Summer Night 1939 - Articles Page 3.4

14 months ago I and a group of students from my college (Pitt-Johnstown) embarked on a project working with a local Summer Stock theater in our area to commemorate their 80th anniversary. The Mountain Playhouse is local professional equity theatre in Jennerstown, PA that got its start in 1939 being created from an old Gristmill. Other than being shut down during the war, and a fire, this theater has been putting shows on every year.

Come to Park Road for open mic night and strut your stuff on our stage on Saturday, July 13 and Saturday August 3, immediately following the evening performances of The Scottsboro Boys (approximately 10:15pm).

Alfred Uhry, the playwright most well-known for Driving Miss Daisy, penned The Last Night of Ballyhoo based on his own childhood memories. The Last Night of Ballyhoo is set in Atlanta, Georgia in December 1939. It was originally performed at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre as part of the Summer Olympics Arts Festival. In 1997 it made its way to the Helen Hayes Theatre on Broadway. The play explores questions of prejudice and identity through the eyes of a Jewish family in Georgia, who have assimilated to the culture around them-even displaying a Christmas tree in their house, and Joe Farkas, an Eastern European Jew whose presence forces the family to examine their inter-Jewish racism. The term Ballyhoo in the title refers to a cotillion ball being held at the country club to which the family belongs. The Last Night of Ballyhoo takes on these questions of identity with a healthy dose of southern humor and can be seen now at Oyster Mill Playhouse under the direction of Aliza Bardfield and Michael Hosler through May 12th.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) Music Director Designate Jaime Martin makes his only appearance this season on LACO's Orchestral Series when he conducts the West Coast premiere of the LACO-co-commissioned song cycle Voy a Dormir by Bryce Dessner, known to many as a guitarist with Grammy Award-winning alternative rock band The National and one of the most sought-after composers of his generation, on Saturday, April 27, 8 pm, at the Alex Theatre, and Sunday, April 28, 2019, 7 pm, at Royce Hall. Dessner's work was written for and features Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor, who is also spotlighted in Mozart's Requiem with soprano Sarah Shafer, tenor Thomas Cooley, bass Dashon Burton and the USC Thornton Chamber Singers. Martin begins his tenure with LACO in the 2019-20 season.

In Her Shoulders is pleased to present a staged reading of Wine In The Wilderness by Alice Childress, directed by Bianca LaVerne Jones today, March 15, 2019. Doors open at 6:45pm for a 7:00pm start with The Play in Context by Arminda Thomas, who situates the script in its historical time and place, followed by the reading and a post-performance Q&A with refreshments. Admission is by Donation ($10 suggested).The performance is at The New School, Starr Foundation Hall, 63 Fifth Avenue, Room UL102. R.S.V.P. to OnHerShouldersReservations@gmail.com.

Had Lucy's family stayed in Trenton, history might have been very different, but the Garden State stayed peripherally involved the Queen of Comedy's life and work.

In Her Shoulders is pleased to present a staged reading of Wine In The Wilderness by Alice Childress, directed by Bianca LaVerne Jones on Friday, March 15, 2019. Doors open at 6:45pm for a 7:00pm start with The Play in Context by Arminda Thomas, who situates the script in its historical time and place, followed by the reading and a post-performance Q&A with refreshments. Admission is by Donation ($10 suggested).The performance is at The New School, Starr Foundation Hall, 63 Fifth Avenue, Room UL102. R.S.V.P. to OnHerShouldersReservations@gmail.com.

'Genesis' is a world-class choreographic competition, offering dancers and audiences alike the chance to break from tradition, experience something more contemporary, and discover new talent that will shape the Milwaukee ballet scene in the year to come.

The Jazz Ensembles of Mount Holyoke College present the 14th edition of The Big Broadcast! on Saturday, March 2 at 2PM & 7:30PM at Chapin Auditorium, Mount Holyoke College, in South Hadley, MA.

Dunwoody's own professional theatre, STAGE DOOR PLAYERS, kicks off the 2019 leg of their Sapphire Season with a celebration of heritage in Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award award winning THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO, directed by Mira Hirsch. Originally designed as a series of vignettes based on Uhry's childhood memories, this character study of intra-ethnic bias and identity was commissioned for the 1996 Summer Olympics, seeing its premiere at the Alliance Theatre. 

The 2019 season opens with THE GAME'S AFOOT by Ken Ludwig. It is December 1936 and Broadway star William Gillette, admired the world over for his leading role in the play Sherlock Holmes, has invited his fellow cast members to his Connecticut castle for a weekend of revelry. But when one of the guests is stabbed to death, the festivities in this isolated house of tricks and mirrors quickly turn dangerous. It is then up to Gillette himself, as he assumes the persona of his beloved Holmes, to track down the killer before the next victim appears. The danger and hilarity are non-stop. - March 22 - April 7

Dunwoody's own professional theatre, STAGE DOOR PLAYERS, kicks off the 2019 leg of their Sapphire Season with a celebration of heritage in Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award award winning THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO, directed by Mira Hirsch. Originally designed as a series of vignettes based on Uhry's childhood memories, this character study of intra-ethnic bias and identity was commissioned for the 1996 Summer Olympics, seeing its premiere at the Alliance Theatre. 

This winter and spring Bucks County Playhouse offers a full slate of entertainment representing a wide variety of musical, comedy and special event performances as part of the Visiting Artists Series at the Playhouse.

The Deck Restaurant and Bar at Bucks County Playhouse made its debut on Sunday, December 9, 2018 when it opened for an extended preview period prior to an official Grand Opening on Sunday, February 10, 2019.

Curator and producer Peter Musante (Andrew Schneider's YOUARENOWHERE; Blue Man Group; Trusty Sidekick's Up and Away, a groundbreaking show for kids with autism, called 'immersive theater at its most thoughtful' by the New York Times) joins West Coast physical comedienne Summer Shapiro ('raises the craft of clowning to new levels'- NYTheatre.org) to conceive of a new immersive theater festival for the entire family, inspired by the community organizing principles of Jane Jacobs. With seven new works based on true events from Greenwich Village history, the festival brings together leading NYC experimental theatre artists, musicians, physical comedians and clowns for two programs, each consisting of an interactive pre-show and four short stories that bring the surrounding neighborhood to life. The event, recommended for ages 5 and up, is presented by New Ohio Theatre as part of its Theatre for Young Minds holiday series. The performances run from December 20 thru 31 at 154 Christopher Street, NYC. Tickets are $25 ($18 for groups of three or more with the code 'family') and can be purchased through OvationTix (https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/1001863) or by calling 866-811-4111.

The Morris Choral Society (MCS) will present their annual Holiday Concert entitled "Songs Earthly and Divine" in two performances, Saturday December 8 at 8PM and Sunday December 9 at 3PM at St. Virgil's Parish, 250 Speedwell Avenue in Morris Plains, New Jersey. Tickets range from $25 for General Admission, $20 Seniors (60+) and $15 Students and may be purchased online at www.morrischoralsociety.org .

Celebrated American pianist George Winston recently released a cancer research benefit album, Spring Carousel, on RCA Records on March 31, 2017 that debuted at #1 on Billboard's Jazz Chart. Spring Carousel features a collection of 15 solo piano compositions written by Winston while in recovery from a bone marrow transplant for Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) at City of Hope, in Duarte, California, near Los Angeles. His doctor, Stephen J. Forman, Chairman of the Hematology Department at City of Hope, is one of the world's four foremost authorities on hematology and bone marrow transplants. Proceeds from sales of Spring Carousel will directly benefit cancer research at City of Hope. George Winston is available for interviews upon request.

Tony award-winner, Elizabeth Ashley ("Take Her She's Mine") and Tony nominee Tom Hewitt ("The Rocky Horror Show") will headline a refreshed production of Paul Rudnick's witty, laugh out loud comedy, "I Hate Hamlet" at Bucks County Playhouse, November 9 - December 1. The play marks Ashley's return to the Playhouse after co-starring opposite Robert Redford in the pre-Broadway production of Neil Simon's "Barefoot in the Park."

Bucks County Playhouse's Storytelling Series returns with expanded opportunities to hear and see renowned storytellers live on stage. The Word of Mouth: Boo Storytelling event (previously scheduled for October 19) has been moved to January 11, 2019.

Celebrated American pianist George Winston recently released a cancer research benefit album, Spring Carousel, on RCA Records on March 31, 2017 that debuted at #1 on Billboard's Jazz Chart. Spring Carousel features a collection of 15 solo piano compositions written by Winston while in recovery from a bone marrow transplant for Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) at City of Hope, in Duarte, California, near Los Angeles. His doctor, Stephen J. Forman, Chairman of the Hematology Department at City of Hope, is one of the world's four foremost authorities on hematology and bone marrow transplants. Proceeds from sales of Spring Carousel will directly benefit cancer research at City of Hope. George Winston is available for interviews upon request.

Monday evening, November 12, 2018, 8 p.m., The New York Choral Society and Orchestra (NYCHORAL) will present its first program of the season, MY SHADOW AND MY LIGHT, under the baton of Music Director David Hayes at the Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall. In honor of Veterans Day and in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War and the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht, Maestro Hayes has chosen a program that explores how three early 20th-century composers, two British and one American, created works expressing their deeply personal reactions to these profound moments in human history.

Michael Thomas Holmes and Tim Rogan have joined the cast of 'The Rocky Horror Show' at Bucks County Playhouse. Holmes will play Dr. Scott/The Narrator and Rogan will play Rocky. They replaced previously announced cast members Jennifer Van Dyck and Erik Altemus, respectively.

Named for the groundbreaking African American contralto, the Marian Anderson Vocal Award recognizes a young American singer in opera, oratorio, or recital repertoire with outstanding promise for a significant career. Washington National Opera (WNO) named bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as the 2018 recipient earlier this year and is pleased to present him in concert today, October 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Tickets are $39.

Back by popular demand, Bucks County Playhouse's Storytelling Series returns this fall with a new name and expanded opportunities to hear and see renowned storytellers live on stage. The opening performance of the new WORD OF MOUTH series features two special guests: Ophira Eisenberg (host of NPR's 'Ask Me Another') and Jeff Rudell (recent contestant on the new NBC hit show, 'Making It' with Amy Poelher and Nick Offerman). The fall series features monthly performances, two shows a night at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on September 28, October 19, November 16 and December 14. Tickets range in price from $25 for a single ticket to $80 for the four-show package and are available at BucksCountyPlayhouse.org or (215) 862-2121.

Named for the groundbreaking African American contralto, the Marian Anderson Vocal Award recognizes a young American singer in opera, oratorio, or recital repertoire with outstanding promise for a significant career. Washington National Opera (WNO) named bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as the 2018 recipient earlier this year and is pleased to present him in concert on Thursday, October 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Tickets are $39.