Broadway may have Ariel, but Somers has Ti Moune, the lead character in “Once on This Island,” the calypso musical based on the same story: Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid.”

Actually, “Once on This Island” – which plays this weekend at Somers High School – is based on Rosa Guy’s novel “My Love, My Love,” which was based on “The Little Mermaid” and set in the Caribbean’s French Antilles.

If the story is twice removed from Andersen – Ti Moune is a girl, not a mermaid – it shares his story’s dark elements, which are largely missing in the Disney version.

There is a peasant girl, Ti Moune, who falls in love with a rich boy, Daniel. And there are gods – of earth, water, love and death – who test Ti Moune to learn which is stronger, love or death.

The one-act musical starred Mount Vernon’s LaChanze on Broadway and was written by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, the team behind “Seussical” and “Ragtime.”

In years past, Rye Neck High School’s theater director Pat Rinello has had a hard time telling who’s cast and who’s crew on the high school musical. Not this year. “This year, the cast has tails,” she says. Next weekend, Rye Neck High School’s presents “Cats,” Andrew Lloyd Webber’s seven-time Tony-winner about T.S. Eliot’s world of the feline.

When the cast takes the stage in costume and wigs at a recent rehearsal, a tabby tugs at her head-to-toe Spandex.

It looks like a circus musical and sounds like a circus musical but “Barnum” – the Tony-winner that starred Jim Dale and Glenn Close on Broadway – is really a love story disguised as a circus musical.

Tuckahoe High School presents “Barnum” on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with a cast that has been learning to juggle for the occasion.

At rehearsal, director Catherine Gmoser brings out a huge box of juggling balls that the cast eyes warily. Some are further along in this juggling business than others.

The love story involves the self-described “Prince of Humbug” – Phineas Taylor Barnum – and his wife, Charity, known as “Chairy.”

Their relationship is proof that opposites attract, say the students who’ll play them: junior Chris Ingrao and senior Sarah Ushay.

Ingrao, 16, calls his character “the greatest showman who ever lived,” a man whose calling card was: “Barnum’s my name, miracles are my game.”

Ushay, 17, says her role is to pull back the rambunctious Barnum, “but she’s his rock who’s always there to support him, even when his dreams are crazy.”

She’s there when he dreams of a circus museum full of attractions, when he creates spectacles out of thin air – Gen. Tom Thumb “only 25 inches from toe to crown,” Joice Heth, “the world’s oldest woman,” and Jenny Lind, the Swedish nightingale.

And she’s there when he falls in love with Lind – and abandons her.

“She really does love him, even though he breaks her heart,” Ushay says.

“Barnum” has some toe-tapping Cy Coleman songs, with lyrics by Michael Stewart: “There Is a Sucker Born Ev’ry Minute,” the up-tempo “Museum Song,” and the song that sums up the Barnums’ relationship, “The Colors of My Life.”

“You see the contrast between the two characters” in that song, Ingrao says. “She’s a very grounded person and he’s out there and big and colorful.”

Barnum sings:

“The colors of my life

Are bountiful and bold,

The purple glow of indigo,

The gleam of green and gold,

The splendor of a sunrise,

The dazzle of a flame,

The glory of a rainbow,

I’d put em all to shame.”

Chairy’s colors are not as dramatic. In a reprise, she sings:

“Your reds are much too bold.

In gold I find no worth.

I’ll fill my days with sage and brown,

The colors of the earth.

And if from by my side,

My love should roam,

The colors of my life

Will shine a quiet light

To lead him home.”

“He screws up, but she forgives him,” Ingrao says.

Playing a larger-than-life character like Barnum poses a challenge, Ingrao says.

“I’ve seen him played too big. I think the importance in Barnum is his realness, because as much as he was a showman, the show kind of shows the different sides of Barnum. As much as he was the greatest showman on earth, he was a real person.”

High above the stage in Tuckahoe’s auditorium, over the proscenium arch, in big, bold letters, is the saying: “Knowledge planted in youth giveth shade in old age.”

In 60 years, one of these actors might just remember learning to juggle, on a show that looked like a circus musical, sounded like a circus musical, but was really a love story.

Photo by Carucha L. Meuse/The Journal News: Chris Ingrao, 16, rehearses his lines for Tuckahoe High School’s production of “Barnum.”
Building Character
Watch video interviews with Chris Ingrao as P.T. Barnum and Sarah Ushay as Chairy Barnum at www.lohud.com/localtheater
‘Barnum’
Where: Tuckahoe High School, 65 Siwanoy Blvd., Eastchester.
When: 7:30 p.m., March 13, 14, 15.
Tickets: $10; $5 students and seniors.
Call: 914-337-5376, Ext. 233.
With: Katie Byrne, Meagan Byrne, Joe Clarke, Anna Diop-Dia, Theresse Diop-Dia, Jessica DiPietro, Andrea Fufidio, Krissy Greco, Shaniqua Gunther, Becca Harbeson, Chris Ingrao, Maggie McNamara, Diana Ottomanelli, AJ Pope, Matt Ragano, Katy Raymond, Annabel Rios, Brian Robotham, John Shin, Abby Stupple, Sarah Ushay, Taylor Bonafiglio, Paula Moyano, Selemne Guevara, Phil Iannitti, Billy Wong, Marco Calce, KJ Fischer, Adam Ellar, Louis Bellantoni, Mark Sarno, Tim Moroney, Marleen Ehring, Amanda Bastone, Thomas McNamara, Mary Ehring, Elizabeth Moroney, Lauren Sears, Lara Sugatan, Nicole Barros, Conor McNamara, Justin Barros, Chris Ushay, Kelly Raho, Kaitlin Boyer, Laura DiAngelo, Danielle Cermele.

Blind Brook High School’s production of “Fiddler on the Roof” has everything required.

It has a Tevye who has grown his own beard for the occasion.

It has a Yente, ready to make matches.

There’s a Lazar Wolf, the butcher, ready to offer marriage to Tevye’s eldest daughter.

There’s a rabbi with a canopy in store for someone.

And there’s senior Rachel Polonsky, one of those kids every production needs: She plays several small roles – a bottle dancer here, a Russian there, the dance captain throughout.

Oh, and she’s the fiddler on the roof.

She doesn’t actually play the fiddle – “I’ve been watching the video carefully and I’ve figured out all the beats and stuff,” Polonsky says – but director Christine Colangelo has her busy just the same.

“I’m dancing while I play and I thought that would be semi-impossible,” Polonsky says.

Dancing she knows, having been at it since age 3. Ballet, pointe, jazz, hip-hop, modern and tap are among her repertoire.

This fiddler won’t tap, though.

In Colangelo’s staging of the classic story of Tevye and his five daughters, the roof gets pretty crowded. She uses the platform as another level on which actors, not just fiddlers, perform.

Polonsky will be up and down a lot, she says.

“I have one change where the lights go off and I’m one character, and then the lights come on and I’m on the roof as another character,” she says.

“I’m hoping for a long blackout,” she adds with a smile.

Is this fiddler at all afraid of heights?

“Absolutely not,” she declares. “I really want to go skydiving for my birthday. I love heights. Believe me, if I could spend the whole show on that roof, I would.”

“Fiddler on the Roof”

Where: Blind Brook High School, 840 King St., Rye Brook.

When: 7 p.m., Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets: $15 evenings; $13.50 matinee.

Call: 914-937-3600, ext. 3171

With: Andrew Benowich, Stephanie Sherry, Scott Winston, Lauren Konigsberg, Stacey Lurie, Steven Fisher , Jennifer Rakoff, Kyle Maclean, Sean McKinney, Rachel Fleishaker, Elana Levy, Samantha Park, Corinne Segal, Kelsey Crandall, Cody McKinney, Tyler Ketchabaw, Jacob Kupin, Zack Bodinger, Daniel Polonsky, Justin Gluck, Ali Hartman, Gabe Jensen, Scott Bass, Manuel Davila-Molina, Blythe Duckett, Melanie Mauro, Rachel Polonsky, Christina Tempesta, Amanda Wiener, Tal Ackerman, Alyssa Davis, Victoria Ferrer, Jillian Forbes, Dana Kadman, Rebecca Raider, Corinne Segal, Barrie Schneiderman, Claudia Treacy, Danielle Treacy, Nikki Weissblum, Amanda Saxe, Amy Holm, Jeffrey Rakoff, Luis Blanco, Samantha Langstein, Justin Cohn, Jason Kaye, Eddie Licitra, Eric Schulkin, Christine Joyce, Thomas Ferrer, Kevin Maclean, Santi Maspons, Paul Nadasi, Steven Santon, Sal Scappatore.

Caption:Rachel Polonsky, center, and other cast members, rehearse a scene from “Fiddler on the Roof” at Blind Brook High School in Rye Brook. Rachel plays multiple roles in the production, including the role of the fiddler.
Seth Harrison/The Journal News

Got an email from Brandon Dinetz and Cory Asinofsky, who are in the cast of Clarkstown North’s production of “Me & My Girl,” which I wrote about last week.

They apparently had a really rough weather-related weekend. Here’s part of what they wrote:

“As you know this weekend we opened or let us say attempted to open. On Friday night our big opening night, everything was going seemingly well until the fire alarm went off half-way into the show causing an immediate evacuation followed by the entire audience and cast/crew being left outside to soak in the rain until the fire department let us back in.

“After a half-hour the show finished and the soaked crowd applauded.

“After that night we all figured nothing could have gone worse, so Saturday night we were ready to take the stage again.

“The cast was in costume and the crew was ready to go, we had a huge audience piling in. With less than ten minutes till curtain up, a blackout struck the school and we were in the dark for over two hours when we finally had to call the play and we all left very disappointed.

“We arrived yesterday (Sunday) to do a make-up show to less than half of the audience we would have had.

“Needless to say this weekend was really tough.

“What we need is an audience to lift the spirits of our cast, crew, pit, directors and families. Our attendance is really low and with just two shows left we would really appreciate if you could help us out in anyway possible. We know you are very busy but this play means a lot to us.”

Wow!

These kids tried their best and put their hearts into this show. They really believed “the show must go on,” despite all the hurdles they faced. They are troopers!

They have two shows left: Friday at 8 and Saturday at 8.

If their predicament moves you—and who wouldn’t be moved by hearing about kids working for months and enduring a weekend like this?—leave a comment below in support of director Tim Reid and his talented kids. Any words of comfort you can offer would, I’m sure, be appreciated.

If you’re not in a show next weekend and can make it to New City, it’d be great to give them great houses for their final two shows. Call 845-639-5676 for tickets, which are $15.

Chin up, “Me & My Girl.” You’ll knock ‘em dead next weekend!

When Matt Savarese won the title role in Rye High School’s production of “Li’l Abner,” he started working on his hillbilly accent.(That may be the first sentence ever written that includes both “Rye” and “hillbilly.”)Savarese had heard of the comic strip – Al Capp’s daily look at the denizens of Dogpatch, U.S.A., that ran in papers from 1934 to 1977 – but not the musical, which opened in 1956 and ran 693 performances.”At first, it was hard putting myself in that mindset,” says the Rye senior, “but I’ve gotten so into it that I was on a college interview recently and I started saying some hillbilly things. A y’all accidentally slipped out.”Good for the show, which runs Friday and Saturday; maybe not so good for a college interview.The “Li’l Abner” comic strip had a huge impact on Depression-Era Americans, who found escape in the antics of Abner and his neighbors. Capp introduced Sadie Hawkins – a woman who chases men till they marry her – into the popular culture and sparked Sadie Hawkins dances where women ask men to dance.The musical is a faithful transplanting of Dogpatch to the stage.When Dogpatch is declared “the most unnecessary, no-account place in the country” and deemed a perfect spot for atomic testing, the town gets busy fighting the government.Director Helen Cannistraci says she chose “Abner” because it’s a big show – there are about 60 in the cast – with “a lot of company numbers, so it’s not ‘Oh, I’m just in the chorus.’ “Cannistraci says she sees the school’s annual musical as a teachable moment. Students share the stage with faculty, a Rye tradition, and student instrumentalists share the orchestra pit with professionals.”They really learn that way,” says musical director Todd Beaney. “You learn what you can’t learn in a classroom by doing that.”And the pros like it, too, we’ve found, being able to pass it on, seeing young people with enthusiasm for their craft. You want there to be more players coming up. You don’t want to be the end of the line. To see enthusiasm among the ranks is a good thing.”Savarese says Abner “is the biggest guy in Dogpatch, but he’s also the biggest kid in Dogpatch. He’s gullible and simple and egotistical, but not in a bad way.”“He doesn’t know any better. Everyone else in Dogpatch has built him up, because he’s bigger than anyone else,” Savarese says.In the song “Namely You,” he tells Daisy Mae, the girl who adores him: “If anyone deserves me, you do.”Shea Donovan plays Daisy Mae, “the quintessential lovestruck teenager,” who is hopelessly in love with Abner.”She’ll go to any length to help him,” Donovan says, even agreeing to marry Earthquake McGoon, a man she doesn’t love, if he’ll help save Abner from men who plan to kill him.She’s sincere and sweet – and driven, says Donovan, who has a history with Daisy Mae: She played the role in a Purchase College summer workshop when she was in fifth grade.Donovan says she has to go with her gut and not overanalyze Daisy Mae’s motives: “Since her emotions are so instinctual, it’s easy and comfortable for me to play her.”Faculty members will play Daisy Mae’s grimy kinfolk, The Scraggs, who make an appearance to trick McGoon into thinking Daisy Mae’s an undesirable bride.”It’s hysterical to see your teachers all dressed up in dirty clothes and all raggedy,” says Savarese. “It certainly lightens the mood.”The choreography and movements – which won a Tony Award for Michael Kidd – are all exaggerated and larger than life, says Savarese. “It’s 10 times bigger, 10 times more enthusiastic than real life. Kind of cartoonish,” he says.After the show is over, Savarese will put his hillbilly ways behind him and turn his attention back to the college search, including that one school where he said “y’all.”“I haven’t heard from them yet,” he says with a big smile.Photo by Dave Kennedy/The Journal News: Shea Donovan plays Daisy Mae at a rehearsal for the upcoming production of “Li’l Abner” at Rye High School.“LI’L ABNER”Where: Rye High School, 1 Parsons St., Rye.When: 8 p.m. March 7, 8.Tickets: $7; $6 students; seniors free.Call: 914-967-6100, Ext. 1237With: Cristian Acevedo, Alexis Amira, Sarah Bergman, Jackie Breckenridge, Nora Burns, Oliver Callund, Zac Chapderlane, Brian Connors, Jennifer Connors, Hugh Cunningham, Jamie DiEdwards, Shea Donovan, Simon Edmonds-Langham, Clay Esler, Garret Esler, Rhea Finn, Richard Giacovas, Justin Giallorenzo, Kira Hessekiel, Caroline Higgins, Ben Hirsch, Shin Honjo, Haruka Hori, Leon Husock, Julie Iles, Alex Jordan, Michael Julian, Sophie Kacha, Ali Kane, Robbie Keller, Sarah Krikorian, Jenna Langbaum, Adam Larsen, Elizabeth MacAulay, Sam Malin, Emma McFarland, Tara McHugh, Katie McNicol, Alex Morris, Matt Moseman, Margaret Mulkerrin, Julia Murray, Mona Nakamura, Ann Niehaus, Ai Nishino, Sarah Niss, Alex Nixon, Jennifer Nolan, Sarah Nye, Ariel Parriser, Roxie Pell, Viviana Pereyra, Cat Raynor, Danielle Reidenberg, Robert Rodriguiz, Hugh Ross, Matt Savarese, Alea Sciarrone, Kelsey Smith, Emily Stubbs, Eunice Taylor, Charlotte Turner, Hannah VanDolsen, Eliza Vasconcellos, Kyle Wagman, Hansen Zhang, Anna Zuccaro.Building characterWatch Matt Savarese and Shea Donovan talk about getting into the characters Li’l Abner and Daisy Mae in “Li’l Abner” at www.lohud.com/localtheater.

Tonight, 634 people in Nyack will see what no one ever has on the East Coast: a production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera” performed by people who aren’t paid to do it.

It’s opening night of “Phantom” at Nyack High School, one of six amateur groups permitted to perform the Tony-winning best musical in a pilot program designed to see how nonprofessionals handle the challenging show.

There have been productions in Ohio and Texas, but nothing in the East.

Until tonight.

The show is proving to be one of the hottest tickets in Nyack in recent memory, but if you don’t have a ticket yet, there’s still hope.

Producer Kathy Tappenden said 100 seats were still available for tonight’s performance and for each of the six remaining shows.

The 100 same-day tickets will be sold an hour before showtime in the school’s lobby. All seats are reserved, except for Sunday’s 7 p.m. performance, which was added in response to the overwhelming demand. Those are general admission.

“The public is welcome to come and wait in line and take their chances, because we don’t know if 100 people will show up or 1,000,” said Tappenden. “There’s a chance. Just get on line.”

The show has drawn ticket buyers from Nyack, New Jersey, Westchester and beyond.

“We’ve been getting a lot of ‘Phantom’ fans, who will drive anywhere to see ‘Phantom,’” Tappenden said.

“I’ve been doing this for 22 years, and we’ve always had five shows,” the producer said. “This is ‘Phantom,’ so we add a sixth and now we had to add a seventh? I am sure if we could keep this going for a month we could sell out every performance, but I don’t think we can. These poor kids need some sleep.”

What audiences will see at the theater on Christian Herald Road is a full-out production of the musical, with a cast of 36 students and an orchestra that’s the same size as its Broadway counterpart – 25 pieces.

The orchestra, under musical director Kurt Kelley, is a mix of students and professionals, including French horn player Darlene Kaukoranta, who lives in Yonkers. In 1991, her first New York job was playing in the Broadway pit of “Phantom.”

She played at Nyack’s production of “Titanic” last year and liked what she saw.

“I was just so impressed with the quality of what the kids were putting on,” she said, adding, “The kids in the orchestra are doing a great job.”

She singled out the pit’s string section, which has just one professional in its ranks.

“The little violin solo is beautiful. It’s a lot to ask to have students play this, but they’ve got it,” she said.

Kelley, who helped adjust the show’s music to student voices and instrumentalists, is looking forward to tonight.

“I know the audience will appreciate it,” he said. “I just hope they can appreciate all the work that’s been done, and I think they will. I want the kids to not be too nervous and to remember what we’ve been teaching them from Day 1.”

Bruce Ruderman, a chiropractor from Nyack, waited in line for a ticket, “any ticket,” to Sunday’s performance. The significance of the moment is not lost on him.

“I think it’s a phenomenal thing that they’ve chosen this school,” he said. “That shows what kind of talent and commitment we have in our theater and arts departments.

“This crowd tells you what it means to the community,” he said, motioning to a packed lobby of expectant ticket buyers.

When he settles into his seat on Sunday night, Ruderman’s expectations will be high.

“I hope to see a quality performance that you would expect from a Broadway-level troupe,” he said.

Asked if that’s setting the bar too high for high school students, Ruderman was resolute.

“I have seen the shows here,” he said. “I have been amazed at what I have seen happen in this high school theater. I set the bar as high as it deserves to be.”

Director Joe Egan has equally lofty goals that he sums up in one word: “Perfection.”

“And they’ll do it,” he said. “If not to please the audience, then to please me. Not to sound arrogant, but that’s what they do. We work so hard together, and they understand how much I put into it, so that’s when they give it back. They give it back during rehearsals, but that is their gift back to me. That’s what’s wonderful about it. That’s the payment.”

Tom Beck, whose “Phantom” costumes go a long way toward turning the Nyack auditorium into the Paris Opera, said, “I hope people realize the honor it was to be able to produce this and how the kids really rose to the occasion.”

“We were able to costume it within our budget – we didn’t have the millions they had on Broadway – but the story still gets told. And the kids are the storytellers,” Beck said.

One of those storytellers, senior Ashley Edelsberg – who plays ballet mistress Madame Giry – said she hoped that “of the 2,000-some-odd people that come to see the show, our three main people – Joe, Kurt and (assistant director and choreographer) Greg (Baccarini) – are pleased, satisfied and content. I hope that we can do our best and show to everyone all the hard work that we’ve put in – especially them.”

Senior Brice Walborn plays Piangi. He said success tonight will be easily measured.

“I hope that the applause at the end is as big and fulfilling as we want it to be,” he said.

Sophomore Christian Rulon, who plays Raoul, the Phantom’s rival, has more modest hopes.

“I hope I don’t forget all my lines,” he said. “I’m looking forward to being in front of a full house. I like performing for people. And I’ve got a lot of family coming to see it.”

Sophomore Charles Caster-Dudzik said he’s as excited by the spectacle as the audience will be.

“It’s much more than I thought it could be,” he said. “The chandelier looks amazing, and it moves so fast – Bam! It’s on the stage.”

Bam! Here’s opening night of “The Phantom of the Opera.”

Photo by Angela Gaul/The Journal News: Hannah Greenberg, 15, of Nyack performs as Carlotta during rehearsal for “The Phantom of the Opera” at Nyack High School.
‘THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA’
Where: Nyack High School, 360 Christian Herald Road, Nyack
When: at 8 tonight and tomorrow night; at 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday; at 8 p.m. March 14; at 2 and 8 p.m. March 15
Tickets: $10; $5 for students; free to seniors. 100 same-day seats will be released an hour before showtime.
Call: 845-353-7100

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I stopped by Nyack last night to get a sneak peek at “Phantom” at a dress rehearsal.

The voices, costumes and orchestra are AMAZING.

Edy Modica, whom I’ve interviewed several times, has the sweetest voice and, in wig, makeup and costume, was unrecognizable. The transformation is complete. She starts her first solo, “Think of Me,” as a nervous young girl and ends it a full-throated and confident singer. To think she’s a sopohomore in high school boggles the mind.
Max Reinhardsen’s work as the phantom is equally inspired. His voice is strong when it needs to be, nuanced when that’s called for.

Tom Beck’s costumes are sumptuous and add so much to the overall effect. It’s a visual feast for the eyes.

They’ll be selling 100 same-day tickets for each performance starting one hour before curtain.

Showtimes are Friday at 8, Saturday at 8, Sunday at 2 and 7 (an added performance with all seats general admission), March 14 at 8, March 15 at 2 and 8 p.m.

Get to Nyack, if at all possible. It looks stunning and sounds great.

Check out all of our “Phantom” coverage here.

Photo by Angela Gaul/The Journal News.

When Pleasantville High School’s production of “Fiddler on the Roof” opens tomorrow night, the musical based on Sholom Aleichem’s Russian folk stories will star a bona fide American folk singer – Anthony da Costa – who, at 17, has just released his fourth full-length CD of original songs, “Typical American Tragedy.”

After playing in a middle school band called Us and Him – “doing mainly Red Hot Chili Peppers and Beatles covers” – da Costa began writing and playing his own music. He was 13.

He popped in at open mikes in coffeehouses across Westchester and in New York, found a musical kindred spirit in Croton-based singer and producer Fred Gillen Jr., and now plays showcases, theaters and festivals as far away as Texas and Tennessee.

When “Fiddler” rehearsals took a break for the recent winter recess, da Costa was off to play his music at a folk conference in Memphis.

Closer to home, he’s been opening for the Lower Hudson Valley’s Red Molly on regional dates. (Red Molly’s Abbie Gardner plays on his latest CD.) He also has opened for Livingston Taylor and Susan Werner, and was nominated as Folk Alliance’s “Emerging Artist of the Year.”

Da Costa’s musical influences include Bob Dylan, Dan Bern, Ryan Adams and Damien Rice.

“Typical American Tragedy,” released just last month, has 11 original da Costa songs, from the political “Wall Around Baghdad” to the sentimental “Upstate Living” to a sweet little number called “Carnival,” about a man’s inability to win his girl a prize at a fair.

I went to the carnival

And I didn’t win you nothin’.

You are something special

Wanted to bring you something

Want to show you that I care

With a yo-yo or a stuffed bear.

Because I’ve been waiting on you

To let me in.

But I went to the carnival

And I didn’t win.

But before da Costa had songwriting, he had theater.

In fifth grade, he played Winthrop in Pleasantville High School’s production of “The Music Man.” He was so into the role, he recalls, that he was still speaking with his character’s trademark lisp weeks after the show had closed.

Tevye, the Russian milkman, is no Iowa schoolkid. Putting on Tevye takes a lot of preparation and thought, da Costa says.

“This is 1905 czarist Russia and this is a man with a lot on his plate, a lot to deal with,” da Costa says. “He’s living with six women. He’s kind of outnumbered.

“Trying to raise five daughters in a blue-collar job as a milkman, working hard every day, he dreams of relaxing, but he does it while he’s doing what he has to do to support his family. I admire that,” he says. “And he’s got a great sense of humor.”

Even though his character is all about tradition – the show opens with a stirring, seven-minute song by that title – da Costa says Tevye doesn’t exactly conform to musical theater tradition.

“Tevye is unique in the sense that he breaks down the fourth wall with the audience,” says the Pleasantville junior. “He’s more of a friend to the audience than just putting on a show. I tend to see the people in the room a lot more than if you were playing another traditional theater role.”

But it fits in well with his singer-songwriter side.

“I do a lot of banter and I usually get the audience to sing along,” he says.

As a songwriter, da Costa finds images and parallels that might not have occurred to others. When it’s suggested that his songwriting idol, Dan Bern, likely never sang words like those written by “Fiddler” lyricist Sheldon Harnick, he thinks for a second and says: “Although Dan Bern’s parents are from Lithuania and they escaped persecution for being Jewish…”

Pleasantville’s director Kathleen Donovan-Warren says she chose “Fiddler” after considering the students at her disposal. As the school’s chorus and theater teacher, she knew what she had.

“I knew I had to have a Tevye with the acting and singing chops, but I knew I also had a depth of female talent and this show highlights that depth,” she says.

“He’s got a lot of instinctive talent and instinctive acting ability,” Donovan-Warren adds. “We don’t have to work at it that hard. And he takes direction well.”

On stage, da Costa’s Tevye is a charming mix of ease, weariness and humor. His stage presence is indisputable and his voice has a more conventional musical theater timbre than you’ll hear on his CDs.

Still, the folk music is never far away. Next Thursday, before the second weekend of “Fiddler,” he’ll play at the Westchester Arts Council as part of its “New Voices” series.

Then, the next day, it’s back to the milkman for the final weekend.

Photo by Tania Savayan/The Journal News: Anthony DeCosta plays Tevye in Pleasantville High School’s “Fiddler on the Roof.”

“Fiddler on the Roof”
Where: Pleasantville High School, 60 Romer Ave., Pleasantville.
When: 8 p.m., March 7, 8, 14, 15; 3 p.m., March 9; 1:30 p.m. March 15.
Tickets: $12.
Tickets: $12.
Call: 917-373-6820. (Not 914. It’s a cellphone.)
With: Marlayna Augusto, Emily Band, Peter Berkowitz, Rachel Bloom, Sarah Browne, Joshua Bucheister, Gregg Butler, Diana Chiavetta, Cristina Corvino, Stephanie Corvino, Tomislav Coza, Anthony da Costa, Dana DeSousay, Megan Downey, Rebecca Echevarria, Sandra Edelman, Charlotte Exton, Max Finsmith, Gerardo Torres Flores, Rose Gandalfo, Geena George, Owen Gilroy, Daniel Gilroy, Chelsea Gratz, Jennifer Grom, Angela Guzman, Michele Hartman, Issei Herr, Patricia Hibner, Oliver Hill, Elizabeth Holmes, Natasha Honey, David Hyman, Jaime Katz, Caroline Kelly, Mara Kennedy, Elizabeth King, Rebecca Kaufman, Elizabeth Latella, Frank Leone, Thomas Lombardi, Jenna Margiasso, Emma Maznio, Aimee McGonaghan, Sam Mintzer, Colleen Nuccio, Alexandra Ossowski, Rory Ostrow, Jennifer Padilla, Emily Paruolo, Eamon Pickard, Elizabeth Proehl, Kimberly Puccia, Julia Reilly, Erica Sarro, Jessica Sarubbi, Joseph Scuccimarri, Ben Sherer, Eric Sinski, Brittaney Smith, Emily Taubenblatt, Liane Tomasetti, Staci Tomasetti, Matthew Ultan, Jaclyn Vosburg, Shana Wallace, Michelle Wellansky, Sonia George, Christine Miller, Chelsea Brooks, Stephanie Edlund, William Dietrich-Egensteiner, John Mace, Philip Manzi, Eric Maznio, Alex Poller, Nicholas Prache, Matthew Wolf, Alex Zapletal, Matthew Belanich, Vishal Bhatty, Caitlin Bull, Alex Choy, Allison Clark, David Hyman, William Pedlow, Timothy Solster, Jennifer Steinbeck, Even Stolatis, Zachary Willard, Emma Apecelli, Emily Appel, Jonathan Appel, Rachel Bordin, Lindsay Calhoun, Mark Carlough, Caitlin Casey, Kayla Curran, Jackie D’Arco, Malachi Davis, Andreanna Dempsey, Clare Eichinger, William Elliott, Michael Elliott, Tina Elliott, Wujong Farrant, Matthew Fox, Jaclyn Jasmin, Erin Joenk, Holly Krakowski, Genevieve Oliver, Sophia Paljevic, Michael Phillips, Ariane Prache, Andrew Pugliese, Trevor Roberts, Jake Ruth, Andres Sandoval, William Shum, Esteban Torres, Arielle Trapp, Emily Appel, Leslie Del Mastro, Chloe Gilroy, Elizabeth Peake, Helene Rached, Tiffanie Smith, Jill Sue, Matthew Wolf, Isabelle Franks, Michelle Bauer, Francesca Lucia, Christine Carfaro, Kelsey Connell, Vanessa Nieto, Amanda DiBlasio, Kelsey Connell, Vanessa Nieto, Esther Kim, Jennifer Sparano, Jovienne Trotta, Rachel Bordin, Joshua Bucheister, Oliver Hill, Rachel Karp. Michael Phillips, Jen Steinbeck, Anna Uehara.

Even as economic indicators seem to be headed south, this appears to be the season of “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”

Tonight, the Frank Loesser show, about a window washer who dreams of corporate stardom, plays at Salesian High School in New Rochelle. Next weekend, White Plains High School has its own production.

And starting April 24, the White Plains Performing Arts Center will stage a professional production of the show that won a Pulitzer Prize and seven Tony Awards in 1962.

“How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” opened on Broadway on Oct. 12, 1961, and ran 1,417 performances, closing on March 6, 1965 – 43 years ago tonight.

It’s about J. Pierrepont Finch, a window washer who dreams of corporate stardom and, who – with the help of a tiny self-help book and, where appropriate, a little backstabbing – is catapulted into the upper echelons of Park Avenue’s World Wide Wicket Co.

The music and lyrics are by Frank Loesser (“Guys & Dolls”) and the book is by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert.

Finch’s chief adversary is Bud Frump, the nephew of Mr. Biggley, CEO of World Wide Wicket. Bud and Finch constant try to outmaneuver each other, say the actors who will play them over the next two weekends.

Salesian’s Finch, senior Torrey Rodriguez, says he likes that his character has the upper hand. “Every time Bud does something malicious I win in the end, anyways,” he says. “The book tells me what’s going to happen in the future.”

Rodriguez also likes having the crowd on his side.

“He plays to the audience a lot, breaking the fourth wall, which I like to do,” Rodriguez says. “It’s fun to flirt with the audience.”

At Salesian, his rival is played by sophomore Miguel Gallardo, 15, who describes Bud as “a nerdy kind of jerk.”

“Bud gets scared, because Finch is getting up there quick, so I try to bring him down whenever I can,” Gallardo says, quoting a favorite line:

“Finch says ‘I’m just delivering the mail’ and I say ‘Finch, the executive mail is my job. If you have any ideas of climbing the ladder around here, the view is going to get awfully monotonous. Every time you look up, you’ll see the seat of my pants.”

Salesian’s Peter Calamari is a theater veteran who planned to sit out “How to Succeed” until director Gina Gentile lost the actor who was to play Mr. Biggley. Calamari stepped in with three weeks to go.

“They basically had the whole show done when I came in,” he says, “so I was, obviously, behind everybody else.”

But he had a feel for the corporate world, having worked a summer at his father’s logistics company in Queens. “I worked in the warehouse and some secretarial stuff,” he says.

Alex Cantatore, 18, a senior at White Plains High School, plays Biggley, too. “He’s an absolute extreme,” Cantatore says. “He’s very corporate but he doesn’t really have any of the skills he needs to do his job. But at the same time, he’s very confident in himself.

“If anything, that’s what this show is about,” he said. “It’s a lot more the show you put on than what you actually have to offer.”

In White Plains, junior Zach Sorrow plays Finch. “He’s an overambitious guy who can’t help but suck up to the executives,” Sorrow says. “It’s a compulsion – and it’s really fun.

“Finch does need his book, but he also has a lot of that ambition just from himself,” he says. “He’s always had the potential. Part of it is coming from him, even though the book is guiding him along.”

When Finch needs a pep talk, he gives himself a pep talk. It takes place in a restroom, when he looks at himself in the mirror and declares “I Believe in You.”

“As it plays out, Finch just happens to be a little bit better at everything,” Sorrow says. “Finch is trying to make himself better; Bud is relying on his uncle.

“Bud adds something important to the show. He’s that small nemesis that you know is just not going to win,” he says, adding that junior Danny Alfonso, who plays Bud, isn’t making it easy to stay in character.

“I’ve been working really hard to make sure that I don’t lose character onstage, because he’s really funny,” he says.

Alfonso, who’s in his first musical, is finding moments of vulnerability in the “sneaky guy” he plays.

“There’s one part where he laughs at his own joke and nobody else thinks it’s funny,” he says. “I guess there are situations where you get to see all sides of the character. I like that.”

Photos by Tania Savayan/The Journal News: Top, Miguel Gallardo, left, as Bud Frump and Torrey Rodriguez as J. Pierrepont Finch rehearse for “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” at Salesian High School in New Rochelle. Bottom: Danny Alfonso as Bud Frump sings during a rehearsal for “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” at White Plains High School.

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”
Where: Salesian High School, 148 Main St., New Rochelle.
When: 7:30 p.m. today, tomorrow, Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets: $13.
Call: 914-632-0248.
With: Christopher Castaldi, Vincent Castaldi, Nicholas Federico, Miguel Gallardo, Fernando Garcia, Paul Lazo, Kevin Matos, Paul McGovern, Alex Miccoli, Matt Morel, Sheldon Payne, William Quinones, Robert Ramos, Torrey Rodriquez, Jonah Sotomayor, Peter Calamari, Christina Julien, Gina Galimi, Janette Martinez, Lissette Martinez, Angelique Cruz, Lauren Rizzo, Jessica Marino, Christine Colangelo, Anthony Colangelo, John Neddermeyer, Robert Kalanz.

“How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”
Where: White Plains High School, 550 North St., White Plains.
When: 7:30 p.m., March 14, 15; 3 p.m., March 16.
Tickets: $20 reserved, $10 adults, $5 for students and seniors.
Call: 914-422-2234.
With: Pamela Abrahams, Alexis Adamski, Remy Adler, Daniel Alfonso, T.J. Bastone, Kellsie Belgrave, Rachel Benjamin, Evelyn Berger, Patrick Blaney, Gigi Brady, Victor Brady, Paul Bronzo, Ali Brotmann, Will Burmeister, Alex Cantatore, Seann Cantatore, Jake Carmen, Cara Cohen, Reid Cohen, Andrea DeMarco, David Doyle, Allison Fairhurst, Donya Feizbaksh, Hannah Fine, Remy Gautreau, Cameron Glass, Shinice Hemmings, Mariana Hess, Laura Hollahan, Lani Hosei, Antony Kalathara, Jason Kaplan, Jessica Lacativa, Emma Lagle, Ben Lanman, Katie Lau, Corinne Leary, Ben Leib, Adina Lowy, Julia Maguire, Emily Majsak, Juliana Marothy, Ariel Miller, Paiza Miller, Maia Matsushita, Sean McGee, Meaghan McLeod, Mackenzie Mollo, Ben Norris, Ben Oppenheim, Randy Patterson, Laura Pellegrini, Daniel Petralia, Mitchell Pozo, Peter Pozo, Katie Rie, Becky Riss, Austin Saiz, Alex Sampugnaro, Nicole Santolo, Deborah Scharbach, Elizabeth Scherer, Scott Schwartz, Collin Shepard, Alannah Smith, Zach Sorrow, Preeth Srinivasaraghavan, Edward Zekus, Mary Zhu.

It’s an entrance that rivals any in musical theater: Dolly Gallagher Levi arrives at The Harmonia Gardens and takes a musical stroll down that long staircase to the title tune in “Hello, Dolly!”

Everyone’s happy to have her back where she belongs.

At Irvington High School, where “Dolly” runs this weekend and next, Thom Johnson is just happy the stairs don’t wiggle and only move when he wants them to.

Johnson, a ponytailed and bearded character who saves his best performances for his tech crew, has been turning Irvington students into set designers and builders for three decades now.

“One of the things that’s different about the way we work here is that I do the concept of how it moves, but the teenagers do the designing and the building,” he says.

He gets a gleam in his eye and adds: “Right angles are sometimes a lost art.”

Johnson has an eye for detail and 30 years of set-design savvy that was put to the test this year, he says.

“The set revolves around the staircase and that was the first thing we built: a 6-foot-wide, 7-foot-high rolling stair unit.”

Once he was satisfied with the stairs, Johnson turned to The Harmonia Gardens, a challenge that was no match for his 20-student crew.

“The Harmonia Gardens set is a giant, hinged transformer, measuring 15 feet high and 44 feet wide when fully extended,” Johnson says.

There are cutouts for the private dining rooms where Dolly entertains Yonkers Hay & Feed mogul Horace Vandergelder and where Horace’s employees entertain their lady friends.

The scale of the set is huge, the ingenuity impressive.

And it spins.

“Once I got the basic idea that I could do this, I took pieces of illustration board and cut them to scale for the basic size of the thing and taped them together to make a hinged model,” Johnson says.

“Then I sat down with Pat Costabile, our architecture teacher. He and I went through the whole thing and played devil’s advocate with each other. And he said: ‘You can do this. You’re nuts, but go ahead.’â€?

The fact that the tech crew was able to build the set in a tiny 12-by-22-foot workshop is the equivalent of pulling a 6-foot-wide-by-7-foot-tall rabbit out of a hat.

When Johnson, a Yonkers native, was hired 30 years ago, it was “to teach art and to design and build sets for Michael Penta, a brilliant man.”

Back then he had a wood shop directly across from the old auditorium. Now, shop classes are long gone and that space has been gobbled up by art classrooms.

“It’s gotten harder in the 30 years I’ve been doing this, because kids don’t have shop classes anymore,” he says.

Johnson is chair of Irvington’s Art Department, a painter, potter and photographer.

Over the years, Johnson has, on occasion, repeated himself – “Right angles are a beautiful thing,” “I’m only one human,” and “Glue it and screw it” are among his well-worn phrases – but he’s only repeated one set: for Lillian Hellman’s drama “The Children’s Hour.”

He says this “Dolly” set may be one of the most challenging “because it’s huge and it moves.”

“I keep screaming: ‘I’m building a house!’â€? he says.

Chad Lazar, 14, a freshman, is a tech-crew legacy, of sorts: His brother, Andy, and sister, Jenna, both pulled tours of duty under Johnson before graduating.

“I like working with tools,” Lazar says. “I did a little bit in middle school. It’s fun. And I build stuff at home with my dad and my brother.”

To capture the feel of Yonkers in the 1880s, Johnson and director Diana Selenow gathered books to inspire junior Julia Schelp, who created a detailed rendering of several storefronts.

When the crew is finished building, Irvington parent Polly Holland, a professional scenic painter, will lend her talents to the enterprise. Another parent, David Lovett, takes care of the lights, hanging and focusing and designing, says Johnson.

On Opening Night, Johnson will sit in the audience and enjoy, his work done. The job of running the show belongs to his crew.

“My belief is that the kids can do it and should do it. Why are we here, otherwise?” he asks, knowing the answer. “Our job is to direct them. Their job is to be directed and to do it. That’s why our band director Mr. Corio doesn’t put pros in the orchestra pit.”

A self-described “train freak” who works for the Catskill Mountain Railway in his spare time, Johnson runs things with the precision of his pocketwatch.

Minus a right angle or two.

Photo by Dave Kennedy/The Journal News: Thom Johnson, head of the art department, and students Chad Lazar and Chris Veneziano in front of the stage work that they produced for the Irvington High School production of “Hello, Dolly!”

“Hello, Dolly!”
Where: Irvington High School, 40 N. Broadway, Irvington.
When: 8 p.m., March 7, 8, 14, 15; 2 p.m., March 9.
Tickets: $15, $8 students and seniors.
Call: 914-591-6645.
With: Patrick Adelman, Flavia Alimonti, Beth Armstrong, Josh Bloom, Anna Blum, Brittany Brady, Fiona Brennan, Kate Burkhardt, Kara Cicero, Ana Coccioletti, Jessica Cockerton, Alexandra Cozell, Andrew Crisara, Sylvia Czander, Vincent DeSantis, Mairin Din, Gabby Fisher, Clara Foung, Kayla Frimer, Nick Galgano, Catherine Gambardella, Isabel Garcia, Kayla Gersten, Ariel Glantz, Daniel Glantz, Michelle Grahm, Kelly Hepburn, Liz Hevern, Will Holland, Mary Imperatore, Amanda Jacobowitz, Amanda Jacobson, Xandria James, Noa Krawczyk, Ally Kurillof, Sean Lippin, Maddie Lonky, Joseph McKenney-Barschall, Richard Miller, Becka Montgomery, Brienne Moore, Sarah Moore, Gillian Morley, Andrew O’Conor, Mac O’Conor, John Papovitch, Carolyn Pennington, Kerryn Prieto, Heena Purswani, Juhi Purswani, Katie Sacchini, Nicole Saldana, Laura Schenkel, Lauren Schoenfeld, Sara Scholnick, Savannah Scott, Tom Selenow, Hallie Shepps, Mariel Schepps, Zal Shroff, Kaivan Shroff, Talia Sperandio, JP Staropoli, Leigh Thomas, Marc Veilleux, Sammi Vogel, David Weinberger, Julia Wojnar, Danny Zeliger, Sasha Zweibel, Anna Riolo, Brian Scally, Michelle Minoux, Evan Cornish-Keefe, Allie Merrill-Lovett, Su-Nae Patterson, Julia Schelp, Abby Parsons, Isa Alimonti, Sang-Mi Borneman, Amy Elliot, Ryan Frame, Elizabeth Gallagher, Neil Ganti, Chad Lazar, Sammie Ma, Max Silverstein, Chris Veneziano, Tyler Hickey, Obah Auckland, Vivan Foung, Christina Paparo, Yu Arima, Andrew Block, Anna Talarico, Nick Cerbone, Sagar Setru, Dylan Cicero, Erin Dawson, Kristin Gambardella, Yeana Hyun, Hyangshim Kwak, Faye Wang, Ian Matthews, Charlie Mazur, Lauren Manning, Jackson Kerr, Spencer Mundree.

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“Ain’t Misbehavin’� looks deceptively simple: Thirty songs associated with piano great Thomas “Fats� Waller strung together by a cast of five and a band of six.

But there’s more than just songs, as you’ll find in a high-octane revival of the 1978 Tony Award-winning best musical at the White Plains Performing Arts Center through March 16. There’s heart and soul and an irrepressible love of life.

Director Jerry Dixon — who gave an outstanding performance as Coalhouse Walker in WPPAC’s recent concert version of “Ragtime� — assembles a talented team of singers and instrumentalists who deliver a loving tribute to Waller, a Harlem Renaissance man as at home behind the piano as he was behind the microphone.

“Ain’t Misbehavin’� presents two dozen Waller compositions — from “Honeysuckle Rose� to “The Joint is Jumpin’� to the infectious title tune — and a handful of songs Waller didn’t write but made famous in performance.

Act 1 features more group numbers, while Act 2 offers each performer a chance to have the spotlight to himself or herself. There’s a quick third act, billed as a finale, which features songs that Waller made popular, such as “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter,� “Two Sleepy People� and “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love.�

The two hours fly by, as Dixon & Co. keep things moving along at a toe-tapping good clip. You’ll likely leave the theater humming, with more spring in your step than you had when you entered.

As a revue, there’s no book to speak of, just wall-to-wall Waller, but the talented cast — Aisha de Haas, Eugene Fleming, Danielle Lee Greaves, Anastacia McClesky, Wayne W. Pretlow — are able to create characters within the songs to give them depth. Each of the 30 songs becomes a scene played out with music.

The singers have their moments to be serious or to cut it up a bit — and they take full advantage of the opportunity.
Take the song “Sisters� from “White Christmas� — with Vera-Ellen and Rosemary Clooney — and turn it on its head and you’ll have “Find Out What They Like,� which turns into a showcase for Greaves’ considerable comedic talent.

Fleming, whose buttery baritone and smooth dance moves anchor the show, steps out in a slithering song that is not likely to win the endorsement of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.

DeHaas can make her voice thin and reedy, a la Ella, and her rendition of “Squeeze Me� finds a singer at the top of her powers.

Anastacia McClesky sings an off-key, flat and funny “Yacht Club Swng� that was decades before those butchers from the early rounds of “American Idol.� In Act 2, she sings the heck out of “Keepin’ Out of Mischief Now.�

Pretlow, whose rubbery face and quivering lips conjure Bert Lahr as much as Fats Waller, makes the most of the moments he’s given. His “Honeysuckle Rose,� sung to and then with Greaves, captures the playful way that Waller could dissect a song while performing it, keeping it fresh on the hundredth hearing.

A less-successful divergence from the expected was a down-tempo and sultry version of “I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling,� typically bouncy and happy. While it would seem an interesting take, this version failed to convince.

Michael Arnold’s choreography is clever, as in “Handful of Keys,� when the cast slides left and right in a tight line, their arms intertwined and windmilling in unison.

This is a cast that can do up-tempo or slow it down — and they can deliver when called on to do comedy. But how would they handle the evening’s most affecting and powerful moment — the mournful “(What Did I Do To Be So) Black and Blue,� which ends Act 2?

With simple grace.

After 90 minutes of mostly fun and games, Dixon’s cast takes it all the way down, bathed in blue light, motionless, and sings Andy Razaf’s haunting lyric:

“I’m white inside
But that don’t help my case.
’Cause I can’t hide
What’s on my face.
What did I do,
to be so black and blue?�

Matthew Hemesath’s costumes find the cast in appropriate and colorful finery and Todd Edward Ivins’ set, well-lit by Joel E. Silver, has the feel of a bygone time — perhaps the Cotton Club of the Roaring Twenties — with three small tables set with lamps.

There’s a bandstand for the six-piece “Ain’t Misbehavin’� Band —musical director Carlton Astor Holmes III at the piano, Reggie Pittman on trumpet, Jay Brandford on saxophone, James Burton on trombone, Paul Beaudry on bass and Willard Dyson on drums — and a secondary, raised platform that is not put to full use here.

It would seem a great area for a solo, but Dixon brings his singers downstage-center for those and uses the platform mostly for entrances and exits and one final “curtain call� of sorts for the actors posing as Waller’s band.

Twice, Holmes’ piano glides downstage, putting “Fats� front and center, as he should be. Holmes, a prodigious pianist, keeps the reins on the band until, 20 minutes in, they let loose with all the brass they can muster on “How Ya Baby,� which leads into a jitterbugging spectacle, “The Jitterbug Waltz,� a nice blending of voices.

There’s a reason “Ain’t Misbehavin’� played more than 1,600 performances on Broadway. It effortlessly evokes another time and introduces Waller to new generations.

WPPAC producer Jack Batman’s formula of presenting classics of American musical theater has produced a powerful “Man of La Mancha,� a memorable “Ragtime� and, now, an “Ain’t Misbehavin’� that transcends time. In newspapers, they say three of anything is a trend.

And what a happy trend it is.

“Ain’t Misbehavin’�
Where: White Plains Performing Arts Center, City Center mall, 11 City Place, White Plains.
When: Through March 16. 8 p.m., Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m., Sundays.
Tickets: $50 and $60.CQ.
Web: www.wppac.com.
With: Aisha de Haas, Eugene Fleming, Danielle Lee Greaves, Anastacia McClesky, Wayne W. Pretlow.

The Armonk Players will hold auditions for ‘A Little Night Music’ by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler on Sunday, March 16 from 12-4 p.m., March 18 and 19 from 7-9 p.m. at the Hergenhan Recreation Center, 40 Maple Ave., Armonk. George Puello directs, with musical direction by George Croom.

Performances will be at the North Castle Public Library/Whippoorwill Hall, in Armonk on May 30, 31, June 1, 5, 6, and 7. The Armonk Players are sponsored by the Friends of the North Castle Library. For more information including roles or directions, visit www.armonkplayers.org.

Or contact Anne Nisenholtz at 914-273-0011.