“Murderers” — Jeffrey Hatcher’s wickedly clever play about three killers in a Florida retirement community — is a fine way to kick off a new era at Mamaroneck’s intimate Emelin Theatre.

First, it’s a new work, not the tried-and-true works which had been the bulk of the theater’s schedule in recent years.

Second, it shows off new artistic director Michael Bush’s insider status in the theater community. Bush, who directed the show, which runs through Feb. 10, clearly can parlay his considerable Rolodex into a first-rate production.

Third, it’s just a really fun night out.

“Murderers” runs just under two hours with no intermission, which would seem an eternity if Hatcher’s crackling writing didn’t fill the stage with strange yet recognizable characters.

It is told in three monologues – “The Man Who Married His Mother-in-Law,” “Margaret Faydle Comes to Town,” and “Match Wits with Minka Lupino” – delivered at the Emelin by Brent Langdon, Jennifer Harmon and Robin Skye.

The actors share the stage only for the play’s first 12 lines – and at the curtain call. Otherwise, they’re on their own as they recount the events that unfolded at Florida’s Riddle Key Luxury Senior Retirement Living Center and Golf Course: How they became murderers.

Forty-minute monologues might not sound like the stuff dreams are made of, but the play seems to fly by without prompting a glance at your watch. By the time you look up, you’ll have spent two hours with dozens of interesting people brought to life by talented actors.

Bush was involved in the development of “Murderers” with playwright Hatcher and directed it in Philadelphia in 2006. This production started at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre before transferring to the Emelin.

Local audiences might recall that Briarcliff’s Hudson Stage Company mounted an outstanding production of “Murderers” in the fall. That cast – Matthew Arkin, Lucy Martin and Andrea Gallo, under the direction of Dan Foster – delivered on every nuance of Hatcher’s script in performances that seemed effortless and comfortable.

That is less the case at the Emelin – at times, the acting is evident – but the production is still strong.

First up is Brent Langdon as Gerald Halverson, in smoking jacket and slippers (and later, tuxedo), who delivers his monologue with a full command of the stage and a twinkle in his eye. Langdon is a fine mimic and breathes life into a wide array of characters, from a Florida gigolo to the hardworking Dr. Nagangupta, the only character to appear in all three monologues.

Next up is Jennifer Harmon as Lucy Stickler, who says she’s not a murderer yet, but she soon will be. That tantalizing detail is enough to make the audience sit up and take notice.

That is another strength of the play. We know at the outset that all are murderers; what we don’t know is how and why.

Harmon’s Lucy is a Southern belle, wronged by her man – and Margaret Faydle – and out for revenge. The lengths to which she’ll go might surprise some, but Harmon’s Lucy is charming, disarming and fully believable.

In Riddle Key, Lucy explains, cars have given way to golf carts and there’s a hierarchy of living accommodations that acts of a sort of conveyor belt to the funeral home: Villas are detached homes; condos are attached; then there are apartments and, finally, the senior center, which she calls “the dump chute to death.”

Hatcher’s writing is accessible and quite funny, as when Lucy describes her nemesis, Margaret Faydle, being surrounded at a party “by as many men as are ambulatory.”

Bush’s early involvement with the “Murderers” leads you to assume that his actors’ interpretations of the characters are as the playwright intended.

As Minka Lupino – the efficient Riddle Key administrative assistant cum avenging angel – Skye has an angry, rough edge that serves to makes her less sympathetic. She seems to be rattling off a speech, not reliving events from her life.

At Hudson Stage, Gallo played Minka as a mild-mannered, sweet, gentle soul, nibbling candies as she curled up with mysteries by her favorite author, J.G. Garland. She related her murders with a sweetness that was entirely at odds with her actions – and won us over.

(Think about that old chestnut “Arsenic & Old Lace” in which two old ladies sweetly send lonely men to the great beyond without an ounce of remorse, guile or venom. If they had been snarling, vengeful women, the comedy would have been diminished.)

Skye’s choice to play Minka that way is one actors are called on to make with the guidance of directors – and, to her credit, she runs with it.

The production values at the Emelin are first-rate.

Tony Ferrieri’s set is impressive: An imposing stucco wall with a wrought-iron-and-stained-glass gate that opens to reveal three completely different playing areas – a prison anteroom, a well-appointed condo and the Riddle Key administrative offices.

Traci Klainer’s lighting is varied, subtle and effective, creating pools of interest on the Emelin stage.

The costumes, by Karen Ann Ledger and Robert C.T. Steele, add much, particularly Harmon’s nightgown and final ensemble.

But the words are what matters here and Hatcher makes the most of every one.

His characters may have helped others meet their end, but Hatcher’s “Murderers” marks a strong beginning for the new Emelin.

‘Murderers’
Where: The Emelin Theatre, 153 Library Lane, Mamaroneck.
When: Through Feb. 10; 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Official opening at 7 p.m. tomorrow.
Tickets: $32 matinee, $35 evening.
Call: 914-698-0098.
Web: www.emelin.org.

Photo: The cast of “Murderers” at Mamaroneck’s Emelin Theatre is, from left: Robin Skye, Brent Langdon and Jennifer Harmon. (Photo by Adrien Goulet)

Actors and directors often talk about being “in the moment,” reacting to what’s going on in a performance as if they’re experiencing it for the first time.

That approach, they say, gives each performance a grounding in the truth.

Axial Theatre – an 8-year-old ensemble based in Yorktown with rehearsal studios in Pleasantville -takes that premise and runs with it, with its second annual “Ten-Minute Play Festival,” now through Feb. 2 at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Pleasantville.

The festival’s six plays – each reasonably close to 10 minutes long – put a premium on moments.

Stephen Palgon, the festival’s producer, performs in one of the six short plays and has written another. He says this is not theater on a grand scale.

“That’s the thing with these 10-minute plays: They’re very much moment in time, little picture,” he says during a break from rehearsals.

Moments can be surreal – as in Ryan Mallon’s “The Tunnel,” when an old man appears from nowhere to advise a young man who is contemplating a journey. Or they can be a slice of life – as in Patrick Davin’s “Balls,” where two old rivals, now stay-at-home dads, meet at a driving range and renew their rivalry on a different stage.

The fact that these are small moments doesn’t mean they are quickly arrived at. The plays have been crafted by Axial members, two of whom – Mallon and Gaby Fox – are having their works produced here for the first time. Both have been studying with Axial playwrighting guru Tony Howarth, who directs Linda Giuliano’s play “Whale Watch” in the festival.

Mallon, who has studied with Axial founder Howard Meyer for years, says he expected to be in the festival, but not with “The Tunnel.” He had another play, “The Red Dress,” that he thought was further along in the process and a more likely candidate.

But the festival’s producers picked “The Tunnel,” which stars Robert Kya-Hill and Michael Pennacchio as an older man and a younger man.

Kya-Hill, who lives in Co-op City in The Bronx, came to Axial through auditions.

He’s a working actor, with a specialty in Shakespeare, which has “kept me working,” he says including in productions of “The Tempest,” “A Winter’s Tale” and “Othello.”

When a visitor points out that his rehearsal of “The Tunnel” for the “Ten-Minute Play Festival” ran upward of 13 minutes, Kya-Hill is ready with a response.

“Those extra three minutes, once you get the whole thing down, it starts to congeal and that space in there will be taken away,” he says with a broad smile. “We’ll get it down to 10.”

“Each piece has its own universe, its own reality that appeals to you on some level,” he says. “This piece has a mysterious quality that I like. You don’t know where this old guy comes from.”

Kya-Hill’s co-star is Michael Pennacchio, a 23-year-old Pleasantville native and graduate of Westlake High School. After graduating from SUNY Oneonta with an acting degree, he got in touch with Meyer and began taking acting classes.

He came to “The Tunnel” through the back door. Producers needed someone to read with auditioners and Pennacchio got the call. After reading lines with several actors, it turned into an audition for Pennacchio.

“And poof! Here I am!” he says with a laugh.

He plays a character named Young Man, who wants to go through the tunnel, but is unsure. Mallon’s script is full of unknowns, something that appeals to Pennacchio.

“Ambiguity is an awesome theme in this play. I love the ambiguity,” he says.

Mallon, 24, is a Carmel High School graduate who now lives in Yorktown. He has studied with Meyer for nearly a decade and has turned to playwrighting in recent years.

Mallon says Meyer’s use of the Meisner Technique – which puts an emphasis on imagination – has spurred him along creatively, making him look at the world “as if something has happened to me and bringing that to the stage, putting my emotional past to work.”

Mallon has learned much over the years, he says, and one revelation sparked his turn to playwriting.

“I don’t like being exposed,” he says. “As an actor, you’re kind of screwed if you don’t like to be exposed. I miss acting, but it’s very tough. Not that writing’s easy.”

It’s also not easy, he says, to have one of his plays produced for the first time and hearing actors not saying his lines correctly.

“I picked those words very carefully,” he says, adding quickly, “but that’s what rehearsals are for.”

“I have a totally different perspective from this side,” he says. “I’ll definitely be a different actor after this.”

“The Tunnel” is about initiation – the older generation helping the younger – and about brotherhood. It’s also about taking risks at a crossroads in your life, he says, and facing your fears.

Writing, Mallon has learned, is about rewriting, with the input of actors and directors. Palgon, who directs the play, had some concerns at the outset, Mallon recalls.

“Stephen was looking for the old man’s stakes in the play – and he was right about it,” Mallon says.

“The Tunnel” came to Axial’s attention during the ensemble’s reading series, a regular look at new works that is the company’s lifeblood.

Mallon joined Axial as an apprentice, working for a year to prove himself and earn membership in the group, which numbers 15 theater artists in all aspects of production: producers, directors, writers, actors.

Palgon says the company is selective, not competitive.

“It’s not about competition. We kind of select the people and it’s about finding the people who feel right and are dedicated. The biggest thing is there’s a big difference between being a member of a company and being an actor who’s a lone wolf and just going off and doing your thing.

“To be a company member, you’ve gotta want to do all the other stuff that has nothing to do with being on stage.

“Those moments to me, I love them. I’ve done a lot of acting in the city where I’ve just acted. This, to me, is so much more fulfilling,” he says.

A TV producer by trade, he wears many hats at Axial, particularly with this festival.

“I worked on the design for the postcard, I’m in touch with the set designer, I’m working with everybody to make sure the plays are coming together, I’m helping with the casting. Then when it all comes up, it’s just a full experience,” he says. “I love being in this company. I think we have something really special here.”

Casting Axial shows is tricky: They want to hire people who share their commitment, but can’t pay what Equity companies can. So it’s rewarding for Palgon to have found an actor like Kya-Hill, who gets it and can bring a depth of experience to the stage at St. John’s Episcopal Church for the next couple of weekends.

“We’ve gotten burned sometimes when we’ve brought people in from the outside,” Palgon says, “but he was just a right fit. He speaks our language and he’s just a good man,” he says.

Putting an experienced actor alongside a newcomer like Pennacchio plays perfectly into the action of “The Tunnel” – old teaching young, Palgon says.

The entire process is a teachable moment, Palgon says, recalling playwright Mallon’s awe at hearing actors speak his words for the first time at the audition.

“That’s what this stuff is about,” he says. “This is about discovering new voices. And our audience gets the experience of being there for the first time.”

That first moment.

PHOTO: Michael Pennacchio and Robert Kya Hill rehearse the Axial Theater production of Ryan Mallon’s play “The Tunnel.” (Photo by Ricky Flores/The Journal News)

‘TUNNELING THROUGH: GLIMPSES FROM THE IN BETWEEN’
What: Axial Theatre’s second annual Ten-Minute Play Festival.
Where: St. John’s Episcopal Church, 8 Sunnyside Ave., Pleasantville.
When: Through Feb. 2; 8 p.m. tonight, tomorrow, Thursday, Feb. 1 and Feb. 2; 3 p.m. tomorrow and Feb. 2.
Tickets: $25 suggested donation.
Call: 914-286-7680.
Web: www.axialtheatre.org
With: Doug Darwin, Patrick Davin, Jess Erick, Margie Ferris, Dale Furnia, Gail Greenstein, Mark Gorham, Robert Kya-Hill, Stephen Palgon, Michael Pennacchio, Cyndi Sciacca, Matt Walton.
On the program
“The Tunnel,” by Ryan Mallon: An old man finds a young man on the verge of a life-altering decision.
“In Between Stops,” by Stephen Palgon: Two men encounter each other on a Metro-North train and talk about an affair one of them is having with the other’s wife.
“Balls,” by Patrick Davin: Two stay-at-home dads, former competitors, meet at a driving range and renew their rivalry on a new field of play.
“Whale Watch,” by Linda Giuliano: A woman dips her ear into the sea and sets off an unlikely chain of events.
“Broken Ornaments,” by Rachel Jones: An alcoholic mother and her daughter meet for the first time in two years in a department-store tea room.
“Freedom Tower,” by Gaby Fox: A father’s loss becomes his obsession.

Last summer, when Mara Mills first saw what Livia and Marc Straus were planning at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in Peekskill, she wanted in.

Their exhibit, “Size Matters: XXL” includes 31 pieces of oversized art, epic art. Art of dramatic scale.

Mills, a theatrical director who ran the Herbert Mark Newman Theater at the Pleasantville Y from 1991 to 2004, and local director Tom Kramer (no relation to this reporter) teamed up with the Hudson Valley Writers Center to sponsor a playwrighting possibility.

They invited playwright friends – and those who caught wind of it – to come to Peekskill to see the exhibit and be inspired. Some, farther flung, had images sent to them.

Thirty-five playwrights were inspired to write and submit scripts.

Judges winnowed the 35 scripts to six, judging them on four criteria: relevance to the image, dialogue, character and dramatic arc or integrity.

The judges included playwright Staci Swedeen, whose “Goldman Project” was seen Off-Broadway in October, Kramer, Mills, actor Steve Wescott, Livia and Marc Straus, HVCCA administrator Jessica Rogers, and Brenda Connor-Bey, the poet laureate of Greenburgh. (Yes, Greenburgh has a poet laureate.)

The plan was to present the new plays in front of the works that inspired them – and that is exactly what will happen: Kramer will act as docent, escorting the audience, which is limited to 30 for space reasons, through the exhibit. When they reach a featured painting, they’ll sit on the floor and the play will begin.

Why theater in a museum?

“I started in street theater,” says Mills. “To me, the way you really make theater is you make it any place you can.”

The art-theater tour will start at Dutch artist Tjebbe Beekman’s Untitled mixed media on canvas (118×65 inches), which looks for all the world like a tall apartment building. It inspired Queens-based playwright Theodore D. Kemper to write “Nearer My God to Thee,” which puts God in the penthouse of this apartment building. That play features Jay and Irene Howard and Tom Beck.

Next is Richard Jackson’s sculptural “Living Room,” a cube (123×144 x 144 inches) in which paint has been splattered over a chair, walls and a TV. This will be a backdrop for William Coyle’s play “Living Room,” with Kurt Lauer and Joan Cavallo as a couple using art as a prism for their relationship.

After that is Francesca DiMattio’s “Black Ship,” an oil on canvas (84×120 inches), in front of which Teri Anzalone will present Barbara Fischer’s play “Mothership.”

Kramer will then take the audience over to John Newsom’s “The Great Divide,” oil on canvas (90×120 inches) and Joshua Kashinsky’s play of the same name, with Nadine Greco and Joan Cavallo.

Next is Yan Pei-Ming’s massive “Red Self-Portrait,” an oil on canvas that is 137 1/2 inches square.

David Fox, a London native who has lived in the States for 26 years and now calls Brewster home, says he knew instantly that he would use “Red Self-Portrait” as his inspiration.

“I saw the play instantly,” he says. “It took me 30 seconds and I saw this whole thing playing out.”

The play that he saw is now called “Self Portrait” featuring actors Neil Schliefer, Daniel Basiletti and Tom Coppola. It’s about an artist who’s been arrested by the state for creating unofficial art. With Yan Pei-Ming’s stern and huge image as a backdrop, the artist is interrogated for subversive activities.

Fox’s questioner, Schliefer, raises questions about the value of art and the role of the artist: “It’s not a portrait, it’s a billboard,” he says accusingly. And “This image incites the people to riot.” And “Art upholds an ideology. What does your art uphold?”

“Self-Portrait” is Fox’s first completed play. After a recent rehearsal at which he first heard actors reciting lines he had written, he was pragmatic but optimistic – and beaming.

“It needs a little work,” he said. “But it’s getting there.”

After the audience sees “Self-Portrait,” they will be led around the corner to Toba Khedoori’s “Holes,” a massive oil on paper measuring 143×236 inches. The series of dots appear to be a negative image of a starry sky, and inspired New Jersey playwright Ron Frankel to write “You Owe Me One,” which features Kurt Lauer and Tom Beck.

This collaboration is not without boundaries: Livia Straus is understandably nervous when the actors stand too close to the art, so Mills adjusts their positions.

Still, this marriage of new art and new theater seems a good fit: The art is so fresh, says Livia Straus, “that the paint is still drying on ‘The Great Divide.’”

And, adds Mills: “The ink is still drying on some of these plays.

‘IMAGE & SCRIPT’
What: Six short plays, inspired by and presented in front of six large-scale works of art. A collaboration between the Hudson Valley Writers Center and the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art.
Where: Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, 1701 Main St., Peekskill.
When: 3 and 5 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets: $12 HVCCA & Hudson Valley Writers’ Center members, $15 non-members.
Call: 914-788-0100.

PHOTO: Mara Mills and Tom Kramer in front of “Red Self-Portrait,” by Yan Pei-Ming, at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art. Photo by Seth Harrison.

Here’s this week’s video segment. We’re also planning to launch an In the Wings podcast soon. That way you can watch these videos on you iPod or iPhone or iWhatever. Stay tuned.

Podcast file:

Flash video:

Westchester’s Alan Menken picked up three Oscar nominations today, for three songs he composed for the Disney animated-live-action hybrid “Enchanted.â€?

Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz had the lion’s share of the best-song category’s five nominations — for “That’s How You Know,� “Happy Working Song� and “So Close.� The other best song nominees are “Falling Slowly� from the film “Once,� and “Raise It Up� from the film “August Rush.�

“Enchanted� features songs by two masters of the musical form. Menken composed the Broadway score for Disney’s just-opened “The Little Mermaid� and for “Beauty and the Beast� and “Little Shop of Horrors.� Schwartz wrote Broadway’s “Wicked� and “Godspell,� which returns to Broadway next season.

Together, they wrote five new songs for “Enchanted,� the Disney animation-live-action hybrid in which an animated-world princess finds herself in the live-action middle of modern-day Manhattan. Menken wrote the music, Schwartz the lyrics.

The composer, who was born in New Rochelle and now lives in northern Westchester, was on vacation in the Caribbean when reached by The Associated Press. Asked how he would celebrate, he told the AP: “As soon as I’m done giving interviews, I intend to have a nice tall glass of island rum.�

Menken has described “That’s How You Know,� as a “break-into-song moment, a really exuberant song, the centerpiece of the score.�

“Happy Working Song,� on the other hand, is more of a straight comedic moment, he said: “She calls the woodland creatures to come and help her clean this apartment — but of course, the woodland creatures that come are not quite the same. The song itself is very funny, tongue-in-cheek.�

Menken’s third nominated song is “So Close.�

“It’s a ballad in the ball when they change partners and they dance together. It’s sung at the ball by this performer on stage and it’s a classic ballad,� he said.

With yesterday’s announcement, Menken has 18 Oscar nominations to his name.

His studio in northern Westchester holds the eight statuettes he won: “The Little Mermaid,� best score and song (“Under the Sea,� with lyrics by Howard Ashman); “Beauty and the Beast,� best score and song (“Beauty and the Beast,� with lyrics by Howard Ashman); “Aladdin,� best score and song (“A Whole New World,� lyrics by Tim Rice); “Pocahontas,� best score and song (“Colors of the Wind,� lyrics by Schwartz).

Menken’s “Enchanted� score was not nominated for best original score.

With three of the category’s five nominations, Menken will once again be competing with himself, as he did for “The Little Mermaid,� when two of his songs were nominated, “Beauty and the Beast,� with three nominated songs, and “Aladdin,� with two nominated songs. In each case, up against himself and other nominees, Menken still brought Oscar home to Westchester.

It’s been a busy year for the composer, whose Broadway adaptation of “The Little Mermaid� opened at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre two weeks ago. He’s also working on Broadway-bound stage adaptations of the films “Leap of Faith� and “Sister Act.�

This weekend, two local productions prove that theater doesn’t have to be long to belong.

Axial Theater presents its second-annual “Ten-Minute Play Festivalâ€? called “Tunneling Through: Glimpses from the In Between.â€? It includes six new plays that last about 10 minutes each – although no one’s holding a stopwatch to them. I dropped by a rehearsal of one of the plays, “The Tunnel,â€? and watched Robert Kya-Hill, as the older man, showing the ropes to the younger man, Michael Pennacchio. (That’s Ricky Flores’ neat photo, right.) The play, by Ryan Mallon of Carmel, has a lot to say about how we deal with critical moments in our lives — and it says it in just about 10 minutes. The show — and the five others in the 10-minute play festival — runs this weekend and next at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Pleasantville.

“Tunneling Through: Glimpes from the In Between�
What: Axial Theatre’s second annual Ten-Minute Play Festival.
Where: St. John’s Episcopal Church, 8 Sunnyside Ave., Pleasantville.
When: Through Feb. 2; Jan. 25, 26, 31, Feb. 1, 2 at 8 p.m.; Jan. 26 and Feb. 2 at 3 p.m.
Tickets: $25 suggested donation.
Call: 914-286-7680.
Web: www.axialtheatre.org
With: Doug Darwin, Patrick Davin, Jess Erick, Margie Ferris, Dale Furnia, Gail Greenstein, Mark Gorham, Robert Kya-Hill, Stephen Palgon, Michael Pennacchio, Cyndi Sciacca, Matt Walton.

MEANWHILE, THIS WEEKEND ONLY, you can catch “Image and Script,â€? at Peekskill’s Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art — but only if you’re lucky and act fast. The show is an ingenious marriage of art and theater. Mara Mills and Tom Kramer (no relation) asked playwrights to come to the museum and take in the exhibit “Size Matters: XXL,â€? which features oversized works of art. Big art. Epic art. (That’s Mara and Tom in a great photo by Seth Harrison of The Journal News.) Then they asked the playwrights to be inspired by what they saw. What they wrote will be presented in the museum – with these oversized paintings as backdrops. Since the art is big, and screwed to the wall, the audience moves from painting to painting, settling in on the floor for each of the six short plays. It’s amazing how much you can say in 10 minutes. “Image and Scriptâ€? — which is a collaboration with the Hudson Valley Writers’ Center — will have two shows on Sunday — at 3 and 5 p.m. — and the audience is strictly limited to 30. Are you feeling lucky?

“Image and Script”
When: 8 p.m., Jan. 24; 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., Jan. 27.
Where: Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, 1701 Main St., Peekskill.
Tickets: Thursday, $16 for HVCCA & Hudson Valley Writers Center members, $20 for non-members; Sunday, $12 HVCCA & Hudson Valley Writers’ Center members, $15 non-members.
Call: 914-788-0100.

Here’s this week’s video segment, which will be on RNN TV on Friday at 5 p.m. When you watch this, realize that when I say “tonight,” I mean Friday. The Briarcliff High School readings, at Hudson Stage, will also be held Thursday night, in case you’re available that night.

Here’s that video:

Download:

Hendrick Hudson High School’s Starboard Stars drama club presents “Broadway Bound: A Cabaret,” Friday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m. (snow date, Feb. 9) in the Hendrick Hudson High School cafeteria. Students will perform songs, dances and scenes from Broadway shows, to benefit future Starboard Stars productions. The group formed last year.
Tickets are $10, $5 for students and seniors, and include appetizers and desserts. There will also be a raffle.
The school is at 2166 Albany Post Road in Montrose. Reach them at 914-736-5250.

Albert Leonard Middle School in New Rochelle performs “The Pirates of Penzanceâ€? on Jan. 25 and 26 at 7 p.m.

There are about 75 kids in the cast of 6th-, 7th- and 8th-graders.

Tickets are $6.

The school is at 25 Gerada Lane and can be reached at 914-576-4339.

Just for fun, check out this youtube clip of the incomparable George Rose as the Major General, with Rex Smith, Linda Ronstadt and an impossibly young Kevin Kline here.

I followed “The Little Mermaid” from before its out-of-town tryout in Denver through to Opening Night. Follow along and link to these blog posts, stories and videos:

• “Little Shop” in Croton; Menken on “Mermaid”


• Goodbye, “Beast”; hello, “Mermaid”


• Alan Menken sings for you


• Meet the Mermaid: Sierra Boggess


• Remembering Howard: Menken on Ashman


• Mermaid: Menken finds the right song for Ursula


• Something old, something new: Ariel on Broadway


• The Wright man to write “Mermaid”


• Strike impact: “Mermaid” postpones opening


• A new opening set for “Mermaid”


• Her vision brought “Mermaid” to Broadway


• “Mermaid” opens tonight


• Menken has 3 shots at best-song Oscar

YCP TheaterWorks holds auditions for its spring comedy, Neil Simon’s “Broadway Bound,� directed by Karen Quinn-Panzer (right), on Feb. 11 and 12 at 7:30 p.m. at the Van Cortlandtville School on Route 6 in Mohegan Lake (directly across from the Cortlandt Town Shopping Center).

From the press release:
“Two female and four male roles are open.
Kate is a long-suffering Jewish mother whose finest moment is dancing with George Raft (40-50ish)
Blanche- Kate’s sister whole only sin was to marry a rich man, 40’s-50ish
Jack- Kate’s husband who is having an affair, 40-50 ish
Ben- Kate’s socialist Russian father, 70’s who lives with Kate and her family
Eugene- 21-23, talented writer whose dream is writing for TV
Stanley- 27, Eugene’s older and “wiser� brother who also wants to write for TV

“Broadway Bound� follows “Brighton Beach Memoirs� and “Biloxi Blues� in the playwright’s award-winning trilogy. Set in the 1940s Brooklyn, Eugene and older brother Stanley struggle to become professional comedy writers. The Jerome brothers are forced to acknowledge the many chaotic goings-on among family members, Jack Jerome and wife, Kate, Aunt Blanche, and Grandpa Ben.
The play shows us family dynamics in action as the family searches for security.
The Jerome family has their own special dysfunctions, but the author finds humor in all of it. This is a play about a real family in transition. While it makes you laugh a lot, it is also very moving.

Performances are May 2, 3, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18 at the Van Cortlandtville School.

For information call director Karen Quinn-Panzer during business hours at 212-286-5465 or e-mail: karen_quinn@newyorker.com.�

I had the pleasure of directing Karen Quinn about a thousand years ago. She’s remarkable.

For a while, the Tarrytown Music Hall was home to two youth theater groups: Anya Wallach’s Random Farms Kids’ Theater and John Fanelli’s Lighthouse Youth Theater.
Both groups rehearsed at different venues in the county: Wallach at a series of churches and halls, and Fanelli’s at a kung-fu space in Thornwood.
That changes this month, as Fanelli and Wallach each settle into new rehearsal homes, each 6,000 square feet: Wallach on Executive Boulevard in Elmsford, a stone’s throw from Westchester Broadway Theatre; Fanelli in an industrial section of Thornwood.
On recent tours, each theatrical impresario touted the charms of his or her new home, and discussed plans for the future.
Fanelli plans to expand his offerings beyond theater: The sign on the side of the building reads “Youth Arts Center: Act, Sing, Dance, Art-Rock ’n’ Roll� The Lighthouse has become Youth Arts Center.
Plans, awaiting permits, include more bathrooms, rock ’n‘ roll rehearsal and recording studios, and a costume shop. There are rooms for studying visual arts and for keyboard instruction, which Fanelli sees as a building block for actors who need to be able to sight-read music.
Fanelli inherited 20,000 costume pieces from the now-defunct Rhode Island group Theater by the Sea.
The space is already filling up.
“I thought it would be plenty big enough forever, but it just isn’t,� he says with a laugh.
The diminutive Wallach, 29, who is regularly mistaken for her charges, was giddy as she strolled from rehearsal room to dance studio to a costume shop complete with washer and dryer.
There are rooms for individual instruction, rooms for small groups, and a room for homework to be done during downtime.
Wallach’s Random Farms group will still be the resident youth theater at Tarrytown’s charming Music Hall.
Fanelli has struck a deal with Westchester Broadway Theatre in Elmsford to present his musicals on the dinner theater’s stage.
Fanelli, who created WBT’s Young Artists program in 2005, went on to the nonprofit Times Square Group before starting the Lighthouse Youth Theatre, the precursor to today’s Youth Arts Center.
When Fanelli’s successor at WBT, Jeremy Quinn, left the dinner theater, producers Bob Funking and Bill Stutler decided that the best way to support youth theater was to combine their venue’s resources with Fanelli’s program.
Fanelli handles registration and education and WBT sells the tickets and turns over its stage, crew, props and costumes a few times a year. Some of the performances include a served meal, dinner-theater style; some don’t.
Fanelli’s group will also perform at Yorktown Stage, which is minutes from Fanelli’s Yorktown home.

PHOTOS:

Top photo: John Fanelli and the senior cast of “Les Miserables” take a break from rehearsal at the Youth Arts Center’s new home in Thornwood. The group, formerly the Lighthouse Youth Theatre, performs “Les Miz” at Westchester Broadway Theatre this weekend and at Yorktown Stage in February. By Tania Savayan/The Journal News

Bottom photo: Anya Wallach is surrounded by Oompa Loompas from the cast of “Willy Wonka Jr.” at Random Farms Kids’ Theater’s rehearsal studios in Elmsford. Wallach, who started the group years ago in her parents’ basement, now has a long-term lease on the 6,000-sq.-foot rehearsal space on Executive Boulevard. John Fanelli, in his Youth Arts Center, a 6,000-square.-foot rehearsal studio of his own in an industrial section of Thornwood. By Tom Nycz/The Journal News

“Les Miserables” ended its Broadway revival on Sunday after 463 performances, but the barricade springs up again this weekend, presented by schoolkids at Westchester Broadway Theatre in Elmsford.

Performances will be tomorrow, Monday and Jan. 19, with a junior cast of 62 and a senior cast of 68 taking on the challenging musical, scaled down slightly in a “school edition.”

Joey Sanzaro, 17, of Pleasantville, plays Jean Valjean, the man wrongfully imprisoned who is at the center of the story.

The performances are a co-production of Westchester Broadway Theatre and John Fanelli’s Youth Arts Center in Thornwood.

“It’s a story about redemption,” Sanzaro says, “and something we all go through in one way or another, maybe not on that scale. But we all feel kind of cheated from time to time.

“He feels that because he was cheated he has the right to seek vengeance,” Sanzaro says. “But he learns early in the story that there’s another way to deal with the unfair treatment: He decides to become an honest man. That change is hard.”

It’s also hard, one might imagine, for Sanzaro to switch gears to the other show he’s working on: Next month, he plays Willy Wonka in “Willy Wonka Jr.,” a production of Random Farms Kids’ Theater with performances Feb. 1, 2, 3, 8, 9 and 10 at the Tarrytown Music Hall.

Read about how two groups are settling into new homes HERE.

“It’s kind of goofy,” the young actor says. “He’s all over the place and he’s hard to read. Hopefully, when you see the show, whatever I say as the character, you should wonder: ‘Is he telling the truth or is he lying?’”

That’s the exact opposite of Valjean, he says.

“You have to know what Valjean’s about and believe him at all times,” he says.

In “Wonka” – which is based on the musical film drawn from Roald Dahl’s classic children’s story – Sanzaro sings the song “Pure Imagination.”

“Les Miserables” is full of suspense.

Will the little girl, Cosette, survive the evil clutches of the Thernardiers? Will the revolting students carry the day? Will Javert’s vengeance be served?

But sometimes, the greatest suspense is whether the actor playing Jean Valjean will be able to hit that high note in “Bring Him Home,” a song that was spoofed in the satirical sendup “Forbidden Broadway”:

“God, it’s high.
This song’s too high.
Pity me. Change the key.
Bring it down.
Bring it down.
It’s too high.”

No problem, Sanzaro says. The note’s easily within his range.

The young actor has appeared in Random Farms’ productions before: In “The Enchantment of Beauty and the Beast,” he played Clocksworth.

Anya Wallach, the founder of Random Farms, says Sanzaro was a natural pick for Wonka – and for Valjean.

“He has a beautiful voice and an understanding of the material that his age and maturity bring,” Wallach says.

With Youth Arts Center, then known as The Lighthouse Youth Theatre, he was in “Into the Woods,” where he worked with co-star Georgina Simon, who plays the comic Madame Thernardier in “Les Miz.”

Simon also alternates in the role of Willy Wonka at certain performances at Random Farms.

Wallach says Simon was “not the most likely pick for the part, but her incredible vocal range made it possible for her to sing in the man’s key so we just couldn’t resist her voice.”

Simon, 14, from Cortlandt, is a ninth-grader at Hendrick Hudson High School. She has been with Random Farms for years and was in Fanelli’s “Into the Woods” last year, playing Little Red Riding Hood.

She says playing Madame Thernardier is “an adventure,” allowing her to hit her co-star and “jump all over the place.”

How does Simon handle rehearsing two shows at once?

“Wonka just started, so it hasn’t been much of a conflict,” she says. “I rehearse with John on Thursdays and Saturdays, which is a lot different than Anya’s. John’s rehearsal period is a lot longer; Anya’s is for, like, three weeks only. We’ve been rehearsing ‘Les Miserables’ since September.”

Wonka is “totally, totally, totally different experience for me,” Simon says. “As Wonka, I can have my own creeps and crawls and make it my own. I’m definitely playing it different from Joey.

“I remember when I was in Anya’s shows when I was 11 and looking up to the older kids who were the leads. Now I’m one of those leads, I have that responsibility.”

It was a tough role to cast,” Wallach says. “We had to find someone who could sell the role with charm, but underneath, appear to not really like children that much. That’s a tough combination, but they both got it,” she says.

Fanelli says he’ll make full use of the actors and of the technical capabilities of the Elmsford theater.

“When I was there, I always billed our shows as ‘having production values you’re accustomed to seeing at Westchester Broadway Theatre.’ That’s still the same. We’re not cutting back at all.”

“Les Miserables�

Where: Westchester Broadway Theatre, 1 Broadway Plaza, Elmsford.
When: The senior cast performs at 10 a.m. today for local schools, at 1:30 tomorrow, (lunch at 11:45 a.m.); and at 8 p.m. Monday (dinner at 6:30 p.m.)
The junior cast performs at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Jan. 19, with no meal service before each show.
Note: In February, the show moves to Yorktown Stage, with the senior cast performing at 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Feb. 8 and at 8 p.m. Feb. 9, and the junior cast performing at 2 p.m. Feb. 9 and Feb. 10.
Tickets: At WBT, $45 and $70 for tomorrow and Monday; $20 for Jan. 19. In Yorktown, $20; $15 for students and seniors.
Call: 914-592-2222 (WBT); 914-962-0606 (Yorktown Stage).
Senior cast: Christopher Barberesi, Ali Accumanno, Hannah Becker, Evan Bernardin, Kelsey Berro, Kristina Brooks, Jasmine Brumley-Taub, Brittanie Burke, Jamie Carino, Alyssa Cook, Travis Crowley, Emily Dalessio, Alexa DeFina, Allie Denburg, Samantha DeRosa, Ryan Duncan, Nicole Duquet, Tejan Edwards, Shantel Fields, Alex Gold, Jake Goldstein, Rachel Greenberg, Cory Gross, Angela Guzman, Allie Harte, Marissa Heintzman, Michael Herwitz, Elizabeth Holmes, Kristen Ippolito, Adam Jacobs, Ethan Jacobson, Dana Kaplowitz, Brody Karn, Danielle Kaufman, Kristina Koller, Matt Leonard, Evan Linden, Jenna Margiasso, Stacey Oliver, Elena Pascullo, Lindsey Pasieka, Cara Politi, Lexi Quinn, Carolyn Ress, Joey Sanzaro, Genevieve Scarano, Roma Scarano, Georgina Simon, Molly Simon, Max Singer, Nicole Spangenberger, Morgan Sullivan, Susie Svendsgaard, Keith Schwartz, Trevor Sideris,Emily Trias, Brianna Vaccaro, Aimee Vachon, Kayla VanCalcar, Stephanie Viegas, Ernest Zalamea.
Junior cast: Lily Allen, Alexandra Bradsell, Danny Cameron, Elana Cantor, Trevor Carr, Annie Corrao, Tomas Correa, Zoe Correa, Ashley Dassa, Andrea DeBonis, Carly Dieck, Eric Elson, Olivia Gatto, Sara Granda, Claudia Greco, Athena Hantzaridis, Amanda Higley, Kristina Koller, Anshuman Konuru, Juliet Leavy, Ryan Lerner, Melissa Magaliff, Lauren Moore, Michelle Morgenthal, Jennifer Morris, Allison Muccioli, Kimmi Naus, Sami Naus, Kate O’Brien, Ian Palmer, Alex Pasieka, Alison Peratikos, AJ Pope, Celena Santos, Carolyn Savoia, Allie Short, Rebecca Simpson-Wallack, Isabella Siniscalchi, Joey Staluppi, Matt Stout, Shannon Stout, Tim Stout, Morgan Sullivan, Brianna Vaccaro, Danielle Vantassel, Alexander Warne, Corinne Wolyniec, Catherine Zaccardi, Ashley Zeitler.

Here’s this week’s video segment, which you can see on RNN TV tonight during the 5 p.m. telecast of NewsCenter NOW.

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I attended last night’s sold-out 30th-anniversary bash for Symphony Space — the community project that started with a Bach concert and turned into a world-class arts center — and saw a Who’s Who of Lower Hudson Valley showbiz folk.

Each did his or her part to mark the big night, either reading stories or delivering poems or “newsflashes” chronicling Symphony Space’s unlikely rise from a decrepit old movie theater to the citadel of culture it is today:

Steven Lang, of Bedford, whose Off-Broadway play “Beyond Glory” told the story of Medal of Honor recipients, read baseball haikus;

Liz Callaway, of Croton, sang a cute little Sondheim song — “What More Do I Need?” about loving living in the city because that’s where her love is;

Frances Sternhagen, of New Rochelle, read a newsflash;

(Jane Alexander of Dobbs Ferry, was listed in the program, but was a no-show.)

I spoke with Jack Batman, the man behind the revitalized White Plains Performing Arts Center at the gala and he said rehearsals are under way for the WPPAC’s next undertaking, a staged concert version of “Ragtime” Feb. 1-3. I noted that that is Super Bowl Sunday, but he said there are plenty of women who would rather hear great music than watch a football game. Sounds like a good marketing angle to me….

Also chatted with Dan Foster, whose excellent Hudson Stage Company continues to present first-rate work. He said they’ve just decided what their spring show will be: John Cariani’s “Almost, Maine.” I saw scenes from this a while back at Mamaroneck High School and found it charming and sincere — and very clever. Should be a fun show to see.

But back to the gala: The performers sat in the auditorium before going on stage, so you had the surreal opportunity to see the priceless Marian Seldes looking over her notes one row behind Joanna Gleason, who was two rows behind David Straithairn.

Highlights:

John Shea’s “Selected Shorts” presentation of Heinrich Boll’s “The Laugher,” about a man who laughs for a living but can’t do it in his home life;

Ivy Austin, reprising her Thalia Follies performance from Pleasantville last month, singing “It’s My Turn, Bill,” a la Hillary Clinton;

Two charming poems memorized and presented by the equally charming Jacques d’Amboise, who ended the poems with the invitation, “Come Dance With Me,” repeated over and over as he backed off stage;

Donna Murphy showing remarkable control and restraint and then power singing Sondheim’s “Losing My Mind”;

Theodore Bickel singing “If I Were a Rich Man” in Yiddish. Didn’t understand a word, but I knew what he was saying;

Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara reading “The Owl and the Pussycat,” and Stiller then leading Meara by the hand into the darkened wing;

Gleason’s wonderful reading of a few Dorothy Parker poems; and

Peter Schickele playing his songs set to the words from Shakespeare. Too funny.

A great night, 30 years in the making.