Scarsdale Performers to Star in Cinderella
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The Random Farms Kids Theater will present Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella at The Tarrytown Music Hall, July 29 through August 7. The production is made up of over 120 young people who are divided into four casts. They come from throughout the tri-state area and have a wealth of theater, film and television experience. Included in cast A is Hannah Lewis of Scarsdale, as Cinderella. Also in the production from Scarsdale are Alexandra Goldman, Nate Kirschen and Julia Rotkovsky.
Alexandra Goldman, age 10, will be going into sixth grade,in the fall. She has been cast as C. Minerva and said, "I am so excited to be part of this production. It's also fun to be in the older cast because they are great role models, and so nice to work and hang out
The performances for cast A are 7/29 @ 11am and 7/30 @ 1pm. Other casts will perform on 7/29 at 7 p.m., 7/31 at 1:00, 8/5 at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., 8/6 at 1 p.m. and 8/7 at 1 p.m. The theater is located at 13 Main Street in Tarrytown. Directions can be found at www.tarrytownmusichall.org.
Tickets for Cinderella are $18 (adults), $16 (children under 12 and seniors), $14 (groups of 20+) and $10 (camps). Premium seating tickets (first four rows of center orchestra) are $23. To reserve tickets, go to www.tarrytownmusichall.org or call TicketForce at 877-840-0457. Tickets will also be available at the door. For more information, visit the theater’s website at www.randomfarms.com .
(Pictured here: Hannah Lewis)
Outdoor Concerts To Enjoy
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Summer is finally here, bringing outdoor concerts to our area. Here are two you can enjoy this week: In Scarsdale, the 75-member Westchester Band under the direction of Alan Hollander will present the first of seven free concerts in Chase Park on Thursday night June 30th at 8:00pm. Titled "Chase Park Celebration" the program will feature a wide variety of music for all ages plus the popular "mystery tune". Guess the title and you could win a prize donated by a local merchant. The concert will feature a solo by the entire tuba section playing "Deep River". Bring a lawn chair or a blanket and enjoy a night under the stars in downtown Scarsdale.
On Saturday July 2nd, the American Roots Music Festival, a day of bluegrass, folk, gospel, country and the blues, is scheduled at Caramoor located on a 90-acre estate in Katonah.
The festival will take place in three locations on the grounds and visitors can explore the gardens and horticulture as well as hear the music. Daytime shows (12:30-6pm) will take place on a large open grassy field called Friends' Field and at a smaller, picturesque area called the Sunken Garden. The evening performance at 7:00pm is in the Venetian Theater.
Sandwiches, salads, snacks, alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages will be available or you can bring your own picnic or pre-order an upscale dinner picnic the week prior to the festival. There will also be free activities for kids (including face painting and a scavenger hunt) located on Friends' Field. Ollabelle, James Maddock, The Sweetback Sisters, Brother Sun and Spuyten Duyvil will each play a set on the main stage beginning at 12:30 pm.
The Sunken Garden is a charming scenic spot on the premises. Beginning at 1:00 pm, James Maddock, The Sweetback Sisters, Brother Sun and Spuyten Duyvil will each play an acoustic, unplugged set under the trees at this location making it a special, intimate performance.
At 7:00 pm the festival moves into the Venetian Theater, a fully covered venue with assigned seating for the East Coast debut of the David Grisman FolkJazz Trio with Nashville in-demand guitarist Jim Hurst and upright bass player Samson Grisman.
TIckets for the festival are $20/$30/$40 with half price for under 16 years. TIcket prices determine the location of seats for the headline show; all daytime performances are outdoors and open seating. For more info, to purchase tickets or pre-order a picnic go to http://www.caramoor.org/festival/americanroots
Photographs of Susan Wides On Display at Madelyn Jordon Fine Art
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The first solo exhibition of the highly regarded New York artist Susan Wides is on display at Madelyn Jordon Fine Art on Chase Road in Scarsdale. Everyone is encouraged to stop in to see the show and the public is invited to an opening reception on Tuesday, June 21 from 6-8 pm, where you can meet the photographer and discuss her work.
On display are Wides photographs that picture well-known New York landscapes and iconic venues as seen through her unique lens. Wides actually uses an old fashioned 4 x 5 view camera to create her work – the kind of camera the first photographers used to shoot portraits and landscapes. To create her images she shifts the focal plane using her signature “tilt-shift” style to offer fresh perspectives on city and country environments.
The work at the gallery is taken from four of the artist’s series – all in local settings. In the Kaaterskill series, Wides returns to the sites painted by the Hudson River School artists and shows the transformation of the landscape in the 150 years since these paintings were created.
In the Mannahatta series, Wides explores New York City and swoops into Union Square, Madison Avenue and Central Park’s Sheep Meadow. The large scale, 3 x 4 foot photographs give the viewer a tour of spaces for the public and the privileged in works that are both recognizable and disorienting.
Susan Wides’ work is also currently on display at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers where her show, Susan Wides: Hudson Valley, Mannahatta to Kaaterskill can be seen until September 11. That show also includes photographs of Westchester County, picturing a verdant but troubled landscape.
Works from both the gallery and the museum are available at Madelyn Jordon Fine Art.
Susan Wides divides her time between New York City and Catskill, NY, exploring the character, drama and environment of both places. Raised in Cincinnati, she comes from a long line of woman artists. Her work is included in numerous collections including the International Center for Photography, the Brooklyn Museum, the Norton Museum of Art and the Art Museum of Princeton University.
Take a look at her work in the photo gallery below and stop in at Madelyn Jordon Fine Art in Scarsdale Village to view the artwork.
Madelyn Jordon Fine Art
14 Chase Road
Scarsdale N.Y. 10583
www.madelynjordonfineart.com
914-723-2179
Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 10:30 am – 5:30 pm
Opening Reception: Tuesday June 21, from 6 pm – 8 pm
Screening: GASLAND at Hitchcock Church
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"The largest domestic natural gas drilling boom in history has swept across the United States. The drilling technology of "fracking" or hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a "Saudia Arabia of natural gas" just beneath us.
When filmmaker Josh Fox is asked to lease his land for drilling, he embarks on a cross-country odyssey uncovering a trail of secrets, lies and contamination. A recently drilled nearby Pennsylvania town reports that residents are able to light their drinking water on fire. This is just one of the many absurd and astonishing revelations of a new country called GASLAND." The film is “Part verite travelogue, part expose, part mystery, part bluegrass banjo meltdown, part showdown” and was shown at the Sundance Film Festival.
Fracking may be coming to the Catskills, where it has the potential to affect more than eight million drinking water consumers, including Westchester and New York City. Should we be concerned? What should we do? What is the current state of play in the New York State Legislature?
The Mission Committee of Hitchcock Church will present a free screening of the film GASLAND on Thursday, June 16, at 7 pm. The screening will be followed by a Q &A with Kate Hudson of the environmental group Riverkeeper and an attorney with more than 25 years experience in New York State government, including the Department of Environmental Conservation. Refreshments will be served. Open to the community.
Lower Children’s House
Hitchcock Church
6 Greenacres Avenue
Scarsdale
Sorkin Captivates Sellout Crowd at SHS
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Academy Award Winner and SHS Class of 1979 graduate Aaron Sorkin returned to Scarsdale High School Thursday evening May 26 to a capacity crowd in the SHS auditorium. SHS Drama Club President, Justine Gelfman, welcomed the crowd and noted that “an evening like this one is a team effort” and then proceeded to thank the drama club officers and faculty who worked tirelessly to organize the event. On behalf of the Drama Club, Gelfman extended a special welcome to Aaron’s parents who were in the audience and thanked Mrs. Sorkin for her efforts in making the evening a reality. After a brief recitation of Sorkin’s biography, the audience viewed clips from the Social Network, Studio 60 on the Sunset Street, the West Wing and a Few Good Men. The Scarsdale natives in the crowd reacted with warm applause at the mention in the West Wing clip of the name Werner Feig who was a long time SHS social studies teacher. Sorkin posthumously honored him with a mention of his name in the third season of his Emmy winning show.
After the clips ended Sorkin walked onto the stage to thunderous applause. Sorkin and Gelfman then sat in two chairs borrowed from Principal Klemme’s office for the occasion. Gelfman invited audience members to line up at two standing microphones for the question and answer portion of the evening. Gelfman opened the question session by asking Sorkin for his “fondest memories” of the Drama Club and how it impacted him. Sorkin first responded by noting how much he appreciated being invited back to SHS. Sorkin said that next to his parents, the Drama Club had a very important impact on him as he made good friends and found what he loved doing at a young age. Sorkin noted that his parents and teachers probably preferred that he spend more time on his schoolwork than Drama Club activities but then wryly noted, “I landed on my feet so it was ok.”
During the next hour, Sorkin answered a variety of questions from the audience. Like so many of his fictional characters, Sorkin was warm, engaging, funny and passionate. He was also very humble and self deprecating. At one point, Sorkin said that he was not the smartest in his family or among his childhood friends, but their influence instilled in him a love of “smart dialogue." Several of the questions solicited career advice from those looking to break into playwriting. Sorkin told the aspiring playwrights in the audience to write all the time, read all the time, to consider applying for jobs in Hollywood, to use networking opportunities and most of all to take chances early in their careers. He implored the students in the audience to applaud classmates who try and fail rather than make fun of their efforts. Other questions delved into Sorkin’s biography. While discussing his switch from acting to play writing, Sorkin regaled the crowd with a story of his watching Nathan Lane perform in a one act play that Sorkin had both written and acted in with a young Nathan Lane. Of Nathan Lane, Sorkin said he thought, “Boy, he is really good. Wouldn’t it be good if all the actors in my play were that good?” Sorkin shared with the audience that the moment made him realize that he was not an actor anymore but a playwright. Sorkin also discussed his philosophy concerning writing, noting that Aristotle’s Poetics contain all the required elements of playwriting and that intention and conflict are of particular importance.
Sorkin captivated the crowd and literally left them wanting more. A last minute change to Sorkin’s schedule required that the Drama Club shorten the event. Before Sorkin departed, Gelfman presented him with a framed collage of pictures, playbills and posters from SHS Drama Club shows that Sorkin appeared in while at SHS. After Sorkin departed the stage, Drama Club Vice President Will Heffner organized the raffle drawing for a signed script of the Social Network. SHS Art Teacher, Elizabeth Colleary, was the winner of the script.
It was a magical evening showcasing a generous graduate of Scarsdale High School who came home for an evening to assist the Drama Club that he adored as a young man.
A special thank you to the Drama Club Faculty advisor Adrienne Meyer, Dave Berry of the Scarsdale High School Audiovisual Department who organized the technical logistics of the evening, NYU film student Sam Butin who compiled the clips the audience saw and the SHS custodial staff.
