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MetropolitanVIRTUAL
Playhouse
The American Legacy 220 East Fourth Street ~ New
York, New York 10009
Administration: (212) 995 8410 connect@metropolitanplayhouse.org    |
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| Playing | Next | Season | Tickets | Company | Location | Mission | History | Links | |
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Metropolitan
tumbles into the 21st Century with
Metropolitan Virtual Playhouse a season of online offerings August 2020 - June 2021 |
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Please
consider a donation to support
the little theater that couldn't stop. 
  
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When Susan Racket's is five-days new husband reveals
vices that had been hidden during their courtship, only by adopting the manner of the Devil can she reform him. Imitation proves no form of flattery at all. directed by Alex Roe featuring Andrew Firda, Charles Jefffries, Greta Quispe, David Logan Rankin, and Barbra Wengerd artwork by Medusa Studios post-show talk by Shane Breaux, PhD Aired 6/26/21 |
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East Side Stories Unmasked The Second in a Two-Night Festival Celebrating the Life and Lore of the Lower East Side |
Izzy Sticks
With It by Rex McGregor Ava Astor meets a vocal young Irving Berlin on a sidewalk of New York directed by Michael Hardart with Aidan Eastwood, Jamahl Garrison-Lowe, Michelle Geisler, Sarah Hankins art by Jason Simms Carmen Pabon, Presente! by Nina Howes Reflections from the Life and Works of the "Social Worker from the Lord" directed by Gloria Zelaya with Marisol Carrere Aired 6/19/21 |
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East Side Stories\ Unmasked The First in a Two-Night Festival Celebrating the Life and Lore of the Lower East Side |
The
Tall Blonde with the Toy Giraffe
By Armand Ruhlman A dark and sultry night at Avenue B and East 9th. directed by Rachael Langton with Amanda Jones, Michael A. Jones, and Jed Peterson art by James Romberger Poppyseed By Michael Dinwiddie The Ninth St Bakery in the 1976. Welcome home. directed by Linda Kuriloff with Adrian Baidoo & Rosina Fernhoff aired 6/12/21 |
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Together,
Apart: A Benefit for Metropolitan Two Plays by Peter Sagal |
directed by
Alex Roe featuring Elisabeth Ahrens, John D. McNally, Michael Turner Tucker McCrady & Julie Pham Aired 5/22/21 |
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Her
Opinion of His Story by William Dean Howells |
In this comedy of manner and
misguided courtship, the only thing that matters more than her opinion of him is her opinion of his storydirected by John Long featuring Whitney Andrews Wendy Merritt, and Benjamin Russell art by Martha O'Connell with special guest speaker Brenda Murphy Professor Emerita at University of Connecticut Aired 5/15/21 |
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Trifles by Susan Glaspell |
As a death at a remote,
Midwestern farmhouse is investigated by a sheriff, a
neighbor, and an ambitious attorney, their wives are charged with tidying up the kitchen. As they do, household "trifles" literally bring to hand the who, what, and why of a bitter domestic conflict, a passionate crime. But will the truth need to come out? directed by Laura Livingston featuring Quinlan Corbett, Michael Durkin, Anne Fizzard, Susanna Frazer, Peter Tedeschi graphic art by Pamela Lawton and Danny Licul post-show talk by Linda Ben Zvi professor emerita of Colorado State University and Tel Aviv University |
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Careful What You Wish For Two Tales Well Told by Michθle LaRue |
Michθle LaRue returns to the
Playhousethis time with a pair of vintage Tales Well
Told:
Careful What You Wish For is an unlikely pairing of offerings by humorist O. Henry (author of The Ransom of Red Chief and about 400 other stories) and Kate Chopin (best known for her feminist novel The Awakening). In The Rathskeller and the Rose (1908), an enterprising actor is a little too convincing. In A Pair of Silk Stockings (1894), best-laid plans .... Aired 5/1/21 |
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Bertha, the
Sewing Machine Girlby Charles Foster |
directed by Alex Roe featuring Becca Ballenger, Craig Anthony Bannister, John Blaylock, Diego Carvajal, Margaret Catov, Linus Gelber, Tyler Kent, Peter Loureiro, Beethovan Oden, Madelynn Poulson, David Logan Rankin, Jay Romero, Hannah Sharafian, and Tom Staggs Art by Medusa Studios Part Two Talkback with: Michelle Granshaw, PhD Associate Professor of Theatre Arts and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Pittsburgh Aired 4/24/21 |
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Bertha, the
Sewing Machine Girl by Charles Foster |
directed by Alex Roe featuring Becca Ballenger, Craig Anthony Bannister, John Blaylock, Diego Carvajal, Margaret Catov, Linus Gelber, Tyler Kent, Peter Loureiro, Beethovan Oden, Madelynn Poulson, David Logan Rankin, Jay Romero, Hannah Sharafian, and Tom Staggs Art by Medusa Studios Part One Talkback with: Kim Miller Associate Professor of Theatre Arts at The University of the Cumberlands Aired 4/17/21 |
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The
Chipwoman's Fortune by Willis Richardson |
directed by Linda Kuriloff featuring Smeralda Abel, China L. Colston, Brenda Crawley, SJ Hannah, Roland Lane, and David Rankin Post-show talk by Michael Dinwiddie Playwright and Associate Professor at NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study Aired 4/10/21 |
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The Girl by Edward Peple |
directed by Michael Hardart featuring Timothy C. Goodwin, Luke Hofmaier, Perri Yaniv Graphics by Vincent Gunn Aired 4/3/21 |
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He Said and She Said by Alice Gerstenberg |
directed by Alex Roe featuring Erin Beirnard, Kelly D. Cooper, Teresa Kelsey, and Alyssa Simon with special guests: John Long and the Virtual Playhouse Early Adopters Aired 3/27/21 |
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Winter's
Night by Neith Boyce |
directed by Rachael Langton featuring Erinn Holmes, Eric Emil Oleson, Jammie Patton Art by Katie McGeorge followed by a post show talk with Carol DeBoer Langworthhy, PhD Senior Lecturer, Nonfiction Writing Program, Brown University Editor-in-Chief, Lifewriting Annual: Biographical and Autobiographical Studies Aired 3/20/21 |
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The Silent Waiter by Alfred Kreymborg |
The beginning is just the end... directed by Laura Livingston featuring Kyle Maxwell and Kevin Melendez Graphics by Anne Fizzard Post-Show talk led by Brenda Murphy, PhD Aired 3/13/21 |
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Not Smart by Wilbur Daniel Steele |
On vacation,
Fannie and Milo want to open their marriage and elevate
the locals, but when their housekeeper tells them she is
"not smart" (pregnant in the local idiom), it's anyone's
guess where they put their sense. Directed by Mark Harborth with Victoria Bundonis, Ryan Halsaver, Clara Kundin, Maria Silverman, Matthew Trumbull with a post show talk by Jeffery Kennedy, PhD Professor of Arts and Cultural Studies at Arizona State University and author of the forthcoming Staging America: The Artistic Legacy of the Provincetown Players Aired 3/6/21 |
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The Valiant by Holworthy Hall and Robert Middlemass |
A
murderer with a secret, ready to face society's demands, until the arrival of a girl claiming to be his long-lost sister.... Directed by Cheryl Black with Bryson Bruce, Dewey Caddell, Joseph J. Menino, John Ottavino, and DeAnna Supplee with a post show talk by Cheryl Black, PhD Professor of Theatre at the University of Missouri Aired 2/27/21 |
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Deceivers by William C. DeMille |
Nothing brings a couple
together like a little honesty. And a mugging. Directed by John Long with Alberto Bonilla, Deanna Gibson, and Todd Lawson Graphic Art by Danny Licul with a post show talk by Michael Schwartz, PhD Assistant Professor of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Indiana University of Pennsylvania Aired 2/20/21 |
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Enemies by Neith Boyce and Hutchins Hapgood |
A reflection of the 1916
Battle of the Sexes
Just in time for Valentine's Day. Directed by Laura Livingston with Kersti Bryan and Nate Washburn with a post show talk by Carol deBoer-Langworthy, PhD Senior Lecturer at Brown University at work on a literary biography of Neith Boyce Aired 2/13/2021 |
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The Outside by Susan Glaspell |
At the lands
end, a drowned sailor, a woman adrift, and an expressionist farewell to the ties that bind. Directed by Rachael Langton with Lluvia Almanza, David Patrick Ford, Jonathan Horvath, Teresa Kelsey, James Ross Settings by Liz Engelhardt with a post show talk by Sharon Friedman, PhD Associate Professor at The Gallatin School of New York University Aired 2/6/2021 |
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 The Magical Cityby Zoλ Akins |
A story of love
and lust, of rumor and envy, of raging emotions and irreversible decisions. A play in verse about poetry itself. Directed by Michael Hardart with Kelly D. Cooper, Thomas Daniels, Pete Feliz, Cliff Miller, Brian Ott, Brian Richardson Danielle Stanek, Barbra Wengerd Settings by Anne Fizzard Post-show talk with Alan Kreizenbeck Associate Professor of Theatre, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Author of Zoλ Akins: Broadway Playwright Aired 1/30/2021 |
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 The Sleeping
Carby William Dean Howells |
A comedy
of multiply
mistaken identity among a group of unlikely traveling companions: another of Howells's Railway Car Farces exploring his fascination with class, status, and society. Directed by Alex Roe with Dylan Brown, Kelly Cooper, Ken Ferrigni, Andrew Firda, Sidney Fortner, Ben Gougeon, Michael A. Jones, Bex Odorisio, and Peter Tedeschi Post-show talk with Paul Petrie, PhD Editor of The Howellsian and Professor of English at Southern Connecticut State University Visit these links for more on William Dean Howells  Railway Car Plays Aired 1/23/2021 |
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Aftermath by Mary P. Burrill |
A family harbors a dark
secret; a hero soldier returns unexpectedly from war.
directed by Timothy Johnson with Ryan Vincenti Anderson, Anthony T Goss, Linda Kuriloff, Nia Akilah Robinson, Lawrence Winslow, Kim Yancey-Moore Post-Show talk with Koritha Mitchell, PhD settings by Pamela Lawton Aired 1/16/2021 |
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 Will and Testament |
A tribute to Christina
Crosby, PhD
and A commemoration by Eugene O'Neill Excerpts from A Body Undone: Living On After Great Pain read by Lianne Kressin and "The Last Will and Testament of Silverdene Emblem O'Neill" read by Alex Roe Aired 1/9/21 |
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 Holiday Tales |
Four Holiday Tales by O.Henry, Sholem Aleichem, Carrie Jane Thomas, and Augustus M. Hodges read by Michθle LaRue, Kim Yancey-Moore, and Suzanne Toren Aired 12/12/20 |
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 The Widow's Veilby Alice Rostetter with post show commentary by Cheryl Black, PhD Professor Emeritus of Theater History, Dramaturgy, and Acting at the University of Missouri |
With neighbors who
delight in gossip and a deep, dark fascination with the
glamour of grieving,
it's difficult to say whether death is a tragedy... or an opportunity. A peek inside a New York tenement building during the Influenza epidemic of the early 1900s directed by Laura Livingston with Michael Durkin Erica Knight Noelle McGrath Barbra Wengerd settings by Vincent Gunn Aired 12/5/2020 |
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 Thanksgiving Feast 2020The Downfall of Justice and Aunt Betsy's Thanksgiving Post Show commentary by Timothy H. Breen, historian at the University of Vermont and Michael Dinwiddie, Playwright and Associate Professor at NYU |
Downfall
of Justice directed by Alex Roe with Ken Ferrigni Regina Gibson SJ Hannah Melissa Hurst Jon Lonoff Ron Moreno Erin Leigh Schmoyer Aunt Betsy's Thanksgiving by Katherine Davis Chapman Tillman directed by Linda Kuriloff with Marie Louise Guinier SJ Hannah Michael Hardart Lauren Marissa Smith Lily Santiago and Post Show commentary by Aired 11/28/20 |
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Self-Sacrifice By William Dean Howells with post show talk by Paul Petrie, PhD Editor of The Howellsian and Professor of English at Southern Connecticut State University |
How far
will one woman go to prove herself unworthy
of the man she loves? And what if she can't? A comedy of the best intentions by the Dean of American Letters Aired 11/21/20 directed by John Long with Viena Aiello, Taylor Alden, Dylan Brown. amd Kim Fischer Settings by Martha O'Connell |
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 The
RectorBy Rachel Crothers featuring a post-show talk with Anna Andes, PhD Associate Professor of Theatre and Women's Studies Coordinator |
The rector is
the most eligible bachelor in the parsonage, but he will
not be bullied into a union by the town's grand dames. He
will reveal his heart only to one, whose acceptance of his
proposal is as great and small as the fall of a sparrow. Aired 11/14/2020 Directed by Alex Roe with Cynthia Hewett - Helen Highfield - Michelle Geisler - Florence Anne Marcisak - Alice Rothman-Hicks - Sheila-Joon Azim - Michael Turner |
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Shell
Shock By Eugene O'Neill featuring a post-show talk with Eric Fraisher Hayes Artistic Director of the Eugene O'Neill Foundation |
A desperate act of
battlefield heroism, a tortured memory of selfish
recklessness:
Which is the truth? A probing play of memory, motive, and true heroism with a Hitchcockian twist as a stricken soldier
confronts his history and humanity.
Aired 11/7/20 Directed by Eric Fraisher Hayes
Featuring Rafael Jordan ~
Willem Long ~ Jed Peterson
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 The War of
the Worlds:The 1938 Radio Script by Howard E. Koch based on the novel by H.G. Wells |
A series of
explosions on Mars, and an unidentifiable
object falls to earth in Grover's Mill,
NJ. What follows would be impossible...in this World. Directed by Mark Harborth FJoshua Nicholson, David Patrick Ford, Gilly Caulo, Ryan Vincent Anderson Mitch Tebo, and Matthew Trumbull Produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc. (www.playscripts.com) |
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| Vote the New
Moon by Alfred Kreymborg featuring a post-show talk with Kreymborg scholar Drew
Eisenhauer
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It is time for a new
moon, and the citizenry must vote!
One for the red, one for the blue... over and over and over. From election year 1920, a "toy play," indicting a whole dysfunctional system! In honor of our own, of course.... Aired 10/24/2020 Directed by Alex Roe Featuring Matt Daniels, Chris Harcum, Lisa Barnes, Ivanna Cullinan, Mark Hofmaier, and Marty McDonough |
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 Representing T.A. Buckby Edna Ferber read by Michθle LaRue with post-show disucssion
author of with Julie Gilbert Ferber: Edna Ferber and Her Circle |
Emma McChesney,
a woman in the man's world of traveling sales, sits in
another dreary small-town hotel room; facing another
solitary, predictable supper; skirting another male-filled
lobby. Her daydreams of a home and domesticity take shape
before her. . . . Will she or wont she? Aired 10/17/20 |
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| Xingu by Edith Wharton adapted by Kimberly Wadsworth  |
The members of the
Hillbridge Ladies' Cultural Club have their petty
disagreements, but they are united in their enthusiasm
for today's guest: the renowned and provocative author,
Osric Dane. That none of them have read her latest
book--the subject of today's meeting--should hardly
stand in the way of their showing off their wit and
insight. When Mrs. Dane arrives, her disdain for
the small town ladies is palpable, and it is only the
newest, frankest member who navigates a comeuppance as
none but Edith Wharton could so deliciously conceive.
Aired 10/10/20
directed by Suzanne Toren
featuring Rachel Botchan ~ Kersti Bryan Allyson Johnson ~ Emily Jon Mitchell Carol Monda ~ Romy Nordlinger Greta Quispe ~ Gabra Zackman Post Show discussion led by Ute DeFarlo and Laurie Foote of The Mount Edith Wharton's Berkshire home |
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| The Clod by Lewis Beach  |
Late at night on the
Mason-Dixon Line, a desperate, wounded Union spy sneaks into
the home of Mary and Thad Trask. Close behind are a two Confederate soldiers, bent on forcing the Trasks to give up a man they don't know they're hiding. The lives of the soldier, the couple, and 30,000 soldiers lie in the balance as the tension builds. But with a long day behind her and another one about to start, Mary just wants to get to bed. Directed by Alex Roe Brad Fraizer, David Logan Rankin, Suzanne Savoy, Joshua David Scarlett and Thomas Vorsteg Followed by a talkback with guest scholar Erin Stoneking Assistant Professor of Gender & Race Studies at the University of Alabama Aired 10/3/20 Read More About the Play. Dramaturgy by
Jon Lonoff
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| A Woman's Honor by Susan Glaspell  |
The
Prisoner faces a long sentence, but he could cheat it if
only he would say where he was and whom he was with. He refuses, committed to preserving "a woman's honor." But who wants him to? Not The Shielded One, not The Scornful One, not The Silly One, not The Motherly One, not The Cheated One, not even The Mercenary One. But will he believe it's not about him? Glaspell's experimental play of personified icons broke new ground and popped the bubbles of men's arrogance in 1918. It is not done yet. Followed by a talkback with guest scholar J. Ellen Gainor Longtime leader in the International Susan Glaspell Society and Professor of Performing and Media Arts at Cornell University Aired 9/26/20 Directed by Rachael Langton Viena Aiello, Kathy Christal, Christina Eskridge, Maggie Anne Gillete, Zarra Kaahn, Jacob Shipley, Rebecca Simpson-Wallack, Danielle Stanek, and Lawrence Winslow Virtual settings by Rifka Milder
Dramaturgy by Jon
Lonoff:
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| Eugenically Speaking by Edward Goodman  |
Una Braithewaite, daughter of a
railcar magnate and convinced of her superiority,
independence, and the privileges they afford, has a plan to live up to her ideals by marrying below her station. Driven to flout social conventions and follow her "natural" inclinations, she brings George Coxey, a conductor from her father's own line, to come to her home. There, she proposes, to both men at the same time, that she and the George join in matrimony. But the conductor has a secret that foils her plans, and leads to a surprising challenge to the status quo. With a post-show talk by Dr. Kim Miller Associate Professor of Theatre Arts at The University of the Cumberlands Aired 9/19/20 Directed by John Long Bob Mackasek ~ Tammy McNeill ~ Eric Williams backgrounds by Medusa Studio |
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| Cocaine
by Pendleton King  Erin Beirnard and James Ross
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Nora and Joe have hit
bottom. A failing prostitute and a washed-up prize fighter, living in a one-room attic off The Bowery, they are hopelessly in love. They are also out of money, food, and the "stuff" they're addicted to. The landlady offers Joe a temporary way out; Nora has another, more permanent proposal. with post-show discussion led by Jeffery Kennedy, PhD Professor of Arts and Cultural Studies at Arizona State University and author of the forthcoming Staging America: The Artistic Legacy of the Provincetown Players Aired 9/12/20 Directed by Michael Hardart Erin Beirnard ~ James Ross Settings by Vincent Gunn
Read More About
the Play.
Dramaturgy by Jon
Lonoff:
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AUGUST SURPRISES Four performances, pre-recorded, from the Alphabet City Series of East Village Oral Histories August 8, 15, 22, and 29, 2020 |
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| PUNKS and
PIPES The Fabulous LuLu LoLo as Lucille Consorti, owner Veteran Pipe Covering and Karl O'Brian Williams as Hilly Kristal, the creator of famed rock club CBGB's HUGH and the ART of MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE Alex Roe as Motorcycle Repairman Hugh Mackie |
BOUNCING
BACK
Cate Weinberg as Guitar Doctor, Richie Baxt THE POOR MAN'S BUTCHER Jared Houseman as Essex Street Market butcher Jeffrey Ruhalter |
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