sings “Tomorrow,” which inspires Franklin Delano Roosevelt to create The New Deal, a follow-up seemed inevitable. Annie 2: Miss Hannigan’s Revenge premiered at the Kennedy Center in 1989 to disastrous reviews, and after extensive retooling (eventually entailing an entirely new script and score), Annie Warbucks opened at the Variety Arts Theatre in 1993 and played 200 performances. Picking up where the original musical left off, FDR makes another appearance (played, as in the original, by Raymond Thorne), and is again inspired by the red-headed orphan – this time, to establish the Tennessee Valley Authority.

ASSASSINS
The dark underbelly of the American dream is the subject of this Stephen Sondheim-John Weidman musical that premiered at Playwrights Horizons in December 1990. The revue-like plot features vignettes and songs sung by successful and would-be presidential assassins, from John Wilkes Booth (killer of Lincoln) to John Hinckley (attempted to murder Reagan). In the show’s chilling penultimate scene (preserved in its entirely on the original cast recording), the assassins gather at the Texas School Book Depository to encourage Lee Harvey Oswald to shoot Kennedy and to join their legacy. A 2001 Broadway revival was scuttled in light of 9/11, but the show did finally see the light of day again in an award-winning 2004 Broadway debut (which incorporated a new song, “Something Just Broke,” penned for the 1992 London production).

Benjamin Walker and the cast of BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON. Photo by Joan Marcus.

BLOODY, BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON
The newest show on our list, this spring 2010 musical pours Old Hickory into tight black jeans, applies a liberal does of black eyeliner and re-imagines him as red-hot star in an adolescent America. With a pulsing emo rock score, The New York Times called it “the most entertaining and most perceptive political theater of the season.” The show, which extended three times at the Public Theater and has been recorded for release later this year on Sh-K-Boom Records, picked up the 2010 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical, and the rumor mill is that Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson may transfer to Broadway during the 2010-2011 season.

MR. PRESIDENT
In 2001, Gerard Alessandrini, the wunderkind behind Forbidden Broadway, turned his attention to a revised version of Mr. President, a late-career misfire for lauded songwriter Irving Berlin, and his final Broadway musical. Alessandrini’s musical spoof uses Berlin’s songs (with tweaked lyrics) to spoof the 2000 Presidential campaign with character like George Shrub Jr., Dick Brainy, Will and Chillary Fenton and Al Bore.

Gerry Bannman as Nixon and Steve Mellor as Kissinger in NIXON'S NIXON. Photo by Joan Marcus.

NIXON’S NIXON
This two-actor play by Russell Lees imagines a drunken late-night conversation between Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon on the eve of the President’s resignation in August 1974. A big hit for MCC Theater in the 1995-1996 season, the show’s popularity demanded that it transfer to the Westside Theatre for a commercial engagement in March 1996. The show received a tenth anniversary production featuring the original cast, Gerry Bannman as Nixon and Steve Mellor as Kissinger, in October 2006, predating the similarly themed Broadway production of Frost/Nixon by several months.

STUFF HAPPENS
A rare instance of a sitting President being depicted onstage, this drama features George W. Bush as a major character. British playwright David Hare’s play depicts the events leading up to the 2003 Iraq war, mixing verbatim re-creations of actual speeches and press conferences (by Bush, Tony Blair, Colin Powell and more), with imagined behind-the-scenes machinations. The play premiered in London in 2004, opened in Los Angeles in 2005, and finally arrived at the Public Theater in New York in 2006, with updates along the way as real-world headlines demanded.

WITH LOVE AND LAUGHTER
Celeste Holm starred with her husband, Wesley Addy, in this short-lived 1982 self-described “collage” about men and women. With Love and Laughter drew material from a variety of sources, from Shakespeare and Shaw to Rodgers & Hammerstein to letters sent to and from Abigail Adams and the second President of the United States, John Adams.

THE YOUNG ABE LINCOLN
A charming musical biography of 16th president’s early days intended for young audiences, The Young Abe Lincoln bowed at the York Playhouse at 64th Street and 1st Avenue (not to be confused with the York Theatre at St. Peter’s at Lexington and 53rd Street) on April 3, 1961, and quickly transferred to Broadway’s Eugene O’Neill Theatre where it opened on April 25 and closed 27 performances later. The show returned to the York Playhouse for another 62 performances. That fall, the director of the show, Jay Harnick (brother of Fiddler on the Roof lyricist Sheldon Harnick), made plans for the show to tour educational facilities. Nearly fifty years later, this touring company still exists: Theatreworks USA now reaches over three million children across the country every year, and the company will present the new musical We the People: America Rocks! Off-Broadway at the Lortel Theatre later this month.

Dan Goggin feels positively blessed. Over the past twenty-five years, his little-show-that-could, NUNSENSE, has defied the odds to become one of the most oft-performed musicals in the world. In honor of its twenty-fifth anniversary, the Little Sisters of Hoboken have returned to the Cherry Lane Theatre (where the show opened a quarter century ago) for a special silver anniversary production.

“We’re having a great time!” says composer-lyricist-librettist-director Dan Goggin. “I just directed a production at a 900-seat outdoor theatre, and now we’re back at the 179-seat Cherry Lane – how did we ever do the show on this tiny stage?”

Goggin says the return of the show was totally unexpected. Cherry Lane Artistic Director Angelina Fiordellisi approached him about NUNSENSE taking part in the theatre’s Heritage Series. Every year, the Cherry Lane launches revivals of landmark plays that were originally produced under its roof throughout its rich 85-year history. “She thought it would be great fun to produce NUNSENSE, and I thought, wow, let’s all get together and do it again!”

As fans of the show know, NUNSENSE concerns five Dominican sisters who put on an amateur variety show (on the set of a junior high production of Grease) to raise funds to bury some sisters who died from a batch of bad vichyssoise soup prepared by Sister Julia, Child of God.

Audiences are getting pretty much the same “habit-forming” experience they got in 1985, with a few slight exceptions: a mention of Mother Superior’s BetaMax has been updated to refer to her 3D TV, and a joke about Michael Jackson has been excised in light of his death. The show is a bit louder, too. “When we started out, we did the show without a sound system,” Goggin says, “but over the years people have gotten so used to a ramped-up sound. We’ve added microphones to help kick up the excitement of the audience with a fuller sound.”

Jeanne Tinker, "Sister Mary Annette," Bambi Jones and Bonnie Lee. Photo by Michael Feldser

Dan Goggin came to new York as a fresh-faced young singer, and he made his Broadway debut in the 1963 production of Luther, starring Albert Finney. He and a fellow cast member formed a folk duo, and Goggin soon began writing original songs for themselves. As a gag gift, Goggin received a mannequin of a Dominican brother, and he transformed the character into the star of a series of greeting cards.

Over the years he began bringing the character (and others based on his Catholic elementary school teachers) to life via music and lyrics. In the early 80s, he presented a showcase of these songs at the Duplex Cabaret. By adding a story throughline and focusing solely on the sisters, the show eventually made the leap from cabaret to theatre. The early weeks of NUNSENSE at the Cherry Lane Theatre were uncertain, but as Goggin says, “one day, it just popped!” After 3,672 performances over nine years, NUNSENSE finally closed in 1994, and is now the third longest-running Off-Broadway musical of all time (behind the I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change and the original production of The Fantasticks

But the NUNSENSE story didn’t end there. Nunsense 2: The Sequel played Off-Broadway in 1994, and Goggin has created five other heavenly musicals (which have become staples at regional and stock theatres across the country). A drag version of the original show, Nunsense A-Men! ran during the 1998-1999 season at the Douglas Fairbanks Theatre Off-Broadway, and a "Cabaret Class" spin-off featuring songs performed in the various editions by the streetwise wanna-be star, Sister Robert Anne, premiered regionally in 2009.

NUNSENSE has been translated into 21 languages, and has been produced over 5,000 times around the world. To what does Goggin attribute the show’s success? “I’d love to say it’s the brilliant writing,” he laughs, “but I think that everyone’s looking for a couple hours to forget their troubles. Laughing and being silly is a really good thing. I’m blessed to have the same sense of humor as others.”

And Goggin doesn’t tire of his creations. “Every (new musical based on these characters) is different. The flavor of the music changes, from the razz-ma-tazz of the Las Vegas musical Nunsensations to the Klezmer influence on Meshuggah-Nuns. In the various musicals, different characters drift in and out of the stories which build on each other. Goggin finds, too, that “every time a cast member changes, the personality of the show changes. A jolly Mother Superior may serve as comic relief to a more stern Sister Hubert, or vice versa.”

As honored as Goggin is of his portrait hanging at Sardi’s, he’s even more proud of the fact that NUNSENSE, with its relatively simple production values, has often been performed as a benefit production, and has effectively saved over one hundred theatres from bankruptcy. “This silly little show is doing something important in the theatre world,” Goggin says. He adds that the Cherry Lane is “in dire straights – I hope that the current production can help get the theatre back on solid footing.” Here's praying that NUNSENSE can continue to work its divine intervention.

The performance schedule for NUNSENSE is Tuesdays at 7pm, Wednesdays at 8pm, Thursdays at 8pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm, and Sundays and 3pm. Tickets may be purchased via telecharge.com or in person at The Cherry Lane Theatre, 38 Commerce Street. Prices: $46, $51.

Stephanie Wahl, Bambi Jones, Bonnie Lee, Jeanne Tinker and Maria Montana tackle that temptation with a timestep.Photo by Michael Feldser

Eight hot new Off-Broadway shows are set to open this month, including several new musicals, a comedy about sex-crazed seniors, a free show about American government for kids, the return of a hit revue celebrating Irish pride, the the Off-Broadway premiere of a hit of the 2009 Fringe Festival, and a couple of bold new plays: one celebrating a meeting of legendary minds, one depicting a pre-wedding meltdown.

	BACHELORETTE On the eve of her wedding, Becky has arranged the perfect bachelorette celebration — but after two party crashers, one manipulative maid of honor and a bathtub of booze, things don’t go according to plan. A brutally comic look at friendship and betrayal on the way to the altar. Second Stage Theatre at McGinn/Cazale Theatre. Previews begin July 12, opens July 26.
	FALLING FOR EVE The new musical FALLING FOR EVE offers a second look at the world's first love story. Creation is going perfectly. Eve, curious about what lies beyond the Garden of Eden, and obsessed with the notion that something is forbidden, bites the infamous apple. Then Adam doesn't. How exactly they'll get together to create the human race is anybody's guess. FALLING FOR EVE is a fresh and unconventional retelling of the most famous romance of all time, filled with unexpected twists and turns as Eve and Adam realize that "paradise" may not be a place after all! The York Theatre Company at Saint Peter's. Previews begin July 6, opens July 16.
	FREUD'S LAST SESSION FREUD'S LAST SESSION centers on legendary psychiatrist Dr. Sigmund Freud, who invites a young, rising academic star, C.S. Lewis, to his home in London. Lewis, expecting to be called on the carpet for satirizing Freud in a recent book, soon realizes Freud has a much more significant agenda. On the day England enters World War II, Freud and Lewis clash on the existence of God, love, sex and the meaning of life - only two weeks before Freud chooses to take his own. Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater at the Westside YMCA. Previews begin July 9, opens July 22.
	I'LL BE DAMNED I’LL BE DAMNED is the story of a friendless, comic-book-loving homeschooler named Louis who receives a seemingly irresistible offer from Satan. Louis' mother is a little late in coming to terms with her son growing up, God seems lost in his vision of a perfect world, and Louis is discovering himself as he attempts to find just one true friend. This fresh new musical comedy begs the universal question: "Is there a way to make people like you without having to sell your soul to the devil?" Jaradoa Theater at the Vineyard Theatre. Previews begin July 1, opens July 10.
	THE IRISH...AND HOW THEY GOT THAT WAY THE IRISH…AND HOW THEY GOT THAT WAY is an irreverent history of the Irish through the tumultuous 20th and 21st centuries through the eyes of Pulitzer Prize winning author, Frank McCourt (Angela’s Ashes, Tis, Teacher Man). McCourt’s razor sharp wit, coupled with his trademark bitter irony, and his boundless love for the Irish People are all underscored by glorious music extending all the way from the auld Irish folk ballades, through George M. Cohan’s patriotic love songs to America, World War II standards sung in movies, USOs and foxholes all over the world, and including the latest from contemporary Ireland’s U2. Irish Repertory Theatre. Previews begin July 14, opens July 22.
	TALES FROM THE TUNNEL You’ll never believe what happened on the subway! Hop on board for a show based on TRUE stories from the NYC Subway System! Six actors play nearly 100 characters in a series of humorous, heartbreaking, and insightful accounts of true New York City Subway experiences, woven together into an entertaining ride. Come see the show that brings your experiences traveling through the veins of NYC to life! It's a trip you won't forget. Theatres at 45 Bleecker. Previews begin July 10, opens July 25.
	VIAGARA FALLS Charley and Moe are widowers, war buddies and life-long pals. For his 77th birthday, rather than sitting around listening to old records, Charley decides that he and Moe need one more crack at sowing some wild oats. Moe is wary, but with the help of one loopy lady of the evening and some black market blue pills, Charley and Moe are in for the birthday party of their lives. Little Shubert Theatre. Previews begin July 5, opens July 21.
	WE THE PEOPLE: AMERICA ROCKS! Rock out with America’s original “boy band,” The Founding Fathers! Join Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Franklin as they trade in their powdered wigs for power chords to help an ambitious teen. On a quest to win her school election, Dawn cares more about padding her college applications than making her school a better place. With the help of these Fab Four, she discovers that “We the People” have the power to raise a patriotic ruckus and make a difference! Jon Stewart meets the Jonas Brothers in the world premiere of WE THE PEOPLE: AMERICA ROCKS!, a hip new musical for the whole family. Theatreworks USA at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. Previews begin July 8, opens July 14.

Pro wrestler Chad Deity is A-Rod, Jay-Z, and every other high-living, high-rolling egotistical mega-celebrity wrapped up into one handsome, sexy, well-spoken package. Who cares if he’s spectacularly untalented in the ring? That’s where Macedonio “Mace” Guerra comes in – Deity’s foil who ensures that the golden boy (and the wrestling syndicate’s cash cow) doesn’t – as Mace says – “suck.”

Equal parts John Leguizamo, Lin-Manuel Miranda and that fidgety kid across from you on the B train, Mace (Desmin Borges) is living his childhood dream. Oh, he knows that what passes for pro wrestling is hopelessly fake – each rough smackdown is carefully choreographed to result in a clearly manufactured finale. But he still aspires for his own elaborate entrance – his own theatrical arrival at the wrestling arena under flashing lights and the roar of a crowd doped up on Red Bull and vodka.

Enter Vigneshwar Paduar (Usman Ally), a fast-talking kid from Brooklyn, and slimeball promoter/producer Everett K. Olson (Michael T. Weiss) who transforms the Puerto Rican Mace and the Indian Paduar into, respectively, pseudo-Mexican-ish Che Chavez Castro (with an enormous sombrero and bolero jacket) and vaguely-sorta-middle-eastern The Fundamentalist (a turban-wearing Bin Laden look-alike).  These two make a hissable team to be defeated by the All-American Chad Deity (the charismatic and impossibly buff Terence Archie). But when The Fundamentalist goes off-script, he throws the entire operation into jeopardy.

This comic satire cunningly sneaks up on you and suckerpunches you to the curb. Some close-minded audience members may be put off by the wrestling milieu, but THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY is about the sport in the same way that Avenue Q is about foul-mouthed puppets having sex, or that Our Town is about a quaint little town in New England. Which is to say: a simplistic description doesn’t do it justice. Playwright Kristoffer Diaz has Big Themes on his mind: racial identity, lowest-common-denominator marketing, The American Dream, and power-slamming honesty in favor of an audience-pleasing story and sensational theatre.

And as theatre, THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY is pretty sensational. Diaz’s crackling dialogue ricochets past the footlights, across the audience, then back again – this is the type of play where you chuckle at the comedy… and two seconds later laugh even more heartily at the deeper layers of the smart lines uttered by the play’s not-so-smart characters.

And when was the last time a Pultizer-shortlisted play was so much fun? From the rock stadium lighting to projections broadcasting the wrestlers’ every move to the onstage wrestling ring (Second Stage really outdid themselves with the physical production), not to mention the arena-like sound design, and laugh-out-loud yet thoughtful script, THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY is a two hour-long throbbing, propulsive rush of adrenaline.

The performance schedule for THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY is Tuesdays at 7pm, Wednesdays at 2pm and 8pm, Thursdays at 8pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm, and Sundays and 3pm. Tickets may be purchased via www.2st.com or in person at Second Stage Theatre, 305 West 43rd St (between Ninth and Tenth Avenues). Prices: $70, $63 (senior), $56 (box), $30 (youth advance), $15 (student rush).

We've got some cool deals to some of Off-Broadway's hottest shows, including an award-winning revival, boundary-pushing new musicals, a hilarious Hitchcock comedy caper, and thought-provoking new dramas by today's most exciting playwrights. Check out our great discount offers below!

	THE 39 STEPS: Save up to $52 Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have...(mystery chords!) THE 39 STEPS, Off-Broadway's most intriguing, most thrilling, most riotous, most UNMISSABLE comedy smash! The mind-blowing cast of 4 plays over 150 characters in this fast-paced tale of an ordinary man on an extraordinarily entertaining adventure. Click HERE for more information about the show. Use code "TNOBL510" to purchase tickets: Sundays at 7, Wednesdays at 3: $37.50 (plus $1.50 facility fee) Orchestra, front mezz, all other performances: $63.50 (plus $1.50 facility fee) Rear mezz, all other performances: $53.50 (plus $1.50 facility fee) (reg prices: $89.50 for Orchestra, front mezz; $69.50 for rear mezz) To order, visit www.BroadwayOffers.com or call (212) 947-8844. If you have difficulties using the link, please go to www.broadwayoffers.com and enter your code there. There is a service charge when ordering by phone or on-line. Offer valid through Sept 5, 2010.
	BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON: Save up to $35 BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON audaciously redefines America’s seventh president, the man who invented the Democratic Party and doubled the size of our nation, with a raucous blend of outrageous comedy, anarchic theatricality and an infectious emo rock score. Click HERE for more information about the show. Use code "JAX4JUNE" to purchase tickets for $45. (Reg price: $70-$80) To order, visit www.PublicTheater.org or call (212) 967-7555. Offer valid for Sunday - Thursday performances only, through June 20, 2010.
	THE BURNT PART BOYS: Save $35 Coal country, West Virginia, 1962. Fourteen year-old Pete's fighting to claim his past. His older brother Jake's hoping to forge a future. With their friends, they've embarked on a life-altering journey to the mine that took their father's life. Featuring a vibrant, haunting bluegrass and pop-inspired score, this gripping new musical from an acclaimed new team will capture your heart as it finds the streaks of light within the darkness. Click HERE for more information about the show. Use code "BPOB" to purchase tickets for $45. (Reg price: $70) To order, visit www.TicketCentral.com or call (212) 279-4200 (noon-8pm daily). Limit 4 tickets per order. Subject to availability.
	GABRIEL: Save $15.50 GABRIEL is set around a largely forgotten moment in British history - the German occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II. A naked young man washes up on a Guernsey beach. Unnervingly handsome and fluent in both German and English, he has no recollection of who he is - patriot or Nazi…innocent or madman. GABRIEL explores the heart of memory, identity and imagination, as well as the lies people tell themselves and each other to make the darkness light again. Click HERE for more information about the show. Use code "GBOB" to purchase tickets for $49.50 (reg price: $65). To order, visit www.TicketCentral.com or call (212) 279-4200. Offer valid now through June 20.
	THE GLASS MENAGERIE: Save $20 Two-time Tony Award® winner Judith Ivey stars as Amanda Wingfield in THE GLASS MENAGERIE, a gripping portrait of an American family struggling to maintain the fragile balance between a difficult past and an uncertain future. This powerful new version blurs the delicate line between playwright and narrator, infusing Tom Wingfield's (Patch Darragh) flashbacks with fresh meaning and bringing visceral truth to his tangled relationships with Laura (Keira Keeley), Amanda and Jim (Michael Mosley). Click HERE for more information about the show. Use code "GMOFFB" to purchase tickets for $55 (reg price: $75). To order, visit www.RoundaboutTheatre.org or call (212) 719-1300. Offer valid on select seats for select performances through June 13, 2010. $55.00 for Orchestra Rear Side and Rear Mezz only. This offer cannot be combined with any other discount and is not applicable to previously purchased tickets. Limit 8 tickets per order. All sales are final. No refunds or exchanges. Offer subject to availability and includes a $1.50 facilities fee. Normal phone and Internet service charges apply. Offer may be modified or revoked at any time without notice.
	LASCIVIOUS SOMETHING: Save $23 In LASCIVIOUS SOMETHING, Blackburn Prize winner Sheila Callaghan's new play directed by Daniella Topol, an American and his young Greek bride escape to an island and plant a small vineyard. Their harvest ripens, and a fractious American woman arrives uninvited to stir up passions at their first tasting. Click HERE for more information about the show. Use code "LSEMX29" to purchase tickets for $29 (reg. price $53). To order, visit www.BroadwayOffers.com or call (212) 947-8844. Offer valid through June 6, 2010. Subject to availability and prior sale; with prior purchases and cannot be combined with other discounts or promotions. No refunds or exchanges. Telephone and internet orders are subject to standard service fees.
	RESTORATION: Save $15 Two-time Tony Award-nominee, playwright and actress Claudia Shear reunites with acclaimed director Christopher Ashley to create and star in her new play RESTORATION. Shear plays the lead role of Giulia, down-on-her-luck art restorer from Brooklyn who receives the possibly career-reviving job of “refreshing” Michelangelo's sculpture David in time for its 500th birthday celebration in Florence. Click HERE for more information about the show. Use code "ROBW" to purchase tickets for $50 (reg. price: $65). To order, visit www.TicketCentral.com or call (212) 279-2400. Offer valid through June 13, 2010.
	ZERO HOUR: Save $30 Starring Jim Brochu as Zero Mostel, ZERO HOUR traces Mostel's early days growing up on the Lower East Side as the son of Orthodox Jewish immigrant parents, through his rise as a stand-up comedian, from the Borscht Belt to Manhattan's most exclusive supper clubs, and from the devastation of the blacklist to his greatest Broadway triumphs, most notably as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof and working through his love-hate relationship with Jerome Robbins. Click HERE for more information about the show. Use code "ZHLEAG29" to purchase tickets for $29.50 (reg. price: $59.50). To order, visit www.BroadwayOffers.com or call (212) 947-8844. Offer valid through July 15, 2010. Subject to availability. Limit 8 tickets per order. Service fees apply.

June is bustin' out all over, and so are five shows opening this month, including new productions celebrating the golden ages of Hollywood and theatre, a dramatic biography of a 20th century revolutionary/renaissance woman, the 25th anniversary of a long-running habit-forming musical, and a bold new play with music celebrating hope in the face of adversity.

	DIETRICH & CHEVALIER: THE MUSICAL Marlene Dietrich and Maurice Chevalier were the top film stars at Paramount Pictures in the 1930s. Married to others, they fell in love and remained friends for life. DIETRICH & CHEVALIER: THE MUSICAL is the fascinating true story of their complicated relationship set against the backdrop of WWII. This new musical features many of their great signature songs including “Falling in Love Again;” “Louise;” “Lili Marleen;” “Mimi;”” No Love, No Nothin’;” “Valentine;” and “The Boys in the Backroom.” and stars Robert Cuccioli, Jodi Stevens, Donald Corren. St. Luke's Theatre. Previews begin June 5, opens June 20.
	THE GRAND MANNER In 1948, playwright A.R. Gurney, then a young boarding school student, traveled to New York where he attended a performance of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, and then met the great stage actress Katharine Cornell, dubbed "The First Lady of the American Stage" by the legendary critic Alexander Woollcott. A mix of remembrance and imagination, THE GRAND MANNER is Gurney's love letter to this fabled actress and a heartfelt look back at Broadway's glorious heyday. Lincoln Center Theater at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. Previews begin June 2, opens June 27.
	MODOTTI MODOTTI is the story of photographer, silent film actress and ultimately activist and communist subversive, Tina Modotti. Sleek and sensuous, yet as dangerous as a tiger, she tore through the male dominated political forums almost as fast as she tore through her lovers. Taking on controversial issues is a young person's adventure, one that is bound to have dire consequences. Acorn Theatre. Previews begin June 8, opens June 11.
	NUNSENSE Winner of four Outer Critics Circle Awards including Best Off-Broadway Musical, NUNSENSE has become a must-see international phenomenon. It made its Off-Broadway debut at Cherry Lane in 1985 and returns this summer to commemorate its silver anniversary. Join the Sisters of Hoboken as they put on their infamously funny talent show that will surely tap dance its way to your heart. Cherry Lane Theatre. Previews begin June 13, opens June 20.
	ON THE LEVEE Set on a levee in Greenville, Mississippi, On the Levee is a play with music that revisits the flood of 1927, the worst in U.S. history. At the heart of the story are two fathers (a white cotton farmer and an African-American bootblack) and their sons. Based on a true story, ON THE LEVEE reaffirms the enduring spirit of hope in a time of great poverty and devastation. LCT3 at the Duke on 42nd Street. Previews begin June 14, opens June 28.

Generations of West Virginian men have scratched out a life by mining coal from local mountains, including Jake, whose father perished in a work-related disaster ten years ago. When the local company re-opens the infamous South Mountain Mine, Jake’s 14-year-old brother Pete rallies his friends to battle for the memory of his dad (who he never really knew, yet somehow resembles all the heroes from his favorite movie, The Alamo) as Jake fights to save his own future as team foreman.

The new coming-of-age musical THE BURNT PART BOYS is something of a cousin to Playwrights Horizons’ 1996 landmark production of Floyd Collins (with additional nods to films like Stand By Me and The Goonies). Both unconventional shows concern themselves with underground catastrophies and their effect on those above the surface; both BURNT PART and Collins debuted under the same roof (though BURNT PART is a co-production with The Vineyard Theatre); both twist traditional Appalachian music on its ear with intricate, harmonically complex scores of blazing theatricality (with marvelous orchestrations by Bruce Coughlin); and both productions mark auspicious debuts for their songwriters.

Just as Floyd Collins’ Adam Guettel went on to create The Light in the Piazza, the BURNT PART songwriting team of Chris Miller (music) and Nathan Tyson (lyrics) have a similarly bright future ahead of them. Their haunting bluegrass-inflected score runs the gamut from charming children’s game-like ditties to raw heartbreaking meditations to open-throated anthems. Under the assured music direction of Vadim Feichtner and his six-piece band, the songs alternately break the heart and the funnybone.

The writers are aided by a fantastic company, headed by young Al Calderon, who essays the devilishly difficult role of Pete with ease as he carries the show on his small shoulders. As his older brother Jake, Charlie Brady successfully conveys the pain of being forced to grow up too soon in the searing aria “I Made That.” Pete’s softie pal Dusty (Noah Galvin) is an audience favorite with many of the show’s funniest lines (someone, please cast Galvin in a revival of Falsettos soon, before his voice changes!). Director Joe Calarco’s incisive staging perfectly captures the chasm between childhood idealism and adult responsibilities, as ladders, chairs and ropes become treacherous mountain ledges – Pete and his friends’ playtime is deadly serious business for Jake.

The story takes place nearly a half-century ago, but THE BURNT PART BOYS is surprisingly, disarmingly modern. Though the musical has been in development for nearly a decade, parallels to the recent mining disaster in West Virginia are undeniable. And the characters’ primary debate – treating the mountain as a shrine versus actually using the land for practical purposes – are eerily prescient of New York’s recent conflicts over the use of the area around the World Trade Center. If you squint, the show’s chorus, four spectral miners covered in soot, could be a quartet of New York’s bravest.

The performance schedule for THE BURNT PART BOYS is Tuesday through Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2:30pm and 8pm, and Sundays at 2:30pm and 7:30pm. Tickets, $70, may be purchased online via TicketCentral.com, by phone at 212.279.4200 (noon-8pm daily), or in person at the Ticket Central box office, 416 West 42nd Street (between Ninth and Tenth Avenues).