American Repertory Theater
announces the cast and creative
team for CABARET by Kander and
Ebb directed by
Steven Bogart
starring Amanda
Palmer as the Emcee
"There was a cabaret, and there
was a Master-of-Ceremonies and
there was a city called Berlin
in a country called Germany. It
was the end of the world . . .
and I was dancing with Sally
Bowles and we were both asleep.
. . . “— Cliff in CABARET
The
American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.)
opens its 2010/11 Season with
Kander and Ebb’s
CABARET, directed
by Steven Bogart,
with musical direction by
Lance Horne
and Debra Barsha
and movement by
Steven Mitchell Wright,
starring Amanda
Palmer as the
Emcee. Set and costume design is
by David Israel
Reynoso, lighting
design by Nick
Vargelis, and
sound design by
Clive Goodwin.
August 31 — October 29, 2010
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays
at 7:30pm
Fridays at 7:30pm and 10:30pm
Performances will begin
promptly at the times listed
above;
Klub doors open half hour before
showtime.
No performances Saturday through
Monday.
OBERON, 2 Arrow
St, Harvard Sq., Cambridge
TICKETS: Begin
at $25. Student rush $15.
Seniors $10 off regular ticket
price. Group Rates available.
Single tickets are currently on
sale to A.R.T. Members only,
will be available to the general
public on August 3rd. Tickets
can be purchased on line at
www.AmericanRepertoryTheater.org,
by phone at 617-547-8300, or in
person at the A.R.T. Box Office,
64 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA
02138.
RATING: The
production contains nudity,
simulated sex, and drug use.
Recommended for 16 and older,
unless accompanied by an adult.
DETAILS:
Take your seat at the Kit Kat
Klub, the perfectly marvelous
cabaret where singer Sally
Bowles meets writer Cliff
Bradshaw. As the two pursue a
life of pleasure in Weimar
Berlin, the world outside the
Klub begins to splinter.
Presiding over it all is singer,
songwriter, and former Dresden
Doll Amanda Palmer
as the Kit Kat Klub's magnetic
Emcee, with Aly
Trasheras Sally
Bowles and Matt Woodas Cliff Bradshaw.
The cast also includesRemo Airaldi
as Herr Schultz,
David Costaas
Ernst Ludwig, Claire
Daviesas Fraulein
Kost, Thomas Derrah
as Fraulein Schneider, and
Jeremy Geidtas Max, the Klub Owner;as well as
Renee-Marie Brewster,Lucille Duncan, Tamara
Hickey,
Eric Johnson,
Jordy Lievers, and Gaetano
Pugliese as the
Kit Kat Dancers, and Annika Franklin,
Chris Thomas,
and Edward Walsh
as the Ensemble.
With summer vacation in everyone's sight, it's time
for parents to take on the grueling task of planning the summer schedule for the
kids. Bay Street helps make it easy this year. Along with The Ark Project, Bay
Street is proud to present three different summer camp opportunities that are
sure to please even the most discerning youth! Each week-long session will be
held at Nova's Ark in Water Mill from 2pm - 4:30pm daily and is for kids ages 8
- 12. Children can sign up for one week or all three weeks.
First up is Bay Street's popular MUSICAL THEATER CAMP which returns for one-
week only, Monday, July 5th thru Friday July 9th, from 2pm to 4:30pm daily with
Debra Barsha again at the helm. This camp offers an opportunity for kids ages
8-12 to learn all aspects of creating and performing in a show. Students will
write and star in their very own mini-musical which will incorporate many of the
dramatic arts, including singing, dancing, acting, improvisation, and more.
Returning by popular demand, Ms. Barsha is a Broadway professional whom Bay
Street campers know and adore. For those not yet familiar with Ms. Barsha's
talents, she can be seen as the current pianist, singer and Assistant Conductor
of Broadway's Jersey Boys.
From Monday, July 12th thru Friday, July 16th from 2-4:30pm, Bay Street's new
ROOTS OF RHYTHM CAMP will please new and expert drummers alike. In this drumming
camp, children will experience traditional hand drums and the way in which they
apply to the modern drum set. The kids will learn how to fully enjoy and
appreciate the power of rhythm!! The camp will explore the origin and history of
rhythm and how it has become the backbone of many of today's musical genres,
including jazz, blues, rock, funk and latin.
The Roots of Rhythm Camp will be taught by local talent Claes Brondal, the
musician behind the vastly successful Bay Burger Jam Session which was held this
winter at Bay Street Theatre. "Participating in this drum camp is a great chance
for students to learn new music and rhythms - and gives me the opportunity to
pass on the joy of drumming," says Brondal.
Monday, July 26th thru Friday, July 30th, is Bay Street's PRODUCTION LAB CAMP
which is based on a successful kids class held at Bay Street this past Spring.
Kids who love music and computers will love The Production Lab! Campers will
create music, words and images using traditional instruments and modern software
technology. Kids will share inspirational and empowering stories about their
communities, and perform a final production on stage. All participants will
receive an edited DVD at the end of the session!
The Production Lab Camp will be taught by local artists Robbie McDonald and
Steve Watson. Robbie is a writer and director, as well as an award-winning
creator of nationally recognized humanitarian productions. Steve has been seen
on Broadway as a musician and composer and is also a music educator.
Bay Street's summer camps will be held at NOVA'S ARK at 60 Millstone Road in
Water Mill. "The camps will take place in the performance space of a beautiful
barn housed on THE ARK PROJECT'S vast nature preserve. In the tradition of The
Ark Project's mission towards "the creative educational process," we are
thrilled to hold our camps this year in such an inspiring and nurturing creative
environment!" says Bay Street's Director of Education Debra Barsha.
The cost for Camp is $375 for any one of the week-long programs. Each session
will be held Monday thru Friday from 2pm - 4:30pm. Children may attend one-week
or all three if they choose! To reserve space call Bay Street's administrative
office at 631-725-0818, ext 110. Space is limited!
For a complete listing of events at Bay Street go to
www.baystreet.org, call the Box Office at
631-725-9500 or visit Bay Street on the Long Wharf, Sag Harbor. The box office
is open Tues - Sat from 11am - 6pm.
Bay Street Theatre is a not-for-profit regional theater presenting new, classic
and contemporary works, with a commitment to challenging and entertaining our
diverse community. This commitment extends to innovative educational programs
that highlight the power of live theater. It is our mission to be an artistic
haven for an extended family of artists and audience, while continuing to
provide a gathering place to share in the unique collective theatrical
experience.
"The other night I met up
for a drink with my friends from the Flat Earth live band I took with me on my
world tour in 1983-84–Justin Hildreth, Lyndon Connah, Matthew Seligman, and
Lesley Fairbairn. We thought it would be fun to get back together and play for
one night. It was great when Matthew and Kevin Armstrong joined me onstage at
the Academy a couple of years ago, and this would be the full touring band. A
quick email round to Chucho Merchan, Debra Barsha and Kevin confirmed that
everyone was up for it.
But instead of a yet
another 80s reunion, I thought we could do something a little more contemporary,
a little more Reality TV. So here’s the plan. We won’t rehearse the show at all.
Instead, we’ll meet up onstage, completely unrehearsed. We’ll re-learn songs
like ‘Hyperactive’, ‘Windpower’, ‘I Scare Myself’ and ‘One Of Our Submarines’,
chatting and telling stories as we go. It’ll be very interactive and the
audience can chime in with questions, comments and requests, like a cross
between a masterclass and a talk show. And I’ll try to arrange some cameo
walk-on appearances from celebrated musicians I’ve worked with over the years.
At the end of the evening we’ll play a short set of the songs we’ve practiced,
back-to-back.
With the help of
promoter Adrian Gibson, I have booked the
Union Chapel in Islington for
the evening of February 28th 2010. This is a lovely venue with seating for
around 700 and a somewhat wrap-around stage which I feel will give a warm
atmosphere for the show. It’ll be quite an early start, with 2 to 2.5 hrs for
rehearsing and chat, followed by a break and then a short concert set.
The Union Chapel
‘gig’ will round out an exciting weekend for Dolby afficionados: the previous
night, Feb 27th, there will be a show in Aldermaston by excellent duo The Pirate
Twins, who could loosely be regarded as a ‘tribute band.’ I saw these guys play
once before at a semi-secret 50th birthday bash, but since then they’ve expanded
their repertoire and they will be performing The Golden Age Of Wireless in its
entirety. They do an amazing job of re-creating my sounds and production, but
many of their arrangements go beyond that as they explore ideas that my
originals only hinted at. I decided to make my show the same weekend as theirs,
because I know that a lot of fans and Forum members will be traveling specially
for that show. Between the GAOW performance on Saturday and ‘Circumnavigating
The Flat Earth’ on Sunday, it’ll be quite an action-packed 48 hrs. There’s more
info about The Pirate Twins gig
here."
Bay Street Theatre Hosts A Two-Week
Long Performing Arts Camp Beginning 8/24
by BWW News Desk
Summer
is in full swing and
Bay Street
Theatre is proud to present
the already popular new addition to its' educational programming line-up, a
two-week long Performing Arts Camp, where kids will learn to write and star in
their very own mini-musical! This summer's session will be taught by Bay Street
professionals, but will take place at the Hampton Country Day Camp, located at
175 Daniels Hole Rd in Wainscott.
Camp begins Monday, August 24th and continues weekdays through September 4,
from 9:30m to 12:30pm, and is open to children ages 8-12. The camp offers an
opportunity for kids to have fun in a true professional setting, while enjoying
the summer Hamptons camp environment. Taught by Broadway professional
Debra Barsha,
and assisted by Dance instructor Eric Jacobson, this program is overseen by
Artistic Director
Murphy Davis
and will thrill both novices and experienced theater kids alike.
Students will practice many of the
dramatic crafts, including writing, singing, dancing, acting, improvisation,
performance, and more. For those not yet familiar with Ms. Barsha's talents, she
can be seen as the current pianist, singer and Assistant Conductor of Broadway's
Jersey Boys. Beyond her performing talents, Ms. Barsha is also known for her
songwriting, and she has penned a number of musicals for both children and
adults. Ms. Barsha's affiliation with Bay Street dates back to 1992, when she
first helped to orchestrate the original cabaret line-up. This year Bay Street
was thrilled to welcome her back as she once again kicked off its successful
Saturday evening music series, now called MUSIC LIVE! to a nearly sold-out
crowd.
This summer camp follows on the heels of earlier week-long sessions held
during the vacation breaks of the school year. These sessions, received with
open arms by the community (and especially working parents), garnered rave
reviews from both parents and kids alike. Many of the adults commented on the
way in which Director
Debra Barsha
was able to tap into the unique
talents of each child and draw upon that talent to create a fun experience for
the entire group.
The cost for the two-week long Performing Arts Camp is $900, or $750 for
returning campers. Call the Bay Street Administrative Offices at 631-725-0818,
x109 for more information and enrollment forms. Forms can also be printed from
the website at
is a not-for-profit institution, dedicated to presenting new, classic and
contemporary works of the highest quality, which challenge as well as entertain,
speak to the diversity of the community and champion the human spirit. Bay
Street's commitment extends to educational programs for all ages to foster the
continued value of theatre as a vital art form for future generations
A by-invitation-only
reading of the new rock musical Us will be presented June 16 in
Manhattan.
The 3 PM reading,
which will be held at the Neighborhood Playhouse, will feature Celina Carvajal,
Bryce Ryness, Robin Skye, Jason Tam and Kevin Massey.
Us features
music and lyrics by Peter Gabriel and concept and book by Maggie Levin. The
musical, according to press notes, "tells a universal story about relationships,
loss and love." The show includes the hits "In Your Eyes," "Sledgehammer" and "Solsbury
Hill."
Debra Barsha is
musical director.
The Neighborhood
Playhouse is located in Manhattan at 340 East 54th Street
Now
that spring is in the air and another week-long school vacation is just around
the corner, Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor is gearing up to present the next
installment in its popular series of week-long theater camps, running from
Monday, April 6, through Friday, April 10, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.
The camp offers an
opportunity for kids age 5 to 18 to learn and have fun in a true professional
theater setting in their own backyard. Taught by Broadway professionals and
music and dance educators, this program is designed to engage both novices and
those with experience on and around the stage.
The April camp week follows
on the heels of the camp held during the February school break. That session
garnered rave reviews from both parents and kids alike. Many adults offered
favorable comments on the way camp director Debra Barsha was able to tap into
the unique talents of each child and draw upon that talent to create a fun
experience for the entire group.
The April camp week promises
to be just as exciting, according to Ms. Barsha, who again takes the helm, with
Bay Street Artistic Director Murphy Davis overseeing the program. Students will
practice many of the dramatic arts, including singing, dancing, acting,
improvisation, performance, and more.
Ms. Barsha, the assistant
conductor of Broadway’s “Jersey Boys,” also plays piano and sings in that hit
show. Beyond her performing talents, Ms. Barsha is also known for her
songwriting, and she has created a number of musicals for both children and
adults.
Ms. Barsha’s affiliation with
Bay Street dates back to 1992, when she first helped to coordinate the original
cabaret lineup. This year Bay Street welcomed her back as she once again kicked
off its successful Saturday evening “Cabaret @ The Bay” series to a nearly
sold-out crowd.
A lot of people
heard about it and a lot of people were talking about it, but an intimate
cabaret at Bay Street Theatre sounded a bit strange to me. Bay Street in Sag
Harbor held the first of its nighttime cabaret shows last week. Based on that,
it's clear they really have something exciting going on there.
The show doesn't
take place in the theater, but in the "Bay Bar," or the theater's lobby area
that is transformed for the evening with black and white candle lit tables, dim
lighting and a cozy setting. The full bar is open for the entire show and you
can even get fresh popcorn to bring back to your table.
The coordinators of
this event are Bay Street's Artistic Director Murphy Davis and General Manager
Tracy Mitchell. Davis began the show at 10 p.m., introducing himself to the
packed crowd of about 90 people, sipping their drinks. Davis has the unique
ability to make everybody in the room feel like they're his friends and family.
After his introduction, the piano player and singer Debra Barsha entered to
uproarious applause.
Barsha, a very
charming woman with a wonderful stage presence and smile, didn't waste any time,
and began playing her set. This accomplished performer romanced the audience -
everybody was hooked.
She played hit
songs that had the audience involved and singing along, like Beatles' "With A
Little Help From My Friends," and "Love Will Keep Us Together," by Captain and
Tennille. I really got what Bay Street was up to with this series, as did
everybody else. Live music by high caliber performers in an intimate setting
really fills a void out here. Not to mention, with just a $20 cover charge and
no "minimum" like the cabarets in New York City, this professional, affordable
entertainment is drawing attention.
Barsha also
performedher original songs, delivered as if she dipped a serving spoon into her
soul and poured it out onto the piano. She began the evening with "If It Can't
Be Love," which set the tone and the bar for the level of performance in store.
Barsha's voice is powerful and her music makes you feel good, but most important
was the energy created in the room. Each time she played an original song, the
audience was captivated. Barsha could feel that, enjoyed it, and just gave back
more.
One of her most
interesting songs was "Inside My Heart," a wonderful tribute to her parents, who
raised her in Syracuse. Before she began, she described her Dad - a news anchor
in Syracuse who, "talked as if he was reading the news even at the dinner table
at home." Her mother and father celebrated 50 years of marriage and her tribute
to them with music made you want to call your parents and tell them you love
them, and squeeze your spouse's hand. This song seemed to hit a chord, so to
speak, with a lot of people in the room, as many inside the Bay Bar were clearly
long time married couples. I found myself going onto an iPhone and looking up
the performance that she said was posted on YouTube.com. If you check
DansHamptons.com, you can watch a music video of the song online inside this
story.
I look forward to
seeing more cabaret nights at Bay Street and encourage you to check it out and
enjoy it for yourself. The cabaret takes place on Saturday nights at 10 p.m. On
February 21, Jane Hastay and Peter Martin Weiss play; on February 28 it's Jim
Turner; and Charles Notturno is scheduled for March 7. For more information, go
to baystreet.org or call 631-725-9500.
Bay Street's
Management Thinking Out Of The Box To Draw Wider Audience
Colin M. Graham
Sag Harbor -
In a concerted effort to avail all of the theater’s resources to the enjoyment
of a year-round audience, the new management of Bay Street Theatre has done a
little ‘out of the box’ thinking this winter, offering programs designed to draw
in the community to develop a relationship with the theater beyond its summer’s
showcase.
When she came on as general manager of the theater last June,
Tracy Mitchell set out to let the community know just how much Bay Street had to
offer. "When I first came on, one of my ideas was to really make sure that,
first of all, everyone knew what Bay Street was about - and that it wasn't just
a place for highfalutin theater, if you will. My take on it was that the theater
really needed to become more of a community place and offer events to the local public throughout the year. We have
a fantastic theater program, but there is a lot more that Bay Street can
bring to this community. Just because it's winter doesn't mean we should
drop off the face of the earth."
Best known for its
summer productions that feature equity actors from both on and off Broadway, the
theater also headlines comedy shows and progressive children's programming. In a
departure from business as usual, the newly reorganized management decided to
make a commitment to the community in the off season by offering a series of
special community nights designed to lure the winter weary out from their cozy
dens to enjoy social events broadcast on the big screen or enjoy the party live
in the theater’s lobby. Most popular among these was the Cabaret @ The Bay
series that opened on Valentine’s Day, featuring a piano-bar styled night for
show tune lovers. And then there have been the Big Screen showings of the
presidential debates, inauguration ceremonies and most recently, Oscar Night.
“It’s not that you want to be something for everybody, but you’d like to know
that you’re hitting a core of people out here,” says Mitchell. “I may not be
someone who goes to the theater all the time, but maybe I love old movies or
music or comedy, and we want to be providing those things as best we can from a
financial aspect; obviously it has to make sense since we can’t take
insurmountable risks this time of year but the televised screenings are
certainly something we can afford to do.”
Working to that end is Murphy Davis, the highly energetic artistic director that
works in tandem with the remaining co-founder Sybil Christopher. “We’re trying
to find every way we can in order to serve our community and one of the reasons
we can offer the screenings for free is that we’re essentially just streaming
whatever’s on television,” Davis explained. The first Big Screen event was
something of an off-the-cuff idea that caught on. “It was just a matter of
opening the doors, for free, to the public and saying ‘come on in,’” Mitchell
recounted. “This is a place where people should feel like they can gather and
you don’t have to be dressed up or whatever, you can come here in your jeans and
enjoy a night out with your neighbors and friends. I think we’ve done a pretty
good job of that and we’re going to continue to build on it.”
One of the reasons that
the free televised events at the theater have been so successful stems from the
fact that sharing moments like the Inauguration or even watching the Oscars with
other members of the community serves to enhance the experience, according to
Davis, which is, in essence, what theater is all about.
“When you join with the community in watching these events it’s just a different
experience. That’s why theater became such an effective and solid part of all
cultures, because you’re bringing your community together to have a shared
experience and in doing so it serves to heighten that experience.”
Among the new programs on the calendar this year is the Kids Theater Camps,
week-long programs scheduled to take place during school vacations. Overseen by
Davis, the camps offer the youngsters the opportunity to learn about different
aspects of performing from instructors who are themselves established thespians.
“It’s not only an enormous amount of fun for them, but they also start to learn
some of the different disciplines in theater. It’s a combination of acting,
singing and dancing that’s really about trying to give the kids a real sense of
what all the different aspects of theater are,” Davis explained. “We literally
just started it on Feb. 16 and we could not be happier. Debra Barsha is an
extraordinary teacher and songwriter. She and Eric Jacobson, who is a dance
teacher out here, have joined together and created a really amazing camp. It’s a
really cool thing to see kids running into the theater ahead of their parents
like they can’t wait to get here. It’s just very gratifying that we know that
we’re able to create a format that really speaks to kids.”
As much as the new programs appear to be drawing attendance and hitting their
mark, Mitchell noted that they had to drop a program this winter due to lack of
funding. “The only thing that we did not do this year was the Young Playwrights
on the middle school level, which Stony Brook is picking up and doing. We just
couldn’t afford to do it because it wasn’t fully underwritten. We are still
doing it at the High School level in the fall for eight weeks and then a more
intensive version in November or December.”
All the extracurricular
programs aside, it’s the theatrical productions that take center stage at Bay
Street that draw the largest crowds, yet the seasonal nature of regional theater
makes it difficult to keep productions running throughout the year. “The main
reason we’re here is theater,” he says. “One of the main things Bay Street is
here to do, as any theater is, is to entertain. If we had our druthers we would
be producing shows year-round. There’s just not a large enough theater-going
population to support our 299-seat theater in the off season. It’s just a
certain reality about where we are.”
In addition to having to contend with seasonal fluctuations in attendance, Davis
explained that during the summer their performances also need to compete against
the multitude of cultural and social events that dominate the calendar from June
through August. “In planning our season, Sybil and I are very aware of that and
we have to ask ourselves ‘what would draw somebody off the beach away from the
barbecue, away from their group of friends to come to the theater?’ For
instance, this summer we have a play that was a hit at the National Theater in
London in 2004 called “Dinner.” It’s kind of a wicked comedy thriller, and we
have Mercedes Ruehl doing that, and she is always a wonderful draw for us.
People will tend to come to a new play if you have a big name in it.”
Davis explained, in terms of the new productions they present - they try to do
one every summer, whether it’s a revival or an American premiere - having a
known performer can excite interest in a play that might be relatively unknown.
“What we’ve found is
there is absolutely a core of people that will come to a new play but the true
theater lovers tend to be a smaller part of the theater going population out
here. So the trick is, how do we create interest for people to say ‘hey that’s
something I’d like to go see even though I’m out on vacation?’ People outside of
that theater going core are more inclined to take a chance on a new play if it
features a major name.”
That being said, Davis and Christopher already have the schedule set for their
summer series and everything looks to be theater as usual at Bay Street. Their
first offering, which starts previews on June 2, is “Bell, Book and Candle,” by
John van Druten. “It’s a terrific comedy romance about a witch living in
Greenwich Village from the 1950s - it’s basically what the television show
‘Bewitched’ was based on” said Davis. Next they’ll be performing “Dinner” with
Mercedes Ruehl, and their final production will be the musical, “Dames at Sea.”
“It’s a real tongue-in-cheek look at the 1929 crash and is a wonderful homage to
the musicals of the 1930s. There’s a lot of tapping, a lot of singing, but what
we love about it is the wise and ironic and witty side to it. One of the reasons
Sybil and I responded to the play is because we felt that it was a great
juxtaposition to what’s going on now with our challenged economy and helps to
put everything in perspective.”
Something else to be on
the lookout for this summer is a new series titled, “Our Town,” spotlighting a
series of conversational interviews with notable persons from the area. “It’s
basically going to be a chat with some famous folks who live in our neck of the
woods here,” says Mitchell. “We haven’t confirmed anyone yet but it’s going to
be anyone from artists to playwrights to famous architects, writers, chefs,
musicians; it’ll cover the gamut.”
This series sprang out of similar types of events that were held last summer.
“Last year I interviewed Zoe Caldwell and Patricia Neil and the response was so
positive we realized that we have other opportunities to interview people out
here who have such a wonderful impact on the East End and all of us out here,”
explains Davis. “We’re expanding on that to include interviews with people
outside the arts as well; it’s really about creating a format so the community
can get to hear other members of our community and really have a discussion and
learn about them.”
In looking at the body of programming that comes out of this regional theater,
it is important to remember its not-for-profit status. The Bay Street Theatre is
only able to provide productions and programming as a result of grants,
donations and the support of the greater community. According to Mitchell,
“people don’t realize that it costs a lot of money to run a theater 12 months a
year, so we really appreciate when people come out, even for the $5 movies, it
really makes a difference.”
Even though Bay Street dodged a proverbial bullet when they were able to renew
their lease last October and remain in the space that’s been their home since
the theater first opened it’s doors in 1992, keeping the theater afloat
financially is a never ending, and often gritty task that requires everyone to
dig deep to keep things running smoothly.
“It’s funny, any time you come here you may see one of us, meaning the
management team, behind the bar making drinks or in the bathroom fixing a
toilet, we have to be jacks of all trades because there are no extra dollars
floating around here. We’re not for profit, we rely on grants, we rely on
donations, and our ticket sales only cover about 48 percent of our costs.
Everyone is working doubly hard especially this year to make sure we come out at
least to zero at the end of the year.”
When asked what her goals are for the coming year Mitchell remains cautiously
optimistic. “This year one of the things we’re trying to do is to not make any
assumptions about the size and level of the audience since I don’t think anyone
knows what this year has in store, especially for something like theater, which
can definitely drop off people’s radar,” Mitchell commented. “It’s all the more
reason why we’ve really tried to focus on bringing the community in, letting
them know that we’re here to stay, and that we really want to partner with them
in whatever way works for everyone in the community. Hopefully those two things
in and of themselves will help drive business this year.”
Bay
Street Theatre’s Cabaret @ The Bay Is The Perfect Culmination For Any Saturday
Colin M. Graham
Sag Harbor - Here on the
East End, there aren’t many places these days where you and some
friends can go to enjoy an hour or two of some quality live
entertainment in the kind of cozy and intimate space reminiscent of
the piano bars that dotted metropolitan areas during the mid to
early part of the 20th century. Luckily, this past Valentine’s Day,
Bay Street Theatre hosted the first night of Cabaret @ The Bay, a
regular Saturday night series starting at 10 p.m.
This
inaugural show welcomed an unexpected number of people, catering to a standing
room only crowd with roughly 74 people in attendance. The evening, which
followed the theater’s 8 p.m. Picture Show series, featured the talented
pianist, singer, and Bay Street veteran Debra Barsha, and was a tremendous
success solidifying it as the first of many such performances at the theater.
This new series, which
is held in the lobby, or Bay Bar, of the theatre, is actually a continuation of
similar cabaret shows Bay Street has put on in the past and an extension of the
theater’s new mission of putting on entertaining performances for the community
during the winter months, which have in the past been relatively quiet leading
up to their busy summer season.
“Now that we’re open in the winter months we really wanted to offer something up
that people could do that’s not a big deal and that’s not too expensive,”
explained the General Manager of the theater Tracy Mitchell. “We wanted to
provide an option for folks to gather for something really simple and easy
that’s not just hanging out at a bar or going to a movie.”
Those that have been paying attention to the goings on at Bay Street will have
noticed that the theatre has been making much more of a concerted effort to
making events at the theatre more pertinent to the needs and wants of the
community, having recently hosted showings of election coverage including one of
the Presidential debates and the inauguration, as well as a planned large screen
showing of the Academy Awards coming up later this month.
Mitchell explained that part of the impetus for the reintroduction of the
cabaret series was integral to their drive to utilize their wonderful space
throughout the year in a way that is meaningful to the year-round residents of
Sag Harbor and the neighboring communities.
“There are a lot of people out here all winter long and it seemed that those of
us who are here were constantly saying ‘well we have a place to go for dinner
but other than that there is really nothing to do afterwards other than going to
a movie.’ We asked ourselves ‘what can we do in the winter months that doesn’t
have to be a big deal, where you can decide at the last minute to pop in and
hear some music?’”
Perhaps what helped make the evening so special, other than the performer and
the fact that it was towards the end of the evening on Valentine’s Day, was that
the show was held in the lobby or “Bay Bar” of the theatre, into which had been
placed a number of decorative dark wood chairs and tables, each illuminated with
candles, arranged around a baby grand piano giving the relatively informal space
a true informal piano bar meets intimate coffeehouse feel.
While the intimate and
romantically lit space was well suited to the nature of the night, so too were
Barsha’s songs, which included one she penned to her wife, helping to enhance
the couple’s ambiance that dominated the evening.
But the performance wasn’t all about saccharine expressions of love and desire;
next Barsha broke into a rendition of “Love Will Keep Us Together,” which served
to pep up the mood in the room and even inspired members of the audience to sing
along.
While there was a very romantic vibe running through the room with couples
stealing the occasional kiss during songs, the overall tone of the roughly hour
long set was one of impromptu and lighthearted fun, brought about by Barsha’s
invitation for some audience participation, culminating when one of the Artistic
Directors at Bay Street, Murphy Davis, was enticed to take the mike and perform
an inspiring rendition of “Never Never Land,” complete with plenty of
tongue-in-cheek ad libs that really drew everyone in the room into the moment.
Barsha rounded out her set with an old Beatles classic “With A Little Help From
My Friends” capped off by Carol King’s “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.” The first
performance of Cabaret @ The Bay was a total success and if this show is any
indication of the ones to come, then reservations will almost certainly be
necessary.
For anyone looking to do something a little different and a lot of fun for an
hour on a Saturday night, other than hopping around area watering holes, Cabaret
@ The Bay is a perfect way to spend that awkward hour that exists after dinner
is finished but before either of you are ready to call it an evening during
these seemingly quiet winter months. With shows booked all the way until spring,
you would be crazy not to swing by for a unique way to have some legitimate,
unpretentious fun right at the crux of Bay Street and the Long Wharf in Sag
Harbor.
·
For Information on upcoming Cabaret @ The Bay events, go to www.baystreet.org or
call the box office at 631-725-9500.
The Barsha sisters collaborate!!! Composer
Debra Barsha (RADIANT BABY) and her sister, video editor/producer Janice
Barsha honor their parents'
50th Wedding Anniversary with this song, "Inside My Heart."
Home videos of the
Barsha family are featured.
An intimate solo show
about a gay urban romantic features tunes from 18 composers.
By David C. Nichols,
Special to The Times
"I could die here
tonight" are the first words of
"Songs From an Unmade Bed" at Celebration Theatre.
Luckily, they're ironically skewed. In its West Coast premiere, Mark
Campbell's intimate solo show about a gay urban romantic prizes
self-reflective wit over heavier issues.
Created by lyricist Campbell with 18 composers, "Songs" runs eclectically
through the boudoir musings of its archetype (the excellent Dave Barrus).
Designer Kurt Boetcher's airy set, the title bed angled within a proscenium
of dress shirts, houses a song cycle as wryly evanescent as Tim Swiss'
lighting.
Campbell has a librettist's knack for subtext. As when "An Admission" -- "I
recall my disappointment / On first seeing you nude" -- cuts against
composer Joseph Thalken's sweet melody, or the way Peter Golub's after-hours
tune for "I Miss New York" sets up its final zinger. Campbell's best lyrics
are gracefully honest, and his distinguished collaborators take their cues
from them. Jake Heggie leaves opera for Broadway punch at "The Other Other
Woman"; Debra Barsha goes rock-gritty in "He
Never Did That Before"; and so on, with Stephen
Hoffman's elegiac "Our Separate Ways" perhaps the standout composition.
Displaying the same ingenuity that buoys his bare bones "New Brain" at Rude
Guerrilla, director Patrick Pearson rumples the sheets with fetching élan.
Music director Jake Anthony and pajama-clad players Stephen Green (cello)
and Dylan Campbell (percussion) sustain each stylistic shift, while Barrus
makes a suavely engaging protagonist. Pitched directly between Stephen
Bogardus and Adam Cooper, he, along with Green, is hilarious in "He Plays
the Cello," arch in the post-coital edge of "A Dinner Party" and subtly
acute at the melancholy moments.
The lack of a through-line is one liability and the cabaret diffuseness
another. Still, if "Songs From an Unmade Bed" is rather more acerbic and
accessible than deep or lingering, that hardly impedes its ingratiating
charm.
This is a link to the 1984 Boulder
Colorado concert that Debra sang and played keyboards on with Thomas Dolby!
Check out the duet of her and Thomas on Hyperactive!
RICHARD
JAY-ALEXANDER GUESTS AT DEC. 3 NIGHT ON THE TOWN
by BWW News Desk
This
Monday, December 3rd at 8:30 p.m. DEBRA and MARY will present a very special
MUST-SEE SHOW. The guest will be Producer/Director
Richard Jay-Alexander.
The guest has become the “go to” Director to the Stars (STREISAND, MIDLER,
PETERS AND CLEERE HARAN!!!)
A press release states that "He’s also a former performer and
singer/dancer, with a crazy resume!
But,
personally we both share history with him. DEBRA and RICHARD JAY- both come
from Syracuse, New York…and MARY and “Dick”,as she calls him, starred in the
West Coast revival of THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE and were roommates, in their early
twenties. “Dick” also just directed her critically acclaimed stint at
FEINSTEIN’S, with “Mary
Cleere Haran Sings
Doris Day.”
Reservations are a MUST this week!!! Call 212-388-7103 to make reservations. We
are already being bombarded with reservation requests so be sure to call the
hotline as soon as you can!!
Richard's b
io is so impressive that we decided to include it all in this week's
e-mail, and he said he was bringing along some great "collectibles", so come on
down to the Night and Day Room at Biscuit BBQ in lovely downtown Park Slope
Brooklyn and see what those could be!!!
Richard Jay-Alexander
began his theatrical career in 1977 in the original cast of the Broadway play,
ZOOT SUIT, appearing thereafter in the original Broadway cast of AMADEUS, which
led to his being engaged as Associate Director of the National Touring Companies
of that Tony Award-winning Play. He also staged AMADEUS in Santiago, Chile, in
Spanish, in which he is fluent. However, he is probably best known for his
association with Producer
Cameron Mackintosh,
having served as Executive Director of Mr. Mackintosh's American company for ten
years, running its day-to-day operations in North America. Richard first came
to Mr. Mackintosh's attention as stage manager/dance captain of his Broadway
revival of OLIVER! and stage manager/assistant director of his Broadway
production of SONG & DANCE. Shortly thereafter, he became both Associate
Director and Executive Producer of the original Broadway, touring and Canadian
companies of LES MISERABLES, staging more than a dozen productions of that
Musical. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA followed, and then MISS SAIGON, for which
Richard was Executive Producer for the original Broadway, touring and Canadian
companies. He also served as Executive Producer and Associate Director for
Broadway's FIVE GUYS NAMED MOE and was Executive Producer of its
Grammy-nominated original cast recording.
Richard subsequently produced
recordings for
Bernadette Peters
(LIVE FROM CARNEGIE HALL, RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN, both Grammy-nominated), Johnny
Mathis (ON BROADWAY) and
Mary Cleere Haran
(PENNIES FROM HEAVEN, THE MEMORY OF ALL THAT) and co-wrote the liner notes for
Barbra Streisand's
THE MOVIE ALBUM and her DVD boxed set, as well as lyrics for several Walt Disney
Records projects, including LILO AND STITCH Island Favorites. He has recently
been appointed Executive Producer of the newly established Playbill Records and
in such capacity, helped to launch the label's debut recording,
Brian Stokes Mitchell's
first solo offering, as well as the re-discovered
Betty Buckley
recording titled (and recorded in) 1967.
For film, Richard created the musical staging for Sony Classics' BOSSA NOVA,
after having appeared in SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, ALL THAT JAZZ, and a slew of
commercials and soap operas.
Most recently, Richard directed the
off-Broadway play, A SAFE HARBOR FOR ELIZABETH BISHOP, starring
Amy Irving,
at the Primary Stages Theatre, as well as concert productions for some of the
world's greatest entertainers, including
Bette Midler
(KISS MY BRASS Tour),
Barbra Streisand
(TIMELESS Tour and the most recent STREISAND Tour, also serving as a co-writer),
Ricky Martin,
Polly Bergen,
Brian Stokes Mitchell,
Lea Salonga,
Sam Harris,
Hayley Westenra,
Mary Cleere Haran
("Sings Doris Day"),
Jill Eikenberry
and
Michael Tucker
("Life is a Duet"), Russell Watson and
Bernadette Peters,
the latter two having also been telecast on PBS. He also directed the
multi-media extravaganza, STORM, at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas and the
workshop production of the Broadway-bound musical based on GREAT EXPECTATIONS
(starring
Cloris Leachman),
as well as a number of commercials and videos.
A native of Syracuse, NY, Richard holds a B.A. in Theatre and Music from SUNY at
Oswego and is the recipient of that University's first Honorary Doctorate of
Fine Arts. He is also a proud Board member of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS
in New York and has been an active supporter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of
South Florida.Richard currently shares his residences in New York, Los Angeles
and Miami with his perfect dog, JoJo, who isn't the least bit impressed with any
of it."
Debra And Mary's Night On The Town @Biscuit BBQ in The Night and Day Room A live
music variety/talk show and more...
it's a night on the town!
Every Monday at 8:30 p.m.
$10 Cover plus $6.00 food/drink minimum
$5 Cover for students
Debra Barsha (composer of RADIANT BABY at the Public Theater) and
Mary Cleere Haran
("Cabaret's most literate chanteuse" - The New Yorker) perform every Monday at
8:30 p.m. an evening of song and witty repartee. Each week new songs, a
different theme and one very special guest interview!!For
Reservations:
Call the NIGHT ON THE TOWN hotline at 212-388-7103.
Hotline show updates every Friday!
The Night and Day Room
Biscuit BBQ
230 5th Ave. @ President St.
Park Slope, NY 11215
718-399-2161 (R Train to Union Street in Brooklyn)
CAP21
presents
A
Womb with a View, written by Debra Barsha, at CAP21 from 22 May - 3 Jun
2007.
A
Womb with a View: Explores a year in the life of a lesbian's journey
through the process of alternative insemination. From collecting donor samples
in her living room, to having her partner (a NYC police officer) inject her with
fertility drugs, to her day-to-day job as a 4th grade music teacher in a
Brooklyn private school, this primal rush to beat the biological clock is not
your ordinary view of conception. As one fashion conscious 5-year-old put it,
'all you need to have a baby is an egg and a perm.'
Malcolm
Gets, Joanna Gleason, David Rasche and Chip Zien will star in the CAP21 reading
of Ken Levine's Upfronts and Personal Feb. 12.
Levine's
comedy is about studios, writers and producers competing to get their television
show onto a network's fall schedule. Janet Brenner directs. Levine is a veteran
television writer of "Cheers" and "M*A*S*H," among other
shows.
The
work is the first in CAP21's Dorothy Strelsin New Works Series, which also
includes A Womb with a View by Debra Barsha on March 12 and The
Cosmopolitan by Lance Horne, Lorin Latarro and Josh Rhodes on April 2.
Gets'
credits include Amour, Passion and "Caroline in the City." Tony
Award winner Gleason was in Into the Woods, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and
"The West Wing." Zien was in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Falsettos
and Into the Woods. Rasche was in Speed-the-Plow, Regrets Only and
"The Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood."
CAP21
(Collaborative Arts Project21) was founded in 1993 by its executive artistic
director, Frank Ventura, to develop new work, talent and audiences for the
theatre.
Readings
take place on Mondays at 7:30 PM at CAP21's The Shop, located at 18 West 18th
Street in Manhattan. All seats are free. To make reservations visit
www.CAP21.org
or call (212) 352-3101.
Malcolm Gets, Joanna Gleason, David
Rasche, David Schramm, and Chip Zien will star in a free reading of Ken Levine's
new comedy Upfronts and Personal at 7:30pm on Monday, February 12 at CAP
21/The Shop (18 West 18th Street). This will be the first of three readings
presented as part of
CAP
21's Dorothy Strelsin New Work Series.
The play, to be directed by Janet
Brenner, reveals how studios, writers, and producers get their shows on
television. Levine is an Emmy Award-winning writer, director, and producer who
has worked on such series as Cheers, Frasier, and Everybody
Loves Raymond.
The series will continue on March
12 with Debra Barsha and Frank Ventura's musical A Womb With A View,
about a lesbian who undergoes artificial insemination; and on April 2 with The
Cosmopolitan, a musical by Lance Horne, Lorin Latarro, and Josh Rhodes about
a New York City opera company that ends up transplanted to Newark.
CAP 21 will also present a fully
staged production of Kander and Ebb's Cabaret, February 15-25, and a
two-part reading of the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Oklahoma!
on February 26 and March 26.
Cabaret
fave Mary Cleere Haran is greatly admired for the unfailingly witty and
informative patter that sparks her performances, but let's not forget that the
lady can also sing in a rich, creamy alto that hearkens back to the sounds of
the great pop singers of the mid-20th Century. That's just what she'll be doing
at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark on Saturday, January 27.
"The title of the show is I
Love Lyrics -- and I do," says Haran. "We have two performances at
NJPAC, and they're both sold out, which is great. I've been doing this program
for a while but, of course, I add and subtract." So, whose lyrics will she
revel in this time around? "Larry Hart, of course. Dorothy Fields, Johnny
Mercer, Cole Porter. I love Al Dubin and Leo Robin. And I'm a great fan of
Irving Berlin; he was Larry Hart's favorite lyricist, which is
interesting."
Haran had an emotionally rough
period a few years back when she was divorced from Joe Gilford, son of the late,
great actor Jack Gilford. But she's doing fine now, and so is her son, Jake.
"He's 15, and he's doing stand-up comedy," she says. "I tell him
to try to keep it clean. He talks about his birds -- he has five cockatiels --
and a lot of his material is about the gentrification of Park Slope, where we
live. Jake's very good at comedy, but sometimes he gets tired of it. He says
everything in his life turns into a joke and he just can't handle it."
As for Jake's mom, she's keeping
herself busy. Every Monday night, Haran hosts a variety show with her good pal,
composer/musical director Debra Barsha, in the Night and Day Room at the Biscuit
Barbecue restaurant in Park Slope. The guest list thus far has been impressive,
to say the least: "We've had Michael Feinstein, Rupert Holmes, Terry Jones
from Monty Python, Tim Gunn from Project Runway, and Tituss Burgess,
who's going to be playing Sebastian in The Little Mermaid. Coming up, we
have Dale Soules, who stands by for Mary Louise Wilson in Grey Gardens.
We're also going to have Steve Buscemi and John Ventimiglia, who plays Artie on The
Sopranos. Some of those Italian guys can really sing!"
In addition, Haran is very much
looking forward to singing at the Bay Street Theatre's winter benefit gala on
February 26 at the Rainbow Room. "I love Bay Street," she says of the
well regarded Sag Harbor theater. "The first time I worked there was in a
kooky play by Charles Busch called Home Fires, which became Swingtime
Canteen; I played the part that was later played by Alison Fraser, and then
by Charles."
She's happy to return to one of her
favorite venues, as well. "The Rainbow Room is such a great place to
perform," she enthuses. "When I was doing my Rodgers and Hart tribute
at Rainbow & Stars, I got to sing with the band in the Rainbow Room between
shows. I felt like I was in a screwball comedy, racing through the kitchen to
get from one room to the other. It was so much fun!"
"How Love Goes" Lance Horne & Debra Barsha - an evening of original songs.
This
summer at the Unitarian Universalist Meeting house in Provincetown, MA, Lance
Horne and Debra Barsha will join forces in a tour-de-force performing their
original songs in a bold eclectic mix of pop, rock, and Broadway styles. Their
cutting-edge material explores the human condition through the ever-evolving
perspectives of love and relationships. There will be two performances only,
scheduled for August 1 & 2, 2005 at 9PM. Tickets are $22.50 and are
available at www.ptowntix.com
(look for the listing under "How Love Goes")
Excerpt: A BEDTIME LYRIC WORKOUT BY A GAY URBAN
ROMANTIC IN "SONGS
FROM AN UNMADE BED"
By Anne Midgette
"...Most
of the composers were able to put a song across, and almost no one fell into the
trap of trying to make too large a statement in an
evening aimed at lightness. Debra Barsha turned to rock
for 'He Never Did That Before'..... "
The show
continues through June 26 at 79 East Fourth Street, East Village; (212
)239-6200.
Download
the song"He
never did that before" featured in "Songs from an unmade
bed". (Music by Debra Barsha, Lyrics by Mark Campbell). Vocals by
Michael Winther.
*******
3.11.03
Excerpt: RADIANT BABY: A BRIGHT BOISTEROUS LULLABY
By
Jeannie Lieberman
"...A
great blues (song), a charming love ballad and some really hot disco numbers..."
By Elyse
Sommer (based on March 1st, 2003 press preview)
"....Debra
Barsha's pulsating rock-punk-disco score with its occasional pause for a pop
ballad suits the art and the disco club scene of the period. It's especially
effective in a show-stopping hedonistic inferno in which a manic male and female
diva (Angela Robinson and Billy Porter) sing about "Paradise/ Instant
Gratification" à la clubs like the Paradise garage...."
The
American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.)
opens its 2010/11 Season with
Kander and Ebb’s
CABARET, directed
by Steven Bogart,
with musical direction by
Lance Horne
and Debra Barsha
and movement by
Steven Mitchell Wright,
starring Amanda
Palmer as the
Emcee. Set and costume design is
by David Israel
Reynoso, lighting
design by Nick
Vargelis, and
sound design by
Clive Goodwin.
