Chester Theatre Group

CTG’s Summer Musical was GREY GARDENS (Book by Doug Wright, Music by Scott Frankel and Lyrics by Michael Korie)  opened Friday, July 1st and runs until July 24. (2011) Friday & Saturday evenings at 8pm (July 1,2, 8, 9, 15, 16,22, 23) and  Sunday matinees at 2 pm (July 17 & 24).  Tickets $24 general admission, seniors and students are $22.

This CTG production was co-directed by Jeffrey Fiorello and Mark Happel, with musical direction by Clifford Parish. Ericka Traugh was the stage manager.

Our Cast

• Edith Bouvier Beale: Barbi McGuire
• “Little Edie” Edie Beale/Edith Bouvier Beale: Barb Haag
• Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr/ Jerry: Tom Cioppettini
• Young “Little Edie” Edie Beale: Sandy Taylor
• Lee Bouvier: Julianne Grillo
• Brooks Jr./ Brooks Sr.: Alistar Williams
• J.V. “Major” Bouvier/ Norman Vincent Peale: Rich Maloy
• Jacqueline “Jackie” Bouvier: Hannah Curtis
• George Could Strong: Bob Jacobson

About The Show

GREY GARDENS is based (in part) on the Albert & David Maysels documentary concerning the relationship between Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ eccentric aunt and cousin. The touching and heart felt musical explores the unconventional mother-daughter relationship between former socialite Edith Bouvier Beal and her adult daughter Little Edie “body beautiful” Beal.

GREY GARDENS tells an entertaining and poignant story of two unconquerable women, once known as two of the brightest stars in the social register, who later become East Hampton’s most infamous “reclusive inhabitants”, sharing a rundown 28 room mansion with 52 stray cats and rabid racoons. From the glittering high society of 1940′s New York to the tabloid headlines that rocked the Kennedy clan in the 1970′s, GREY GARDENS hurls you into American royalty and leaves you to ponder the questions: “when do private lives become public fascinations?; How much is too much?; and Where does it stop?”

The Chester Theatre Group at the Black River Playhouse will present the Tony Award winning satirical musical comedy “Urinetown: The Musical’ by Mark Hollman (music and lyrics) and Greg Kotis (book and lyrics).

Friday and Saturdays at 8pm: Feb 25 – Mar 19, Sundays at 2pm: Mar 13 & 20, 2011.

“Don’t let the title scare you off, If you love musical theater and off-beat humor, this show will make you laugh until you … er, laugh your head off!”

It is about a town facing a water shortage where the government has banned private toiletries and the citizens must use pay-to-pee toilets regulated by a monopolistic company, the Urine Good Company, which charges exorbitant prices.Do the citizens rebel? You betcha! It not only pokes fun at local government, but, also the Broadway musical itself as a form.

The show played on Broadway for 2 and a half years (965 performances)  and won two Tony’s (Best Musical Score and Best Book).

The production staff includes:

• Director: Clifford Parrish
• Choreographer: Megan Ferentinos
• Stage Manager: Ellen Fraker-Glasscock
• Set Design: Steve Catron

Making up the cast are:

• Officer Lockstock: Scott Hart
• Penelope Pennywise: Melissa Loderstedt
• Bobby Strong: Brian Hall
• Little Sally: Elaine White
• Cladwell B. Cladwell: Michael Foley
• Hope Cladwell: Jill Cappucino
• Ma Strong: Martha Riley
• Soupy Sue: Christina Pirog
• Becky Two Shoes: Ericka Traugh
• Mrs. Millenium: Roxanna Wagner
• Barrell: Brian Vetter
• Hot Blades: Billy Brisley
• McQueen: Tom Schopper
• Mr. Fipp: Bob Longstreet
• Tiny Tom: Tariq Aly
• Robby: Chris Mortensen

Tickets are $24. Seniors (over 65) & Students (under 18): $22.  Reservations are encouraged and can be made by calling the box office at 908-879-7304.

SPECIAL PROJECT: Since Urinetown is a musical comedy satirizing a country in which the shortage of water requires everyone to “pay to pee” – the cast and crew of Urinetown have developed a special humanitarian project dubbed Pennies for Potties. Named by cast member Roxanna Wagner, who is heading up the effort, P4P is collecting money to to the international non-profit organization, Foundation for Peace, based in Ironia, NJ.

The Foundation for Peace has provided much needed emergency care to many materially impoverished countries. They are currently working tirelessly in Haiti by building schools, providing medical care and most importantly, building water filter and purification systems and latrines to stem the outbreak of cholera. Coin drops will be placed at the public rest rooms in the theatre through the run of the show. It takes $400 to build a latrine and the Urinetown folks are hoping to collect enough money to build two latrines.

For more information about Foundation for Peace, go to http://www.foundationforpeace.org/

The Chester Theatre Group of the Black River Playhouse will be presenting its November 2010 production of SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS by Richard Alfieri. This warm and endearing show, directed by Roseann Ruggiero and produced by Penny Hoadley, features CTG veteran Eileen Waite of Randolph as Lily Harrison and CTG newcomer Matt Cotton as Michael Minetti. The play runs Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 pm beginning November 19th thru December 5th with 2 Sunday matinees at 2 pm on November 28 and December 5. Tickets are $18, student and senior discount tickets at Friday and Sunday performances are $16. Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling 908-879-7304.

SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS is a touching and human comedy about what happens when an antagonistic relationship blossoms into an intimate friendship as two characters from very different backgrounds reveal their secrets, fears, and joys while dancing the Swing, Tango, Waltz, Foxtrot, Cha-Cha, and Contemporary Dance.  A comedy with music and dance, the play also addresses the serious issues of ageism and intolerance.

Since its Los Angeles premiere and Broadway opening, SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS has been translated into 12 languages and has traversed the globe with productions in over 20 countries. With over 50 productions and two national tours in Germany alone, the play has established itself as an international hit and one of the most produced plays in the world.

The Chester Theatre Group of the Black River Playhouse will be presenting its November 2010 production of SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS by Richard Alfieri. This warm and endearing show, directed by Roseann Ruggiero and produced by Penny Hoadley, features CTG veteran Eileen Waite of Randolph as Lily Harrison and CTG newcomer Matt Cotton as Michael Minetti. The play runs Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 pm beginning November 19th thru December 5th with 2 Sunday matinees at 2 pm on November 28 and December 5. Tickets are $18, student and senior discount tickets at Friday and Sunday performances are $16. Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling 908-879-7304.

SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS is a touching and human comedy about what happens when an antagonistic relationship blossoms into an intimate friendship as two characters from very different backgrounds reveal their secrets, fears, and joys while dancing the Swing, Tango, Waltz, Foxtrot, Cha-Cha, and Contemporary Dance.  A comedy with music and dance, the play also addresses the serious issues of ageism and intolerance.

Since its Los Angeles premiere and Broadway opening, SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS has been translated into 12 languages and has traversed the globe with productions in over 20 countries. With over 50 productions and two national tours in Germany alone, the play has established itself as an international hit and one of the most produced plays in the world.

The only thing harder than dying with a secret…

… is living with one.

The Chester Theatre Group is presenting Steven Dietz’ 2002 play “Fiction” from October 8-23, 2010.  Directed by Jeff Knapp, the play features Tom Morrissey as Michael, Carol Holland as Linda and D’Angelique Dopson as Abby. The play runs Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 pm with a Sunday matinee at 2 pm on October 17. Ticket are $18, Students and seniors discounts on Friday and Sunday performances $16. Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling 908.879.7304

Fiction tells the story of Michael and Linda Waterman, a pair of writers who find themselves facing Linda’s mortality after the diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor which will run its course in a matter of weeks.  Linda suggests she read Michael’s diaries before she dies, as he will read hers after she’s gone.  In doing so, she runs the risk of exposing the lies and fictions they both have created around their “real” lives and their literary creations. The Watermans share a common muse in Abby, a docent at a writer’s colony they both (seperately) attended.  How Abby plays into each other’s fictions is revealed as the evening progresses. The script is filled with warmth, pathos, humor and topics for discussion on the ride home.

Steven Dietz is one of America’s most widely-produced and published contemporary playwrights. Since 1983, his twenty-plus plays have been seen at over one hundred regional theatres in the United States, as well as Off-Broadway. International productions have been seen in England, Japan, Germany, France, Australia, Sweden, Austria, Russia, Slovenia, Argentina, Peru, Singapore and South Africa. His work has been translated into seven languages.

Mr. Dietz is a two-time winner of the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays Award, for FICTION (produced Off-Broadway by the Roundabout Theatre Company), and STILL LIFE WITH IRIS. He received the PEN USA West Award in Drama for LONELY PLANET; the 2007 Edgar Award for Drama from the Mystery Writer’s of America for his widely-produced SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE FINAL ADVENTURE (adapted from William Gillette and Arthur Conan Doyle); and the 1995 Yomuiri Shimbun Award (the Japanese “Tony”) for his adaptation of Shusaku Endo’s novel SILENCE. Other widely produced plays include INVENTING VAN GOGH, GOD’S COUNTRY, PRIVATE EYES, THE NINA VARIATIONS, TRUST, ROCKET MAN, HALCYON DAYS, TEN NOVEMBER, FOOLIN’ AROUND WITH INFINITY and MORE FUN THAN BOWLING. Other award-winning stage adaptations include FORCE OF NATURE (from Goethe), OVER THE MOON (from P.G. Wodehouse), THE REMEMBERER (from Joyce Simmons Cheeka), PARAGON SPRINGS (from Ibsen), DRACULA (from Bram Stoker), and, with Allison Gregory, GO, DOG. GO! (from P.D. Eastman).