Off-B'way Reviews: Shit. Meet. Fan.; The Blood Quilt

Debra Messing and Jane Krakowksi
in Shit. Meet. Fan.
Credit: Julieta Cervantes

Robert O’Hara’s scalding new comedy Shit. Meet. Fan. was sold out before it even opened, and it’s riotously funny, as were his previous works Bootycandy and Barbecue, but it’s not really anything new. The hit status can be attributed to a cast stuffed with familiar TV names (such as Neil Patrick Harris, Jane Krakowski, Debra Messing and Constance Wu) and a limited run in a small Off-Broadway space at MCC Theater. The script is based on Paolo Genovese’s 2016 Italian film called Perfect Strangers which has had many remakes in various languages and the basic premise is familiar from numerous American plays. As in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Boys in the Band, a group of friends gather for an evening of cocktails, but a seemingly harmless party game reveals uncomfortable truths and relationships are altered or shattered. The modern twist here is all seven guests are required to leave their cell phones on a table for an hour and whatever messages, texts, calls or email come in must be shared with the entire group. 

B'way Update: Lincoln Center Season

Christopher Innvar, Jason Danieley, and
Theresa McCarthy in the 1996
production of Floyd Collins at
Playwrights Horizons
Credit: Joan Marcus

Lincoln Center Theater has announced its 2024-25 season for its Vivian Beaumont, Mitzi Newhouse and Clara Tow Theaters. LCT's Broadway season at the Vivian Beaumont begins with the previously announced MCNEAL by Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar and starring Robert Downey Jr. in his Broadway debut. (previews Sept. 5 and opens Sept. 30). 

The Broadway premiere of Floyd Collins follows with an opening of April 21 and previews beginning March 27. The musical about the real-life story of the titular cave explorer had its world premiere at the American Music Theater Festival in Philadelphia in 1994. It was followed by the off-Broadway debut at Playwrights Horizons in 1996 where it won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical. Music and lyrics are by Adam Guettel whose Light in the Piazza also played the Beaumont. Tina Landau provides the book, additional lyrics and direction, as she did for the PH production. 

Floyd Collins is based on the true story of a cave explorer in Kentucky, 1925. While chasing a dream of fame and fortune by turning Sand Cave into a tourist attraction, Floyd Collins himself becomes the attraction when he gets trapped 200 feet underground. Alone but for sporadic contact with the outside world, including his brother Homer, Floyd fights for his sanity – and, ultimately, his life – as the rescue effort above explodes into the first genuine media circus. Reporters and gawkers from across the country descend on the property, fueling the hysteria and manipulating the nation into holding its collective breath.