Staff Picks No. 105
ta-da! : Josh Sharp, Sam Pinkleton, Meredith Ries, Cha See, Stivo Arnoczy, Skylar Fox
Greenwich House
July 7th-August 23rd 2025
Obligatory homosexual artful stupidity in case you thought you were done with that sort of thing. Come and see the 2000 slide PowerPoint memorization antics from the mind of Josh Sharp with a powerhouse creative team that I think should be standard for shows like this.
Staffer: Reuven Glezer
The Gospel at Colonus : Lee Breuer, Bob Telson, Shayok Misha Chowdhury
Little Island
July 8th-26th 2025
Lee Breuer, one of the godfathers of New York experimental theater, has plenty of masterpieces to his name but this is definitely somewhere in the top three. His Black Pentecostal retelling of Oedipus is one of those things you hear about in theatre history class but never quite expect to see…and yet, it returns to Little Island, directed by the always-inventive Shayok Misha Chowdhury (Public Obscenities, Prince Faggot). Go, and be forever changed.
Staffer: Reuven Glezer
A Statement Concerning the Dialogue Surrounding the Open Letter to the Theatre Community Regarding the Current Situation : Necessary Labor (Kate Eastman, Alex Hare, Shawn K. Jain, Kimber Lee, Chris Myers, Lianah Sta. Ana, & Garrett Turner)
The Great Room at ART/NY's LuEsther T. Mertz South Oxford Space
Sunday July 20th 2025
In early 2024, a group of theatermakers convened as a Marx reading group and evolved into something I think will knock people's socks off - I'm a big fan of a lot of the people involved here and think it will be something special. Two nights only! IMPORTANT NOTE: this show is FOR THEATRE WORKERS BY THEATRE WORKERS. I suspect most of Staff Picks' readership is something of that nature, but I'd be remiss in not mentioning. Here's to Marx, and more work from Necessary Labor!
Staffer : Reuven Glezer
The Weir : Conor McPherson, Ciarán O'Reilly
Irish Repertory Theatre
July 9th-August 31st 2025
THE WEIR returns! Irish Rep’s production of Conor McPherson’s tale of tales, set in a remote pub, is back and I think you should see it! McPherson's work straddles the supernatural in eerie, magical ways (I especially love his vampire critic drama ST. NICHOLAS) and I think it's lovely that this production returns on the regular.
Staffer: Reuven Glezer
Crimes of Glamour : Gabriella Gonzalez, Matthew Antoci, Isabel Ebeid
The Brick Theater
July 16th-19th 2025
Gabriella is thrilling as a performer. Patient, but brewing. Precise, yet terrifying. Present, and also floating above. It is a work-in-progress…. which means they will definitely do things that will ultimately not make it into the next version and the version after that. So, you sorta have to go.
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister
Times Square Arts presents American Idle : Maia Chao, Lena Engelstein
Times Square?!
Wednesday July 9th at 3pm, 6pm and 8pm 2025
(Insert joke about New Yorkers despising Times Square). But aha ! How ripe it all is for investigation. Huge light shows collide with crowds, tourists, music, vehicles, smells, sounds. Remember, you’re lucky to live here…
I remember going to Times Square as a child visiting the city and feeling a deep sense of awe at the beast. This dance piece is set in said beast - it features doubling, glitching, and some familiar archetypes, and is aptly titled American Idle - an itchy dinger evoking the tv show that launched Kelly Clarkson & JHud into living rooms. And it’s FREE!
There’s more good photos on Lena’s instagram too!
Staffer: Matthew Antoci
If I were in town, I would go to Times Square Applebees at 1pm and sit near the window, as I love to do. Then I would do the 3pm. Then I would go to the 3D Jurassic World at the Times Square Regal. Then I would do the 6pm. Then I would get an Icee at the 7-11 on 42nd and wait for the 8pm.
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister
A choreographed pondering of “the beauty and suffering of our contemporary condition, fractured attention, techno-meditation, sensory overload, and excess,” all of which are words that send me spiralling. Would I brave Times Square in July for Lena Engelstein? A million times over.
Staffer: Leah Plante-Wiener
Celebrating 20 Years of Original Musicals : Joel B. New
Green Room 42
Saturday August 2nd 2025
Joel is a Jonathan Larson Grant winner and now celebrates 20 years of writing and self-producing original musicals in NYC. Revel in the joyful chaos of indie musical theater making! Becca Ayers will be singing, IYKYK.
Staffer: Billy McEntee
Mutual Obliteration : ???
The Collapsable Hole
Friday July 25th 2025
The only way to find out about these nights of performance is to follow Object Collection on IG. So do that! And go check out whatever the hell they are doing. I have no idea who will be performing or what will happen. Hehehe.
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister