"Driving Miss Daisy and More This Sunday

Congregation Adath Israel and Vintage Players present "Driving Miss Daisy", the play by Alfred Uhry first produced Off-Broadway in 1987 at 4 p.m. on Sunday. Carolyn Kirsch (pictured left) stars in the title role along with Rick Nelson as Hoke Colburn (her driver) and Nat Holmes as her son Boolie Werthan.  The story opens as Miss Daisy's son takes away her driving privileges and hires a driver.  At the heart of the play is the relationship of the elderly white Jewish Daisy and the African American Hoke.  We watch it unfold over 25 years as the main characters and citizens of Atlanta, Georgia, (where the play is set) deal with issues of segregation, racism, and assimilation.

After the play, there will be a panel discussion on African American/Jewish relationships in Middletown, the state and the country.  Scheduled to appear will be several members of the clergy (including Adath Israel's Rabbi Seth Haaz), Professor Ron Schatz of the Wesleyan University History Department, and Debbie Shapiro, Executive Director of the Middlesex County Historical Society.  To cap off the event, members of the Afro-Semitic Experience, an ensemble started by bassist David Chevan and pianist Warren Byrd to play a mix of spiritual music, world beat, jazz, salsa, gospel, funk, cantorial and more, inspired by the liturgical music of the Black Church and the Jewish continuum.

The play starts at 4 p.m., the panel discussion at 6 and the music at 6:30. Ticket price is $10 per person and can be reserved by calling Adath Israel at 860-346-4709.  Rabbi Haaz will appear on WLIS & WMRD's Phil Mikan Show Wednesday May 28 at 10 a.m..  The show will be archived at www.philmikan.com.

Manet Tickets Are Going Quickly

Good news from my vantage point as a member of Vintage Players - the production of "Chasing Manet" that we are presenting this weekend (11/16-18) at the Green Street Arts Center is rounding into shape and looking darned good (writer's note - I am part of the cast and am really enjoying what my fellow actors are bringing to life in the black box theater space of GSAC.)

The 7 p.m. show on Saturday as well as the 3 p.m. Sunday matinee are sold out.  There are some tickets remaining for Friday night's 7 p.m. show.  Call 860-685-7797 to make a reservation or to add your name to the waiting list.

Broadway Actress To Appear In "Driving Miss Daisy", To Benefit Green Street Arts Center

From The Vintage Players.
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The Vintage Players of Middletown will be presenting the play "Driving Miss Daisy" with Carolyn Kirsch in the title role, as a benefit for The Green Street Arts Center.

Performance dates are April 27th (7 pm), April 28th (7 pm) and April 29th (2pm).

Miss Kirsch is a veteran of 15 Broadway shows, over a 21 year period of working in theatre in New York. Her many credits include: The Original Company of"A Chorus Line (Theatre World Award), "Chicago" (for Bob Fosse), and "CoCo" (which starred Katharine Hepburn).

"Driving Miss Daisy" chronicles the relationship of an older, southern Jewish woman and her patient, proud African-American chauffeur over a 20 year time period. The Pulitzer Prize winning play (1988) by Alfred Uhry presents a poignant, humorous,
and thought provoking look at the issues of racial biases ... and the challenges of aging gracefully. After each performance a discussion will be held regarding the issues of aging, as both obstacles and rewards are encountered as we drive along on our individual roads of life.

The cast is rounded out by the excellent talents of Richard Nelson as the chauffeur, and Nat Holmes as Daisy's son (both of Middletown).

Reservations are required and may be made by calling Claudia Foerstel at (860) 685-7797, or contacting her at cfoerstel@wesleyan.edu.

Suggested donation is $10 and all money collected will go to The Green Arts Center in
order to continue enriching the lives of our children.

Vintage Players This Saturday

On Saturday November 5, the Middletown-based Vintage Players presents a staged reading of "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been", the 1972 play by Eric Bentley.  The performance is at 7:30 p.m. and will take place in the Green Street Arts Center, Green St in Middletown. Peter Gottschalk, Professor of Religion at Wesleyan University and author of "Islamphobia: Making Muslims the Enemy", will present a Pre-performance Talk at 7 p.m.

During the course of the reading, the audience will hear the words of writers Abe Burrows and Lillian Hellman, actors Larry Parks, Sterling Hayden and vocalist, actor, and civil rights activist Paul Robeson (among others.)

Director Carolyn Kirsch rediscovered the play during the midst of New York Representative Peter King's "Muslim Hearings" in the Congressional House of Representatives this past March. The eloquent testimony of Minnesota Democratic Representative Keith Ellison, the first Muslim-American ever elected to the House, spurred Kirsch to look into presenting this reading.  The cast includes Peter Sipples, Carlton Winslow, Charlie Rich, Richard Kamins, Nat Holmes, Vijay Pinch, Rick Nelson, Myron Gubitz, Pat Murray and Terri Klein with the offstage assistance of Peggy Welsh and Producer Jane McMillan.

Suggested donation is $5.00. For reservations, call the Green Street Arts Center at 860-685-7871. 

Saturday Night "Red" Fever

The Post Office motto used to be "Neither rain, nor sleet or snow will keep the mail from getting through" but it will stop the show.

Last night's torrential rain, vivid lightning, powerful winds and scattered power outages cancelled the Vintage Players' staged reading of Eric Bentley's "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been."  The Middletown-based troupe will try again Saturday evening at 8 p.m. in the Main Auditorium of Congregation Adath Israel, 8 Broad Street. Donations will be accepted at the door after the performance and refreshments will be served.  

To make reservations, call Richard Kamins at 860-632-1067 or Jane McMillan at 860-346-1377.  

Need A Laugh?

Vintage Players, the Middletown-based theater troupe, presents “Fall Follies” on Saturday
November 13 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday November 14 at 3 p.m in the main auditorium of Congregation Adath Israel , 8 Broad Street, Middletown. The Players will perform staged readings of hilarious works by James Thurber and David Ives as well as a jazzy take on a speech from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” and more. Donations will be gratefully accepted at the door. Cast members include Carolyn Kirsch, Terri Klein, John Hall, Richard Kamins, Naomi Kamins, Charlie Rich, Gerry Matthews, Peter Sipples, Pat Murray, Lynne Fiducia, Cora Rodenhizer and Jane McMillan.
Refreshments will be served. No frills, just funny.

For reservations and more information, please call Richard Kamins at 860-632-1067 or Jane
McMillan at 860 346 1377.

Arts Info Part 1 (11/10-11/12)

Tuesday November 10:
The monthly meeting of the Connecticut Songwriters Association takes place at 7:15 p.m. in Room B2B, South College at Wesleyan. Neeta Ragoonwansi (pictured), from the non-profit organization Sound Exchange, will talk on how the group collects and distribute performance royalties for digital cable, satellite, and Internet radio plays on behalf of recording artists and sound-recording copyright owners. The tak is free and open to the public. For more information, go to www.ctsongs.com or call Grady Faulkner at 860-344-9395.

Wednesday November 11:
The Buttonwood Tree presents its monthly "Belly Dance: Evening Oasis" at 7:30 p.m. The event, hosted by Laura Lawton and Kitti Field, features dance trio of Desideria, Aziz Al-Tawil and Rasa Vitalia. For more information, call 860-347-4957.

Thursday November 12:
Lots of theater-related events begin or take place on this day. Earlier this week, there was a posting for "Juno & The Paycock", Sean O'Casey's 1924 play, presented by the Middletown- based Vintage Players (read here.) As a member of the troupe, I can say we are excited about this production for many reasons. Gerry Matthews plays "The Paycock" and his cousin Phelim Donlon is coming over from Ireland and has a small part. Performances are 7 p.m. Thursday and Saturday with a 3 p.m. matinee on Sunday. The production takes place in the main auditorium of Congregation Adath Israel, 8 Broad Street. For more information and reservations, call 860-347-1377 or 860-632-1067.

26 young actors takes the stage at Oddfellows Playhouse for 5 performances (11/12, 13, 14, 15, 20 & 21) of "Around The World in 80 Days." I know you've seen the postings of the creative fundraising events on this site and now the production is here. Many of us know Jules Verne's story about the intrepid world traveler Phileas Fogg's idea to circumnavigate the world with his trusty valet Passepartout (there's a bet involved.) John Hildreth's adaptation hews closely to the storyline and the troupe does a fine job showing the many different cultures and people they encounter along the way. The first night is the "can-can" preview at 7 p.m. when all tickets are “pay-what-you-can,” and audience members are asked to bring a canned or nonperishable food item for the Amazing Grace food pantry. All the other performances take place at 7:30 p.m. For more information and reservations, call 860-347-6143.

From the Wesleyan CFA: Rhodessa Jones is Co-Artistic Director of the San Francisco acclaimed performance company Cultural Odyssey. She is an actress, teacher, singer and writer. Jones is also the Founder and Director of the award winning "Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women", which is a performance workshop that is designed to achieve personal and social transformation with incarcerated women. She has lectured at the Getty Research Institute, Yale University, the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University and the San Francisco Academy of Art. Ms. Jones is speaking at 8 p.m. in Crowell Concert Hall; she will talk about using art as a healing tool through her work with The Medea Project and perform some excerpts from her one-person shows around the theme of "art as social activism." For ticket information, go to www.wesleyan.edu/cfa or call the Box Officeat 860-685-3355. To learn more about Rhodessa Jones, go to www.culturalodyssey.org/v2/aboutus/rhodessa_bio.html.

The Torch Bearers

Today (Sunday) is your last chance to catch the Vintage Players' production of The Torch Bearers. The performance is at 3 p.m. at the Congregation Adath Israel Auditorium, 8 Broad Street, Middletown.

Last night's show had the audience, and some of the cast, falling out of their seats. It was a riotous good time!

For reservations, call 632-1067 or 346-1377.

Play Time in Town

The Middletown-based Vintage Players is getting ready to present "The Torch-Bearers", a satirical comedy written in 1923 by George Kelly (uncle of actress Grace Kelly and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his 1925 play "Craig's Wife.") That's Charles Rich, who plays the laconic stage manager, awaiting the beginning of rehearsal.

The story revolves around an amateur theater group putting on a serious play and how one woman gets involved, much to the dismay of her husband. We enter the play the night before its final performance, the same night the husband returns home from a truncated business trip to find the troupe rehearsing in his living room. Some of the actors are serious but not talented, some are silly and not talented but all are under the spell of their hyper-active director and the lure of the stage lights.

The second act (out of 3) shows the performance in all its glorious ineptitude. The actual stage is split between the "play"and the events backstage. It's marvelously silly (note: I'm in the cast so expect some bias here) and is followed by a very funny ending.

Cast members include Terri Klein, Naomi Kamins (also assistant director), John Hall, Pat Farrell, Peter Sipples, Jane McMillan, Maria Madsen Holzberg, Lynne Fiducia, Bob Alexander, Charles Rich , Richard Kamins and Danny Glazier. Director Carolyn Kirsch (an experienced dancer and actress) leads the "behind-the-scenes" crew that also includes Marian Katz (set designer and costumer), Pat Murray (lighting, props and stage crew) and Cora Rodenhizer (costumes and makeup.)

Performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursday March 19, 8 p.m. Saturday March 21 and 3 p.m. Sunday March 22 in the main auditorium of Congregation Adath Israel, 8 Broad Street. The suggested donation is $10. and the proceeds will be shared by the Amazing Grace Food Pantry, Oddfellows Playhouse and the synagogue. For reservations, call 632-1067 or 346-1377.