Off-Off Broadway Leader Revives Three Plays in Rep at The American Theatre of Actors

In the early 80s - at the zenith of the off-off Broadway movement, a cab driver, angry at the way the world treated the arts, the middle class, and him, sat down at a typewriter and wrote his first play... and never looked back.

Today, Robert B. Liebowitz is a celebrated play and screen writer as well as novelist and essayist, with several published works. But then, he was an impoverished cabbie wanting nothing more than to tell his story. What came out was a series of powerful, naturalistic works, many published in an anthology called "Awake and Aggravated" on the state of New York from 1985 to the fall of the towers ... and the arts ... in 2001.

Mr. Liebowitz, in association with one of the last remaining theaters of the original off-off Broadway movement, the American Theatre of Actors, will present a rep of three plays and two readings, many of which began their life at that theatre as early as 1982.

THREE BITES OF THE APPLE will run tonight, October 18, through October 30; Tuesday - Saturday @ 8:00 p.m.; Sundays @ 3:00 p.m. Performing where it all began at The American Theatre of Actors, 314 W 54th St, New York City. Email JMAE.Events@gmail.com for tickets and additional information.

ABOUT THE PLAYS:

Coulda Woulda Shoulda - Liebowitz's flagship play, celebrated with awards and a legit off-Broadway contract run in 1997, depicts the last few weeks in the life of degenerate gambler Allie Neiterman. A character based on his father.

Bus Ride Home - finds two elderly Brooklynites on their home from Atlantic City exploring their dysfunctional lives. Based on a true story (taken from actual dialogue overheard on a bus ride home from Atlantic City by Liebowitz).

Grande Grande - pits a young lesbian medical student and an angry old man awaiting the passing of someone dear to him in a clash of ages, ideologies, morals, and emotions.

STAGED READINGS:

Final Final - as the United States Postal Services approaches extinction, Liebowitz wrote this one act [pardon the pun] love letter to them.

Freakin' Giuliani - A one-act play dedicated to the man who forgot 911.

Select members of some of the original companies return to their roles as well as new young artists. Liebowitz' play "Wisdom That Men Seek" is currently in development as a feature film; his books of essays on sports and 1985 are currently on sale, as is his play anthology. For decades his works appeared off-off Broadway and in festivals including The Fringe, Midtown International Theatre Festival, Samuel French, LoveCreek, and Genesis Repertory's King New Works Series.

To post a comment, you must register and login.