One of the reasons New York is "a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there" is the frustrating squeeze on Broadway theatre tickets. If a play's a hit, double ducats for a Saturday night (or any other night) immediately become as rare as grass in Times Square.
Queue-weary and reluctant to commit justifiable homicide on a scalper, many a victim of Main Stem rejection is now cabbing it down to the off-Broadway houses, where tickets are not only reasonable, but available. The proper spirit for approaching these tight little enterprises is not to expect a Winchell "Socko" but good theatre with a few flaws. You'll find it at the Phoenix (2nd Ave. and 12th St.), which charges a top price of $4.60. Just winding up is an excellent production of Shaw's St. Joan, with Siobhan McKenna as the visionary miss from Orleans. Plans for 1956-7 include Wilder's Our Town, Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, a new musical version of Tom Sawyer, O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock, Ostrovski's farcical Diary of a Scoundrel, and Berthold Brecht's modern German classic, The Good Woman of Sezuan (the last two New York premieres). The season rate for this cosmopolitan potpourri -- $23.10 for six plays -- is an authentic bargain.
The Theatre de Lys (121 Christopher St.) wandered aimlessly under several managements until suddenly The Threepenny Opera happened to it. Enjoying the longest off-Broadway run of any house, Threepenny will set you back a scant top of $3.45 weekdays, $4.15 weekends but, to tell you the blushing truth, you may have to wait a couple of weeks to get into the little 299-seat theatre. Smaller still is the 4th St. Theatre (177 seats at 83 E. 4th), which is thriving on the receipts from its longtime tenant, Uncle Vanya. You can see Chekhov's funny business for a sensible $3.85 top. The Circle in the Square (7th Ave. & 4th St.) is currently feeding The Iceman Cometh to the 170-odd gathered closely around the stage. Price is four bucks maximum.
Other worth-watching stages away from the Broadway Taj Mahals include the Downtown Theatre (85 E. 4th), The Provincetown Playhouse (133 Macdougal), The Lenthall Players (263 W. 86th), The Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce St.) and Actor's Playhouse (Sheridan Square). Of special note is the Amato Opera Theatre (159 Bleecker St.) which doles out the grand stuff creditably well and admission is -- of all things -- free, although a deep opera hat is passed at the end of each performance.
