Podcasts about depot theatre

Depot Theatre presents dance drama Five rehearsals in, the folks responsible for producing The Tango Diaries at the Philipstown Depot Theatre in Garrison had mastered the outline. Attention turned to fine-tuning, including lighting, blocking (where to stand and how to move) and what inflection to use when saying a line, which could be changed on the fly by the playwrights in the room. For months, Alice Jankell has acclimated to her new role as the venue's artistic director. (She succeeded Nancy Swann, who retired after 20 years.) Now serving as a hands-on director for her first play as an employee, she's keen on spotlighting a work that showcases why Argentina's chief cultural export exerts such a powerful hold around the world that it has "saved people's lives," according to the promotional copy. The play, which features dancing and live music (via electronic keyboard), opens May 2. A pro's pro, Jankell spent the last four decades compiling a blizzard of prestigious acting, writing and directing credits, including musicals for Disney. Last year at the Depot, the Kent resident directed Dirt in conjunction with the Putnam Theatre Alliance, a coalition she helped kickstart during the pandemic. Early rehearsals for The Tango Diaries unfolded with purpose and playfulness. Ideas ricocheted between the stage, Jankell's seat and the play's writers, Ron Hutchinson and Alisa Taylor, who are driving up from Brooklyn for each rehearsal and performance with their white lapdog, Lucy, in tow. "More than any other dance, the tango touches the human condition in a deep manner, which is why there's a global obsession over it," Jankell says. "The largest festival is in Finland." This is the play's premiere as a stage production, though 6 million people listened to a radio version on the BBC, which is quite a feat because there's no way to see people dance over the aural airwaves. One of Jankell's directorial challenges is to weave choreography with drama to ensure fluidity on the small stage. Characters often pierce the fourth wall. Local actors include Maia Guest, Sara Jay Halliday, Erin McGuff-Pennington, Dante Nastasi, Mike Pirillo and John Christian Plummer. Haldane senior and intern Oliver Petkus occupied the assistant director chair for one rehearsal. Musicians and four dancers (two of whom have prominent acting roles) travel from New York City. The tango itself is constructed of several set steps that can be reassembled in any configuration. One person leads, the other follows, and "that interplay is the challenge," says Jankell. "It's a visceral transfer of power, mixed with intimacy; it takes great concentration to do it well." Married to a psychiatrist, Jankell views the dramatic arts like a sociologist: "It's a way to explore how people navigate each other, like two dancers. Theater helps us understand human behavior." The Philipstown Depot Theatre is located at 10 Garrison's Landing. The Tango Diaries opens at 7:30 p.m. on May 2 and continues weekends through May 18. See depottheater.org for tickets, which are $25, $30 or $45 each.

Would house costumes, sets and theater classes The Philipstown Depot Theatre has proposed building a two-story facility on town-owned property on Route 403 for costumes and prop storage, set construction, rehearsals and theater classes for high school students. The project, introduced to the Planning Board on Dec. 19, would include public restrooms, and the theater would donate the 3,675-square-foot building to Philipstown and lease it for 40 years. Its classes would cover stage direction, costume, lighting and set design. Stephen Ives, the Depot board president, said the structure would consolidate "scattered" operations. Its costumes are "wedged into a room" at the Philipstown Recreation Department on Route 9D; props are kept in "moldy, mildew-infested" outdoor containers; and the scene shop is "jammed into a garage" at Winter Hill, he said. Larger props are stored at the town dump on Lane Gate Road. "That's been a huge handicap for the theater to try and operate efficiently," said Ives. He said the theater hadn't found a suitable building to renovate. Because the property is within the Scenic Protection Overlay District, evergreens would be planted as screening along Route 403, said Margaret McManus, an engineer with Badey & Watson. Six parking spaces would be created in front of the building, she said. Water would be supplied from a well the town dug for the Garrison Landing Water District before determining it was inadequate. The theater would install a septic system. The Open Space Institute donated the property, which has frontage along Route 9D, to the town for recreational use. A conservation easement allows for a storage structure of up to 4,000 square feet and 25 feet high. The nonprofit "has some issues" with the project because it is "slightly too high, slightly too long and the use is not purely storage," said Ives. "We are in conversations with them about trying to align with their easement." Ives said the Philipstown Town Board has endorsed the project for fundraising purposes. The Planning Board scheduled a site visit for 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 5. Shakespeare housing The Planning Board closed a public hearing on Hudson Valley Shakespeare's application to build a 32-bed residential compound for its performers and will consider a resolution granting conditional approval at its Jan. 16 meeting. HVS wants to construct five residential buildings forming an L-shaped compound in the northwest section of its 97-acre property at the former Garrison golf course. Four of the buildings - two-story cottages totaling 1,000 square feet each - would have two separate bedrooms with a private bath on each floor and a kitchen and living area off the entrance. Joe Regele, a Philipstown resident who was one of several people who spoke during the hearing, asked how the housing would be used when not occupied by artists. Town law would prohibit artists from occupying the housing for more than nine consecutive months, and during its offseason, HVS would be allowed to rent the units for stays of less than a month. Any offseason lodgers would probably be guests attending weddings at the property, said Adam Stolorow, a representative for the project. In its application, Hudson Valley Shakespeare said it wants to build the residences at the same time it is constructing a theater complex so they would be ready for the 2026 summer season. With 12 fewer units than the 44 approved in the master plan, the impacts will be "either the same or less as what was previously studied," Stolorow told the Planning Board at its October meeting.

Tonight a unique exhibition is opening at the Depot Theatre in Devonport if you are curious about how the impossible is turned in to the possible then you need to check out "Synthesis". Professor Olaf Diegal talks to Jesse.

On this episode of our Art Unmasked series, we chat with two individuals that run local theatre companies around the country. We begin with the community theatre, Theatre Downstream, co-founder Ashley Raymer-Brown of Kentucky, who has turned her sour situation into sweet virtual lemonade. We finish with Kenney M. Green, the Producing Artistic Director of the Depot Theatre in Westport New York and how he makes sense of union rules and how he cultivates his artistic garden.

Today we are talking theater, mental health, diversity, and intention with Roy Lightner. Roy is an award-winning theatre creator, director, choreographer, and educator born and raised in Kansas City. He recently joined the Musical Theatre Faculty at the University of Alabama at Birmingham as an Assistant Professor. Previously, Roy served as the Associate Artistic Director for the Transcendence Theatre Company, and also on the Musical Theatre Faculty of Ithaca College. As a national director for Dancers Inc., he toured the country as a master class teacher. Roy has taught at New York City's Professional Performing Arts School, as well as created the contemporary/musical theatre dance program for the Astoria School of Fine Arts. As a director/choreographer his credits include: Transcendence Theatre Company's productions of Those Dancin' Feet, Best of Broadway Under the Stars, Fantastical Family Night, This Magic Moment, Wine Country Speakeasy (creator/director), Gala Celebration, Oh, What a Night! (2015 Winner Best Director Broadway World San Francisco), Superheroes in Love, and Music of the Night; New York City Opera's Lucky to Be Me (Lincoln Center, assistant to Peggy Hickey), Hairspray, Miss Saigon (Sondheim Center), Legally Blonde (Arizona State University) Hound of the Baskervilles (Cape Playhouse, New Jersey Rep, Westin Playhouse, Depot Theatre). University of Alabama at Birmingham Productions: Disconnect, HAIR, Savage, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Working and Hairspray. Ithaca College productions: Dogfight, A Chorus Line, Under the Covers, How to Succeed…, Gone Missing, and Legally Blonde; Bring It On (Music Theatre of Kansas City), Pippin, Hairspray (Winner Best Director Broadway World KC), Thoroughly Modern Millie, Good News, Urban Cowboy, Starmites, Little Shop of Horrors, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and more. MTWichita: 2018 Festival Producer. Dance Concert choreographic credits include: two full-length original choreographic ballets Under the Covers (Ithaca College) and In Your Eyes (Miller-Marley Ballet Company), The Oklahoma City Dance Project, NYC's Community Dance Project, New York City's Jazz Choreography Enterprise, Astoria Fine Arts and B.C. Beat. Performance credits include: Babes in Toyland (Lincoln Center), a two time Kansas City Symphony principle soloist, You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown (Stages St. Louis), Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Holland America's Grand World Voyage (lead singer/dancer), Geva Theatre, Oklahoma City Rep. and Music Theatre of Wichita's CATS (Mungojerrie), 7 Brides for 7 Brothers(Gideon), West Side Story (Baby John), Seussical (Wickersham), Hairspray(IQ), The Full Monty, Phantom, Aida, Beauty and the Beast and more totaling over 40 professional productions. He graduated summa cum laude from Oklahoma City University with a degree in Musical Theatre; and received his Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts with a Concentration in Performance Creation from Goddard College. You can find Roy at www.roylightner.com. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/todayichoose/support

(Jun 30, 2020) Many arts organizations are coping with COVID-19 by canceling live performances, in-person workshops and exhibits this summer. And some are moving outdoors. The Depot Theatre, in Westport, is partnering with the Whallonsburg Grange Hall to provide a safe, outdoor space for in-person learning. The summer program for youth will include dance, drama and voice training.

Jami Brandli is an award-winning playwright based in Los Angeles and a faculty member in Lesley University's MFA in Creative Writing program. In this episode she discusses "making it" as a playwright, writing strong female characters and her trilogy based on Greek mythology with Emily Earle, Lesley's social media specialist. Jami’s plays include Technicolor Life, S.O.E., M-Theory, ¡SOLDADERA!, Sisters Three, Through the Eye of a Needle, Medusa’s Song, O: A Rhapsody in Divorce and BLISS (or Emily Post is Dead!) which was named in The Kilroys Top 46 List in 2014. Her work has been produced/developed at New Dramatists, WordBRIDGE, The Lark, New York Theatre Workshop, Great Plains Theatre Conference, Launch Pad, The Antaeus Company, Chalk REP, The Road, among other venues. Current 2018-2019 Humanitas Prize PLAY LA playwright. Winner of John Gassner Memorial Playwriting Award, Holland New Voices Award and Aurora Theatre Company's GAP Prize. Technicolor Life premiered at REP Stage as part of the 2015 Women’s Voices Theater Festival and recently received its Australian premiere at The Depot Theatre. In 2018, BLISS (or Emily Post is Dead!) receives a joint-world premiere with Moxie Theatre (San Diego) and Promethean Theatre (Chicago), ending with Moving Arts’ production this fall at Atwater Village Theatre in Los Angeles (LA Time’s Critic’s Choice). Sisters Three will receive its world premiere with The Inkwell Theater (Los Angeles) in December, and Through the Eye of a Needle also received its world premiere at The Road Theatre (Los Angeles) this past spring. She’s been a finalist for the 2016 PEN Literary Award for Drama, Playwrights’ Center Core Writer Fellowship, Princess Grace Award, O'Neill National Playwrights Conference and the Disney ABC TV Fellowship and was also nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn Award. Her short works are published with TCG and Smith & Kraus. A proud member of the Playwrights Union, the Antaeus Playwrights Lab, and The Dramatist Guild, Jami teaches dramatic writing at Lesley University's low-residency MFA program. She is represented by the Robert A Freedman Agency and Gramercy Park Entertainment. For more information, visit our show notes.

Monday Drive’s Ruth Hessey talks to actor Elaine Hudson about her role in the new Australian play at the Depot Theatre, ‘Mum, Me and the IED’. More information can be found here: http://thedepottheatre.com/mum-me-the-ied.

Playwright Roger Vickery spoke to Drive Tuesday about his upcoming play, ‘Mum, Me and the IED’. The play focuses on Rob, a returned Army Medic from Afghanistan and his suffering. The play tackles big issues such as post traumatic stress disorder in a lighthearted way. The play will be performed at the Depot Theatre in […]

Amir Bar- Lev knows how to cheat deathdepot. The brilliant film maker talks Grateful Dead and "the afterlife" as he walks around NYC on this call. Meet him and see Long Strange Trip this weekend at the Depot Theatre in Garrison, NY or beginning November 3 at Village East in NYC. https://www.facebook.com/events/176405066252070/?acontext=%7B%22action_history%22%3A%22[%7B%5C%22surface%5C%22%3A%5C%22page%5C%22%2C%5C%22mechanism%5C%22%3A%5C%22page_upcoming_events_card%5C%22%2C%5C%22extra_data%5C%22%3A[]%7D]%22%2C%22has_source%22%3Atrue%7D

This week, Deb and Joe travel to Richmond Community Theater to talk to Craig McNabb, director of Dinner with Friends, opening on October 21.   Other openings: Rosedale Players  – Minus Some Buttons October 28-November 12, Fri/Sat at 8 and Sun at 2   Starlight Theater– The Toxic Avenger October 28-November 6, Fri/Sat at 7:30, Sun at 2 Also – auditioning Best Christmas Pageant Ever – already had first night but second night is this Sunday, Oct 23, 2:30-4:00 (adults and kids)   Birmingham Village Players – Mame October 28-November 13, Fri/Sat at 8, Sun at 2   Auditions: Clarkston Village Players – Consider the Oyster (farce comedy) October 23-23, starts at 6:00 PM at Depot Theatre   Downriver Actor’s Guild – Chicago October 24-25, starts at 6:30 PM Subscribe to Front Row Podcast in iTunes, or visit our website. Contact the show directly via email info@frontrowpodcast.com or leave your comments on our hotline at 248-631-4077.

This week, Deb and Joe travel to Richmond Community Theater to talk to Craig McNabb, director of Dinner with Friends, opening on October 21.   Other openings: Rosedale Players  – Minus Some Buttons October 28-November 12, Fri/Sat at 8 and Sun at 2   Starlight Theater– The Toxic Avenger October 28-November 6, Fri/Sat at 7:30, Sun at 2 Also – auditioning Best Christmas Pageant Ever – already had first night but second night is this Sunday, Oct 23, 2:30-4:00 (adults and kids)   Birmingham Village Players – Mame October 28-November 13, Fri/Sat at 8, Sun at 2   Auditions: Clarkston Village Players – Consider the Oyster (farce comedy) October 23-23, starts at 6:00 PM at Depot Theatre   Downriver Actor’s Guild – Chicago October 24-25, starts at 6:30 PM Subscribe to Front Row Podcast in iTunes, or visit our website. Contact the show directly via email info@frontrowpodcast.com or leave your comments on our hotline at 248-631-4077.