October 2016
HELLUVA TOWN: A NEW
YORK SOUNDTRACK
Eric Comstock & Barbara Fasano
October 1
FRANKENSTEIN:
THE MODERN PROMTHEUS
Steven Patterson
October
13-23
TODAY'S BRECHT
Octber 30
Helluva Town: A New York Soundtrack
October 1 @ 8pm
COMSTOCK & FASANO SALUTE NYC
IN CATSKILL!
Catskill’s Bridge Street Theatre,
already renowned for its ambitious mix of theater,
music, magic, and more, is thrilled to announce the
fourth and final installment (for 2016) in Tom
Andersen’s “Words & Music: The Songbook Series”:
Award-winning married musical partners Eric Comstock and
Barbara Fasano in a salute to the city that doesn’t
sleep called “HELLUVA TOWN: A New York Soundtrack.”
Rather than trotting out the predictable New York
anthems, this couple celebrate their love/hate
relationship with New York City by presenting an
eclectic mix of musical numbers from Broadway,
Hollywood, and the pop/jazz songbook. The composers
whose works they’ll be performing run the gamut from
Leonard Bernstein to Richard Rodgers, Paul Simon to Joni
Mitchell and Burt Bachrach. A genuine “Manhattan”
experience - without the Manhattan prices!
Comstock & Fasano sing two songs from GOLDEN BOY in a salute to Charles Strouse at the Allen Room, Jazz @ Lincoln Center, with Harry Allen (tenor saxophone), Peter Washington (bass) and Vito Lesczak (drums).
“HELLUVA TOWN” will be presented for one night only,
Saturday October 1, 2016, on the Bridge Street Theatre
Mainstage at 44 West Bridge Street in the Village of
Catskill, NY. Advance tickets are available online at
BrownPaperTickets.com or by calling them at
800-838-3006. Tickets can also be purchased at the door
one half hour prior to the performance on a space
available basis. BST’s “Words and Music” series has been
extremely popular and tickets tend to sell out fast, so
pre-purchase is strongly recommended. You don’t want to
miss the pair Stephen Holden of the NY Times calls “The
sophisticated cabaret children of Bobby Short and Lena
Horne!”
FRANKENSTEIN: THE MODERN PROMETHEUS
Adapted by Jim Helsinger
from the novel by Mary
Wollstonecraft Shelly
Directed & Designed by John Sowle
Costumes by
Michelle Rogers
Sound by Carmen Borgia
Stage Manager -- Caedmon Holland
Steven Patterson as Victor Frankenstein
With
Steven Patterson
as Captain Robert Walton
Steven Patterson as Victor
Frankenstein
Steven Patterson as Doctor Krempe
Steven Patterson as Henri Clerval
Steven Patterson as
The Creature
Steven Patterson as The Old Man
Reviews and Facebook Posts
“This is visceral acting produced by keen intelligence, alternating subtle nuance at one moment with throat-grabbing intensity at the next. This is also theater that deserves to be seen.” – From Steve Barnes review in the Albany Times Union
"In all, this is an intriguing addition to the theater scene in the region and, perhaps, it should inspire a yearly retelling on this stage. It brings back the reality of what Shelley created and sends up the send-ups we've grown so used to seeing, even in an Abbott and Costello film. As for this edition, well, I'd see it again. Once a year." - From J. Peter Bergman's review on BerkshireBrightFocus.com
"Most of all, we’re given a theatrical experience, and an unforgettable performance, that is the essence of theater. You’re not going to see the likes of this anywhere else anytime soon, so you’d better get to Catskill this weekend. Otherwise you’re making a monstrous mistake." - B. A. Nilsson in Words and Music
“Mesmerizing. Thank you to everyone for a great
night. Everyone should go out and see this!” – Lizbette
Ortiz Serrano
“Just wanted to say a few words
about the performance a few nights ago. Wow! Zowiee!
Aside from the words, congratulations on an outstanding
performance by Steven! Very impressive and all around
good work on all the elements … Sets and Lighting ...
Excellent!” – Ellen Honig
“EVERYBODY must go see
this tour de force from our Steven Patterson.” – Hudson
Talbott
I am awestruck by the brilliance of this
performance; thank you Steven. I've never been so
enthralled by a play as I was today. - Donna Christensen
Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus. Saw this today
at Bridge Street Theater in Catskill. This is Broadway
worthy. You don't need to go to Manhattan to see great
theater...do this! Steven Patterson was amazing in his
one person play about Frankenstein. It lasts until next
weekend and highly recommend if you love theater! Thank
you John
Sowle and Steven Patterson! Steven Patterson, you
were captivating! Amazing performance!!!!! Thank you. –
Ann Ruecker
“Another brilliant production,
another Steven Patterson/John Sowle tour de force. BST
is one of the best things to happen to our region!” –
Carl Bethge
“This is Broadway worthy … Amazing
performance!!!!! Thank you.” – Ann Ruecker
Whatever
you do, You. Must. See. This. Show.
Steven Patterson is absolutely amazing as he
inhabits each and every character in the story. – Robert
Ragaini
"I saw last night's performance of
"Frankenstein..." I still have no words, and am still
letting the entire work percolate. The lasting gift of a
performance only Steven Patterson is capable of bringing
to the stage, he is incomparable." -- Betsy Barrett
Steven Patterson creates multiple characters in his
incredible tour-de-force performance of "Frankenstein:
The Modern Prometheus," and none is more startling than
the monster itself. It arrives at the start of the
second act like something that's just emerged from the
primordial ooze. Only ONE MORE CHANCE to catch this show
directed by the incomparable
John Sowle
and stage-managed by the fabulous
Caedmon Avery Holland. – Tony Pallone
Reviews from Steven's performance at Orlando Shakespeare Theater:
"Jean-Louis Barrault, the great French actor,
director and impresario, once said that one actor alone
on a stage is enough to create theater — if necessary,
total theater. Rarely has this dictum been more
gratifyingly confirmed than in the Orlando Shakespeare
Festival's current production of Frankenstein, the
Modern Prometheus, a theatrical adaptation of Mary
Shelley's supernatural novel of scientific ambition gone
awry. In this impressive and literate stage version of
the Gothic yarn, adapted by Festival artistic director
Jim Helsinger, only one actor, Steve Patterson, appears
on stage to tell the totality of the sad and distressing
story of vanity and remorse. And he does so through the
minds, bodies and souls of its three main characters —
the ambitious seafarer and would-be discoverer Capt.
Robert Walton; the proud and compulsive, but ultimately
contrite and broken scientist, Victor Frankenstein; and,
most magnificently, the lonely and despised monster, a
childishly sympathetic and innocent being made from the
rotting vestiges of charnel house corpses and graveyard
remains. Moving briskly from one deft portrayal to
another, Patterson weaves this
tale-within-a-tale-within-a-tale with a control that is
nothing short of masterful. … And while his portraits of
the story's smaller roles offer comic relief, it's his
commanding renditions of the play's three protagonists
that fill the evening with its dazzling theatrical
power. It's an acting tour de force that absolutely
should not be missed … Patterson's phenomenal
performance is one of total belief and total immersion
in the doomed lives of its damned characters. It is a
true experience of total theater. Barrault would have
been proud ... 'Frankenstein' a Monster Hit!"
Al
Krulick, ORLANDO WEEKLY
"Oh my, the artistic
performance by Patterson will keep you on the edge of
your seat."
Pam Harbaugh, FLORIDA TODAY
"Frankenstein's enduring appeal is amply demonstrated by
the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival's decision to
revive Shelley's tale in a play that even uses her
original title, "Frankenstein -- The Modern Prometheus."
It's one of several recent examples of a director going
back to the roots of Shelley's story -- Kenneth
Branaugh's 1994 movie version did the same thing. But
whereas Branaugh's movie, which he starred in with
Robert DeNiro, featured a huge cast, lavish sets and
extravagant special effects, the play does something
else entirely: it employs one actor, alone on the stage.
And the results, frankly, are stunning, and far more
impressive than the movie … Steven Patterson plays all
the roles, including Walton, Victor and the creature. If
it sounds dull watching one man stand on stage, speaking
in a manner designed to imitate someone verbalizing the
contents of a letter, you're way off. "Frankenstein --
The Modern Prometheus" is a great example of what a very
creative theater company can do … Patterson does a
wonderfully imaginative job bringing the characters to
life. He does this with unique changes in his voice,
from the Yankee Capt. Waldon to the Germanic Dr.
Frankenstein, to the low guttural moan of the creature
as it learns to speak. His body language is just as
impressive, from the dashing sea captain to the weak,
dying scientist, who then becomes an energetic young
student obsessed with the concept of reanimating the
dead. Patterson provides a real tour de force as he
commands the stage … In the spirit of Halloween, it
would be hard to find better thrills than the ones
provided by this very gifted actor … It's scary how good
this one is."
Michael Freeman, LAKELAND LEDGER
Steven Patterson as The Creature
Today's Brecht
On October 30 at 2pm, The Blue Horse Repertory Company performed a benefit reading for the Bridge Street Theatre of two of Bertolt Brecht’s short plays: "The Jewish Wife" and "The Informer" and some of the authors poetry and music from the period. The evening will be directed by Andrew Joffe and star: Stephen Jones, Jody Satriani, Lora Lee Ecobelli*, Caleb Brady and James Shearwood*.
The timely and provocative plays cast an eerier
shadow on today's social issues. In his exile from
Germany (1933-1947) Bertolt Brecht began to tell the
story of what was happening in a collection of scenes
known as Fear and Miseries of the Third Reich or, as it
was known when first produced in New York in 1944, The
Private Life of the Master Race.
The
Blue Horse Repertory Company is a professional theatre
company based in the Hudson Valley. We are dedicated to
providing an inclusive and collaborative environment
where professional actors, writers and musicians can
rediscover the classics, develop new work, and apply
themselves to creating a richer cultural experience for
the whole community.
* Member of Actors' Equity,
the Union of Professional Actors in the US
