July 2017
Jubilance in July
July 6 - 16: The Effect of Gamma
Rays on
Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds
July 20 -
23: Copenhagen
July 29
- Bridge Street Belly Dancing
The Effect of Gamma
Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
by Paul
Zindel
with Roxanne Fay, Kalia Lay, Lindsay
Cahill, Alexa Powell, and Doris Seipel
Directed
by Steven Patterson
Costumes by Michelle Rogers
Sets and Lighting by John Sowle
Sound by Carmen
Borgia
Production Stage Manager: Caedmon Holland
CLICK HERE FOR PRESS RELEASE AND PRESS PHOTOS
“A triumph …
Sensational, riveting and relevant. This forceful
tale of an embittered and possibly dangerously ill
woman and her two deeply disturbed daughters has
been placed in the hands of a talented troupe of
players who wring from this half-century old piece a
modern morality tale that truly touches the mind and
the heart … John Sowle’s set and lighting are
perfect for this play, as are Michelle Rogers’
costumes and Carmen Borgia’s sound … This play in
Catskill has given me more than the sum of its
individual parts. You cannot ask for more.”
J. Peter Bergman, Berkshire Bright Focus
“Paul Zindel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play ‘The
Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds’
is not an easy one to watch and, similarly, can’t be
an easy one in which to perform. The characters hurt
one another because they themselves are in in pain,
and the pain they put one another through is
realistic enough that we cringe empathetically at
the sight of it. None of this would work in a poor
production; luckily, Bridge Street Theatre’s
version, directed with a firm hand by Steven
Patterson, is very rich … John Sowle’s set was
perfection; it seemed to do double duty as both a
home falling apart due to lack of funds as well as a
memory, perhaps Tillie’s, with light coming through
the cracks and things just a bit off-kilter.”
Amy Durant, The Alt
"Finely
observed and impeccably acted … Monstrous mothers
hold a powerful sway over playwrights and the women
who bring them to life on the stage. There's a
terrifying and sad one at the center of Paul
Zindel's "The Effect of Gamma Rays on
Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds," receiving an artful
revival at Bridge Street Theatre.”
Steve Barnes, Albany Times Union
A mother’s bitterness
colors the lives of her two high school-aged
daughters in Paul Zindel’s 1971 Pulitzer
Prize-winning “The Effect of Gamma Rays on
Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds”, coming to Catskill’s
Bridge Street Theatre for eight performances July
6-16. Called “the most compelling work of its kind
since Tennessee Williams’ ‘The Glass Menagerie’”,
this poignant and lyrical drama will be performed by
a cast of five brilliant female actors, led by
Bridge Street favorite Roxanne Fay (“Home Fires
Burning”, “Dream Child”, “Upon This Rock”) in the
role of Beatrice Hunsdorfer.
The original
Off-Broadway production of the play opened in April
of 1970 and ran for 819 performances, winning not
just the Pulitzer, but also the New York Drama
Critics’ Circle and Obie Awards for Best Play of the
Year. A film version was released in 1972, directed
by Paul Newman and starring his wife Joanne
Woodward, who won the award for Best Actress at the
1973 Cannes Film Festival for her performance. In
the following decade, the play was widely produced
internationally, regionally, and in countless
college and high school productions. Then it seemed
to vanish.
“It’s a piece I’ve always loved
and one which a great many people of my generation
recall with enormous affection,” says director
Steven Patterson. “But after its heyday, it just
seemed to fall off the radar. One of our missions
here at Bridge Street is reviving great but unjustly
neglected works and we’re so excited to be bringing
this one back to the stage where it belongs.”
Thursday July 6 @ 7:30pm (“Pay What You
Will” preview)
Friday July 7 @ 7:30pm (Opening
Night)
Saturday July 8 @ 7:30pm
Sunday July 9
@ 2:00pm (“Pay What You Will” performance)
Thursday July 13 @ 7:30pm
Friday July 14 @ 7:30pm
Saturday July 15 @ 7:30pm
Sunday July 16 @ 2:00pm
(Closing Performance)
Tickets:
Advance tickets available
HERE
or call 800-838-3006
General Admission $22, $10
for Students age 21 and under
Tickets can also be
purchased at the door prior to each performance (on
a space available basis)
for $25, $10 for
Students age 21 and under.
The Cast and Crew:
ROXANNE FAY (Beatrice) is a Florida “native”,
having returned to her home state after many years
living in New York, Chicago and Hawaii. Her
experiences have taken her from cruise ships to
castles throughout the USA and Europe. Roxanne keeps
herself busy as writer, director, and actor, most
notably, creating theatrical events to highlight the
artists and works exhibited at the Dali Museum, St.
Petersburg. In 2016, Roxanne was awarded the Hawthornden Writers’ Fellowship and spent a month as
playwright in residence at Hawthornden Castle in
Scotland, which was completely awesome. Her plays
have been produced in Chicago, at the United Solo
Festival in NYC, and her plays HOME FIRES BURNING,
DREAM CHILD: THE TRIAL OF ALICE IN WONDERLAND, and
UPON THIS ROCK: THE MAGDALENE SPEAKS have been
presented here at Bridge Street Theatre. Other roles
have included Terry in SIDE MAN (Banyan), Touchstone
in AS YOU LIKE IT, Feste in TWELFTH NIGHT, and
Beatrice in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (Jobsite
Theater), Fraulein Schneider in CABARET, Dr. Emma
Brookner in THE NORMAL HEART, Juliet’s Nurse/Friar
Lawrence in ROMEO AND JULIET, and Nurse Ratched in
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST (freeFall Theatre).
In January, 2018 she will perform as Prospero in
Jobsite Theater’s production of THE TEMPEST. Roxanne
has also enjoyed eight seasons performing for Walt
Disney World’s “Holidays Around The World”,
portraying LaBefana in EPCOT’s Italian Pavillion.
www.roxannefay.com.
KALIA LAY (Ruth),
before settling on acting, dreamed of being (in
chronological order) an artist, a teacher, an
oceanographer, and a witch. A Long Island native and
recent graduate of SUNY New Paltz, some of her
favorite credits include PARADE, THE GREAT GATSBY,
DOG SEES GOD, and RENT. She’s grateful to have had
the privilege of portraying some wonderfully
complicated women over the years. When she’s not
singing along to Sondheim shows or practicing
dialects under her breath, one can find her
painting, embroidering, or loitering in coffee
shops. She’s forever thankful for her teachers who
saw a spark in her, her parents who didn’t balk at
the notion of studying acting, and her nine-year-old
self who decided to join the drama troupe instead of
the art club. Whoda thunk it would lead her here?
LINDSAY CAHILL (Tillie) is very excited to
return to Bridge Street Theater where she performed
the role of Sally in George M. Cohan’s THE TAVERN
during the 2016 season. Lindsay performed in
several musicals during her high school years
including: ANNIE (ensemble), ONCE UPON A MATTRESS
(ensemble), GREASE (Marty), ANYTHING GOES (Erma),
and THE LITTLE MERMAID (Aquata). She recently
graduated from Catskill High School and plans to
study Theater and Performing Arts in college.
ALEXA POWELL (Janice Vickery) is making her
“onstage” Bridge Street Theatre debut in this
production. She recently appeared in the theatre’s
PERFORMATHON! and last season was part of the
backstage crew that created the live storm effects
for BST’s production of George M. Cohan’s THE
TAVERN. At Catskill High, she has played Flounder in
THE LITTLE MERMAID and Fred the Angel in ANYTHING
GOES. She recently auditioned for the Carnegie Hall
High School Series and performed in ALL SHOOK UP at
Proctor’s. Alexa is passionate about the arts and
takes every opportunity to create something new.
She’s done everything from stage crew to chorus to
filmmaking, always hoping to expand her knowledge
and experience.
DORIS SEIPEL (Nanny) began
her acting career in 1964 as Lizzy Curry in THE
RAINMAKER, still her favorite role after 40+++
years. She has worked regionally as a widow in
SENIOR MOMENTS with Fort Salem Theater, The Sage
Tamenund in LAST OF THE MOHICANS with LOMOD, Dottie
in GOOD PEOPLE with Performing Arts of Woodstock,
Sister Mary Ignatius in LEADING LADIES with Blue
Horse Repertory Acting Company, and Lady Macbeth and
Juliet’s Nurse with The Simon Studio and Blue Horse
Repertory at “Bard on the Lake”. She is
currently taking acting classes with Blue Horse
Repertory where she has played the classics,
Shakespeare, murderesses, a drug addict, a cougar,
and an assortment of nuns.
STEVEN PATTERSON
(Director) has performed regionally and in New York
City with theaters such as South Coast Repertory, freeFall Theatre, TheatreWorks/Silicon Valley,
Capital Repertory, Kaliyuga Arts, and with the
Oregon, Orlando, Tennessee, Colorado, Pennsylvania,
Utah, and Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festivals. Favorite
roles have included Lear in KING LEAR, Jean Genet in
BEAUTY, Austin Wiggin in THE SHAGGS: PHILOSOPHY OF
THE WORLD, David in POOR SUPER MAN, Judi Boswell in
HOW TO PRAY, and Jake Sturdy in KILL ME NOW. Steven
also serves as Bridge Street Theatre’s Associate
Director. He directed THE TAVERN, the first
production in the new Mainstage of Bridge Street
Theatre
JOHN SOWLE (Set & Light Designer) is
Artistic and Managing Director of Bridge Street
Theatre. He founded Kaliyuga Arts in 1986 with his
partner Steven Patterson and has received multiple
awards for his directing and design work on their
Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York productions.
In Manhattan, John directed and designed Samuel
Beckett's ALL THAT FALL and Dan Carbone’s KINGDOM OF
NOT at the Cherry Lane and the Al Carmines/Gertrude
Stein musical IN CIRCLES at Judson Church. In 2012
he directed and designed THE MOUND BUILDERS and in
2013 directed and designed two Brad Fraser plays,
TRUE LOVE LIES and the U.S. premiere of KILL ME NOW,
all at the Cross Street Theatre Center (Stageworks)
in Hudson, NY. Last year he directed and designed
the Bridge Street Theatre productions of THE EPIC OF
GILGAMESH, THE KILLING & THE LOVE DEATH (late plays
of William Inge), and GRINDER’S STAND by Oakley Hall
III. He directed and designed the BST productions of
FRANKENSTEIN, HOLIDAY MEMORIES and THE OFFICIAL
ADVENTURES OF KIERON AND JADE. John has an
undergraduate degree in mathematics from M.I.T and a
PhD in Dramatic Art from UC Berkeley.
CARMEN
BORGIA (Sound Design) is a musician and sound
designer. He has designed and mixed films for PBS,
HBO, IFC and many film festivals. He has also
released two CD's of his own work, "North" and "The
Red Circle Line". In 2009 his musical, SOUTH,
premiered at Dixon Place in New York City. He
operates out of studios in Catskill and The Bronx,
doing sound-for-picture work and music recording. He
can be found at Magpie Bookshop Saturday afternoons
at his Ukulele Camp, where anyone can learn to uke.
He is also a regular performer at the Catskill
Farmers Market on Sundays.
CAEDMON HOLLAND
(Production Stage Manager) grew up in learning
theater and at the age of six started attending The
New York State Theater Institute’s summer theatre
program. He continued with this until the age of 14
when, during his high school years, he started
focusing more on film. At 19, Caedmon transferred to
the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. While
there, he was part of the only Western Theater
school performance in the world to be invited to
participate in the First International Asian Theater
Festival in 2010. Caedmon graduated UNM with a BA in
Theater in December of 2014. Since then, he’s been
back home in upstate NY, performing locally with
Bridge Street Theatre in LUCKY LINDY and Kaaterskill
Actors Theater in CHRISTMAS IN JULY among others. He
is now the Production Manager for Bridge Street
Theatre and acted as Stage Manager for SOUVENIR and
THE OFFICIAL ADVENTURES OF KIERON AND JADE.
If you’ve never seen
Copenhagen, it’s hard to imagine that a play in
which three dead people discuss atomic physics could
be electrifying and intensely emotional. Yet this
riveting drama, full of crackle and vitality,
delivers a literary and theatrical punch that stays
with you long after the curtain has fallen.
On the surface, Copenhagen turns around a mysterious
1941 meeting between the esteemed Danish physicist
Niels Bohr and his former pupil, the German
scientist Werner Heisenberg. Old friends who had
revolutionized atomic science during the 1920s, they
are now on opposite sides of a world war. But the
science, it turns out, is merely a vehicle, a
metaphor for a wrenching probe into deeply human
quandaries and contradictions.
“Copenhagen
takes us to the boundaries of human understanding,
questioning what, if anything, we can ever know,”
said director Ellen Honig. “It delves into the
totally contemporary issue of whether an individual
can make a difference in a world undergoing
momentous upheaval. “One of the region’s most
experienced directors, Honig directed the 2017
Performing Arts of Woodstock production of Patrick
Shanley’s Outside Mullingar and the 2016 RTS
production of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins as well
as RTS productions of 1776 The Musical (2015)
Sondheim’s A Little Night Music (2014) and Kaufman
and Hart’s The Man Who Came to Dinner (2012).
To enable audiences throughout the Hudson Valley
to discover (or rediscover) Copenhagen, the
Rhinebeck Theatre Society production will be
performed at three locations. The staged reading in
Catskill will be followed by full productions in
Woodstock and Rhinebeck. Copenhagen features three
highly accomplished local actors, with David Smilow
as Heisenberg, Andrew Joffe as Bohr and Christina
Reeves as Bohr’s wife Margareta.
“BRIDGE STREET BELLY DANCE” COMES TO CATSKILL
A thrilling, empowering,
and spiritual experience awaits audiences on
Saturday evening July 29th when Francesca Avani
hosts “Bridge Street Belly Dance” on the stage of
Catskill’s Bridge Street Theatre. The evening will
feature performances by a dazzling array of artists
from all over New York, New Jersey, and New
Hampshire in a kaleidoscopic display of the art of
Tribal Fusion Belly Dance. Based in ancient
traditions, Tribal Fusion is a vital, growing,
evolving art form, being presented in Catskill by
some of its finest and most accomplished
practitioners.
Tribal Fusion Belly Dance is a
modern Western form of belly dance which was created
by fusing American Tribal Style belly dance and
American Cabaret belly dance. Artists frequently
incorporate elements from Popping, Hip Hop,
'Egyptian' or 'Cabaret' belly dance, as well as
movement principles from traditional forms such as
Flamenco, Kathak, Odissi, and other folkloric and
classical dance styles.
Participating in this
literal Belly Dance summit will be Makeda, Gerudo
Vagrants, Rose Calavera. Jaylee, Cherish, Lauren
Robbiani, Beast Coast ITS, Corpus Callosum, Brenna
Crowley, Francesca Avani, Danielle Hutton, Serena
Spears, Lauren Jeanette, and The Lunachix.
