Behold, the Bowery!

Description
**** (four stars) Daniel Pfau’s play takes place in old New York—where bar brawls ended in shootouts on the street, hookers hung out on Canal, and everyone had a con to play—and offers an entertaining trip back to a level of debauchery and chaos that the city will (probably) never know again. The action revolves around a gambler who must come up with money to settle his debts; it also touches on such topics as poverty, homosexuality and police corruption. Although the main story moves slowly, you don't mind too much, because the gaps are filled with comic and musical relief: drunks making fools of themselves, hookers doing the cancan and showing their cleavage. Great actors and a cozy, intimate theater add to the experience: Though set in a rough period, this show is a good time.—Roxana Marroquin, Associate Photo Editor