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dilofilho · 6 years ago

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Drama perturbador da Netflix, Olhos Que Condenam escancara injustiça racial Assistir ao drama Olhos Que Condenam na Netflix é perturbador. No conforto de sua casa ou com a praticidade de um celular na mão, o telespectador se depara com uma trama agonizante, na qual policiais brancos forçam cinco adolescentes (quatro negros e um latino) a confessarem um crime que não cometeram. A história incomoda porque é real. Criada e dirigida por Ava DuVernay, cineasta negra com filme e documentário indicados ao Oscar, a minissérie faz justiça racial ao expor como esses jovens foram condenados erroneamente por um sistema policial e legal embranquecido, rápido ao colocar garotos pobres como culpados de espancar e estuprar uma mulher loira, branca e rica. Olhos Que Condenam (When They See Us, em inglês) retrata o infame caso da Corredora do Central Park, como a mídia americana da época rotulou o ataque que a investidora bancária Trisha Meili (Alexandra Templer), então com 28 anos, sofreu dentro do parque nova-iorquino, na noite de 19 de abril de 1989. Naquela data, como em tantas outras, dezenas de jovens negros e latinos se divertiam no parque. Alguns deles começaram a fazer arruaça, e outros frequentadores ligaram para a polícia reclamando da importunação. Ao descobrirem o corpo de Trisha violentado no chão, os policiais precipitadamente ligaram os pontos e foram atrás desses jovens. Entre mais de 30 menores apreendidos, cinco foram "escolhidos" pela polícia, que construiu uma narrativa de mentiras para incriminá-los. O quinteto de atores que interpreta os meninos também é digno de nota. Se destacam Asante Blackk, que vive o Kevin; Jharrel Jerome, o Korey Wisey; e Caleel Harris, o Antron. Especialistas já cravam que Jharrel Jerome, no mínimo, merece uma indicação ao Emmy. #UmbandaParaTodosSaravá #Mensagem #Mensagens #Amor #Humildade #Justiça #Tolerância #Humanismo #OlhosQueCondenam #WhenTheySeeUs #Netflix #RacismoNuncaMais #PretosVelhos #PretasVelhas #FilhosDeAruanda #NelsonMandela #Mandela #MandelaVive #Espiritismo #Espiritualismo #Espiritualidade #UmbandaSagrada #umbandanopeito #SalveDeus #TiaNeiva #ValeDoAmanhecer #LegiãoDaBoaVontade #PazMundial #PazNoBrasil https://www.instagram.com/p/ByT6HL0nYbE/?igshid=e6l2esixppye

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larryland · 7 years ago

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by Macey Levin

There was woman, born to a Jewish father and Catholic mother in Warsaw, Poland, in 1898. In Petrograd Russia, she married a wealthy Polish lawyer who was arrested in the midst of the Russian Revolution in 1917. After he was freed they journeyed with their infant daughter to Paris where she became a celebrated artist who led a hedonistic life style typical of the French artistic community in the 1920’s. Her controversial yet popular work was identified only by her last name. She is the central character in the world premiere musical Lempicka at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.

This production has the same driving music and narrative as the larger-than-life style of Evita, Les Miserables and others of the 1970’s and 80’s. Lempicka’s life story is as dramatic as Eva Peron’s and as dark as Jean Valjean’s and, perhaps, more touching.

After Tamara de Lempicka (Eden Espinosa) extricates her husband, Tadeusz Lempicki (Andrew Samonsky,) from prison, their life in Paris is hard. Since he does not want a menial job, which he believes is below him, she works as a waitress. She finds herself becoming fascinated by painting and takes lessons until she develops a form that complements her personality. Her interpretation of art deco utilizes bold, clashing colors in dynamic, highly stylized portraits and nudes. She paints a series using her daughter Kizette (Alexandra Templer) for her model. As her fame increases and she becomes more involved in the unconventional side of the art world, she has numerous affairs with both men and women, some of whom are subjects of her work. In particular, Lempicka has a lengthy affair with a street prostitute, Rafaela, played by Carmen Cusack. Divorced by Tadeusz, she marries, her lover, Baron Kuffner (Nathaniel Stampley.) In 1939, with the growing power of the Nazis they emigrate to America. Her life covers the 20th century and historical moments become an integral part of the plot. The show is not totally factual, while it follows the outline of her life.

Ms. Espinosa is the core of the production and she makes it pulsate. Her energy drives the show and her voice is strong. In addition to her vocal responsibilities, her acting is nuanced and intelligent. Her growth from a young bride to a tough, self-protective woman who revels in international fame is convincing. Cusack’s Rafaela is hard, fearing to let her guard down as she falls in love with Lempicka. Hers is also a layered performance and her voice is a match for Espinosa‘s, especially in a touching duet – “Stillness.”

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The rest of the cast fulfill their roles with well-rounded characterizations, though the book by Carson Kreitzer doesn’t fill in their backgrounds as specifically as she does with Espinosa and Cusack. Worth noting are Samonsky as Lempicka. Nathaniel Stampley (The Baron) Rachel Tucker (The Baroness) who sings a heartfelt “The End of Time,” Natalie Joy Johnson who has a rousing number as lesbian bistro owner Suzy Solidor, and Steven Rattazzi as a self-proclaimed art expert who reviles classic art.

Director Rachel Chavkin’s (Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812) staging and the choreography by Raja Feather Kelly are virtually inseparable with one form flowing into the other. There is a great deal of movement lending energy to the various scenes. The cast sets props, furniture, and rovers (spotlights on rollers) within dance numbers and dialogue scenes. The choreography is very stylized, certainly not what is seen in a conventional musical. Matt Gould’s music is redolent of the blockbuster musicals of the 70’s and 80’s and there is a lot of it. Kreitzer’s book is over-stuffed and her lyrics are occasionally repetitive.

In designing the set Riccardo Hernandez opens up the entire stage, including the wings, to create a larger world for Lempicka’s journey. The set is minimalist with no permanent structures; everything is moved on–and offstage by cast members. The immense number of Monica Levi Blanco’s costumes are evocative of the various eras depicted… many, especially the women’s clothes, are colorful.

Bradley King’s lighting highlights the dramatic qualities of the myriad scenes. The strip lights in back of the upstage cyclorama change the emotional tones in a flash. The rovers, which are moved freely around the stage, focus attention on the actors.

This is probably a show that people will love or spend their time nit-picking and there is a lot to pick at considering it runs for three hours. It needs a lot of cutting cutting cutting. Despite this, Lempicka is an exciting theatrical experience.

Lempicka; Book and Lyrics by Carson Kreitzer; Music by Matt Gould; Directed by Rachel Chavkin; Choreographer: Raja Feather Kelly; Music director: Charity Wicks; Music Supervisor and Vocal Arranger: Remy Kurs; Cast: Eden Espinosa (Tamara de Lempicka) Andrew Samonsky (Tadeusz Lempicki) Carmen Cusack (Rafaela) Nathaniel Stampley (The Baron) Rachel Tucker (The Baroness) Steven Rattazzi )Marinetti) Natalie Joy Johnson (Suzy Solidor) Alexandra Templer (Kizette) Ensemble: Justin Gregory Lopez, Azudi Onyejekwe, Michael McCorry Rose, Tim Creavin, Grace Porter, Sav Souza, Kay Trinidad; Scenic Design: Riccardo Hernandez; Costume Design: Montana Levi Blanco; Lighting Design: Bradley King; Sound Design: Nevin Steinberg; Hair and Wig Design: Leah Loukas; Production Stage manager: Cody Renard Richard; Running time: 3 hours, one intermission;Williamstown Theatre Festival Main Stage; Opening: 8/20/2018; Closing: 8/1/2018

REVIEW: “Lempicka” at the Williamstown Theatre Festival by Macey Levin There was woman, born to a Jewish father and Catholic mother in Warsaw, Poland, in 1898.

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larryland · 7 years ago

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Williamstown, MA (July 23, 2018) – Williamstown Theatre Festival (Mandy Greenfield, Artistic Director) announces the second Main Stage production of the 2018 season, the world premiere musical Lempicka, which opened Saturday, July 21st and runs through Wednesday, August 1st.

Featuring Tony nominee Carmen Cusack and Eden Espinosa, this world premiere musical is directed by Tony nominee Rachel Chavkin, with book and lyrics by Carson Kreitzer and music by Matt Gould. Fleeing the Russian revolution and leaving behind a world of opulence and wealth, aristocrat Tamara de Lempicka (Espinosa) and her beloved husband Tadeusz (Andrew Samonsky) are forced to make a new life. In the rising tide of fascism, Tamara takes to painting to survive, and when she meets the free-spirited Rafaela (Cusack), a prostitute on the fringes of Parisian society, she’s torn between the life she cherishes with her husband and the passion, ambition, and possibility awoken in her by her new muse. Inspired by the life of the artist who transformed herself from penniless refugee to star of the art world when the world itself teetered on chaos, Lempicka looks at the beauty and danger of one painter pursuing it all.

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The cast also includes Tim Creavin, Natalie Joy Johnson, Justin Gregory Lopez, Azudi Onyejekwe, Grace Porter, Steven Rattazzi, Michael McCorry Rose, Sav Souza, Nathaniel Stampley, Alexandra Templer, Kay Trinidad and Rachel Tucker. Lempicka is choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly. The design team includes Riccardo Hernandez (Scenic Design), Montana Levi Blanco (Costume Design), Bradley King (Lighting Design), and Nevin Steinberg (Sound Design). The music team includes Remy Kurs (Music Supervisor), Charity Wicks (Music Director), and Cian McCarthy (Orchestrations).

Post-show Talkbacks are scheduled for Tuesday, July 24 and Tuesday, July 31.

Lempicka was developed by Williamstown Theatre Festival, under the artistic direction of Mandy Greenfield, and is a recipient of a 2018 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award. The production is sponsored by James & Virginia Giddens, Andrew Martin-Weber, and one anonymous donor. Williamstown Theatre Festival’s 2018 Season Partners include Herbert A. Allen, James & Virginia Giddens, Jessica & Matt Harris, Andrew Martin-Weber, and two anonymous donors. The 2018 Festival season is supported by grants from The Shubert Foundation, the Tiger Baron Foundation, the Edgerton Foundation, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Lempicka is presented by special arrangement with Seaview Productions, Marathon Live Entertainment, and Jenny Niederhoffer Productions.

TICKETS AND SCHEDULE

Tickets may be purchased online, by phone, or in person at the Box Office located at the ‘62 Center for Theatre and Dance at 1000 Main St (Route 2), Williamstown, MA 01267, 413.458.3253, wtfestival.org.

WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL

For over six decades, Williamstown Theatre Festival, recipient of the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre and the Commonwealth Award for Achievement, has brought emerging and professional theatre artists together to create a thrilling summer festival of premiere work alongside fresh, new productions of the western canon, and offers a rich array of accompanying cultural events including COMMUNITY WORKS, Late-Night Cabarets, along with readings and workshops of new plays. Under Artistic Director Mandy Greenfield, the Festival launched a New Play and Musical Commissioning Program through which theatre artists including Jocelyn Bioh, Nathan Alan Davis, Halley Feiffer, Justin Levine, Matthew Lopez, Marsha Norman, Jiehae Park, Zoe Sarnak and Benjamin Scheuer, and many others, are creating new work year-round. The Festival runs unmatched training programs for new generations of theatre talent, and artists and productions shaped at the Festival fill theatres in New York, London, and around the country each season. Williamstown Theatre Festival’s productions of The Bridges of Madison County, The Elephant Man, Fool for Love, Living on Love, and The Visit enjoyed critically acclaimed runs on Broadway, with The Elephant Man and The Visit receiving Tony Award nominations for Best Revival of a Play and Best Revival of a Musical, respectively. In addition, the Festival’s world premiere productions of Cost of Living (winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama) and Actually played acclaimed Off-Broadway runs at Manhattan Theatre Club, and Paradise Blue had an extended run at Signature Theatre in New York.

New Musical “Lempicka” Opens at Williamstown Theatre Festival Williamstown, MA (July 23, 2018) – Williamstown Theatre Festival (Mandy Greenfield, Artistic Director) announces the second Main Stage production of the 2018 season, the world premiere musical

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larryland · 8 years ago

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Williamstown Theatre Festival Engages the Berkshire Community

by Barbara Waldinger

Williamstown Theatre Festival, in its second season of COMMUNITY WORKS, has proven that is it no longer the distant “Theatre on the Hill,” but an active participant in the life of the Berkshires. With over eighty performers gathered during a year of community workshops with nine local partners, director Laura Savia and playwright Lucy Thurber have demonstrated their commitment to another all-inclusive experience with their new show : Once Upon a Time in the Berkshires.

(Click HERE to read Gail M. Burns’ interview with Laura Savia and Lucy Thurber.)

Savia, the Associate Artistic Director of Williamstown Theatre Festival, directs and runs workshops throughout New York City, assistant directed Broadway’s The Merchant of Venice, won an IAMA-Ovation Award, a Drama League Directing Fellowship, and is on the faculty of Fordham University, NYU/Strasberg Institute and The New School.

Thurber, hailing from Western Massachusetts, is a highly decorated playwright, having won first Gary Bonasorte Memorial Prize for Playwriting, a Lilly Award, a Manhattan Theatre Club playwriting fellowship, and a 2014 OBIE Award for her five-play cycle The Hill Town Plays. She has taught at Columbia University, NYU, Sarah Lawrence College and The New School. Her play Orpheus in the Berkshires had its World Premiere last year as WTF’s first COMMUNITY WORKS production, also directed by Savia.

Producer Mandy Greenfield, the Artistic Director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival

Playwright Lucy Thurber

Director Laura Savia, the Associate Artistic Director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival

Over the course of the year, Savia and Thurber travel from New York City to run workshops with WTF’s community partners, to which everyone is invited. After Thurber announces her subject, participants respond by writing, then reading their work aloud, after which Savia arranges for groups to act out the stories. Meanwhile Thurber takes notes, incorporating the ideas into her play, ensuring that what emerges onstage reflects community concerns and ideas. All participants are encouraged to perform in the finished product. (Anyone who would like to be on their email list should write to [email protected].

Working with scores of community members, many of whom have never acted before, alongside professional performers and a huge artistic team and production staff, Savia and Thurber have created something approaching miraculous. While both of Thurber’s community plays deal with problems facing Berkshire residents, Orpheus in the Berkshires, focusing on the opiod crisis and performed in a non-air conditioned old mill last year, was less cohesive (and significantly less comfortable) than her current production, which was mounted on WTF’s Main Stage. Once Upon a Time in the Berkshires is both poignant and relevant. The story opens with an upcoming funeral for a young man who served in the military (special forces) but never recovered after returning home. We are told: “No matter how hard we try we can’t get over the things we’ve seen.” What a brave beginning for a play with so many young children both on the stage and in the audience! There are two plots that eventually coalesce: the struggles of the mourning family, and the oft-told story of their mythical ancestors, which the young children implore the grandmother (Penny Bucky) to repeat.

In this play-within-a-play, it seems that once upon a time, Miriam (Katasha Acosta), the leader of the Water People–fluid shape-shifters who worship Mother Octopus and Father Whale, married John (Brendan Dalton), the leader of the Rangers, a solid, camouflage-clad marching army. John’s brother Scott (Keshav Moodliar), could not accept the blending of the two cultures, resulting in each losing the identifying characteristics of their tribe–the Rangers become more fluid and don the blue streamers of the Water People, while the latter become more solid and can no longer shift their shapes. While John celebrates these changes as necessary and inevitable evolution, Scott feels threatened by them, believing that the Rangers are disappearing to the point where their children will not remember who they are—leading to a lovely and meaningful song questioning time and change, the fear of moving forward, the need to hold onto what we know and the obligation to adapt. Each of the children, cuddled on a staircase listening to the story, asks the grandmother: “Do we adapt?”

Meanwhile, the family, preparing for the funeral, begin to squabble. Sue (Alexandra Templer), cousin of the young man who died, has gone off to live in the city, leaving her family behind to deal with the problems of rural life: things don’t improve for future generations, jobs disappear, everything they strive for moves farther away and no one helps in their struggles. Her relatives try to convince Sue, who has found happiness and success in the city (though she won’t talk to her family about her boyfriend because—heavens, he’s a liberal Democrat!!), to return home to help out.

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How to solve these two situations—the issues between the Water People and Rangers, and Sue’s problem with the demands of her family? Clearly, what is required are the Banshees: dressed in earth colors, swinging multi-colored lights and dancing to the music of drums, the Banshees live inside every one of us, representing all the “hope and horror hiding in our throats”—they assure us that we are not alone. With their aid, the inner feelings of the characters are expressed aloud and their love, buried under fear and anger, comes shining through. The audience joins the cast in the title song, composed by Heather Christian, lyrics by Lucy Thurber, included in the programs.

The design team is top-notch, including the amazingly creative costume design (by Anna Blazer) for each of the different and distinctive groups (Miriam’s billowing water dress is exceptional); exciting and colorful lighting (Aaron Tacy, designer); a terrific band under the direction of Jack Mitchell; various styles of choreography, including hip-hop, by the talented Jenn Rapp, a simple, effective scenic design by Lawrence E. Moten, III that allows for quick changes and smooth transitions; all helped by actors like Templer, Acosta, Moodliar, and Dalton, who bring their professionalism to this worthy effort.

But the most moving element of this production is the diversity of the cast—senior actors paired with children, performers of every race and type, including Banshees in wheelchairs escorted onstage by assistants, and a message of inclusion that teaches us what can be possible in our fractured world.

Once Upon a Time in the Berkshires runs from August 13-16 at the Williamstown Theatre Festival’s Main Stage. For tickets call 413-458-3253 or online at wtfestival.org.

Williamstown Theatre Festival presents Once Upon a Time in the Berkshires. Director: Laura Savia; Composer: Heather Christian; Choreographer: Jenn Rapp; Music Director: Jack Mitchell; Scene Designer: Lawrence E. Moten III; Costume Designer: Anna Blazer; Lighting Designer: Aaron Tacy; Production Stage Manager: Brendan O’Hara. Running Time: one hour fifteen minutes, no intermission; at Williamstown Theatre Festival’s Main Stage, ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance, 1000 Main Street, Williamstown, MA., from August 13, closing August 16, 2017.

CAST

Grandmother: Penny Bucky – North Adams, MA

Sue: Alexandra Templer – Atlanta, GA

Jim: Andy Hogeland – Williamstown, MA

Tom: Hiram Delgado – San Juan, Puerto Rico

Carol: Judy Sellman – Jacksonville, VT

Auntie Gene: Shirley Edgerton – Pittsfield, MA

Uncle Nick: Bill Sellman – Jacksonville, VT

Abby: Amanda Lyn Jungquist – East Tawas, MI

GRANDCHILDREN:

Sean Colletta – Pittsfield, MA

Ari Kraiman – Philadelphia, PA

Devon Lennon – Lanesboro, MA

London Martin – Pittsfield, MA

Crystal Moore – Pittsfield, MA

Abdul Peoples – Pittsfield, MA

Cloey Parlapiano – Pittsfield, MA

Ethan Shaw – Pittsfield, MA

Nick Trapiani – Pittsfield, MA

Naomi Tayi – Pittsfield, MA

Job Vengali – Pittsfield, MA

Grace Wallis – San Marino, CA

WATER PEOPLE:

Miriam: Katasha Acosta – Gainesville, FL by way of Havana, Cuba

Pastor: Ryan Haddad – Parma, Ohio

Tameka Bennett – Mobile, AL

Jetta Berthiaume – Pittsfield, MA

Zachery Berthiaume – Pittsfield, MA

Aileen Bliss – Stockbridge, MA

Chloe Boehm – Pittsfield, MA

Gael K. Bryant – Williamstown, MA

Jennifer Daley – Pittsfield, MA

Lyndsay deManbey – Sandisfield, MA

Joan Diver – Williamstown, MA

Maura Dubuque – East Greenbush, NY

Carolyn Fabricant – North Adams, MA

Isaac Gotterer – Lenox, MA

Emma-Margaret Gregory – North Adams, MA

Krishan Gutschow Rai – Williamstown, MA

Tashi Gutschow Rai – Williamstown, MA

Chris Hall – North Adams, MA

LouAnn Hazelwood – Leeds, MA

Piper Jacobs – North Adams, MA

Tess Johnstadt – Williamstown, MA

Kameron Knott – Katy, TX

Kate Lauzon – Pittsfield, MA

Michael Lively – North Adams, MA

Carter Marks – Lee, MA

Bella Maisonneuve – Pittsfield, MA

Karen McNulty – Pittsfield, MA

Meghan Mongeon – North Adams, MA

Eva Moser – North Adams, MA

Michael Ortiz – Stamford, FL

Maggie Seckler – New York, NY

Courtney Pontier – North Adams, MA

Keya Robertson – Pittsfield, MA

Ed Sedarbaum – Williamstown, MA

Ginger Sumner – Pittsfield, MA

Sam Tucker-Smith – Williamstown, MA

Regina Velázquez – Williamstown, MA

Serafina Velázquez – Williamstown, MA

Xavi Velázquez – Williamstown, MA

Sonal Vyas – Williamstown, MA

Arya Vyas – Williamstown, MA

Stella Waynick – Williamstown, MA

Linda White – Williamstown, MA

Maxine Wisbaum – Pittsfield, MA

RANGERS:

Scott: Keshav Moodliar – New Delhi, India

John: Brendan Dalton – Upper Darby, PA

Ranger Dad: Christopher ‘BIGZDAKING’ Barton – North Adams, MA

Hook: Xaida Brazeean – Chesire, MA

Steel: Michael Obasohan – North Adams, MA

Dead Drop: Danny Trotter – North Adams, MA

Julian Abelskamp – Santa Cruz, CA

Marion Cimini – Pittsfield, MA

Lottie Dustin – Williamstown, MA

Wendy Jones-Gregory – Williamstown, MA

Jeff Kosharek – Rochester, NY

Marilyn Larkin – Pittsfield, MA

Barbara Mahony – Pittsfield, MA

Yamalia Marks – Malibu, CA

Bradford Rosenbloom – Pittsfield, MA

William Valles – Barrington, RI

BANSHEES:

Lead Banshee: Jessy Yates – Broadview Heights, Ohio

Drums: Otha Day – North Adams, MA

Cindy Keiderling – Lee, MA

Fatima Anaza – Houston, TX

Mary Ellen Cangelosi – Williamstown, MA

Phil Case – Westfield, MA

John Chapdelaine – Westfield, MA

Natalie Celebi – Bath, ME

Mary Deyo – Westfield, MA

Karel Fisher – Richmond, MA

Karel Fisher – New Rochelle, NY

Carolyn Kettig – New York, NY

Donna Leaf – West Springfield, MA

Shira Lynn – Williamstown, MA

Chrissy Margevicius – Cleveland, OH

Doris McNabb – Williamstown, MA

Carol Neuhaus – Housatonic, MA

Angel Rathbaum – Lee, MA

Phyllis Riley – Williamstown, MA

Kathleen Ryan – Housatonic, MA

Leslie Scarlett – Lenox, MA

Rachel Skalka – Woodbridge, CT

Shannon Spargo – East Berne, NY

Susan Taylor – Pittsfield, MA

Reiko Yamada – Williamstown, MA/ Sapporo, Japan

BAND:

Vocals: Cali Cybulski – Pittsfield, MA

Saxophone/Guitar: Zev Jarrett – Richmond, MA

Vocals: Grace Ida Marks – Lee, MA

Guitar: Dan O’Connell – North Adams, MA

Guitar: Vladimir Zeleny – Pittsfield, MA

Bass: Tyler Shaw – Adams, MA

Drums: David Ball – Stephenville, TX

dysFUNKcrew:

Becky Ahamad – Chesire, MA

Jamal Ahamad – Chesire, MA

Ashton Darrett – North Adams, MA

Michael Obasohan – North Adams, MA

REVIEW: “Once Upon a Time in the Berkshires” in Williamstown Williamstown Theatre Festival Engages the Berkshire Community by Barbara Waldinger Williamstown Theatre Festival, in its second season of COMMUNITY WORKS, has proven that is it no longer the distant “Theatre on the Hill,” but an active participant in the life of the Berkshires.

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larryland · 8 years ago

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For the second year in a row Williamstown Theatre Festival Associate Artistic Director Laura Savia and playwright Lucy Thurber are collaborating on a great big world premiere Community Works production. This year the title is Once Upon a Time in the Berkshires and there will be four free performance August 13-16 on the Main Stage in the ‘62 Center. Last year more than 80 local residents took part, this year the number has topped one hundred.

Director Laura Savia, the Associate Artistic Director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival

Playwright Lucy Thurber

Producer Mandy Greenfield, the Artistic Director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival

“People love a spectacle, and this show has equal amounts of fun and theatricality to provide awesome moments of joy for the audience,” Savia said. “Not only is it family friendly, but it is about the children of the Berkshires. Lucy has done a great job honoring the families of the Berkshires creating wonderful ‘meat and potatoes’ theatre scenes to fit between all the music and magic.”

In Once Upon a Time in the Berkshires, three kids ask their grandmother to tell them about a time long ago. She speaks of a world made of water, of star-crossed lovers, and of banshees. The stories come to life — warriors and magical creatures flood the stage as the tales unfold with original music and floor-pounding dance – asking the question what it really means to be a hero.

A successful playwright for more than twenty years – her 2014 play cycle The Hill Town Plays won an Obie Award – Thurber just loves the process and product of creating Community Works with Savia. “Honestly, last year’s community production of Orpheus in the Berkshires is the thing I am the most proud of in my career as a writer so far.”

Community Works has replaced the WTF’s Free Theatre productions which used to feature Equity and non-Equity actors in family-friendly outdoor shows. Both last year and this Savia and Thurber have staged their productions indoors – last year at the Greylock Works space (the former Cariddi Mill on Rt. 2 in North Adams), and now on the MainStage.

“We want people to come early, hang out on the lawn, and eat some Jack’s hot dogs!” Thurber enthused, referring to North Adams’ iconic Eagle Street vendor. “There will be music by different artists before each performance, including Kids for Harmony from Pittsfield.” Admission is free but reservations required.

Thurber and Savia came up to Berkshire County for workshops with various partner organizations throughout the year “We came up for a week every other month, for a total of 5 or six weeks. Thomas Sadoski, who appeared in Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow, and other guest artists often came with us,” Savia explained.

“I learned how to share a brain with Laura so that we can give our cast the best, most professional theatrical experience together,” Thurber said. “We have learned to move quickly as a unit. I am the playwright, Laura is the director, and WTF Artistic Director Mandy Greenfield is the producer, but we have to be able to cover each other’s positions at a moment’s notice.”

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Interviewed about ten days before the opening, Thurber was pleased that the production was further along than she and Savia had hoped, and spoke enthusiastically of their collaborative process. “We can see the work we still have to do but with a community production rewriting takes on a different aspect than it does professionally,” she explained. “In the sections I’m not sure of, I trust that Laura will find ways to stage them without losing the focus of the play. My lines may be overwritten, or not, but she will intuit where that section is, where I am intentional and where I have left things loose for her to interpret. We are on the same page with the why and the what of this production.”

“We are well-aligned in our vision,” Savia agreed.

“Last year we learned that miracles were possible and that you can still tell a wonderful and elegant story with a large cast of people of all ages and walks of life,” Savia said. “This kind of spectacle wouldn’t be possible with a small cast.”

To engage people Savia and Thurber have collaborated with about seven different community organizations including the new Berkshire County ARC which works with people with Down Syndrome and traumatic brain injury. Transportation has been provided by the Pittsfield Public Schools, removing a significant barrier to participation for many

“I learned how much we can trust our partner organizations,” Thurber confessed. “There are many people involved last year who have returned to work with us again, which has allowed me to craft a more mature play. The group is getting to know how Laura and I work and how they work individually and corporately. The tenets of professional theatre apply to newcomers as well as more experienced participants.”

“Our lead partner is Berkshire Community College and Megan Whilden, the Executive Director of the Osher Life-Long Learning Institute (OLLI) based there, Savia explained. “I call Megan the Fairy Godmother of Community Work. As a result of her many successful years running the Pittsfield Cultural Development Office, and now working at OLLI, she knows everyone! Workshops both with both BCC and OLLI students have created a really helpful dialogue between the generations.”

“Being in the mill space last year was magical, but it was really important to all of us to institutionalize Community Works and have the production in the ’62 Center this year,” Thurber explained. “It is a significant part of the Festival and Mandy wanted it on the MainStage. We have a full design team and luckily the set for Legendary Romance (running on the MainStage through August 20) is very open so our set fits right in. We are really excited and trilled to make this as big a part of the WTF season as possible.”

“And because we are rehearsing on campus and at the Williams Inn, our other artists are stopping by rehearsals, connecting with our cast, who in turn go to see their new friends in our productions,” Savia said. “It’s a real cross-pollination.”

“We want to move Community Works forward in the coming years,” Thurber said. “We want to offer more opportunities to cross-pollinate and become more and more a part of the WTF – just as important a part as any MainStage show.”

The Williamstown Theatre Festival Community Works presents Once Upon a Time in the Berkshires by Lucy Thurber directed by Laura Savia with a cast of more than 100 local folks!

August 13, 14 & 16 at 7 pm August 15 at 2 pm

On the MainStage of the ’62 Center for Theatre & Dance 1000 Main Street Williamstown, MA 01267

http://wtfestival.org/

Admission is FREE but reservations are required.

COMMUNITY WORKS is supported in part by Greylock Federal Credit Union, The Feigenbaum Foundation, and grants from the Cultural Council of Northern Berkshire and the Pittsfield Cultural Council, local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

CAST

Grandmother: Penny Bucky – North Adams, MA

Sue: Alexandra Templer – Atlanta, GA

Jim: Andy Hogeland – Williamstown, MA

Tom: Hiram Delgado – San Juan, Puerto Rico

Carol: Judy Sellman – Jacksonville, VT

Auntie Gene: Shirley Edgerton – Pittsfield, MA

Uncle Nick: Bill Sellman – Jacksonville, VT

Abby: Amanda Lyn Jungquist – East Tawas, MI

GRANDCHILDREN:

Sean Colletta – Pittsfield, MA

Ari Kraiman – Philadelphia, PA

Devon Lennon – Lanesboro, MA

London Martin – Pittsfield, MA

Crystal Moore – Pittsfield, MA

Abdul Peoples – Pittsfield, MA

Cloey Parlapiano – Pittsfield, MA

Ethan Shaw – Pittsfield, MA

Nick Trapiani – Pittsfield, MA

Naomi Tayi – Pittsfield, MA

Job Vengali – Pittsfield, MA

Grace Wallis – San Marino, CA

WATER PEOPLE:

Miriam: Katasha Acosta – Gainesville, FL by way of Havana, Cuba

Pastor: Ryan Haddad – Parma, Ohio

Tameka Bennett – Mobile, AL

Jetta Berthiaume – Pittsfield, MA

Zachery Berthiaume – Pittsfield, MA

Aileen Bliss – Stockbridge, MA

Chloe Boehm – Pittsfield, MA

Gael K. Bryant – Williamstown, MA

Jennifer Daley – Pittsfield, MA

Lyndsay deManbey – Sandisfield, MA

Joan Diver – Williamstown, MA

Maura Dubuque – East Greenbush, NY

Carolyn Fabricant – North Adams, MA

Isaac Gotterer – Lenox, MA

Emma-Margaret Gregory – North Adams, MA

Krishan Gutschow Rai – Williamstown, MA

Tashi Gutschow Rai – Williamstown, MA

Chris Hall – North Adams, MA

LouAnn Hazelwood – Leeds, MA

Piper Jacobs – North Adams, MA

Tess Johnstadt – Williamstown, MA

Kameron Knott – Katy, TX

Kate Lauzon – Pittsfield, MA

Michael Lively – North Adams, MA

Carter Marks – Lee, MA

Bella Maisonneuve – Pittsfield, MA

Karen McNulty – Pittsfield, MA

Meghan Mongeon – North Adams, MA

Eva Moser – North Adams, MA

Michael Ortiz – Stamford, FL

Maggie Seckler – New York, NY

Courtney Pontier – North Adams, MA

Keya Robertson – Pittsfield, MA

Ed Sedarbaum – Williamstown, MA

Ginger Sumner – Pittsfield, MA

Sam Tucker-Smith – Williamstown, MA

Regina Velázquez – Williamstown, MA

Serafina Velázquez – Williamstown, MA

Xavi Velázquez – Williamstown, MA

Sonal Vyas – Williamstown, MA

Arya Vyas – Williamstown, MA

Stella Waynick – Williamstown, MA

Linda White – Williamstown, MA

Maxine Wisbaum – Pittsfield, MA

RANGERS:

Scott: Keshav Moodliar – New Delhi, India

John: Brendan Dalton – Upper Darby, PA

Ranger Dad: Christopher ‘BIGZDAKING’ Barton – North Adams, MA

Hook: Xaida Brazeean – Chesire, MA

Steel: Michael Obasohan – North Adams, MA

Dead Drop: Danny Trotter – North Adams, MA

Julian Abelskamp – Santa Cruz, CA

Marion Cimini – Pittsfield, MA

Lottie Dustin – Williamstown, MA

Wendy Jones-Gregory – Williamstown, MA

Jeff Kosharek – Rochester, NY

Marilyn Larkin – Pittsfield, MA

Barbara Mahony – Pittsfield, MA

Yamalia Marks – Malibu, CA

Bradford Rosenbloom – Pittsfield, MA

William Valles – Barrington, RI

BANSHEES:

Lead Banshee: Jessy Yates – Broadview Heights, Ohio

Drums: Otha Day – North Adams, MA

Cindy Keiderling – Lee, MA

Fatima Anaza – Houston, TX

Mary Ellen Cangelosi – Williamstown, MA

Phil Case – Westfield, MA

John Chapdelaine – Westfield, MA

Natalie Celebi – Bath, ME

Mary Deyo – Westfield, MA

Karel Fisher – Richmond, MA

Karel Fisher – New Rochelle, NY

Carolyn Kettig – New York, NY

Donna Leaf – West Springfield, MA

Shira Lynn – Williamstown, MA

Chrissy Margevicius – Cleveland, OH

Doris McNabb – Williamstown, MA

Carol Neuhaus – Housatonic, MA

Angel Rathbaum – Lee, MA

Phyllis Riley – Williamstown, MA

Kathleen Ryan – Housatonic, MA

Leslie Scarlett – Lenox, MA

Rachel Skalka – Woodbridge, CT

Shannon Spargo – East Berne, NY

Susan Taylor – Pittsfield, MA

Reiko Yamada – Williamstown, MA/ Sapporo, Japan

BAND:

Vocals: Cali Cybulski – Pittsfield, MA

Saxophone/Guitar: Zev Jarrett – Richmond, MA

Vocals: Grace Ida Marks – Lee, MA

Guitar: Dan O’Connell – North Adams, MA

Guitar: Vladimir Zeleny – Pittsfield, MA

Bass: Tyler Shaw – Adams, MA

Drums: David Ball – Stephenville, TX

dysFUNKcrew:

Becky Ahamad – Chesire, MA

Jamal Ahamad – Chesire, MA

Ashton Darrett – North Adams, MA

Michael Obasohan – North Adams, MA

More Than 100 Berkshire Residents Appear in “Once Upon a Time in the Berkshires” For the second year in a row Williamstown Theatre Festival Associate Artistic Director Laura Savia and playwright…

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