2/6/05 - 2/12/05

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PICK OF THE WEEK THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE Opens Monday, February 7 Spelling bee competitions don't automatically scream out for the musical treatment, but, put some creative minds together and anything can come to be. Monday night offers the opening of the Second Stage Theatre production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which has evolved from a small downtown piece with a few well-known songs interspersed throughout to a full-fledged original musical with some of the best buzz in town.       Featuring a catchy score from well-known composer William Finn (the man behind the acclaimed musical Falsettos among others) and a book by the relatively unknown Rachel Sheinkin, Spelling Bee focuses on an eclectic group of youngsters trying to face their demons and win some respect. "I love competitions and there are so few competitions for smart people or weird people," Finn said. "Competitions are usually for the strong and beautiful. But spelling bees are for others."       "When I saw the original piece, I said 'I know how to make this work," Finn relayed. "Usually I am in a fog. My whole life I am wandering around saying, 'I am so confused.' But it was very clear for me how to make this work. And I was looking at it the other night—and I don't usually like my stuff—and I just thought: 'Woah! This isn't too bad.'" —Cara Joy David The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee plays at off-Broadway's Second Stage Theatre, 307 West 43rd Street, through March 6.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6
GOODBYE TO GEM
After a too-short Broadway run, August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean plays its final performance at the Walter Kerr Theatre. What a shame—Gem is easily Wilson's best play since 1992's Two Trains Running and director Kenny Leon's taut production boasts possibly the best Wilson ensemble of actors ever. Here's hoping the 2005 Tony Award nominators remember the work of folks like Anthony Chisholm, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Phylicia Rashad and John Earl Jelks come May.
Gem of the Ocean plays at the Walter Kerr Theatre, 219 West 48th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue. The final performance will start at 3PM.

ALSO:
—Off-Broadway's Lone Star Love rides off into the sunset at the John Houseman Theatre following the Sunday matinee.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7
BENANTI FLAUNTS HER YOUTH
Critical darling Laura Benanti—who rose to the head of the class of Broadway starlets with Tony noms for both Swing! and Into the Woods—hasn't been seen on the New York stage since her trench coat turn as Claudia in Nine opposite Antonio Banderas. But now she's back with Blame It On My Youth, a night of songs and stories at Feinstein's at the Regency as part of their Broadway's Brightest Stars series.
Laura Benanti performs Blame It On My Youth at Feinstein's at the Regency, 540 Park Avenue at 61st Street. $25 cover with a two drink minimum.

ALSO:
—Well-loved performer Julia Murney (set to finally make her Broadway debut in Lennon) teams up with Tom Kitt for a one-night-only concert at Birdland.
—The soap stars of All My Children strut their stuff at Daytime's Evening on Broadway at Town Hall, a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
—André De Shields of The Wiz and The Full Monty fame plays Joe's Pub in Black By Popular Demand, his first cabaret appearance in 21 years!

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8
TWIN CITIES SNEAK PEEK
Former Married…With Children star Christina Applegate takes to the stage for her very first public performance tonight in Sweet Charity and the entire theater community will be watching. Sure, she might be tucked away in snowy Minneapolis, but she'll be on Broadway soon enough in everyone's favorite musical comedy, so needless to say, the pressure is intense for the pixie blonde. Sweet Charity also stars Tony winner Denis O'Hare as Charity's nervous wreck of a boyfriend.
Sweet Charity plays at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, MN through February 20. After subsequent runs in Chicago and Boston, Broadway previews start April 4 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.

ALSO:
—Stephen Adly Guirgis' The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, featuring talented stars like Eric Bogosian, Liza Colón-Zayas, Jeffrey DeMunn, Stephen McKinley Henderson, John Ortiz, Sam Rockwell, Deborah Rush and Callie Thorne, starts previews at the Public Theater. .

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9
MAMET TAKES ON ROMANCE
Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet returns to the Atlantic Theater tonight with Romance, his first new play in New York since 1996's Edmond. This time out, Neil Pepe directs a cast of seven in this farce set in a modern day courtroom. The press materials for the show promise “a comedy exploring issues ranging from our current judicial system to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, fidelity and world peace.” And a few swear words, no doubt.
Romance plays at the Atlantic Theater, 336 West 20th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues through April 17.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10
BROOKLYN KICKS OFF ENCORES! SEASON
To jump start its 12th season, City Center Encores! presents the popular Arthur Schwartz/Dorothy Fields musical A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, which first premiered on Broadway in 1951. The story of a working-class family struggling in the beloved borough at the turn of the century will feature Jason Danieley, Sally Murphy (Fiddler on the Roof) and Emily Skinner and play its first performance tonight.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn plays at City Center, 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues, through February 13.

ALSO:
—After Ashley, the much buzzed-about new play starring Kieran Culkin and Anna Paquin, starts previews at the Vineyard Theatre off-Broadway.
—Billy Porter starts performances of his one-man opus Ghetto Superstar at Joe's Pub, the same day his new CD At the Corner of Broadway and Soul becomes available at the theater and on the Sh-K-Boom website.
—The Musical of Musicals: The Musical!, a spoof of Lloyd Webber, Sondheim and the lot, celebrates opening night at Dodger Stages.
—The Broadway-bound production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? starts performances at Boston's Wilbur Theatre. New York previews start at the Longacre Theatre on March 12.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11
PETER SHOCKS OFF-BROADWAY
The Olivier Award winning “Best Entertainment” Shockheaded Peter tries its luck at a commercial off-Broadway run, with previews starting tonight at the Little Shubert. What is it? We'll let them tell you: “Deliciously morbid, occasionally chilling, and entirely unique, Shockheaded Peter illuminates a series of cautionary tales about a horrible cast of disobedient children with a whimsical combination of grand guignol, puppetry and Victorian melodrama. Opening night is set for February 22.
Shockheaded Peter plays at the Little Shubert Theatre, 422 West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues.

ALSO:
—Will & Grace star Megan Mullally rocks the American Songbook series at Lincoln Center with her band Supreme Music Program.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12
SALONGA HITS THE ROAD
Miss Saigon and Flower Drum Song star Lea Salonga embarks on her first U.S. concert tour, starting with tonight's show at the Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco, California. The star promises a mix of show tunes, jazz standards and popular favorites in the set, which will feature musical director by her brother Gerard Salonga, who will also be her accompanist.
Lea Salonga plays the Nob Hill Masonic Auditiorium on February 12, Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on February 19, Aire Crown Theater in Chicago on February 26 and the Universary Amphitheatre in Los Angeles on March 5.

ALSO:
—Composer/performer John Bucchino, the Paul Taylor Dance Company and a slew of talented folks team up for Gay Valentine Music Celebration at Town Hall, a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.