World Premiere of SEPARATION RAPID Highlights Chenango River Theatre’s 2012 Season

The 2012 season, sponsored by Empire Toyota of Oneonta, will feature the world premier of a new play specifically commissioned for Chenango River Theatre by Artistic Director Bill Lelbach.  Separation Rapid, written by nationally known author Susan Arnout Smith, is based on the legendary (and true) story of Bessie and Glen Hyde’s 1928 attempt to run the rapids of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.  Separation Rapid will be co-produced by a consortium of 10 Greene businesses and individuals who support arts development for the region (Bonnie’s Restaurant, Hands on Health Massage Therapy, Focus Salon, Robert & Maureen Larkin, Empire Natural Gas Corp., Sherwood Sportswear, Bonnie Cobb & Robert Nesbitt, Greene Veterinary Clinic, McKinney Real Estate and Bonnie Cobb & Yvonne Cobb).

In addition to Separation Rapid, running July 13 – Aug. 5, CRT’s season opens with Broadway Bound (co-produced by IBM and Century 21 - Sbarra & Wells), often considered Neil Simon’s best ever play.  The season also includes the well-known down home musical Pump Boys and Dinettes (co-produced by NBT Bank and Raymond Corporation).  Capping the season is the regional premiere of Yankee Tavern (co-produced by The Daniels Family and Pete & Karen Raymond) by Steven Dietz, one of the most produced plays in the country over the last three years.

To accommodate last season’s 30% growth, the 2012 season will open earlier, with Broadway Bound running from May 25 – June 17.  Frequently considered Neil Simon’s best play, Broadway Bound is an often hilarious, warm and poignant tribute to family and the ties that bind.  The last of Simon’s “BB” trilogy (Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues), brothers Eugene and Stanley are desperately trying to break into the world of show business as professional comedy writers.  When the brothers finally get a break and their material is broadcast on the radio for the first time, their family is upset to hear a thinly veiled portrait of themselves played for laughs. 

The world premiere of Separation Rapid is based on the true (and legendary) story of Glen & Bessie Hyde.  It’s a true adventure, a love story, and an unfathomable mystery.  She would be the first woman to conquer the rapids of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.  He would lead the fastest ever trip down the river.  Together they’d be the first to make it without life preservers, in a boat hand-built out of scrap lumber.  All while on their honeymoon. 

To bring this world premiere to the stage, nationally known novelist, NPR commentator and playwright Susan Arnout Smith was given access to the only copy of Bessie’s original diary, still stored at the Huntington Library in California.  Director Bill Lelbach spent seven days running the rapids of the famed Colorado.  Together they’ll put the Grand Canyon, the river, and this remarkable love story on stage in a world premiere production.

Pump Boys & Dinettes will run Aug. 23 – Sept. 16, with a special Thursday night opening.  The Pump Boys flirt and sell high octane at their station and the Dinettes laugh and serve apple pie at the Double Cupp diner next door.  Together they fashion an evening of music that received unanimous raves on and off Broadway, with the actors performing their music live on stage with guitars, piano, bass and even kitchen utensils.  It’s a rousing, down-home mix of blues, country western and rock ‘n’ roll in this charming tale of friendship, romance and heartbreak. 

Yankee Tavern, running Oct. 5 – 28, is a crumbling old NYC bar just waiting for the wrecking ball.  But before it hits, there’s still a little life in the old place.  Adam’s inherited the bar, and with it comes Ray, an old friend of Adam’s dad.  Ray likes to entertain with a tall tale – the real story of the Kennedy assassination, how Kleenex uses a man-made allergen to boost sales, why Big Oil rigged the Bush-Gore election, whether the moon landing ever happened, the connection between Yoko Ono and the Bay of Pigs (haven’t heard that one yet?  You will).  Ray’s fun, and a great “conspiracy theorist”.  

But who knows for sure what’s true and what isn’t?  Can we trust what the government tells us?  Where better to discuss the unthinkable than in a bar?  Comic, provocative, you might even call it a thriller – what’s the one massive conspiracy that’s most on Ray’s mind?  Even if all his other theories are bunk, how close will you come to questioning your own beliefs as Ray’s tallest tale begins to be reinforced by a strange turn of events in the bar.

Season tickets go on sale April 2 and start as low as $60 for all 4 shows.  To request a season brochure, call 656-8499 and leave your name, address and phone number.  For more information:  www.chenangorivertheatre.org.  Chenango River Theatre’s intimate, air-conditioned 99 seat theatre is 15 minutes north of Binghamton at 991 State Highway 12. 

CRT is the greater Binghamton area’s only professional non-profit theatre company under annual contract with Actors’ Equity Association, the national association for professional actors and stage managers in the United States – the same actors you see on television, in film and at major theatres across the country.