Vicky Devany

Songs of the Theatre A Concert Cabaret

The woodstock fringe is proud to join in the celebration of the Byrdcliffe Centennial with a cabaret concert of theatre music. For the past 100 years art, music and theatre has filled the Byrdcliffe Theater and been home to, among others, the Phoenix Players, River Arts Repertory, and the Turnau Opera. This cabaret concert has songs by: Billy Barnes, Leonard Bernstein, Jacques Brel, Richard Levinson, Lou Rodgers, Richard Rodgers and Harold Rome. In a salute to the Turnau Opera and its history at Byrdcliffe, part of this concert is devoted to the music of Lou Rodgers who sang in the Byrdcliffe theater with the Turnau in past summers. Lou Rodgers is currently the Producing Artistic Director of Golden Fleece Ltd., The Composers Chamber Theatre, based in New York City and is the recent recipient of the American Composers Alliance Laurel Leaf Award for Distinguished Service to American Music.  Come join us for this special evening of celebration and song.

July 26th, 8:00pm, one performance only

Wallace Norman

   Rebecca Ortese        Photo:  R. Entel

Murder, Madness & Lady Macbeth by Rebecca Ortese

Written and performed by Rebecca Ortese in a solo tour-de-force, Murder, Madness & Lady Macbeth is both intensely powerful and highly humorous.  The play follows the thrilling story of an actress whose life drifts dangerously close to the role she plays when she falls in love with a new man at the same time she is cast to play Lady M.  The stormy new relationship and the world of Shakespeare’s play collide, resulting in fireworks and triumph.  First developed through Mabou Mines/Suite artist residency program, mentored by Lee Breuer, this premiere is directed by Leigh Silverman, who directed the hit play WIT on London's West End.  Leigh’s NY Credits Include Cherry Lane Theatre, The Public Theatre, EST, Dixon Place, and the Passage Theatre Company and was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award.  Julie Taymor (Director of Broadway’s Lion King) calls Murder “entertaining and provocative . . . like no other solo show.”   Andre Gregory finds Murder  “fascinating, frightening and innovative work.”  Six performances.

Wednesday 8/20/2003 8:00 PM
Thursday 8/21/2003 8:00 PM
Sunday 8/24/2003 8:00 PM

Friday 8/29/2003 5:00 PM
Saturday 8/30/2003 8:00 PM
Sunday 8/31/2003 5:00 PM

The Great Nebula In Orion by Lanford Wilson & Kenneth Fuchs

Lanford Wilson, one of America’s great playwrights and winner of the Pulitzer Prize (Tally’s Folly) calls this chamber musical play with a score by Kenneth Fuchs “magic – the weaving of music, evoking stars, dreams, lost love, great hopes.  A glorious piece.”   This is the story of two women friends who, separated by years and events, meet up by chance, and rediscover themselves and their dreams.  Wilson, often compared to the likes of Tennessee Williams and William Inge, co-founded Circle Repertory Company with Marshall Mason. Plays by Wilson include:  Hot L Baltimore, The Mound Builders, Angels Fall, Talley's Folly, and Burn This. The Signature Theater company devoted its entire 2002-3 season to Wilson’s plays.  Composer Kenneth Fuchs is Professor of Music and Director of the School of Music at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Fuchs has received numerous awards and honors for his music, including the Charles E. Ives Scholarship from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, grants from Meet The Composer, the ASCAP Foundation, the American Bandmasters Association.  The University of Miami School of Music named him Distinguished Alumnus for the Year 2000.  With Musical Direction by Michael Conley and Stage Direction by Nicola Sheara, this production recalls the era of the Turnau Opera in Woodstock, “Orion” will light up the Byrdcliffe Theatre with music and theatre for six performances.
 

LESSONS LEARNED – Saturday, August 23rd at 2 p.m.

D'Anna Fortunato, mezzo-soprano
Larry Thomas Bell, piano
Woodstock Fringe Chamber Players
Works by Vincent Persichetti and Larry Thomas Bell

SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND EXPERIENCE – Tuesday, August 26th at 8 p.m.

Catherine Thorpe, soprano
Larry Thomas Bell, piano
Works by George Gershwin, Douglas Moore, William Schuman, Carlisle Floyd, Leonard Bernstein and Larry Thomas Bell

Tiny Ninja Theater Presents Macbeth Directed by Dov Weinstein

Winner of the Award for Innovation and Originality and a hit at the New York International Fringe Festival, Shakespeare's classic tale of murder and intrigue is performed by inch-high plastic ninjas and assorted dime store figures on a briefcase-sized stage. Founded in 1999 to promote performance opportunities for vending machine thespians, this production has traveled all over the United States and Europe at festivals ranging from the Piccolo Spoleto Festival to The Edinburgh Fringe.  The critics have weighed in:  "Phenominally entertaining"—American Theater, "A plastiscene pleasure"—The Village Voice, "...delightful and amusing, and you leave the theater energized and oddly moved." Time Out New York, "Weinstein has developed a presentation that is so fully realized, so artfully conceived, so wonderfully inventive that one cannot help but become a willing participant in the suspension of disbelief"— Charleston Post & Courier.  Jonathan Van Gieson, the co-producer of Tiny Ninja Theater comments:  “I think it's safe to say that this is Macbeth as it was meant to be seen - performed by Tiny Ninjas on a briefcase-sized stage.  If tiny plastic ninjas had existed in the 16th century, I have no doubt that Shakespeare himself would have staged the play this way."  Don’t miss this!  Seating will be limited, purchase tickets early.   Two performances only.

Friday 8/22/2003 5:00 PM
Saturday 8/23/2003 5:00 PM
 

Man of Infinite Desire

Written and performed by Christina Nicosia

Man of Infinite Desire, in an extraordinary solo performance by its author, uses monologue, mask, puppetry and sleight-of-hand to re-examine from the point of view of Mephistopheles the story of Dr. Faustus, from his bargain with the underworld, to his passionate affair with Gretchen, to his ascension into heaven. Dov Weinstein, creator of Tiny Ninja Theater, serves as puppetry consultant. Man of Infinite Desire is directed by Jonathan Van Gieson. “Complex as a puzzle yet also as simply delightful as a magician pulling a coin from your ear. . . “ NYTheatre.com.

 Two performances only.

Wednesday 8/27/2003 8:00 PM

Thursday 8/28/2003 5:00 PM