Never forget that Broadway runs through Astoria, too.
Two great plays – including a world premiere – will take stages in the Western Queens neighborhood this weekend.
The premiere is Above Ground (above), which will show three times at the Hellenic Cultural Center from June 27 to June 29.
Ginna Hoben wrote this one-woman show and she performs it under the direction of Stephanie Weeks. The plot addresses her decades of journal entries, blogs, social media comments, and published works. They lead to the questions: What is the value of my words? What is the value of my life?
Themes of death, loss, and anxiety are balanced with Hoben’s signature comedic delivery and light-hearted audience interaction.
Admission is $20 and showtimes are June 27 and 28 at 8 pm with a matinee on June 29 at 2 pm.
An Actors’ Equity Association member, Holden’s resume includes countless roles in Shakespeare plays, a writer/producer credit with the Emmy-nominated TV show “Brain Games,” and writing/voice work on children podcasts “Deep Blue Sea” and “Who Smarted?”
The Hellenic Cultural Center’s address is 25-02 Newtown Ave.
A few blocks away, The Broom Tree Theatre hosts The Garden Bridge on Friday, June 27, at 7 pm.
With libretto by Jill Ohayon and music by Andy Li, this play is a historical piece about the Steinburgs, a family of Viennese Jewish refugees who live in an impoverished Shanghai neighborhood ruled by Japanese forces under Nazi influence. (It’s 1940, and World War II is raging.)
The Steinburgs meet their neighbors, the Ye family, who have suffered unimaginable loss since the beginning of the Japanese occupation of this area of China. In spite of fear-based prejudice, language barriers, and the constant threat of violence, the two families fight to survive and develop relationships with one another in ways that will change them all forever.
Admission is free, and The Broom Tree Theatre is at the Astoria First Presbyterian Church at 23-35 Broadway. (The real Broadway!)
The Garden Bridge (below), which received a New York Foundation for the Arts/NYC Department of Cultural Affairs grant, runs for about two hours with a post-show discussion with panelists. Dev Bondarin is the director, while Chérie Roe directs the music which is inspired by Viennese and Chinese classics.
