Road sign for Off-Broadway reads surprise. (off-Broadway productions may provide unexpectedly satisfying shows)(New York: Entertainment Town: Legit)

If Broadway is generating excitement this fall, Off Broadway is still buzzing with such recent hits as "As Bees in Honey Drown," "How I Learned to Drive," "Gross Indecency" and "Bermuda Avenue Triangle." Each, to one extent or another, is a surprise success.

Few, for example, would have predicted the box office potential of "Drive," Paula Vogel's dark, complex play about a young girl and her child-molesting uncle, or Moises Kaufman's "Gross Indecency," which retraces in fascinating detail the legal and romantic tribulations of Oscar Wilde.

'Cyrano' interest

This year's Off Broadway lineup will no doubt include such surprises, but some productions already …