Just shy of its 10th year, the Midtown International Theatre Festival may be an established fixture in New York’s theatrical calendar, but it is still growing in ambition. Showcasing 50 plays and musicals at seven downtown venues, the festival, which begins today, now offers a Commercial Division, designed to maximize three works’ chances of enjoying a future beyond the festival. “I have often seen wonderful works [here] and elsewhere off-off-Broadway, and it frustrated me that so many of them never went anywhere else,” the festival’s executive producer, John Chatterton, said. “The idea behind the Commercial Division is to take shows that want to go to that next level and give them a place to do so.”
The festival is aiming for a repeat of 2003, when “Thrill Me,” a musical based on the story of the killers Leopold and Loeb, originated at the festival and went on to have an extended off-Broadway run and global success. The three shows slated for the inaugural Commercial Division are Marc Castle’s “Love, Incorporated,” in which a woman seeks the meaning of love via a business plan, Lisa Ramirez’s “Exit Cuckoo,” a one-woman show about how best to raise a child in the midst of Manhattan‘s urban jungle, and “OPA!” which takes place on a Greek island (evidently “Mamma Mia!” has plenty to answer for).
Other shows in this year’s festival include “Cleopatra — A Life Unparalleled,” a musical about the Egyptian queen set to the strains of blues-rock and reggae, and Eastcheap Rep company’s “Natalie,” a dramatic comedy detailing the romantic exploits of a 20-something female, inspired by a New York Times column by David Brooks. Who knew Mr. Brooks was the new Candace Bushnell.
The festival can’t be accused of shying away from big themes. Take the conflict in the Middle East. Meri Wallace’s drama “Yom Kippur” depicts the tension between two Israeli-based American couples at the time of Egypt and Syria’s 1973 attack. The question of whether an Israeli and a Palestinian can ever get on without the conflict clouding their friendship is explored in Phillip Weiss’s “Moishe and Mohammed.” In a lighter vein, “The Higher Education of Khalid Amir” by Monica Bauer features a cross-dressing Middle Eastern studies professor who gets embroiled with President Bush and the FBI. ....
