Steven Patterson News

In late September 2013, playwright Paul David Power's life changed forever when his same-sex partner of nine years passed away suddenly. In Crippled, he explores the debilitating effects of grief and the challenge of learning to move forward, while also living with a physical disability. Power, both the playwright and a performer in Crippled, is himself living with a physical disability, a not uncommon identity that nonetheless finds little representation on our stages. With his award-winning ensemble play, he set out to create a piece that would speak to the fullness of his own human experience as a disabled artist, while exploring the universal languages of love, loss, and learning to live.

Catskill's Bridge Street Theatre is delighted to announce its 2019 line-up of plays - five magnificent and audacious stage works for audiences to savor between April and October.  It includes two world premieres, a Victorian comedy, an American classic and an astounding musical about The Shaggs.

The traditional and beloved tale of greed, reflection, and redemption in the wake of the Christmas season recently hit the stage at Orlando Shakes this past weekend-and no, it's not the tale of the Grinch. Whether you're a seasoned Charles Dickens fan, entirely versed in his holiday classic, 'A Christmas Carol' and the lessons it brings every year, or you're introducing someone new to the story, you might just find that Orlando Shakes' take on the story deserves a spot amongst your own family traditions.

Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF's production of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and adapted by Jim Helsinger runs from November 28 - December 30, 2018. Tickets (starting at $30) are available now by phone (407) 447-1700 ext. 1, online at orlandoshakes.org, or in person at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center (812 East Rollins Street).

Catskill's intimate Bridge Street Theatre will close out its 2018 Subscription Season with a major coup: the world premiere of Philadelphia-based playwright Michael Whistler's brilliant, funny, and touching "Casse Noisette" (The Nutcracker). The play, described by its author as being about "a very quiet man and some very loud music", masterfully interweaves the life of Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky with that of a deeply-closeted modern-day American high school teacher obsessed with Tchaikovsky's music. Sugar Plum Fairies and phone sex workers collide, and five actors play eleven different roles in two completely different time periods, in this tale about discovering the strength to be true to one's self, whatever the cost.

Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF's production of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and adapted by Jim Helsinger runs from November 28 - December 30, 2018. Tickets (starting at $30) are available now by phone (407) 447-1700 ext. 1, online at orlandoshakes.org, or in person at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center (812 East Rollins Street).

Catskill's beloved Flo Hayle returns to the director's chair for a two-weekend run of Alfred Uhry's heart-warming 1988 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama "Driving Miss Daisy", parking itself at Bridge Street Theatre for eight performances only, Thursdays through Sundays from October 11-21, 2018.

An inappropriately public display of affection upends the lives of two William Blake scholars in Mickle Maher's raucous celebration of art, ardor, and academia "There is a Happiness That Morning Is", coming to Catskill's Bridge Street Theatre for eight performances only, Todays through Sundays from September 6 - 16, 2018.

An inappropriately public display of affection upends the lives of two William Blake scholars in Mickle Maher's raucous celebration of art, ardor, and academia "There is a Happiness That Morning Is", coming to Catskill's Bridge Street Theatre for eight performances only, Thursdays through Sundays from September 6 - 16, 2018.

Hang onto your hats! Actress Judy Rosenblatt channels Peggy Guggenheim in "Woman Before a Glass", a play by Lanie Robertson, coming to Catskill's Bridge Street Theatre for three performances only August 10-12, 2018.

Hang onto your hats! Actress Judy Rosenblatt channels Peggy Guggenheim in "Woman Before a Glass", a play by Lanie Robertson, coming to Catskill's Bridge Street Theatre for three performances only August 10-12, 2018.

Blast off for the Planet Crestview with a 12-year-old boy scientist, his female sidekick, and a sheep named Bob!! Quake with terror as our heroes are taken prisoner by Crestview's Supreme Ruler, a preening narcissist who'll stop at nothing to become the only man in the entire Goose Nebula to own a wool letterman's sweater!! Will a nearly-forgotten film star be able to rescue the earthlings from being whacked-out with a giant pumpkin?? And will they ever find their way back to Earth?? The spirit of Ed Wood (creator of the infamously bad cult film "Plan 9 From Outer Space") lives on in this Retro-Sci-Fi adventure written by one of America's pre-eminent playwrights with kids in mind, but with plenty of sly, sarcastic, satirical humor for adults to guffaw over.

Blast off for the Planet Crestview with a 12-year-old boy scientist, his female sidekick, and a sheep named Bob!! Quake with terror as our heroes are taken prisoner by Crestview's Supreme Ruler, a preening narcissist who'll stop at nothing to become the only man in the entire Goose Nebula to own a wool letterman's sweater!! Will a nearly-forgotten film star be able to rescue the earthlings from being whacked-out with a giant pumpkin?? And will they ever find their way back to Earth?? The spirit of Ed Wood (creator of the infamously bad cult film "Plan 9 From Outer Space") lives on in this Retro-Sci-Fi adventure written by one of America's pre-eminent playwrights with kids in mind, but with plenty of sly, sarcastic, satirical humor for adults to guffaw over.

Hudson Valley kids (and their adults) will soon get a chance to see that this is no joke. The playwright far better known for his searing and foul-mouthed adult dramas has, indeed, created a divinely silly, family-friendly, retro-sci-fi romp called "The Revenge of the Space Pandas or Binky Rudich and the Two-Speed Clock", which will be presented for eight performances only July 12-22 at Catskill's Bridge Street Theatre.

The life of Hitler's chosen filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl serves as the springboard for Sarah Greenman's "Leni", a shattering exploration of narcissism, denial, and artistic and moral responsibility, coming to Catskill's Bridge Street Theatre for eight performances only, Thursdays through Sundays from May 17-May 27, 2018.

What begins as a one-night-stand turns into a tug of war between a short-order cook who sees a lifetime of love and adventure ahead and a waitress who's been burned too many times in the past and is terrified of being hurt again in Terrence McNally's contemporary American classic "Frankie & Johnny in the Clair de Lune", being presented by Catskill's Bridge Street Theatre for eight performances only, Thursdays through Sundays March 29-April 8, 2017.

Catskill's Bridge Street Theatre celebrates Veteran's Day this year with the final production of its 2017 Subscription Season Lanford Wilson's haunting and powerful drama Redwood Curtain .

Upstate audiences are in for a rare treat as Michelle Carter's award-winning comedy "How to Pray" receives its second production ever September 14-24 at Catskill's Bridge Street Theatre.

When a young married couple find themselves unable to conceive a child, the husband's sister reluctantly agrees to act as a surrogate. Complications ensue in Michelle Carter's quirky comedy "How to Pray", coming to Catskill's Bridge Street Theatre for eight performances only September 14 - 24. Winner of the Susan Glaspell Contest for "Best New Play" and a PEN USA Award for Drama, this hilarious and wildly theatrical play received its world premiere at the Centenary Stage Company in Hackettstown, NJ in a production which featured actor Steven Patterson as a cat, a dog, a ninety-year-old cancer patient, and a Karaoke-singing pre-op transsexual soup kitchen worker. Mr. Patterson will be re-creating these roles in this new production, only the second the play has ever received.

Avast, landlubbers! Climb aboard the 'Worthy Vessel' at Catskill's Bridge Street Theatre for a Concert Reading of "SOUTH: A Nautical Musical" on Sunday August 27 at 2:00 in the afternoon.