The Signature Theater's always informative newletter (be sure to pick one up in the lobby) has an enlightening and well illustrated article about playwright Mee's and director Davis McCallum's journeys to various Queens neighborhoods. It is these journeys that led to turning the Signature stage, as well as its walls and entryway, into a delightful spectacle. McCallum notes that he assumes that, given the mythical, dreamllike style of the play, audiences won't expect logical and literal consistency in how Queens is depicted.

As someone who appreciates the pleasures of Queens enough to live there, I'm glad that our colorful, multi-cultural borough has engaged Mr. Mee's imagination. It's certainly nice to have Queens associated with Homer rather than (as has too often been the case) with TV sitcom's favorite bigot, Archie Bunker.

Still, just to set the record straight for audiences who, like my New Jersey colleague Simon Saltzman, have not ventured into Queens, permit me to put the thoroughfare for which this play is named into a more geographically accurate context. Most of the neighborhoods Mimi Lin has so cleverly combined into her set are not on Queens Boulevard but along Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights and Main Street in Flushing.

Forest Hills Station Plaza (Photo: Elyse Sommer)

And so, picture Queens Boulevard as a giant tree that, in keeping with Mr. Mee's fantastical bent, is fantastically long, stretching from Sunnyside to Jamaica, and think of these neighborhoods as branches of that tree that you don't really see if you drive up Queens Boulevard. My own branch of that tree, the neighborhood known as Forest Hills, is one of the shortest branches. And while this quiet retreat in the midst of Queens has lots of trendy stores and restaurants rather than bodegas, it was originally intended for people of all incomes. While that didn't happen right away, it did become a haven for immigrants and in the past twenty years, residents have been ever more diverse.

Just a block off Queens Boulevard and Continental Avenue in Forest Hills, is an architectural landmark known as Station Plaza. It's dominated by what was once the Forest Hills Inn (it's now a coop apartment house) where many people stayed when the tennis matches were still held at the nearby and still existing and active Forest Hills Tennis Club. The Inn Apartments, the Long Island Railroad station and the little Park Square with its stone benches typify the architecture of this tree-lined Queens enclave.

Forest Hills Station Plaza The Station Square is a gateway to street after street of houses that share the same overall look and have enough leafy trees to make long trips to view Fall foliage unnecessary. (Photo: Elyse Sommer)

Queens Boulevard By Charles Mee Directed by Davis McCallum Cast: Amir Arison, Michi Barall, Satya Bhabha, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Bill Buell, Demosthenes Chrysan, Geeta Citygirl, Emily Donahoe, William Jackson Harper, Jodi Lin, Arian Moayed, Debargo Sanyal, John Norman Schneider, Ruth Zhang. Music Supervision and Arrangements: Michael Friedman Music Director: Matt Castel Set Design: Mimi Lien Costume Design: Christal Weatherly Lighting Design: Marcus Doshi Sound Design: Ken Travis Video Design: Joseph Spirito Choreography: Peter Pucci Running Time: 1 hour 50 minutes (no intermission) From 11/06/07 to 12/30/07; opening 12/03/07. The Signature Theatre Company at the Peter Norton Space, 555 West 42nd Street. (212) 212/244/7329 or www.signaturetheatre.org Performances: Tuesday at 7 PM, Wednesday through Saturday at 8 PM, matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2 PM. Additional performances Sunday 12/09/07 and 12/30/07 at 7 PM. Review by Simon Saltzman based on11/28/07 press performance