This year, the Mac-Haydn Theatre kicks off its summer season with a Bang! Pop! POW! by delivering a sizzling performance of West Side Story. Sixty-seven years after its first production, West Side Story has become nearly as iconic as it’s source material (William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet) so I won’t rehash the premise line by line….
Category: Theater
It’s Only A Play at the Claverack Library
Review by Brian Pearson The late playwright Terrence McNally’s play about a play, It’s Only a Play, was splendidly revived last Saturday evening at the Marilyn & Bob Laurie Gallery inside the Claverack Library. The excellent and capable cast, led by director Stephen Sanborn, brought laughter, surprise and a hint of Broadway glamour to the…
Bridge Street Theatre’s Uncle Vanya – A Wonderfully Miserable Existential Russian Dark Comedy
As you walk into the Bridge Street Theatre’s stage production of Anton Chekhov’s play, Uncle Vanya, you can buy a shot of vodka for $1. My suggestion is – take one. The vodka will help you handle the feeling of existential dread and misery that awaits you after watching this Russian “comedy”. I opted for…
Penny Arcade Rallies Against the ‘Banality of Evil’ and the Gentrification of the Mind in her show “Longing Last Longer” at the Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill, NY
Penny Arcade’s show, Longing Lasts Longer comes with a warning. As the audience walked into the Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill last week, she told them, “A lot of times, people come to my show, and during the show, they start to get angry with me. I need you to understand that this show was…
A Shayna Maidel – The Two of Us Productions at the Copake Grange
A Shayna Maidel (a “pretty girl” in Yiddish) is a memory play produced by The Two of Us Productions, recounting the story of two sisters reuniting after years of being separated by WWII; one sister moved to New York City prior to the war with her father, while the other sister barely survived a concentration…
Penny Arcade Performs in the Hudson Valley at the Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill, NY
Hudson Valley! You may remember Penny Arcade from the show, Bitch! Dyke! Faghag! Whore!, premiering in 1990 at Performance Space 122 in the East Village then moving at the Village Gate. As a protest performance art piece, the show was a reaction to former Senator Jesse Helms and the political attacks on the National Endowment…
MAC-HAYDN THEATRE ANNOUNCES ‘THE FANTASTICKS’ WILL CONCLUDE 2024 SEASON OF MUSICALS
The Mac-Haydn Theatre has announced “The Fantasticks” as the sixth and concluding production of their 2024 Mainstage season schedule. The theatre’s 55th summer season will also include previously announced “West Side Story,” “Sister Act,” “RENT,” “All Shook Up,” and “Something Rotten.” Tickets are now on sale at www.machaydntheatre.org. Known to many as “the world’s longest-running musical,”…
Scatological Japanese Performance Art Deconstructs Shakespeare’s Hamlet in Chatham, New York
I saw a show called “Hamlet | Toilet” and said to myself, ‘I have to go!’ Prior to Columbia County, I lived in the East Village of NYC from 1987 until 2009. With multiple NYU Drama School friends and roommates, I’ve sat through more than my fair share of black box avant garde theater performances….
MAC-HAYDN THEATRE ANNOUNCES 2024 SEASON OF MUSICALS
The Mac-Haydn Theatre has announced the first 5 musicals of its 2024 Mainstage season schedule, composing the theatre’s 55th summer season. The lineup of hit musicals includes “West Side Story,” “Sister Act,” “RENT,” “All Shook Up,” and “Something Rotten.” Tickets are now on sale at www.machaydntheatre.org. Consisting of both classics and contemporary pieces, Producing Artistic…
Ancram Opera House Becomes Ancram Center for the Arts
Reflecting its growth as a regional creative hub serving the Hudson Valley, Berkshires and Litchfield County, Ancram Opera House is taking on the new name of Ancram Center for the Arts. The announcement was made November 25 by Ancram Opera House Co-Directors Paul Ricciardi and Jeffrey Mousseau and Board President Cathy Redlich at a Community…