New Season for the Clay and Wattles Theatre in Bethlehem

The 2014 Season at The Gary-The Olivia Theater in Bethlehem (on the grounds of the Abbey of Regina Laudis) begins with two one-act plays written by American Playwright Horton Foote. "Blind Date" and "The Actor" will be performed on 

June 13, 14, 20, 21 at 7:30 pm and June 15 and 22 at 2:30 pm. 

These beautifully written comedies set in the fictional town of Harrison, Texas are guaranteed to delight audiences with their poetry, insight into human nature and comic touch.

A prolific writer and winner of many awards. Mr. Foote wrote over 60 plays, television dramas and screenplays spanning a sixty year career. Perhaps most widely know for his screenplays for the films To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and Tender Mercies (1983), winning the Oscar for both, Mr. Foote received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1995 for the play, The Young Man From Atlanta.

Both comedies deal with conflicts between the generations. In Blind Date, a former beauty pageant queen tries to persuade her recalcitrant and unwilling niece on the art of "How to attract a suitor," and in The Actor, the well-intentioned parents try to dissuade their young son from pursuing a career in the theater.

Set in the fictional South Texas town of Harrison in the 1930's, these plays bring out both the charm and pitfalls of small town USA in a humorous and engaging way.

On Friday, June 13, 2014, our opening night gala performance for Blind Date and The Actor will include complimentary wines from Walker Road Vineyards and local artisan made cheeses. Tickets are $25 per person for opening night and $20 per person for the run of the show. Season Subscription Package and Senior Discounts are available at: www.thegarytheolivia.com. 11 yrs and younger are admitted free.

Admission for opening night and details on our 2014 season is at: thegarytheolivia.com. More information:info@thegarytheolivia.com or 203-273-5669.

The Gary-The Olivia Theater Announces Summer Season

Side view of the theater

The Gary-The Olivia Theater is located in Bethlehem Connecticut on the grounds of the Abbey of Regina Laudis. This lovely open-air theater built in 1982 seats 300 people. The theater is covered but opens at the back to the woods of the Abbey land, and the trees and birds are often a feature of the theatrical world that is created on stage. The link between drama and monastic life is an ancient one, but The Gary-The Olivia Theater in particular owes its existence to Reverend Mother Dolores Hart, the actress, who in 1963 gave up a successful Hollywood career to become a nun at the Abbey. Each summer several annual performances are given in this theater. 

The Pitman

The Pitmen Painters written by Lee Hall and loosely based on a book written by William Feaver will be performed June 14 – June 23.  The Pitmen Painters is an inspirational story about a close-knit group of miners in Northeast England in the 1930’s who enroll in an art appreciation class as a way of bettering themselves. The story follows members of the group as they interact with a university art instructor, experiment with actual painting and gradually build a body of work that establishes them as The Ashington Group, a briefly celebrated group of painters in the 30’s and 40’s. Receiving critical acclaim in London and on Broadway, The Pitmen Painters is a humorous, thought provoking and moving testament to friendship, human aspiration and the transforming power of art.

A second show, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning musical Fiorello will be performed from August 1 – 11.  Fiorello follows the dynamic professional and political career of Fiorello La Guardia. Elected to Congress in 1916 and 1918, and again from 1922 through 1930 La Guardia served as Mayor of New York for three terms from 1934 to 1945 and was a major influence in the making of modern day New York. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest mayors in American history. Only five feet tall, he was called "the Little Flower" (“Fiorello” is Italian for "little flower"). The original Broadway production opened at the Broadhurst Theatre in 1959, and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1960.

General admission seats ($20 Pitmen. $22 Fiorello) for these shows are available now online at www.thegarytheolivia.com! For special group rates (10 or more) please contact Susan Hackel 860 355-5553 or e-mail pr@thegarytheolivia.com.

The opening night gala/fundraiser for The Gary-The Olivia Theater is on June 14th (opening night, The Pitmen Painters-$25 pp) and on August 1st (opening night, Fiorello-$28 pp) with wines from Walker Road Vineyards in Woodbury, CT paired with local farmstead cheeses and a meet and greet with the performers.

Westport Country Playhouse Opens Season With “Into the Woods"

Into the Woods Laren Kennedy, Erik Liberman and Danielle Ferland

A 25^th anniversary production of the imaginative, fractured-fairy tale musical “Into the Woods” by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim will be staged at the theater where Sondheim was an apprentice in 1950, Westport Country Playhouse, in Westport, CT, May 1 through May 26.  Directed by Mark Lamos, the Playhouse’s artistic director, the musical will open the historic theater’s 82^nd season. It is co-produced with Baltimore’s CENTERSTAGE.

A multiple Tony Award winner, “Into the Woods” takes the audience to a beguiling and dark place inspired by the Grimm fairy tales. Among the classic characters that wander the woods searching for fulfillment of their wishes are Cinderella and her wicked stepsisters, Little Red Ridinghood and the Wolf, Rapunzel and her Prince, and Jack of beanstalk fame.  As their fanciful tales intertwine, they are forced to confront the harsh reality of what actually happens after “happily ever after.”

Director Mark Lamos, who also serves as Westport Country Playhouse artistic director, has helmed Playhouse productions of “Twelfth Night, or What You Will”; “Lips Together, Teeth Apart”; “Happy Days”; “She Loves Me”; “The Breath of Life”; “That Championship Season”; and “Of Mice and Men.” His extensive New York credits include “Our Country’s Good,” for which he received a Tony Award nomination. A former artistic director at Hartford Stage, he received the 1989 Tony Award for the theater’s body of work.

The performance schedule is Tuesday at 8 p.m., Wednesday at 2 and 8 p.m., Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.  Special series feature A Taste of Tuesday, Previews, LGBT Night Out, Opening Night, Thursday TalkBack, Sunday Symposium and Backstage Pass. In addition, the Playhouse will offer an open captioned performance on Sunday, May 13, 3 p.m., for the hearing impaired.
For more information or tickets, call the box office at (203) 227-4177, or toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Tickets are available online 24/7 at www.westportplayhouse.org.

About the Playhouse


Westport Country Playhouse is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit, professional theater under the artistic direction of Mark Lamos and management leadership of Michael Ross.  The Playhouse creates five live theater experiences, produced at the highest level, from April through November. Its vital mix of works—dramatic, comedic, occasionally exploratory and unusual—expands the audience’s sense of what theater can be.  The depth and scope of its productions display the foremost theatrical literature from the past—recent as well as distant—in addition to musicals and premieres of new plays.  During the summer, the Playhouse is home to the Woodward Internship Program, renowned for the training of aspiring theater professionals.  Winter at the Playhouse, from November through March, offers events outside of the main season—Family Festivities presentations, Script in Hand play readings and a Holiday Festival.  In addition, businesses and organizations are encouraged to rent the handsome facility for their meetings, receptions and fundraisers.

TheatreWorks Opens Play With Help From Family of Legendary Actress Lynn Redgrave Through Oct. 8

New Milford, CT. TheatreWorks New Milford is presenting legendary actress Lynn Redgrave's playwriting debut, SHAKESPEARE FOR MY FATHER, with assistance from her immediate family: son Ben Clark, daughter Annabel Clark, and Mr. Clark's wife, Neva.

SHAKESPEARE FOR MY FATHER runs September 23, 24 & 30, October 1&2, 7 & 8. Curtain time is 8:00 p.m. Fridays & Saturdays, with a 2:00 p.m. Sunday matinee on October 2. Tickets for all shows are $20 for reserved seating. On Thursday, September 15, senior citizens are invited to a free dress rehearsal at 8:00 p.m. Thursday, September 22 at 8:00 p.m., is TheatreWorks' Pay-What-You-Want night. At this performance, you name the price for your ticket.

Lynn Redgrave, who passed away last year, had been acting on both stage and screen since the 1950s prior to writing SHAKESPEARE FOR MY FATHER in 1993. This autobiographical one-woman tale of Ms. Redgrave's memories has been crafted into a complex, funny, and moving portrait of a child's longing for the love of Sir Michael Redgrave – the inscrutable, daunting, and charismatic Shakespearean actor who was her father. Acclaimed in America and the UK, SHAKESPEARE FOR MY FATHER weaves scenes from the Bard that delightfully fuse with events in Ms. Redgrave's young life, eliciting memories of Sir Michael and engaging impressions of the celebrated stars who frequented the Redgrave's home and lives.

The play's director, Jane Farnol of Gaylordsville, had become well-acquainted with the renowned actress over the past few years as they had several things in common. "We both lived in Kent , Connecticut at the time, we're both English, and she adored my Mum," Farnol said. "I recall a time when Lynn and I went to see 'Guys and Dolls' at New Milford High School and she leaned over to me and said, 'This was Dad's favorite song.' It fascinates me, because here we are mounting the first play she ever wrote, and Susan Pettibone, who's doing an outstanding job portraying Lynn , speaks of Sir Michael Redgrave's love of American Musicals in the play. I get goose bumps thinking about it."

"When I first knew I was going to be playing Lynn Redgrave, I was very nervous and considered it a daunting task," said actress Susan Pettibone of New Milford . "What's made it so incredibly special is working with Jane [Farnol]...she has such insight and is such a wonderful director, plus she knew Lynn personally. So needless to say, I was honored she chose me for this part. The more I delve into the character of Ms. Redgrave, my respect for Lynn as a person and an actress reaches new heights. It's been a very moving experience."

Ms. Redgrave's children have retrieved vintage photographs of the Redgrave family for the production. Also, the Clark/Redgrave family provided TheatreWorks with the original chair that Ms. Redgrave herself used on Broadway along with the show's original music that was used when her play debuted there in 1993.

"The whole family has been ever so supportive," Farnol said. "We had initially played around with lots of different ideas on how to execute Lynn 's story...and the family was fine with that. But in the end I told Ben [ Clark ] we'd gone back to his Mum's basic wonderful play. We're so proud to be producing her show in her memory. Lynn impacted so many people's lives, including mine."

In addition to Ms. Farnol and Ms. Pettibone, who both designed the show's set, the show's crew includes producer and lighting designer Richard Pettibone, sound designer Tom Libonate, and stage manager Sonnie Osborne.

Reservations can be made online at www.theatreworks.us or by calling the box office at (860) 350-6863.

TheatreWorks is an award-winning, regional theatre company located on 5 Brookside Avenue , just off Route 202 (next to the CVS), in New Milford , Conn.