CNY STAGES

JE Theatre enlists talent from across CNY for 'A Broadway Celebration'

2010-07-29T11:10:00-04:00

Pick the show, then the players. This is the order Drew Deapo had grown accustomed to after three years of directing the Jordan-Elbridge Community Theatre summer shows and six years as technical director for productions at JE High School.
For this year’s production of “A Broadway Celebration,” the selection process was just the opposite.
“Once we heard everyone audition, then we put the show together,” Deapo said. Songs were chosen based on the talent, of which Deapo said there was no shortage.
“We’re really fortunate to have the amount of talent that we have on board with us,” Deapo said. “And we’re really lucky, too, because we have some recent high school graduates who just became eligible to perform with us.”
2010 graduates from Jordan-Elbridge acting in the show include Elliot Kline, Kyle Alpha, Matthew Sullivan, Briana Duger, Samantha Lewis and Melanie Zehner.
Deapo is joined by his wife, Denise, the show’s production coordinator. Denise is a music teacher at Jordan-Elbridge High School where she has directed over 35 productions.
Ramsdell Middle School music teacher Maria Hare is the show’s pit band director and Jason Furney is the technical director. Costumers for the show are Joan Hunter and Becky O’Hara.
A Broadway Celebration features songs from over 24 musicals, including Ragtime, Wicked, Chicago and Phantom of the Opera. Arrangements were done by Alex Graham, an adjunct professor of music composition at Syracuse University.
To teach all those songs to the cast, JE Community Theatre brought in a couple of vocal directors with years of experience between them. Dan Williams accompanies choral groups at JE High School and gives private voice lessons. He recently served as vocal director for Fabius Pompey’s spring production of “Bye Bye Birdie.” Bridget Moriarty is an adjunct professor of voice at Syracuse University and Oswego State.
Actors come from all over CNY to take part in the community theater production, including Auburn, Cato, Syracuse, Cicero, and even as far Fulton.
Kara Howard, of Fulton, recently graduated from Cortland with a degree in musical theater. She’ll be singing “When the Earth Stops Turning”, a song from an off-Broadway show called Elegies. This is one of a few songs audience members might not recognize, though Deapo says there will be a good mix of familiar and less familiar tunes.
The variety was partly influenced by copyright laws that prevent producers of shows from featuring more than three songs from one musical.
“It doesn’t follow a specific artist or a specific genres,” Deapo said. “It does the whole gambit of Broadway Theater.”

Why the new setup?
The JE Community Theatre has been around for four summers and its first three shows were full-length musicals performed on the JE High School stage. The theater group started with a notably challenging one, Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods,” and moved on to “The Secret Garden” and “South Pacific.” Summer renovations to the high school forced the theatre group to improvise.
“Usually we do a big well known musical, but we had to scale that down a bit because of the renovations,” Deapo said.
The Broadway revue style, chosen to adjust to the elementary school’s auditorium, has allowed JE Community Theatre to showcase more talent from around the area; there are 10 focused leads and they all sing a solo or duet.
The move to Elbridge Elementary has also inspired a special treat. Included in the price of admission is dessert provided by Tabatha’s Family Tree Restaurant of Baldwinsville, as well as beverages, served at intermission.
The July 29,30 and 31 productions of “A Broadway Celebration” begin at 7 p.m. at Elbridge Elementary located on Route 5 in Elbridge. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased in advance by calling 315-689-8500 (ext. 1700) or at the door on the night of the

via www.cnylink.com

'Penelope, of Ithaca' premieres at Hangar Theatre | syracuse.com

2010-07-26T11:36:35-04:00

There is a world premiere at Ithaca’s Hangar Theatre, commissioned in honor of its multimillion-dollar renovation.

Titled “Penelope, of Ithaca,” it comes from New York City-based playwright Kenny Finkle, whose career was fostered at the theater.

via blog.syracuse.com

Skaneateles Summer Theater presents “The Music Man”

2010-07-23T19:21:04-04:00

Skaneateles, NY – (July 23^rd, 2010) Skaneateles Summer Theater will present their summertime performance of Meredith Wilson’s “The Music Man” on August 5^th, 6^th and 7^th at 7:30 p.m. at Skaneateles High School. There will also be a matinee at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 7^th. With a talented cast of over sixty and a sweet-sounding orchestra, “The Music Man” is sure to strike a chord with its audience. The plot involves the lovable con man Harold Hill, who poses as a kids' band organizer and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with the cash. In River City, Iowa, prim Marian the librarian sees through him, but when Hill helps her younger brother, Marian falls in love with him. The traveling salesman, Harold, get’s his own foot “caught in the door” falling for Marian and risks everything to win her. This valentine of a musical is set in a simpler time and place and features such memorable tunes as: “Ya Got Trouble”, “Goodnight, My Someone”, “Wells Fargo Wagon”, “Lida Rose” and the show stopping “76 Trombones”.The production features a large cast of talented actors, many of whom are local to this area.
In its 11^th year of operation, Skaneateles Summer Theater is a community-based theater troupe drawing its cast and crew from talented individuals throughout the region. Skaneateles Summer Theater strives to raise the quality of life in the local community by providing top quality, affordable musical theater performances for all ages. The group also offers youth camps for children from kindergarten through high school in an effort to foster an early love for drama. The theater group is self-funded through ticket sales and supportive patrons. Come out and watch the smooth-talking Harold Hill as he cons his way into the heart of Miss Marian the Librarian. Tickets to this year’s show are $10 for students and seniors and $12 for adults. Call the box office at 685-5278 to reserve your seat.

Further information may be available on the website

APT workshop presents

2010-07-21T15:49:58-04:00

The APT Children's Summer Theater Workshop Presents: MERCURY 13

WHEN: Thursday, July 29th @ 2:00pm
Friday, July 30th @ 2:00pm & 7:00pm
Saturday, July 31st @ 7:00pm

WHERE: Auburn Public Theater, 8 Exchange Street @ Genesee Auburn, NY 13021

WHAT: The original musical production of MERCURY 13

COST: $5 at the door

CONTACT INFORMATION: Angela Daddabbo - Artistic Producing Director 315.253.6669; angela@auburnpublictheater.org

The 40 young actors of our Summer Theater Workshop perform an original musical production. Created by Artistic Producing Director, Angela Daddabbo, it's based on the real life story of the 13 women who trained as pilots in the late 1950's in the hope of being accepted into the newly formed NASA astronaut Program and then were denied the opportunity to go into space. This young persons' performance is sure to educate and entertain. Directed by Carey Eidel.

Auburn's Act II: Becoming a hotbed for musical theater | syracuse.com

2010-07-19T13:31:08-04:00

Auburn, NY - Auburn, a former industrial powerhouse long in search of a new identity, is betting on song and dance.

Tucked into the state’s recently passed budget bills is $2.4 million for construction of a performance and education center in downtown Auburn. While Gov. David Paterson vetoed $57 million in community college operating expenses around the state, funding for Auburn’s theater remained.

The $4.8 million performance center would be part of Cayuga Community College. It would be used summers for the festival and during the school year for theater classes and training.

The 384-seat performance center would be a key piece of a grand plan — a summer-long Musical Theater Festival on four stages, built on the success of Merry-Go-Round Playhouse. In recent years, Merry-Go-Round, which as a professional theater has been producing traditional musicals for 35 years, has expanded its season to 22 weeks, with annual attendance exceeding 60,000.

Organizers are aiming for the success of other summer theater festivals, notably the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario.

As regional economic development ideas go, this one has unusual traction and support. The festival has raised at least $3 million of its $12 million goal, most coming from local foundations. For several years, the city of Auburn and Cayuga County have each contributed $25,000 toward the festival.

A key force has been the Stardust Foundation of Central New York, established in 2007 by Jerry Bisgrove, an Auburn native who funds it with money from his Arizona-based Stardust Foundation.

Lauren Long/The Post-StandardThe building that formerly housed Kalet's department store in Auburn will be renovated for a summer long musical theater festival that the city will hold beginning in 2012. The building will be the site of a 384-seat theater.

Bisgrove’s father, John Bisgrove Sr., started Red Star Express Lines in Auburn in 1932. The company grew to a fleet of 2,000 trucks before the Bisgroves sold it in the 1980s. In Arizona, Jerry Bisgrove multiplied his money in real estate.

Stardust of CNY and the Emerson Foundation, also based in Auburn, have each pledged $1 million over four years to get the festival off the ground. The Schwartz Foundation, founded by the family of former Mayor Maurice Schwartz, has pledged $500,000.

The festival team has a paid staff of three, headed by Michael Chamberlain, a former Xerox executive. Fifteen years ago, as president of the Auburn Community Baseball board, he successfully led the campaign to raise $3.5 million to build a new ballpark for Auburn’s minor league baseball team.

“It’s the right idea, in the right place, in the right time,” said Ed Sayles, the festival’s artistic director and producing director of Merry-Go-Round Playhouse.

Unique idea

Sayles has been peddling the idea of a season-long musical

via www.syracuse.com

Auburn's Act II: Becoming a hotbed for musical theater | syracuse.com

2010-07-19T13:26:46-04:00

Lauren Long/The Post-StandardMike Chamberlain, managing director of The Musical Theatre Festival, and Ed Sayles, producing director at the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse and producing artistic director for the festival, are aiming to make the multi-venue festival in Auburn a top destination when it officially kicks off in 2012.

via www.syracuse.com

Sterling Renaissance Festival continues - Entertainment - Rome Observer

2010-07-18T11:47:24-04:00

STERLING — After walking into the Sterling Renaissance Festival, guests are transitioned to the year 1585 and the spirit of Warwick, England. Visitors enter a Renaissance world of discovery and adventure, a place of pleasure, creativity and enchantment.
To create this illusion, a cast of professional entertainers invents a zany cross-section of characters from lords, ladies, beggars, wenches, minstrels and even Queen Elizabeth herself. While remaining true to their characters in dress, mannerism and dialect, the talented troupe provides over 100 stage acts and street performances daily.
While scheduled performances of live Shakespearean comedy, spectacular jousting, pageantry, swordplay, comedy, and the timeless grace and beauty of Elizabethan and Celtic music and dance await, many special performances and surprises are purely spontaneous.
The festival’s 40-member professional acting company, the Bless the Mark Players, provide the serendipitous happenings that make you feel as though you have just stepped into Shakespeare’s backyard. The troupe is cast through national auditions that take place each spring.
Approximately 2,000 actors are auditioned for the 40 roles in the troupe. The group is lead by Gary Izzo, creative director, veteran Disney Show director and author of "The Art of Play" and "Acting Interactive Theatre."
After many weeks of full-time rehearsal and training, they employ their considerable skill in comic improvisation and interactive theatre to weave a tapestry of captivating encounters with visitors that is sure to loosen their grip on the 21st Century.
The Bless the Mark Players also present scheduled scenarios throughout the day designed to include the visitor such as, the Opening Ceremonies, Trial and Dunke, Human Chess Match, and Wench and Bloke auctions. They are also joined by independent performing groups.
The Bless the Mark Players will also perform at The Wyldwoode Theatre, on the festival grounds. Shakespeare’s "The Tempest" and a Commedia Del’Arte will be performed each day in one of upstate New York's only outdoor Shakespearean theaters.
The Sterling Renaissance Festival, presented by Empire Attractions, is located at the Sterling Festival Grounds in Sterling, N.Y., just 45 minutes north of Syracuse and just west of Oswego. Festival dates are Saturdays and Sundays only, July 3 through Aug. 15, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., rain or shine. Free parking is available. No pets allowed. For festival details, discount ticket information, driving directions and important notices regarding special events, call 1-800-879-4446 or visit:

via www.romeobserver.com

The Prisoner of Second Avenue Movie Review - Read Variety's Analysis Of The Film The Prisoner of Second Avenue

2010-07-16T11:13:57-04:00

What happened? Did everybody get to the end of the read-through and realize it wasn't funny? Only that can explain the dismaying overplaying in Terry Johnson's clumsy revival of Neil Simon's "The Prisoner of Second Avenue." Stargazers may be satisfied by the sight of Jeff Goldblum and Mercedes Ruehl, but there's precious little else to offer.
This production, the inaugural West End venture by Kevin Spacey's Old Vic Theater, points to the fact that as artistic director Spacey has proved better at picking roles than plays. "Speed-the-Plow," his last stage venture with Goldblum, allowed for spectacular perfs by both men disguising the fact that the play is second-rate, On the page, the title-role of this 1971 play looks promising. On stage, however, it's wholly undermined by inert dramaturgy.
Rangy, attack-ready Goldblum is not a good fit for permanently worried advertising executive Mel, who kvetches about his apartment, his neighbors, his job, his life. From the get-go, Goldblum is more furious than neurotic, a mood that strips the laughter off a comedy about a mental crack-up that needs all the laughs it can get.
Simon was consciously attempting a more downbeat tone than his trademark sitcom perkiness. Mel and his long-suffering wife, Edna (Ruehl), are buffeted by (unseen) uncaring neighbors. He loses his job and, for a scene or two, his mind.
What Simon failed to do was tether character-study to drama. There are incidents, but neither sustained action nor tension. Their (unnecessarily drab) apartment is burgled to add to Mel's gloom, but it leads nowhere. Worse, auds don't see it happen. It occurs in a gap between scenes, a stage-management nightmare covered by a poorly presented, painfully unfunny video newscast projected on the frontcloth.
Nor does it help that both leads are too old. Goldblum flails about yelling at least four times "But I'm 47 years old!" which sounds increasingly weak when we know him to be a decade older.
Like an actor overcompensating for being too old to play Hamlet, he overemphasizes everything, stopping mid-line for supposedly comic effect. Ruehl also opts for exaggeration, possibly in an attempt to tame him. But there's a rhythm to Simon's quick-fire dialogue that this style of playing kills stone dead.
As his revival of "La Cage aux Folles" proves, director Johnson is better on smart conception than on sustaining tone. That he doesn't have an ear for this kind of writing is underlined by the fact that when Mel's three sisters appear, they each have accents from entirely different parts of America. The sole saving grace is Linal Haft as Mel's businessman brother -- calm, controlled and completely "on it." Too bad he's only onstage for about 20 minutes.

Sets and costumes, Rob Howell; lighting, Neil Austin; video, Jon Driscoll; sound, Gareth Fry; music Colin Towns; production stage manager; Maddie Baylis. Reviewed, July 10, 2010. Opened July 13. Running time: 2 HOURS, 15 MIN.

via www.variety.com

Concert, July 24, 2010

2010-07-14T13:54:06-04:00

Jeffrey Scott Connor & Juliana Richer Daily in Concert with Katie Cholette and The Dingleberries (Joe Bergan, Scott Garrett & Brian Clare)

WHEN: Saturday, July 24th 2010 at 8:00pm

WHERE: Auburn Public Theater, 8 Exchange Street @ Genesee Auburn, NY 13021

WHAT: A Concert with Up & Coming Performers Jeffrey Scott Connor, Juliana Richer Daily, Katie Cholette and The Dingleberries

COST: $5 at the door

CONTACT INFORMATION: Carey Eidel - Managing Director 315.253.6669; carey@auburnpublictheater.org

Jeff Connor: Orignially from Skaneateles, Jeff Connor is a singer/songwriter currently living in New York City. He has played all over Central NY and opened for Julia Nunes. He likes curry. Listen to him at: http://www.abandontrouble.com/

Julianna Richer Daily: Juliana is a 21 year old singer-songwriter from upstate New York who loves a good run, the occasional nap, and the company of cats. When she's not making music, you'll likely find her reading on the roof or off somewhere covered in paint. Still curious? Check out: http://julianaricherdaily.com/
The Dingleberries: Joe Bergan and The Dingleberries have been playing old time folky music together for 3 years. Joe Bergan plays guitar and draws a majority of his influence from his 9 failed marriages, particularly his separation from Emma McDougall a.k.a Big Leg Emma. Scott Garrett, born Armenius Rutherford Garrett in 1921, plays guitar, harmonica, and is a former sharecropper from Northern Tennessee. Scott's career in moonshining brought him to Auburn, where he typically spends his time making whiskey/paint-thinner. Brian Clare plays guitar, banjo, fiddle, guitjo, dobro, and the spoons. Brian mastered a wide variety of instruments during his 4 year incarceration in the late 80's after burglarizing a music store.
Katie Cholette: Self-taught musician, Katie Cholette, takes full advantage of Auburn Public Theatre’s Open Mic Night as a local artist. At 26, she has spent most of her life expressing herself through poetry and lyrics. Her premiere performance needs no spotlight, as her smile will light up the room and her melodic tunes will set an enticing atmosphere.

Auburn, NY's Merry-Go-Round Presents PROMISES, PROMISES Through 7/28 2010/07/09

2010-07-09T17:34:47-04:00

Auburn, New York's Merry-Go-Round Playhouse is currently presenting PROMISES, PROMISES. The lively musical, with music by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David, and book by Neil Simon, is based on the classic film 'The Apartment' and includes such songs as 'I'll Never Fall in Love Again' and the title song. The story follows Chuck Baxter, who attempts to find success both in business and in love.

The production, which opening on July 7, will run until July 28. To purchase tickets, call 315-255-1785 or visit merry-go-round.com. The Merry-Go-Round Playhouse is located at 17 William Street in Auburn, New York.

via centralnewyork.broadwayworld.com

Kyle Bass: Syracuse playwright finds his calling at last | syracuse.com

2010-07-09T10:57:46-04:00

Kyle Bass, as a child, was laying the foundation for his future as playwright.
“I was kind of an observer in the family,” he says over a late-morning breakfast at Barbieri’s Italian Diner in Syracuse’s Little Italy.

When his aunts and uncles would visit, “I liked to be under the kitchen table just listening to the conversation. Not listening to substance so much, but for the flow, and the rhythm, and the warmth and the familiarity in their voices and how the exchange went. And how something funny would drop off, and there would be a silence and you would know now some sort of truth had been touched and then it would start again. Dialogue. So I used to love that.”

Bass uncoils memories of his childhood, revealing the origins of his love of words and language. A New York Foundation for the Arts 2010 grant is the latest reward for this early start.

Trim and muscular, Bass animatedly re-enacts some of his discoveries growing up in Frankfort in rural Herkimer County. He expresses delight and astonishment, raising and lowering his voice.

He knows his geek status is sealed when he confesses a favorite toy was a box of vocabulary flash cards. Bass also penned a book of his sayings and observations while in the third or fourth grade.

A gift from his mother, an Underwood 5 typewriter, changed everything. Bass describes it as “a black boulder of a thing” that he used initially to type his poems.

“And then I started writing these short stories. These short stories, these compulsive, single-spaced, agonizingly detailed stories. And then I would read them into a tape recorder. This is madness, right? A cassette tape. I would read them into the tape recorder and I would play them back,” he says, all the while marveling at his youthful exuberance.

“I’m still miles and miles away from writing for the stage, but I’m already doing it. I’m turning my fiction into kind of performance. I’m reading it into a tape recorder and playing it back. So, in a sense, the tape recorder becomes the theater, the stage.”

Bass’ path took several dramatic twists and turns from there. He drifted from writing, although he studied creative writing at the State University College at Fredonia and started but did not finish a master’s in fine art at American University.

But, it’s the events of October 2005 that are telling. Bass worked, unhappily, as a pharmaceutical salesman. He realized scattered around his desk were memos with scenes written on the backside. He would stretch his lunch hour to spend more time in the drama section of the Central Library in The Galleries of Syracuse.

One day Bass paid attention for the first time to a company bulletin board and the lonely button affixed to it. Bass remains astonished by the button’s message: “I’d rather be a wanderer all my life than cross the wrong threshold every day.”

That was it. Bass quit. “I never felt so heavy and light at the same time in all my life.”

Vividly, he recalls the moments after his departure. “I drive in my car wondering how I’m going to pay for it (mortgage), my tie fluttering out the window,” he says, re-enacting with quivering fingers the movement of his airborne tie. He laughs at the memory, then revisits the emotional impact of his decisive action five years ago.

He applied to Goddard College, where he studied playwriting and received a master’s in fine arts in 2006.

Now Bass, 48, is immersed in the world of theater, both as a playwright and as full-time dramaturg at Syracuse Stage.

He has enjoyed a longtime association with the Armory Square Playhouse, where his plays have had staged readings. Kitchen Theatre and Appleseed Productions also have produced his works.

Bass says themes run through his plays - father, s

via blog.syracuse.com

Merry-Go-Round opens Promises, Promises July 7 « CNY Theater News

2010-06-26T10:14:40-04:00

You don’t have to go to New York City to catch this Broadway show. While
audiences can catch the musical Promises, Promises being revived on Broad-way, they won’t have to travel far to see it play at Merry-Go-Round Playhouse. Based on the 1960 Academy Award winning film The Apartment with a book by Neil Simon and music and lyrics by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Promises, Promises is sure to charm.

via dramaimp.wordpress.com

See yourself run to Cortland Rep « CNY Theater News

2010-06-26T10:11:35-04:00

De Anne Dubin, Dustin Charles and Annie Duckett, with Richard Hollis in background , and Rebecca McGraw on the floor in Cortland Repertory's "See How They Run"

via dramaimp.wordpress.com

Syracuse New Times - The Central New York Alternative, Local Bands & Events Calendar - Vinyl Exam

2010-06-23T16:04:10-04:00

A man with a turntable triggers memories of old-school musicals in Merry-Go-Round’s spiffy spoof The Drowsy Chaperone

Casting a key role, they tell us in Dramaturgy 101, colors the entire show. The idea of putting former Syracuse Stage artistic director Robert Moss in the role of the narrator, “The Man in the Chair,” of the musical spoof The Drowsy Chaperone, the season opener at Auburn’s Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, is not just a sop or a gimmick. Moss could fairly be called “beloved” (admittedly, an asset at the box office), but he also brings qualities otherwise hard to achieve: real authority worn lightly, bristling with irony.

Familiar fun: Jenny Long, Brad Nacht, Michael Munoz and Bryan Plofsky in Merry-Go-Round’s The Drowsy Chaperone.
Incredible as it may seem, this lovely bit of upmarket fluff has been the subject of a critical tong war in the blogosphere, which is why Australian star Geoffrey Rush was summoned home for the Sydney premiere earlier this year. Bizarre as it sounds, blogging loudmouths like John Kenjac claim that Chaperone disrespects the genre and demeans buffs who dote on vintage record collections. Yet Moss’ presence—ebullient, confident and wry—crushes such nonsense underfoot.

Ever since The Drowsy Chaperone came out of nowhere (actually, Toronto) to win big at the Tonys three years ago, most audiences have become familiar with the premise. The Man in the Chair, with a large collection of vinyl LP albums, shares his favorite from 1928, also called The Drowsy Chaperone, and conjures up characters and scenes from the back of a nondescript bedroom. So far this sounds like an update of The Boy Friend, Dames at Sea or Thoroughly Modern Millie, but with the Man in the Chair’s post-modernist commentary. Speaking of a tall, dominatrix-appearing beauty (Aleka Emerson) in tight period aviator’s pants, he muses, “She’s an aviatrix (two-beat pause), what we nowadays call a lesbian.”

Audiences who think they know the show will be surprised at how Merry-Go-Round producing director Ed Sayles has sharpened and revamped the concept. Torontonians Bob Martin and Don McKellar started out to provide entertainment for a groom’s stag party in 1998. Co-scripter Martin really was marrying Janet Van de Graaff, and those names are attached to the romantic leads of the show we see. When the wedding guests were crazy for the skits, composers Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison were brought in to come up with music that sounded like the era of Vincent Youmans or DeSylva, Brown and Henderson. Chaperone went on to the Toronto Fringe Festival, becoming an unprecedented smash. Martin created the role of The Man in the Chair for himself so that he could appear on stage, in effect, twice, a role he retained in the May 2006 Broadway opening.

In Auburn, Chaperone grows from being an aggrandized series of skits into a fully staged production. Sayles has banished the shabby bedroom and replaced it with a comfortable set by Rob Andrusko that could be modeled on a top-end apartment on Park Avenue. The Man in the Chair now sits or struts in front of the curtain, both at left and right, while the action unfolds more or less independently behind him. He may still control the show, as by moving the needle back in the groove to replay some action, but mostly the silly plot unfolds at will.

There is, of course, no such historical show from 1928 as The Drowsy Chaperone, nor did full cast productions and 33 1/3 rpm LP recordings appear for a long while after that time. But even casual musical-goers will recognize the milieu, themes and motifs from such golden oldies that are still performed, like Anything Goes or No, No Nanette. The title is wonderfully suggestive. Chaperones in Am

via www.syracusenewtimes.com

Syracuse New Times - The Central New York Alternative, Local Bands & Events Calendar - Sandler and Young

2010-06-23T16:02:59-04:00

Appleseed’s Wedding Singer adds a pleasing 1980s musical bounce to an Adam Sandler movie showcase

June had become a slack time for Syracuse theaters, when all the action was in Cortland, Auburn and Ithaca. Then in 2007 Appleseed Productions director Greg Hipius decided to bring in more than two dozen men in wigs and knee britches for the Declaration of Independence musical, 1776. It became an unexpected hit, spawning a mini-tradition with the company.

Enter Dustin Czarny, Appleseed’s departing board chair. As he has started two companies on his own, the improv group Don’t Feed the Actors and a dinner theater outfit at the Locker Room on Hiawatha Boulevard, Not Another Theater Company, he’s marking his departure from Appleseed with a lengthy program note. To leave with a bang he’s putting more than 40 people on the basement stage of the Atonement Lutheran Church, 116 W. Glen Ave., eight of whom are in the band. As some of the actors are taking multiple speaking roles, not credited in the program, only he knows how many characters there are in the much-anticipated production of The Wedding Singer.

If you think of The Wedding Singer as an Adam Sandler vehicle, forget it. Sandler is an acquired taste that some of us never got around to acquiring, but that’s nothing to hold against the show. A great part of the movie’s appeal is hasty mock nostalgia for a bygone era: the 1980s. Singer might have come out in 1998 but the action is assertively set in 1985, flooded with chart hits: “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” by Culture Club, “White Wedding” by Billy Idol and Madonna’s “Holiday.” When The Wedding Singer became a modest Broadway hit in 2006, the original songs were deleted and replaced with new material by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin in the appropriate idiom.

When fashions go out of style, we have learned, they must suffer through a period of being comic before they can become classics. So it is with hand-held phones the size of bricks. Toward this end Czarny has imported award-winning costumer Jeanette Reyner along with reliable Harlow Kisselstein to get just the right (i.e. dated) look for the stomping herd on stage. To keep reminding us of that decade, the script calls for an appearance of Ronald Reagan, or at least a plausible impersonator (Gerrit Vander Werff Jr.). The program neglects to tell who’s doing what, but we also have celebrity cameos from the likes of Cyndi Lauper, Imelda Marcos and Iggy Pop.

Robbie Hart (Terence LaCasse), the singer of the title, plies downmarket motels of northern New Jersey, where you can see Newark on a good day. He performs for bar mitzvahs and weddings with two pals, the hairy Sammy (Jordan Westfall) and the somewhat effete George (John Ginn). The musicians feel it’s agreeable work, with ready access to free food and available ladies, but the job suffers a bit in status and income. These are brought home when Robbie’s voluptuous bride-to-be, Linda (JesseRose Pardee), dumps him at the altar because she doesn’t think he’ll ever amount to anything. It’s crueler than in the movie where she doesn’t show at the church and delivers the dirty news later. Here she makes a kind of ghost appearance, as she sings out the news in a letter to him, the show-stopping “A Note from Linda.”

Stumbling into Robbie’s life, literally, is Julia (Katie Lemos Brown), a waitress from one of the reception halls where he performs. She’s a doll, but it’s anything but love at first sight. Instead she’s already engaged to a careerist yuppie, Glen Guglia (Jon Wilson), whose full wallet wins the endorsement of Julia’s mother Angie (Kathleen Egloff). Despite actor Wilson’s native charms, we’re turned off Glen immediately because he’s a dunce of a businessman (loves New Coke but says no one will ever pay $3 for a cup of coffee) and turns out

via www.syracusenewtimes.com

National Guard unit returns to Auburn after 10-month tour in Iraq | syracuse.com

2010-06-20T11:15:28-04:00

Auburn, NY -- Cheers and tears greeted 14 members of the National Guard’s 206th Military Police Company as they got off the bus Friday at the Armory in Auburn.

The unit returned home to Central New York after spending the past 10 months in Iraq.

Donna Barnard, of Auburn, gave her husband, Sgt. Thomas Barnard, a hug and kiss.

“Oh my God. I can’t even tell you,” she said as the emotion of the moment washed over her. “It’s the best feeling ever. … I hope they don’t take him again.”

via www.syracuse.com

At APT

2010-06-18T10:55:27-04:00

Jon Peterson's Songwriters' Night

with MakaRouge & Mark Montgomery

Saturday, June 19th @ 8:00pm

Join Jon, as he and his EDGY FOLK band members, Donna Dennihy and Jerry Bower, host a mix of talented singer/songwriters in this monthly showcase.

$6 at the door Listen to EDGY FOLK

______________________________________________

Laura’s List: Books for Women

& Auburn Public Theater Present

Celebrate The Summer Solstice

Sharing The Medicine of Love
With authors Dr. Jill Little and Val Cook

Monday, June 21 @ 7:00pm
A life changing book that shares powerful positive practices to spread the medicine of love to heal the world.” – Laura Ponticello, Laura’s List: Books for Women

Books available at Creekside Books & Coffee
More Info: www.laurasbooklist.com
Cash wine/beer bar w/proper I.D.

FREE! (Children welcome)

________________________________

Loren Barrigar & Mark Mazengarb

Thursday, July 1st @ 8pm

Loren Barrigar's exceptionally clean technique, reminiscent of the late Chet Atkins, is complemented by sensitive timing and fluid phrasing. Singer/Guitarist Mark Mazengarb, stopping in Auburn on his way to Nashville as part of his world tour, is an award winning musician currently based in Auckland, New Zealand.

$10 advance Buy Tickets Now

Watch Loren Watch Mark

_____________________________________________

Tuesday Night Music Sessions

Every Tuesday @ 7:30pm

A weekly evening of regional and national talent, and featured acts. Door prize, a light snack menu & wine/beer with I.D.

$2 at the door

_____________________________________________

Take a Virtual Tour

of Auburn Public Theater

For Rental Information: info@auburnpublictheater.org or

(315) 253-6669

MOVIES

Friday, June 18 1:00pm & 8:00pm

Saturday, June 19 8:00pm

Dancing Across Borders

On a trip to Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia in January 2000, filmmaker Anne Bass came across a sixteen-year-old boy who moved her immensely with his amazing natural charm andgrace as a dancer. A longtime devotee of the world of dance, Bass felt compelled to give this young boy the opportunity to leave his home and follow a dream that he could not yet have fullyimagined. From the serene countryside of Southeast Asia to the halls of New York’s School of American Ballet to the stage of the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, DANCING ACROSS BORDERS peeks behind the scenes into the world of dance and chronicles the intimate and triumphant story of a boy who was discovered, and who only much later discovered all that he had in himself.

$4 advance; $5 door View Trailer

Friday, June 25 1:00pm & 8:00pm

Saturday, June 26 8:00pm

The Art Of The Steal

$4 advance; $5 door View Trailer

Friday, July 9 1:00pm & 8:00pm

Saturday, July 10 8:00pm

Back By Popular Demand!

Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage

$4 advance; $5 door View Trailer

Friday, July 16 1:00pm & 8:00pm

Saturday, July 17 8:00pm

Avitar

$4 advance; $5 door View Trailer

Friday, July 23 1:00pm & 8:00pm

Saturday, July 24 8:00pm

Husbands and Wives

$4 advance; $5 door View Trailer

Film Details & Advance Tickets

____________________________________

Underground Theater Company Presents

Twelfth Night

Friday/Saturday, June 18th & 19th @ 7:30pm

$8 advance; $10 door

Community Wide STONE SOUP PROJECT

Sunday, June 20th 11am -7pm

Increasing Awareness of Homelessness & Hunger in our Community

FREE

Peachtown Elementary School Presents

THE 4 A's: Autism, Asthma, Allergies, ADHD

Your Child's Diagnosis and Treatment

Wednesday, June 23rd @ 6pm

FREE

The Stardust Entrepreneurial Institute as part of “Coffee & Content” Presents..

"Planning for Your Financial Future"

with Jim McQuiggan

Wednesday, June 23rd @ 5:30pm

"Investing in Yourself: Alternative Methods in Stress Management" with Mary Anne Giacona

Saturday, June 26th @ 10am

Both events @ 2 State St, Auburn

$15 advance Register

Tarus Entertainment/Beatdox Presents

Red Light Special R&B Showcase

w/Bill Blass, E.R.V and DJ Guap

Thursday, June 24th @ 9:30pm

$5 door

Bonita Shear & Young Living Presents

Learn About Essential Oils

Tuesday, June 29th @ 5pm

FREE

Roots Christian Music & Gifts Presents

downtime: Summer Edition

One Voice in Concert

info: www.rootschristian.org

$10 advance; $12 door; $8 student/senior

Tony Awards have Central New York links | syracuse.com

2010-06-14T14:25:54-04:00

Bradley Benjamin wins
role in LA show

Skaneateles High School graduate Bradley Benjamin has become a favorite of the Reprise series in Los Angeles.

Benjamin recently completed a run as the secretary, Miss Eden, in Reprise’s production of “How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”

It was her sixth time with Reprise, which does limited, no-frills engagements of Broadway hits. Previously, she performed in the company’s “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” “Carousel,” “My One and Only,” “On the Town” and “Brigadoon.”

Benjamin came close to doing a Broadway revival of “Brigadoon.” After a New York City workshop, she was hired. But just before a Boston tryout in the fall of 2008, the musical was put on hold for its scheduled early 2009 opening and ultimately was canceled.

via blog.syracuse.com

New, improved Hangar Theatre opens its season Wednesday | theithacajournal.com | The Ithaca Journal

2010-06-14T14:21:47-04:00

The leaky roof is fixed. The seats are plush. Both are signs that the renovations are complete at the new "year-round" Hangar Theatre in Ithaca.

via www.theithacajournal.com

Sigourney Weaver helps upstate town celebrate Founder's Day, film sound inventor - Winnipeg Free Press

2010-06-14T13:35:51-04:00

AUBURN, N.Y. - Actress Sigourney Weaver has helped a central New York community honour the man who brought sound to motion pictures.

Weaver was in Auburn for the city's second annual Founder's Day. This year's celebration honoured Auburn native Theodore Case, who was working in his lab in the Finger Lakes city in 1916 when he pioneered a method to put sound on film.

The Case Research Lab is now maintained by the Cayuga Museum of History and Art.

Weaver, whose films include the "Alien" franchise and "Avatar," was the special guest at a fundraiser for the museum. She also took part in Saturday's Founder's Day parade, riding in a convertible with her husband, director Jim Simpson.

During a speech outside city hall, Weaver said she owes the Case family "my entire career."

via www.winnipegfreepress.com

The Wit's End Players Present CABARET

2010-06-13T20:55:51-04:00

It is 1930, and aspiring American novelist Clifford Bradshaw has just arrived in post-war Germany searching for inspiration . . . and it isn't long before he finds himself at the hottest night club in Berlin, and under the spell of the young English singer Sally Bowles. But as Cliff finds himself drawn into the decadent world of the Kit-Kat Klub, he comes to realize that there is a darker force lurking beneath the cheap splendor of Germany . . . one which he will soon be unable to ignore.
Scintillating numbers, with Tony award winning music and lyrics by Kandor and Ebb, Cabaret is a Broadway classic not to be missed!
So welcome to the Kit-Kat Klub . . . And leave your troubles outside! In here, life is beautiful . . . the girls are beautiful . . . even the orchestra is beautiful . . .
The Principal Cast:
Garret Heater as the Master of Ceremonies
Danielle Lovier as Sally Bowles
Rob Fonda as Clifford Bradshaw
Susan Blumer as Fraulein Schneider
Bill Molesky as Herr Shultz
Bethany Daniluk as Fraulein Kost
David R. Witanowski as Ernst Ludwig
The Cabaret Girls:
Kaleigh Pfohl as Rosie
Andrea Colabufo as Lulu
Danielle Nash as Frenchie
Julia Berger as Texas
Chloe Tiso as Fritzie
Maggie Osinski as Helga
The Cabaret Boys:
David Cotter as Bobby
Chad Healy as Victor
Jimmy Curtin as Hans
Dan La Combe as Hermann
The Orchestra:
Bridget Moriarty on Piano
Elizabeth Luttinger on Upright Bass / Accordion
Jen Luzzo on Trumpet
Zach Moser on Woodwinds
Show runs June 11th through July 3rd at the New Times Theater at the New York State Fairgrounds, Syracuse NY.
Tickets: $20 for adults, $18 for seniors and students. Note: This show is intended for mature audiences only.
For further information, or to contact the Box Office call (315)-345-8001, or email us at witsendplayers@earthlink.net

via www.facebook.com

Shakespeare’s Will by Vern Thiessen this weekend

2010-06-13T20:54:02-04:00

Syracuse Shakespeare Festival concludes its third indoor season with a lively one-woman show told from the perspective of Shakespeare’s wife.

Nora O’Dea stars in the company’s debut at the Setnor Auditorium, Crouse College, on the SU Campus. Free parking is available in the Q1 lot on campus right in front of the building. The final two performances are Fri. & Sat., 6/18 & 19 @ 7:30 pm.
Tickets are reasonably priced @ $10 each for the general public, $5 for SU students with current ID, $7.50 for SU faculty and staff with current ID and $5 each for groups of 12 or more when the tickets are purchased at one time. Tickets are available on our website through TicketLeap and at the box office 45 minutes prior to curtain time.
Jamie Bruno, the director, has realized his vision of Anne Hathaway’s mind with the brilliant design work of Navroz Dabu (get better soon) as set designer. SSF’s own director, actor and Board member, Dan Stevens, is the producer.
Shakespeare’s Will is produced by special arrangement in the United States with Bruce Ostler and Mark Orsini, BRET ADAMS LTD., 448 W 44th St., NY, NY, bretadamsltd.net
For more information or reservations contact: Ronald Bell, Producing Artistic Director, (315) 476-1835 OR e-mail: bell444@gmail.com OR write us @ 350 W. Fayette St., VPA, Room 001, Syr., NY 13202 OR visit our website syracuseshakespearefestival.org

via www.cnylink.com

Auburn Players presents "Hello, Dolly!"

2010-06-06T14:01:04-04:00

Auburn Players Community Theatre, Inc presents one of the most beloved musicals of all time,
"HELLO, DOLLY!"
June 11, 12, 18, 19 at 8 PM, with
Sunday Matinees on June 13 & 20 at 2 PM
All performances are at the Irene Bisgrove Theater at Cayuga Community College.
Tickets are $14 General Admission, $12 Senior-Student, and $7 for Children under 12. Call 315.258.8275 for reservations or more information.
HELLO, DOLLY! is full of memorable songs including Put On Your Sunday Clothes, Ribbons Down My Back, Before the Parade Passes By, Elegance, Hello, Dolly!, It Only Takes a Moment and So Long, Dearie. And we are off on a whirlwind race around New York at the turn of the twentieth century, as we follow the adventures of America's most beloved matchmakers!
CAST
Dolly Levi - Dia M. Carabajal
Horace Vandergelder - Matt Nilsen
Cornelius Hackl - Stephen Gamba
Irene Molloy - Joanna Kufs
Barnaby Tucker - Ed Beck
Minnie Fay - Kristi Vollmer
Ermengarde - Jessica Fraher
Ambrose - Nate Sanderson
Ernestina Money - Holly Dietsche
Rudolph Reisenweber - Toby W. Rich
Judge - Tony Saurini
Mrs. Rose - Lorraine Fraher
Stanley - Joseph Townsend
Ensemble
Aimee DelFavero
Ashley Cornelius
Bradon Dietsche
Brenna Baran
Cheryl Rowlands
Derek Dietsche
Emily Whitcomb
Erin Wilson
Heather Kurtz
Lillian Boberg
Liz VanTassell
Neil Boedicker
Paul Noga
Rachel Barron
Rachel Bodner
Samantha Jelinek
Sara Fraher
Shari DelFavero
Taylor Flurschutz
CREW
Producer - Elisa Carabajal Hunt
Director - Lindsay R. Day
Musical Director - Sherry Smith Samuel
Choreographer- Pam Bryan
Stage Manager - Judi Saurini
Technical Directors - George Day & Tony Saurini
Lighting Designer - Vera Carabajal

via www.facebook.com

APT Childrens Workshop

2010-05-28T15:26:09-04:00

Children's Summer Theater Workshop & Performance

WHEN: Monday, July 5th 2010 through Saturday, July 31st 2010

WHERE: Auburn Public Theater, 8 Exchange Street @ Genesee Auburn, NY 13021

WHAT: Children's Summer Theater Workshop & Performance

COST: $150 per student

INFO/SIGN-UP: 315.253.6669; janie@auburnpublictheater.org

Auburn Public Theater’s 5th annual Summer Children’s Theater Workshopis one of Central New York’s newest summer theater programs. It will give aspiring young actors a taste of life behind the scenes--and in the spotlight--of a musical theatrical production based on a brand new musical production, “ALMOST ASTRONAUTS, 13 Women Who Dared to Dream." From creating costumes and scenery to playing major roles on stage, young people from the local community will have the opportunity to spend four weeks this summer pursuing their passion for drama led by the gifted actor/director/producer, Carey Eidel.

For the first three weeks (M, W, F), the program will include both acting classes and rehearsals for “ALMOST ASTRONAUTS, 13 Women Who Dared to Dream,” our final show. The fourth week will include dress and technical rehearsals for the show on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday with performances on Friday and Saturday.

This program is supported in part by The Women's Fund of Central New York and with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program, which is administered locally by Phelps Arts Center.

______________________________________________________________________
AUBURN PUBLIC THEATER (APT) is a new, non-profit, professional performing and presenting company currently renovating the former Grant's building located in downtown Auburn, New York as an arts complex. The building is air-conditioned and free evening and weekend parking is available in the garage directly behind the theater. This is an exciting new cultural center in Central New York. For any other information, call (315) 253-6669 or www.auburnpublictheater.org

Jamie Brunos Shakespeares Will

2010-05-28T12:24:46-04:00

Wives Really Know Husbands…

Discover What Shakespeare’s Wife Knew About Him in Shakespeare’s Will by Vern Thiessen

SSF concludes its 3^rd indoor season with a lively one-woman show told from the perspective of Shakespeare’s wife. Nora O’Dea stars in the company’s debut at the Setnor Auditorium, Crouse College, on the SU Campus. Free parking is available in the Q1 lot on campus right in front of the building. Show times are Friday, 6/11 and Saturday, 6/12 @ 7:30 pm and Sunday, 6/13 for the only matinee show @ 2 pm. The final two performances are Fri. & Sat., 6/18 & 19 @ 7:30 pm.

Tickets are reasonably priced @ $10 each for the general public, $5 for SU students with current ID, $7.50 for SU faculty and staff with current ID and $5 each for groups of 12 or more when the tickets are purchased at one time. Tickets are available on our website through TicketLeap and at the box office 45 minutes prior to curtain time.

Jamie Bruno, the director, has realized his vision of Anne Hathaway’s mind with the brilliant design work of Navroz Dabu (get better soon) as set designer. SSF’s own director, actor and Board member, Dan Stevens, is the producer.

Shakespeare’s Will is produced by special arrangement in the United States with Bruce Ostler and Mark Orsini, BRET ADAMS LTD., 448 W 44^th St., NY, NY 10036 www.bretadamsltd.net

For more information or reservations please contact: Ronald Bell, Producing Artistic Director, (315) 476-1835 OR e-mail: bell444@gmail.com OR write us @ 350 W. Fayette St., VPA, Room 001, Syr., NY 13202 OR visit our website syracuseshakespearefestival.org