In the Wings

Yorktown Stage is teaming up with John Fanelli’s Lighthouse Youth Arts Center to cast this fall’s production of “Willy Wonka,” to be directed by Barry Liebman. Here’s the audition notice:

Penguin Rep’s executive director Andrew Horn told me this morning that the charming barn-theater on Crickettown Road in Stony Point will change its final mainstage production. Instead of  Mat Smart’s “Samuel J. and K.” — a show about brothers, basketball and identity — the final mainstage production of the theater’s… Read More →

By day, they might be homemakers, bankers, FBI agents or hardware-store owners. But post an audition notice and they’ll answer the call and become Evita, Harold Hill or Willy Loman. They are lovers of community theater and this is the time of year when they shake off their summer slumber… Read More →

There’s a community theater near you, ready to welcome your talents. Actors Conservatory Theatre, Yonkers. 914-391-6558. Antrim Playhouse, Wesley Hills. 845-354-9503. ARC Stages/Little Village Playhouse, 914-747-6206. The Armonk Players, Armonk. 914-234-5457. Bedford Community Theatre, Bedford Hills. 914-244-0474. Brewster Theater Company, Brewster. 845-598-1621. Elmwood Playhouse, Nyack. 845-353-1313. Fort Hill Players, White… Read More →

Hurricane Irene has prompted Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival to cancel its weekend productions of “The Comedy of Errors” (tonight) and “Hamlet” (tomorrow). Ticket holders for these shows should email boxoffice@hvshakespeare.org or call  845-265-9575

Today’s 4 p.m. matinee of SHIPWRECKED will go on as scheduled, but they’ve canceled the 8 p.m. show tonight and tomorrow’s 2 p.m. matinee.

After the MTA announced it would shut the entire system for the weekend, and Disney Theatricals canceled its Saturday and Sunday performances of MARY POPPINS and THE LION KING, the Broadway League reconsidered its decision to go on with weekend shows—made while the trains were still expected to roll.

Disney Theatricals just announced it has canceled weekend performances on Broadway. Here’s the announcement: All performances of THE LION KING at the Minskoff Theatre and MARY POPPINS at the New Amsterdam Theatre Saturday, August 27th and Sunday, August 28th are cancelled due to Hurricane Irene. Producer Disney Theatrical Productions made… Read More →

If you have tickets for a Broadway performance that happens to coincide with, say, a category 2 hurricane hammering the Eastern seaboard, is that enough to keep you away? We all love to hear stories about people who braved blizzards and found themselves in the most intimate of theatrical experiences,... Read More →

(This post has been overtaken by the news. Read the latest, on Broadway canceling weekend shows, here.) Looks like Broadway’s going on with the show… Paul Libin, chairman of The Broaadway League, said today: “As of now, all Broadway shows in New York City for the coming weekend are playing… Read More →

Check out Sunday’s editions of The Journal News, which will have a three-page spread about getting involved in community theaters across the Lower Hudson Valley. I interviewed five community-theater stalwarts to find out how they got involved and what keeps them active. Jennie Marino, of Tappan, the prop expert at… Read More →

Actors Conservatory Theater, the Yonkers-based theater troupe, needs to clean out its Buckingham Road space, Bryn Mawr Hall, or risk losing its home. If you can lend a hand — folding costumes, removing lumber, moving boxes, whatever — Dominick Ranieri could sure use a hand. Rainieri — known to kids… Read More →

Larchmont’s John Treacy Egan (“Sister Act”) will perform the national anthem before tonight’s pre-season NFL game between the Giants and the Chicago Bears. At 8 tonight on ESPN and My 9.

If you’ve seen any of the amazing shows at Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival this summer — Chris Edwards’ madcap “Around the World in 80 Days,” Kurt Rhoads’ freak-show take on “The Comedy of Errors” or Terry O’Brien’s eye-opening and heartfelt “Hamlet” — you’ve likely seen members of the festival’s apprentice… Read More →

Pleasantville Music Theater (PMT), a Westchester-based community theater group, will hold auditions on Sept. 10 and 11 for its popular Westchester Teen Idol competition.

Some people look at the economic downturn as an excuse to scale things back. Westchester Broadway Theatre producers Bob Funking and Bill Stutler are going the other way, announcing a change in their approach at the dinner theater, filling a mainstage 2012 season with nine shows, instead of the current… Read More →

Got a note this morning from John Thompson, who’s directing Bedford Community Theatre’s production of “Hairspray” this fall. He’s holding auditions Sept. 6, 7 and 8. Performances are Nov. 11-13, 18-20. “BEDFORD COMMUNITY THEATRE ANNOUNCES AUDITIONS FOR “HAIRSPRAY” with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman… Read More →

Childrens Shakespeare Theater experimented with Shakespeare in Tallman Park earlier this summer — and they like it. The troupe’s summer campers will turn Tallman Mountain State Park in Palisades into Agincourt as they present Shakespeare’s “Henry V” for one performance only, at 6 p.m., Aug. 12. Bring a picnic or… Read More →

Nice to hear from 2008 Brewster High graduate Richie Grasso that BHS’s Theatre Alumni will be presenting the funny “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” next weekend. Performances are at 8 p.m. Aug. 19 and 20 at JFK Elementary School, 31 Foggintown Road. The “Bee” — which is not appropriate… Read More →