Oscar E Moore

The Amish Project, written by Jessica Dickey, is a beautiful, compassionate, thoroughly intelligent and heartfelt ode to the people involved in the October 2^nd, 2006 massacre of ten young girls in a one room schoolhouse located in the Lancaster County Pennsylvania farmland that is known as Nickel Mines – home to the Amish. 

It is an amazing accomplishment.  It is a totally fictitious take on the events.  It is a reflection of the events filtered through the extraordinary imagination of Jessica Dickey.  No interviews.  No real names.  Just the horrific event that sparked the intense emotions to flow from Ms. Dickey’s mind to the stage of the Rattlestick Theater where you can and should witness for yourself how the Amish could have forgiven the murderer and reached out to his family despite the horror that it caused them.

Not only has Ms. Dickey written a most memorable play but she is the sole actor performing all the parts.  But this is not your usual change hats, change props, change character sort of one person show.   Jessica physically becomes each distinct character – her voice and body merging with each new personality.  The young girl who explains her family and friends by “sign drawing” stick figures in the air.  Her older sister.  The murderer – a male.  His wife.  A Latino pregnant teen.  A neighbor who gives another side of the story.  Sometimes in a profane manner which juxtaposes the peacefulness of the Amish mentality.  Another male who tries to explain just what makes the Amish tick while rubbing his chin.  Details.  Wonderful small details define each character.  Jessica Dickey gives a truthful and honest portrayal of every one of them all the while wearing her simple Amish dress, apron and cap.

The Amish Project is finely directed by Sarah Cameron Sunde.  They are so in tune with each other, she and Jessica.  And the result is a well paced, sometimes eerie (as when the murderer peers inside the schoolhouse windows) sometimes heartbreaking and many times amusing and in the end a questioning about faith and belief and forgiveness.

There are no video projections.  No props.  No theatrical tricks.  Only good writing.  Good acting.  Only the most simple of sets – a beautiful design by Lauren Helpern and terrific lighting by Nicole Pearce.  And the haunting music and sound design by Jill bc Duboff.  All lending unobtrusive support to the story.

We never find out why he killed these young girls.  It is not a reliving of the event.  The media instilled in us all, all that was horrible and Ms. Dickey has no intention of showing the gore, only showing us that forgiveness may be the answer to healing.

Performed without an intermission and with great expertise.

www.rattlestick.org

Tags:   Jessica Dickey · Sarah Cameron SundeNo Comments.

Peter Allen Stone & Franny Silverman

An intriguing play has just opened at the Ontological Theater at St. Marks (131 East 10^th Street @ 2^nd Avenue).  It is called Strangers.  Written by Nastaran Ahmadi.  She has obviously been greatly influenced by the film-noir genre of the 1940’s.  Strangers is even structured and written in a screenplay vs. typical dramatic style. 

Its story is lean.  Ella (Jen Taher) who has been married to Stephan (Daniel Popa) for 3 years wants to have a celebratory party where he will give a speech telling one and all how much he loves her.  Only problem is, is that he is unsure that he does.  It was a marriage of convenience.  His.  As a foreigner, Stephan needed to be married to an American to get his Green Card.  He doesn’t work much.  He plays.  With Bob (Joey Williamson), who is gay and has mono and plays guitar and sings songs reminiscent of the type that Phoebe sang on the TV sit-com, Friends.

Only there are no friends here.  Only strangers.  Using one another.  Even in marriage they are strangers.  No one really connects.  Although they try.  Dan (Brad Love), Stephan’s lawyer, meditates and has lustful thoughts and actions towards first his receptionist (Franny Silverman – who brilliantly squeezes herself into the knee hole of a desk) and then Woman (Kim Gainer) a Brazilian artiste who paints, and sings and “moves well” on top of said desk.

There are many short scenes, some that overlap and some that have fascinating black and white videos (Director of Photography Miklos Buk) projected on a back screen and two overhead split up paneled screens featuring Bogie and Bacall and the actors in the play.  It is expertly executed by the fine cast and originally directed by Shoshona Currier – who brings a great lyricism to the work.  Although, at times, there is too much going on for its own good.  It comes across as some kind of absurdist Edward Albee take on happiness.  With global warming thrown in for good measure.  Add in the parallels to the male/female relationships in those old Bogart movies.  Some singing.  Some dancing.

Franny Silverman becomes the Femme Fatale.  She is ably aided and abetted by Dectective (Peter Allen Stone) who is just perfect in the part.  They are both wonderful to watch.  Ms. Silverman has a striking presence, a terrific comic sensibility and is someone who will have a fine future.   As Operator – she’s “just a girl with a head set that has all the answers.”  I believe she does.

The others in the cast are all up to what the playwright asks of them.  A confused and longing for love Jen Taher tries her best to win over her lothario, looking forlorn in her wedding gown which has become “heavy and coarse” and wanting only to be happy.  This gets a bit preachy at plays end where I half expected them all to sing “Somewhere”.  Daniel Popa has just the right sex appeal and never becomes obnoxious.  Brad Love makes for a confused and lustful lawyer with impish charm as Kim Gainer seduces.  And Joey Williamson garners much sympathy playing his guitar and singing his songs also longing for love from Stephan.

Strangers isn’t perfect.  What is?  Who is?  But it is intriguing.

www.ontological.com   www.shalimarproductions.org

Tags:   Franny Silverman · The ShalimarNo Comments.

When is the right time to come out to your parents?  Will they ever be ready for that conversation?  Will they accept or discard you?  Is it okay to pray after sex?  All these questions and more are broached upon in the fine new drama Next Fall, by Geoffrey Nauffts, enacted by a superb cast, having its world premiere at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre.

It’s a very moving, oft times amusing, emotional journey that not only deals with the rights that any gay person should have if one of them is ill but also touches on the Christian beliefs of Luke (Patrick Heusinger) an actor and his older boyfriend Adam (Patrick Breen) who is an atheist.

What happens when Luke “has the rug pulled out from under him” in an unexpected car accident and lays dying in a coma with the “organ transplant guy lurking around” and “only family” is allowed into his room? 

We first meet family and friends and lover in an attractive hospital waiting area (design by Wilson Chin) as they await the fate of Luke who is in a coma.  His homophobic father, aptly named Butch (Cotter Smith) is tough on everyone including his ex-wife Arlene (Connie Ray) who is dealing with her Puerto Rican dog problem and who understands very little about Jewish people or their culture.  Holly (Maddie Corman) is the owner of a candle shop where Adam works and Brandon (Sean Dugan) is an unassuming, quiet guy who seems to have something very important on his mind.

In flashback we see how Luke and Adam meet.  How they move into their new apartment.  How religious differences invade their bedroom.  The scenes are swift with wonderful, sharp and funny dialogue.  Intelligent direction by Sheryl Kaller is careful not to go into gay cliché-land.  As their relationship develops over a five year span – the hypochondriac Adam and the troubled but lovable Luke verbally spar over their opposing ideas of what happens after we die.  We feel sympathetic towards both of them.  But it is the problem of Luke coming out to his parents that causes the most tension.  And when the accident occurs and Adam is not allowed in to see Luke – that is where the real humanity of the play surges forth.

When Luke’s father is due to arrive in an unexpected visit, Luke tries to “de-gay” the apartment.  Adam wants him to tell his dad the truth.  It’s very hard on both of them.  As well as the parents who most probably know but do not want to speak of it. And it never really is spoken about.  And that is the power that this play has.  It reveals the characters and what they feel without actually verbalizing that very “touchy” subject.

Just witness Butch’s heart wrenching final moments with his son and the aftermath.  Be amazed at the tenderness of Luke’s mother’s understanding and how she helps Adam.  Feel the goose bumps as Adam and Butch confront each other over Luke’s comatose body, be enthralled by Brandon’s confession and be completely overwhelmed by Next Fall’s compelling resolution.  www.nakedangels.com

Tags:   Geoffrey Nauffts · Naked AngelsNo Comments.

While not completely successful on all levels, Susan Yankowitz’s new play Night Sky, which is being presented at the Baruch Performing Arts Center (55 Lexington Avenue) through June 20^th, tackles, head on, a very difficult subject to write about for theatrical presentation.  Her main character, Anna – a force to be reckoned with, an astronomer and lecturer who needs “six hands and ten brains to cope” (although she does just fine without the extra help) is tragically disabled in a car accident and looses her ability to speak.  A condition known as “aphasia”.  A condition that ABC-TV reporter Bob Woodruff has had to deal with.  Very heady stuff.

I don’t mean that lightly and neither does Ms. Yankowitz.  It’s a very serious matter that is treated in a very serious manner – with a small amount of comic relief thrown in as Anna (who is brilliantly portrayed by Jordan Baker) tries to find her lost words and attempts to put those words together.  Tries to get out what is trapped within her mind.  Relearning words and their meaning.  Trying anew to communicate.  Sometimes in a charade-like, sounds-like game with those around her.  Would a weaker person do as well?

Every nuance of Anna’s strong character turned inside out is beautifully brought to vivid life.   An independent, strong woman.  Mother of a teenage daughter, Jen (a sometimes selfish, sometimes compassionate Lauren Ashley Carter).  Living with her lover Daniel – an opera singer (a guilt ridden, frustrated, trying to compete with Anna’s excellence, an excellent Jim Stanek) – their relationship already strained prior to the accident, she is revising her thesis that she will read in Paris to her peers when everything is suddenly brought to a halt.

In between, we have scenes, mini-lectures by Anna’s colleague, Bill (a fine Tuck Milligan) who makes comparisons about the cosmos, citing parallels between the black hole of the universe and Anna’s condition.  The Big Bang Theory – “order destroyed”, “having to begin again”.  Lots of talk about “stars”, etc. which detracts from and does not add to the tragic event and how others deal with it despite his many interesting, cosmic inspired ties worn.

Dan Domingues is called upon to play a variety of characters and brings something special to each one. Especially as another aphasic patient trying to relearn his language with the use of flash cards.  As wonderful as he is in this mini scene perhaps it should have been given to Anna.  There are so many mini scenes – and here we have another example of – is this a screenplay or a theatrical piece? Transitions are awkward and director, Daniella Topol, has not been able to find satisfactory solutions although the rest of her work is pretty good with the actors.  Maria-Christina Oliveras also plays multiple parts and shines when trying to understand Anna as she shops for a dress for her daughter’s prom.  Daniel Baker and Aaron Meicht are responsible for the sound design and the beautiful and haunting incidental music for the production.

Dealing with someone who is gravely ill is not easy.  Anna’s family and friends learn about understanding, commitment and being less selfish.  Anna, herself, learns about exploring a new world and her new life.  She never gives up.  But a little less science and better structuring would help considerably.

www.NightSkyThePlay.com   www.aphasia.org

NOTE:  The Nat’l Aphasia Association Benefit Performance and Gala Reception Thursday June 4^th at 7 pm.  nna@aphasia.org

Tags:   Aphasia · Jordan BakerNo Comments.

Summer.  1966.  I, Richard Allen (my first professional name) was to audition for the Newfoundland Theatre League.  It would mark my professional debut.  If I got hired.  It was a brand new summer stock theater located in Newfoundland Pennsylvania.  Auditions were held at the Upper West Side apartment of Joan Kobin and her husband Bob.  I have just read her obituary.  She died, peacefully in her sleep, in that very same apartment on May 30^th.

It has brought back a flood of fond memories.

I remember auditioning for them.  Joan and Bob Kobin and some huge dog.  A standard poodle I think.  It could have been a pair of poodles.  I’m not sure.  What I am sure about is that Bill Gile, the director for the season, saw some potential in me but they would not hear of it.  They kept putting my photo and resume in the “out” pile and Bill kept insisting that they hire me.  He won.  It was one of the happiest times of my life that summer even though when they bused us all up there – it was to be a repertory company performing five musicals – the bus dropped us off on a dirt road.  The theater was nearby.  Either someone picked us up or we walked.  We arrived only to find the theater unfinished. 

Somehow we all were transported to a rooming house where we were housed for the summer.  The landlady was a strict German and not very friendly.  But my fellow cast members were.  I made some lasting friendships there.   

The first show was Once Upon a Mattress – I was cast as Dauntless and Joan was Princess Winifred.  Rehearsals went well until I started getting too many laughs.  Joan did not like that and told me point blank – stop getting laughs or you’ll be fired.  It didn’t help that I forgot a lyric or two and that I was prone to get a case of the giggles every once in a while.  But Bill got me through that ordeal.  Joan fell ill – she lost her voice – and a wonderful young girl stepped into Winifred’s shoes – Susan Goeppinger – and we had a blast.  Joan recovered quickly, spraying her tonsils with some green liquid that she swore by.

Joan’s next starring part was Mama Rose in Gypsy.  We rehearsed in the gymnasium of a nearby school.  The dress rehearsal was incredibly moving.  Joan gave her all.  She was simply fantastic.  It was a part that she was born to play.  I was Uncle Jocko in this one and a reporter.  Bill had to explain to me what a “oiseau” was and kept me from being fired once again.

I have to thank Joan for first hiring me and then not firing me.  She gave me the opportunity to experience professional theatre for the very first time.  And a lesson in perseverance.  What a summer it was.  So exciting .  But not as exciting as writing my reviews for the Outer Critics Circle.

Tags:   Joan Kobin2 Comments

DANCING IN THE DARK

So, you’ve finally rented that house on the beach in the Hamptons that you’ve always dreamed of.  And you got it at an almost giveaway rate because of the economic slump everyone is experiencing.  But even still, that glamorous cocktail party you want to give for your nearest and dearest is going to set you back quite a bit.  And if you want to have some equally fabulous cocktail music playing in the background well, Peter Duchin is simply out of the question.  What to do?  Here is the best solution.

Pick up a copy of Beegie Adair’s CD – Dancing in the Dark – a tribute to Fred Astaire.  Beegie Adair is a great jazz interpreter of the music written by such composers and lyricists as Irving Berlin, Dorothy Fields,  Jerome Kern, Dietz & Schwartz and the Gershwins – George and Ira.  Songs made famous by the ultra chic and debonair Fred Astaire in his 1930’s musicals – musicals that helped give some relief during that other original depression.

Backed up by Bassist Roger Spencer and Drummer Chris Brown, Beegie Adair’s masterly renditions of these famous songs will send you off into a rhapsodic remembrance of what real music is.  If you are fed up with rock and rap and seek something that will soothe and uplift your tired spirits – Dancing in the Dark is for you.

Even if you don’t throw a cocktail party you can mix up a shaker full of martinis and just bask in the glow of this wonderful CD.  Believe me, you will want to listen to this one over and over again. 

You may even want to sing along with Beegie Adair’s arrangements.  You’ll never have a better jazz pianist to accompany you in the comfort of your home.

The twelve tracks include:

Cheek To Cheek, The Way You Look Tonight, Dancing In the Dark, Puttin’ On The Ritz, Change Partners, They Can’t Take That Away From Me, By Myself, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Pick Yourself Up, Let’s Face The Music and Dance, They All Laughed and Isn’t It a Lovely Day (To Be Caught In The Rain).  Every single one a gem!

www.beegieadair.com   www.greenhillmusic.com

Tags:   Beegie Adair · Chris Brown · Fred Astaire · Roger SpencerNo Comments.

Cast of The Norman Conquests by Alan Ayckbourn

As this is my 100^th post, I thought it extremely appropriate that I cover the very green (Shrek the Musical and The Toxic Avenger – Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical  ) and the very British 59^th Annual Outer Critics Circle Awards Party, giving you a behind the scenes glance at what transpired in the Eugenia Room, on the fourth floor of Sardi’s, Thursday May 21, 2009 commencing at 4 pm.

Simon Saltzman, President of the OCC, started the proceedings by presenting a special honor to Marjorie Gunner (President Emerita) who has retired after “being opinionated but right” for over forty years.

Newly inducted into this elite group of critics and thrilled to boot, I was able to attend, review and vote upon all those thespians from across the pond that, due to an easing up in the Actors’ Equity exchange quota system program, have taken Broadway by storm.  Janet McTeer who eight times a week is literally drenched in a torrential down pour on stage in Mary Stuart, however, was not among those in attendance this time around.

But the very amiable Haydn Gwynne (Billy Elliot) was seated at my table and graciously received her award – “a family award for a family show” for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical as well as for Peter Darling (Outstanding Choreography) who was not in London but in rehearsal a few blocks away using all of her “best ideas”.

“Are we at the Savoy or Sardi’s?” – one could have asked – as so many of the awards went to the superb productions of Billy Elliot the Musical (a special one for the three boys who portray Billy – David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik & Kiril Kulish) and The Norman Conquests, Geoffrey Rush (Exit the King), David Pearse (The Cripple of Inishmaan), and the ageless and legendary Angela Lansbury (Blithe Spirit) who received a well deserved standing ovation from all for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play.

Not only was the entire cast of The Norman Conquests (Amelia Bullmore, Jessica Hynes, Stephen Mangan, Ben Miles, Paul Ritter and Amanda Root) given a special Outstanding Ensemble Performance award but they were pressed into service to dole out some of the other citations as well to their fellow countrymen – which they did without a hitch, sans direction from Matthew Warchus (Outstanding Director of a Play & Lucille Lortel Award), who brilliantly led them through their paces in the garden, the dining room and the sitting room of their imported hit trilogy.  Assisting as presenter, a terrific Tyne Daly caused much merriment donning her very best British accent.

Englishman Tim Hatley won for Outstanding Set and Costume Design for Shrek the Musical.  Representing the good old U S of A was Brian d’Arcy James without his green ogre fat suit who was voted Outstanding Actor in a Musical and co-star Georgia Peach – Sutton Foster who was happy to be “employed and included” – winning for Outstanding Actress.  Also voted Outstanding Actress was Josefina Scaglione of West Side Story.   Lorenzo Pisoni picked up his for Humor Abuse; Gregory Jbara for Billy Elliot.  Ruined won for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play and Becky Shaw the John Gassner Award.

Marcia Gay Harden (Outstanding Actress in a Play) from God of Carnage (Outstanding New Broadway Play) shared her award with her fellow cast members and let it be known that her husband didn’t think she was acting at all. 

Stephen Daldry made it up to the podium three times, accepting for Outstanding New Broadway Musical, Outstanding Director of a Musical and for the absent Elton John for his score of Billy Elliot – praising the three boys and Broadway for “embracing a very English show” – “Challenging but awfully rewarding.”  Rick Fisher (Billy Elliot) won for Outstanding Lighting Design.

Homegrown Hair, which has never received an award, finally did with Outstanding Revival of a Musical which James Rado – not looking much different than when he first penned the show, referred to as “a reincarnation rather than a revival”, acknowledging the current tribe and past contributions of Tom O’Horgan.

What was so amazing was that so many of the recipients thanked the Outer Critics Circle members for their reviews – for getting the word out about their shows to New Jersey, Long Island, Westchester and on the World Wide Web – whetting the appetite of those people so that they can come to Broadway with some knowledge of what to expect – helping plays like Ruined find its audience – and that the honesty of the critics, in the words of Gregory Jbara,” has helped me to become a better actor.”

I’d like to thank them all for those kind words.  After all, we critics are here to help.

Tags:   Angela Lansbury · Billy Elliot · Outer Critics Circle · Shrek1 Comment

AWARD-WINNING ACTOR & PHOTOGRAPHER

JOEL GREY

TO RELEASE HIS THIRD BOOK OF PHOTOGRAPHS

“1.3 – IMAGES FROM MY PHONE”

TO BE PUBLISHED BY

POWERHOUSE BOOKS

IN STORES JUNE 2^nd, 2009

POWERHOUSE BOOKS will publish 1.3 – Images from My Phone, a new collection of photographs by Academy and Tony Award-winning actor and photographer Joel Grey.  The slipcased hardcover book, Grey’s third published book of photographs, hits bookstores nationwide June 2, 2009.

“Whenever I see something I don’t quite understand-a shape, a color, an odd juxtaposition of the real and the abstract-nine times out of ten, it’s my reason for taking the photograph. For me, taking pictures is like asking questions,” Grey explains.

On an out-of-town trip in 2007, Joel Grey found himself in a small St. Lucie, Florida museum, filled with bizarre and eminently photographable objects. Feeling, as he had with the images that became 2006’s Looking Hard at Unexamined Things, compelled to capture these provocative tableaux, but having forgotten his trusty Nikon, Grey did the next best thing he could-he reached for his cell phone.

Grey never considered using the camera function of his Nokia 133 before, and was skeptical about the capabilities of its tiny 1.3-megapixel lens. But to his surprise, the same familiar perspective he’d always had when taking photographs was still there; even without a viewfinder, he could make the kinds of pictures he had always loved to make. The limitations of the format-the less than powerful 1.3 lens, the inability to control the aperture stop, focus, or any of the other variables of traditional photography besides framing-proved an exciting new challenge, which Grey likens to collaborating with “another one of those powers larger than yourself.” Grey spent the next eight months shooting with his phone, and the result is 1.3 – Images from My Phone, a collection of slices cut from diverse visual worlds: street art and still life, advertising and architecture, shadows and reflections, natural beauty and urban grit.

Pictures I Had To Take, Grey’s first monograph, published by powerhouse Books in 2003, showed work created over a 30 year period.  His second book, Looking Hard at Unexamined Things, published by Steidl in 2006, featured all new work and highlighted industrial sites, abandoned buildings, graffiti, wall art, detritus and public works from Los Angeles and New York to Berlin and Venice.  1.3 is Grey’s third collaboration with acclaimed book designer Sam Shahid.

Grey’s work has been the subject of solo shows in New York, Los Angeles and Berlin.  His photographs are part of the permanent collection of The Whitney Museum of American Art and the New York Public Library. 

For more information,visit  www.imagesfrommyphonejoelgrey.com.

Tags:   Joel Grey · Powerhouse Books1 Comment

Theater Masters

presents

“Take 10” — An Evening of Nine 10-Minute Plays

National MFA Playwrights Competition

Rattlestick Theater * May 26^th – 29^th

Aspen’s acclaimed Theater Masters will present its third annual “Take 10,” an evening of nine 10-minute plays from aspiring playwrights across the country as part of its National MFA Playwrights competition on May 26^th – 29^th at Off-Broadway’s Rattlestick Playwrights Theater (224 Waverly Place). “Aristic Director/Broadway producer Gordon Davidson, Theater Masters’ Associate Director Pesha Rudnick and I read over 100 scripts submitted from ten of the top graduate playwriting programs to find these remarkable plays from some of the finest young playwrights this country is developing” said Julia Hansen, Theater Masters founder/Artistic Director – and former President of New York’s Drama League. “In many ways, how I started the Drama League’s “Director’s Project” is how I am now developing new playwrights and giving them their first chance to have their work receive a New York premiere.”

The 10-minute plays are: Topper by Kimber Lee from the University of Texas— “Greg and Carl are on the verge of calling off their wedding, but with help from some unlikely friends they may find a way to have their cake and eat it, too;” Lady Dickborough’s Decadence by Michael Mitnick from Yale University—  “A serene, afternoon tea in the edenic garden of Lady Duckborough is interrupted by a startling visitor in this Oscar Wilde meets David Mamet jaunt;” Stacking by Joe Luis Cedillo from Iowa University—“a poetic meditation on the guilt and questioning surrounding a young soldier’s death through language by those far and near to him;” Me and You by Jacob Burstein-Stern from UCLA—“a play about a play about a play about a love play and a love;” We Had Plans  by Brian Forrester from Carnegie Mellon—“a play about the disturbing things to which pain makes us feel entitled;” Anybody Woulda by Greg Hundemer from Northwestern University—“a girl and a man who met accidentally and  their emotions, pent up for several years, burst free;” Fireman in the 9th by Ronald McCants  from UCSD— “centers around two strangers watching a Little League game who have intertwined pasts and grapple with the idea of fate:” and Ya Heard Me by Daniella Shoshan from Columbia University—” Two worse-for-wear Irish farmers debate the ramifications and due reckoning when one of their own discovers Jesus in a potato; Hand of Horror by Anne Marie Healy from Brown University— A film Noire!

Based in Aspen, Colorado, Theater Masters is a non-profit organization whose core mission is to seek and nurture the next generation of artists for the American Theatre and present their work.

“Take 10” performance schedule is as follows: Tuesday, May 26^th at 8PM, Wednesday, May 27^th at 7:30PM, Thursday, May 28^th at 7:30PM, Friday, May 29^th at 8PM. All tickets are $18 and can be purchased online at www.smarttix.com

Tags:   Rattlestick TheaterNo Comments.

“O N E   E N C H A N T E D   E V E N I N G”

ANNUAL GALA

TO BENEFIT

WHITE PLAINS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

TO BE HELD JUNE 1st

White Plains, NY (May 13, 2009) – Jack W. Batman, Executive Producer of the White Plains Performing Arts Center, has announced the theatre’s 2009 Annual Gala, One Enchanted Evening, to be held Monday, June 1, 2009, beginning at 6:00 PM at the theatre in White Plains.

The event honors Dr. Marsha Gordon, President and CEO of the Business Council of Westchester for her leadership and enormous support of the Westchester business community; Isabel Villar, Founding Executive Director of El Centro Hispano, Inc. for her endless commitment to the Hispanic community of Westchester; and Barbara and Richard B. Dannenberg, for their patronage and continuous support of the arts in Westchester.

The evening includes wine and hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction and a performance featuring some of the stars of the Broadway classic musicals produced by the theatre over the last two years, plus other celebrity appearances.  The show will be directed by Sidney J. Burgoyne (who directed Ragtime, Camelot and A Little Night Music and starred in Man of La Mancha and Oliver!) with musical direction by James Bassi (Ragtime, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Camelot, A Little Night Music).  Presently scheduled to appear are Farah Alvin (Ragtime), Sidney J. Burgoyne, Rachel de Benedet (A Little Night Music), Jerry Dixon (Ragtime and director of Ain’t Misbehavin’), David Gabriel Lerner (Oliver!) and all the boys of Fagin’s Gang: John P. Geraghty, Christopher Gray, Benjamin Milan-Polisar, Alex Pasieka, Gabriel Rush and Noah Silverman.  The evening’s special guest star will be Kerry O’Malley (Broadway’s White Christmas, Into the Woods, Annie Get Your Gun). 

Over the past two seasons the White Plains Performing Arts Center has enjoyed extraordinary critical acclaim and audience support. Although ticket sales have grown with every show, and subscriptions are up, the wobbly economy has recently stepped into a leading role at the theatre.  One Enchanted Evening will be the major fundraising event for the theatre and will help bridge the gap into the new season which begins in September.  The company, an Actors’ Equity Association LORT theatre, has produced seven major musicals since November 2007, most recently a highly praised production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s A Little Night Music starring Penny Fuller and Mark Jacoby.

One Enchanted Evening is co-chaired by White Plains Performing Arts Center Trustees, Ann Bernstein and Susan Egginton, who said “Our commitment to the White Plains Performing Arts Center (WPPAC) is based on a shared belief that the arts enrich the quality of life in our community. The theatre, in particular, has delighted and entertained our patrons with outstanding Broadway quality productions over the past several years.  As active members of the WPPAC Board of Trustees, we encourage all members of the community to join us in our commitment to ensuring the continued success of the theatre by attending our Annual Gala.  We applaud our dedicated staff and Gala honorees for their commitment to the arts and to the diversity, vitality and creativity of our community.”

In addition to the performance, highlights of the event will be a silent auction that includes sports memorabilia, designer jewelry, entertainment packages, spa, hotel, restaurant and shop gift certificates and Major League Baseball tickets, plus a highly-anticipated raffle drawing announcing the winner of a brand-new 2009 Mercedes-Benz.

Along with preferred seating, Premium ticket holders will enjoy a post-Gala supper at 42 the Restaurant, Anthony Goncalves’ breathtaking new restaurant atop the Ritz-Carlton Westchester, just across the street from the theatre.

White Plains Performing Arts Center is located on the third level of City Center at the corner of Main and Mamaroneck in downtown White Plains, NY, just 30 minutes from midtown Manhattan, with plenty of convenient parking. Gala tickets are available at two levels: a limited number of Premium tickets for $250 (Includes preferred seating and post performance reception at 42) and Regular tickets at $125 each. Mercedes-Benz raffle tickets are $50 each or three for $125.  All tickets are available at the box office or by calling 914.328.1600. For more information visit the web site at www.wppac.com  

White Plains Performing Arts Center brings innovative and eclectic entertainment and classic Broadway musicals to appreciative audiences who live throughout the county and beyond. It is Westchester’s only professional regional theatre. Under the direction of Executive Producer Jack W. Batman, the 410-seat, $6 million theatre also hosts local, national and international performing artists whose work reflects Westchester’s diverse population, and operates the Westchester Conservatory for the Performing Arts, a year-round professional theatre training program for youth and adults. The 2008-2009 Season is sponsored by the Louis R. Cappelli Foundation, and made possible, in part, by grants from the City of White Plains, Bank of America, Entergy and other corporations, foundations and individual donors.

Tags: 1 Comment