Passion, pride, and neighborhood spirit are among the reasons to love community theater. And in Queens, the high quality is another main draw.
Now that summer is over, a few borough troupes are getting ready to bring drama, comedy, and unbridled creativity to local stages. Here’s a guide to upcoming shows.
All Shook Up is a jukebox musical about a small Midwestern town that changes forever after a handsome young man with a romantic voice rides in on a motorcycle. Lightly based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, the play features heartbreak, discovery, and love…along with some of Elvis Presley’s greatest hits.
Then as per an arrangement with Theatrical Rights Worldwide, Royal Star Theatre presents All Shook Up five times at The Mary Louis Academy, 176-21 Wexford Ter. in Jamaica Estates. Shows are at 8 pm on Sept. 22, Sept. 23, Sept. 29, and Sept. 30 and at 3 pm on Oct. 1.
General admission is $20, but children under 12 and seniors over 64 can attend for $17 each.
The next local production is The Amish Project at The Secret Theatre, 38-02 61st St. in Woodside.
Starring Annie Kefalas, this one-woman show ponders the West Nickel Mines School Massacre. On Oct. 2, 2006, Carl Roberts IV fatally shot five young girls and injured many more in one-room Amish schoolhouse in rural Pennsylvania. The gunman then took his own life.
Instead of anger, Amish community leaders promoted forgiveness for Roberts and extended their grace and mercy to his family members.
Tickets cost $17, and The Amish Project will run on Sept. 28, Sept. 29, Sept. 30, Oct. 1, Oct. 5, Oct. 6, Oct. 7, and Oct. 8, always at 7:30 pm.
Stay at The Secret Theatre for Picasso at the Lapin Agile by City Gate Productions.
Written by Steve Martin, this absurdist comedy contemplates what might have happened if Albert Einstein had bumped into Pablo Picasso in the French bar Lapin Agile in 1904 — just before both became household names. Of course, a few regulars add their spice to the plot.
Admission to Picasso at the Lapin Agile is $25 with $5 discounts for seniors and students. The 8 pm shows are on Oct. 13, Oct. 14, Oct. 20, and Oct. 21. The 3 pm shows are on Oct. 15 and Oct. 22.
It’s more dance than theater, but The Chocolate Factory (38-33 24th St. in Long Island City) hosts A disguised welcome… at 7 pm on Sept. 22 and Sept. 23.
Wanjiru Kamuyu, a Kenya native who is now based in France, explores displacement in this solo show. She offers a satirical look at notions of center and periphery, while questioning notions of place, belonging and otherness.
Tickets to A disguised welcome… are $20.
Another intriguing option involves the Wendy Osserman Dance Company and Concetta Abbate at Stone Circle Theatre, 59-14 70th Ave. in Ridgewood.
Abbate is a composer, violinist, and singer who created Laminaria for 10 musicians to perform live with the dancers. Pertaining to the folk horror genre, a sub-genre of horror, this unique work reveals three ghosts seeking light and transformation and portrays the transformation of life and death through the metaphor of underwater shadow ghosts emerging from the deep sea.
Tickets for Laminaria are $25 for adults ($15 for children under 12), and shows are at 8 pm from Thursday to Saturday with a 3 pm matinee on Sunday.
Images: The Secret Theatre