FringeNYC Previews

Behold The Bowery!

Produced by The Attic Theater Company

Author: Daniel Pfau

Behold, the Bowery! is a drama and quasi-musical based on the history of the Lower East Side of Manhattan at the turn of the 20th Century. The plot follows two stories from two different character's perspectives: one, an actor-conman who robs a gangster to pay a gambling debt, the other an immigrant forced out of desperation to kill for pay. The musical side of the play comes from the Lovely Ladies of the Broken Nose Inn and a trio of musicians during scenes set in an old Bowery Theater. It's kind of like Gangs of New York meets Moulin Rouge, with lots of violence, singing, dancing, a two-cent dog and a gangster named "Dead Horse" Owney Driscoll.

This show will be relevant for any time because it's a story about opportunity lost in the American Dream. It's about people sacrificing their souls for the future or for selfish reasons, but in the end, losing a piece of themselves in search of something greater in the greatest city in the world. I also think the stories in this play and the characters are timeless. With a cast of sixteen actors playing over thirty roles, every single character has something to say.

I wrote this show because I think we can learn a lot from looking at the past, particularly when talking about the history of New York. It's just amazing to me how each generation lives in their own version of this chaos and does their best to live through it, and hopefully improve on it. But the progress often comes at a price. The story of the immigrant, Leon, is very much an embodiment of that theme and really adds a heart and soul to an otherwise pure piece of entertainment.

Daniel Pfau, writer/director