Change has come again to the White Plains Performing Arts Center, with the departure of two of the venue’s key figures. Laurence Holzman, executive director, and Felicia Needleman, literary manager, have left the administration of the venue they helped reimagine last fall as a home to new musicals and plays…. Read More →
The word had gone out that on that particular night — last Saturday — the world was about to end. So why were all these people laughing? They were at Penguin Rep in Stony Point, which kicked off its ambitious 34th season the way it has the past three seasons,... Read More →
For thousands of years, people have been predicting the end of the world. John Christian Plummer is convinced the World’s End will start Friday night. Precisely at 7 p.m. And he hopes you’ll come. That’s when World’s End Theatre, the brainchild of former director and President Jimmy Carter speechwriter Gordon… Read More →
Susan Courtney’s play, “Girl in Blue Armchair,” directed by Steve Boockvor, will play The Harvey School’s Black Box Theatre, 260 Jay St., (Route 22) Katonah at 7 p.m. June 11 and 3 p.m. June 12. With a cast that includes the playwright (from Valhalla), Catherine Nastasi (South Salem), David Lanson,... Read More →
After 37 straight years presenting big musicals at Clarkstown High School South, the venerable Clarkstown Summer Theater Festival is taking the summer off. The board of trustess of the festival, known simply as “summer theater” for generations, posted a terse note yesterday on the Clarkstown Summer Theater website. It read:... Read More →
Comedy is like a balloon that kids keep aloft by batting it into the air: If one kid doesn’t keep his end of the bargain, the game is over. At an uneven preview performance of the Schoolhouse Theater’s production of Neil Simon’s “Laughter on the 23rd Floor,” the balloon too… Read More →
If Joe Brancato has learned anything in 33 years running Penguin Rep, his charming theater in Stony Point, it’s that if something works, you stick with it. So, for the third straight season, Brancato starts up his May-to-November season (Penguin’s 34th) with a play by Nyack’s Tom Dudzick. In 2009,... Read More →
Pound Ridge Theatre Company holds auditions for “Dial ‘M’ For Murder” by Frederick Knott, directed by Ray Eckerle, at 7 p.m. on June 6, 7 and 8 at Conant Hall, 255 Westchester Avenue (Rte 137), Pound Ridge. Rehearsals begin in September, with performances at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays Nov…. Read More →
OK, so you’re a Westchester theater kid who just graduated—or you’re off for the summer from college and you’re looking for a show. That’s where Little Radicals Theatrics comes in. It’s a group designed specifically for high-schoolers and post high-school kids who are looking for that summer outlet. (They’ve branched… Read More →
Here are the nominees in the Artistic (Performance) Categories for the 2011 Metropolitan High School Theater Awards, announced by producer Danielle Rudess: Outstanding Overall Production Archbishop Stepinac H.S. – Beauty and the Beast Bergen County Academies – 42nd Street Don Bosco Prep – Jekyll and Hyde Hastings H.S. – Oklahoma!... Read More →
Here are the nominees in the Production categories for the 2011 Metropolitan High School Theater Awards, announced by Danielle Rudess, the event’s founder and producer. Outstanding Stage Crew Archbishop Stepinac H.S. – Beauty and the Beast Blind Brook H.S. – Urinetown Fair Lawn H.S. – Bye Bye Birdie Hendrick Hudson… Read More →
Some pretty interesting choices in this year’s outstanding overall production. Each cast will be invited to perform at the ceremony on June 6.
The nominations are out, and will be posted here at noon. I’ll post the production (technical) nominations and then the artistic (performance) nominations in two separate posts. Producer Danielle Rudess says they’ll be getting rid of celebrity presenters to focus the show on performance, and the kids.
Producer Danielle Rudess tells me we can announce the nominees for the 13th Metropolitan High School Theater Awards here at noon on Monday. So check back then. There are five schools from Rockland, 20 from Westchester and 13 schools from Bergen participating in this year’s Metropolitan Awards. Here they are,... Read More →
OK, the title is enough to turn heads — but it turns out you can audition fully clothed…. Curiosity Entertainment announces auditions for “Now That You’ve Seen Me Naked,” with performances set for Sept. 16 and 17 at Nyack Center. Here’s the notice: “Casting 3 men and 3 women for… Read More →
The Port Chester Council for the Arts keeps things hopping all summer for theater lovers on both sides of the footlights and this summer is no exception. They’ve just announced auditions for three musicals—“Company,” “Bye Bye, Birdie” and “Seussical Jr.”—and Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.” Participation fees vary by show… Read More →
Two different perspectives on Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s Communist witch hunt play out on local stages this weekend, part of a rush of openings: Bedford Community Theatre presents Arthur Miller’s searing play “The Crucible,” set in Salem, Mass., the scene of an actual witch hunt. Miller’s hero, John Proctor, refuses to… Read More →
Up to the Schoolhouse Theater in Croton Falls tonight for the first performance of Simon’s “Laughter on the 23rd Floor,” directed by Pam Moller Kareman. A sucker for Simon, I’ll likely be ROT23FL.
For more than a decade, Dan Foster has been creating memories at Hudson Stage Company, which he founded with Denise Bessette and Olivia Sklar. On stage through next weekend is the Foster-directed David Mamet comedy, “Boston Marriage,” about two women of fashion who face crises of their own making and… Read More →
The Briarcliff Manor Recreation Department and the Briarcliff Friends of the Performing Arts will hold auditions for the fifth season of the popular Summercliff Players and their production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “The Sound of Music.” Kathleen Donovan-Warren directs, Nadia Rizzo is music director and James Britt is technical director…. Read More →
The Knaves of Children’s Shakespeare Theatre—that’s CST’s younger troupe of bard-reciting kids—open “The Tempest” this weekend in Palisades, with an opening gala at 7 p.m. May 6 ($20, $12 kids) and performances at 7 p.m. on May 7, 13 and 14 and at 3 p.m. on May 8. Performances are… Read More →
Nice to learn about two community-theater groups coming together to put on a big, whopping show. Pleasantville Music Theatre (PMT) and The Armonk Players will hold auditions June 6 an 7 at Whippoorwill Hall in Armonk (next to the North Castle Public Library) for the Westchester community-theater premiere of “The… Read More →
Bedford Community Theatre are gearing up for a production of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” opening May 12 for a two-weekend run. Performances at 7 p.m., May 12 and 19 and 8 p.m., May 13, 14, 20, and 21. At the Bedford Hills Community House, 74 Main St., Bedford Hills. $15;... Read More →
In “Boston Marriage,” now in a spirited run at Briarcliff’s Hudson Stage Company, David Mamet shows he knows a lot of words, only some of which start with the letter “f.” The playwright — who works in profanity the way Manet worked in oil — packs the three-woman play with… Read More →
You just have to love a theater company that presents works from all walks of life that somehow manage to present universal truths. The Schoolhouse Theater is such a place. Pam Moller Kareman’s theater on Owens Road in Croton Falls began its season with “Brownsville Bred,” Elaine Del Valle’s wondrous… Read More →
