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This Week's Off-Broadway Openings: May 2, 2011-May 8, 2011

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Click on the show title for theater information, show times, and more.

Angel of the Amazon - A new opera based on the true story of Sister Dorothy Stang, an American missionary who devoted forty years to helping the indigenous peasant farmers of the Brazilian rainforest. In 2005, this 73-year-old nun was brutally murdered by assassins hired by the owner of a logging company, who felt her passion for the Earth and all of its gifts to be a threat to his bottom line.

City Love Song - A traveler’s tale of America, a vivid and rhythmic story drawn from 13 weeks of railroad track and city sidewalks. Jack Finnegan presents a spoken portrait of our country, constructed from the character of 24 American cities.

Janie Condon: Raw & Unchained! - This new comedy by storyteller and comedian Jane Condon is a hilarious and moving account of her journey through comedy and a family life that was colorful and complex. There are many reasons why she has been a storyteller and comedian all her life: wanting attention as the youngest of four in an Irish Catholic brood, a father in the FBI, not being voted funniest in high school (Mary Del Sordo was!) and the real reason - a long-held family secret. She learned comedy at the knees of the masters: her fellow students at Cardinal Spellman High School in Brockton, Massachusetts.

King Lear - Sir Derek Jacobi plays King Lear, Shakespeare’s legendary aging monarch whose kingdom is divided. His world descends into chaos, and all that he once believed is now threatened. Unrivaled theatrical partners, Tony and Olivier Award winners Jacobi and Michael Grandage bring the drama's grand themes to vivid life.

Loose Screws - The fictional and risqué biographical journey of also-ran entertainer named Chelsea Sutton Place. Through hilarious flashbacks, Chelsea shares her rise from down' dirty Hell's Kitchen dives, to X rated movie stardom, through Studio 54- era debauchery and ultimately, the melt-down of a country western singer (Miss Pixie Dickler) with multiple personality disorders---and her triumphant rehab comeback!

No hay mejor amigo, ni peor enemigo - A story about courage, patriotism and familial devotion arrives at Repertorio Español. Written by Bronx-based Puerto Rican playwright Carlos Serrano, “No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy” tells the story of an acclaimed professional Latino baseball player who is cornered by fame and who debates between his success and personal convictions. A production that puts forward the lives of two heralded heroes, the baseball player and his brother, a member of the U.S. Marines. Presented in Spanish with live simultaneous English translation.

Ryan O’Connor Eats His Feelings - Called a "big, gay, singing Kathy Griffin," YouTube celebrity, actor and singer Ryan O'Connor (How I Met Your Mother, School of Rock, American Dad), brings his dynamic, hilarious and oddly touching journey through story and song to the Laurie Beechman Theatre.

Sex on the Beach - In the sea of contradictions that is the Spanish Caribbean, three characters of different genders and circumstances find the best way to a new life is through the oldest profession: The Transvestite, The Hustler and The Cuban Escort. They fight their demons in hilarious and dramatic ways by confronting the decisions that have brought them here and the dreams they are not ready to surrender.

The Sphinx Winx - A musical-comedy misinterpretation of ancient Egyptian history starring Cleopatra, Julius Caesar and Marc Antony. With the kingdom of Egypt horribly in arrears to the Roman government due to Caesar's frivolous spending on lavish gifts for his Queen of the Nile, Marc Antony arrives to uncover the cause and mete out justice. When the court's Soothsayer mistakenly forecasts that Antony will fall in love with Cleopatra, he unwittingly sets into motion a series of comic events the likes of which won't be found in any history books.

Tearing Down the Walls - Featuring book and lyrics by Obie Award-winner Daniel Beaty Tearing Down the Walls tells the story of the residents of a tight-knit Harlem community upended and pushed to the limit by life's challenges, but who find hope in the most unusual places.

For more Off-Broadway shows, click here. For Off-Off Broadway, click here.

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