Great shows find good homes far from Broadway

The holiday season marks a vibrant time on Broadway—shows and streets teeming with tourists, and prices that the TIC can’t even lower. Both are good for Broadway, but bad for students. So, this holiday season branch out from Broadway and even off-Broadway, to sample some of the best outer-borough theater New York has to offer.

Across the East River lies Brooklyn, a borough renowned not only for cool and often edgy music but also for avant-garde theater. The first venue that comes to mind is the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Shows like “A Streetcar Named Desire,” starring Cate Blanchett, offer chances to see big-name talent in an intimate setting. Although tickets run from $30-$120, compared to Broadway prices, especially during the holiday season, BAM remains a viable option for top-notch theater in the city.

Along the Brooklyn waterfront neighborhood of DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), St. Ann’s Warehouse showcases not only traditional plays and revivals but also rock concerts and avant-garde musicals. Currently at the Kneehigh Theatre segment of the warehouse is the West End import Noël Coward’s “Brief Encounter,” the play adaptation of the 1946 film. Fusing live acting with film footage, the production identifies how avant-garde theater can be implemented without the overt ridiculousness of a Brick Theater festival.

If Brooklyn theater seems like an overload of unconventionality, Queens offers some old-school theater in modern venues. Located in a warehouse in a nondescript section of Queens, the Secret Theatre truly lives up to its name. With an unimpressive location and an obviously low budget, Queens Players’ productions leave much to the imagination. Nevertheless, the high-caliber performances, such as that of Daniel Wolfe as Cyrano in “Cyrano de Bergerac,” show how the emotional depth of the actors can transcend the industrial space.

While the Secret Theatre is best for the adventurous theatergoer, the Queens Theatre in the Park offers an experience of old New York along with theater. At the hub of the site of the New York World’s Fairs, QTP showcases both established and original works. To the notoriously sold-out NYC Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker,” QTP’s “Nutcracker” is an inexpensive albeit lower-grade alternative.
Outer-borough theater holds something for everyone—from theater traditionalist to cash-strapped student.