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The following article appeared in THE JOURNAL NEWS in the Living section on Thursday August 2, 2007. We are re-printing  it  below. Reprinted by permission of The Journal News.
(c) 2007 THE JOURNAL NEWS.

New City director, London accent

By PETER D. KRAMER
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original Publication: August 2, 2007)

Where: A production of Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival at Clarkstown High School South, 31 Demarest Mill Road, West Nyack.
 When: 8 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, Wednesday Aug. 8 (benefit show), Aug. 9, 10 and 11; and 2 p.m. Sunday.
 Tickets: $12 adults; $9 students; $8 for senior and children 12 and under; $6 for groups of 20 or more purchased in advance.
 Call: 845-638-3077.
 Web: www.summertheatrefestival.com.
With: Sara Cichorek, Lindsey Sherman, Cory Asinofsky, Matthew Prigge, Danielle Strauss, Erica Villani, Jake Allyne, Suk Lee, Alexander Domini, Ricky Jones, Brittany Meshberg, Samara Goldberg, Fiona Cansino, Annmarie Zito, Randi Kaplan, Olivia Didrichsen, Sarah Faye Steckler, Colin Brophy, Michael Halfond, Justine Marks, Rosemarie Mastropolo, Jeff Pomerantz, Zack Ben-Haim, Lisa Gueldenzopf, Michael Pilacik, Matt Bases, Bella Costa, Kimberlyn Frost, Kristyn Kamke, Eli Lederman, Kellian Ribaudo, Alexander Sallabian, Marissa Weisberg, Julia Chadwick, Craig Flickinger, Tim Licht, Andrea Machlis, Nicole Mellion, Melissa Neils, Annmarie Tye Cheviot, Georgette Vaillancourt, Amy Cohen, Millicent Dranoff, Joshua Emanuel, Geene-Rose Enriquez, Michael Hart, Matthew Kepler, Tom Kuntz, Andrew Levy, Adam Lubatkin, Jake McCloskey, Claudia Miller, Sam Fischer, Matthew Cramer, Chris Quintana, Elizabeth Picardi, Matthew Picardi, Wendy Raymond, Adam Straus, Samantha Iniba, Benjamin Grange, Graham Haviland, Joshua Becker, John Brehmer, Kyle Cichorek, Brendan Darling, Stephanie Elliott, Josh Gischner, Sybil Holland, Patrick King, Brianna Levine, Kaitlin Marocchi, Brandon Tansey, Alison Vidler, Chris Szuppili, Mandy Allyne, Samantha Digirolomo, Maxx Casanova, Ashley Tauber, David Umlas.

The last time Rick Gordon was at Clarkstown South High School in West Nyack, it was 1988 - and he wasn't entirely happy.

He had just graduated from the school and was about to go off to SUNY Oswego to study acting.

Before college, he had his fifth and final production at Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival - "summer theater," to insiders - and he wanted desperately to play Billy in "Anything Goes."

"I really wanted that part so badly," he recalls. "And some guy turned up that no one had seen before and waltzed into the part."

So it was Moonface Martin, the second lead, for Gordon.

"That's showbiz," he says now, wiser for the years. "I got Moonface and it was hilarious. But I really wanted Billy."

Gordon is back at "summer theater" for the first time in nearly two decades. Next weekend, his production of "Thoroughly Modern Millie" opens for a two-week run, marking CSTF's 35th anniversary.

The production team includes choreographer Jen Bauer-Conley and music director Douglas Bish, who is director of music for the Nyack schools.

Bish taught at the Boston Conservatory of Music and developed a music curriculum for the nation of Jordan.

Having been away for nearly 20 years - the last 14 of them in London - the director says he was shocked at the sight of his old school, and the talent of the kids.

"When I walked back here, on the first day, it was like a back-to-the-future thing," he says. "Nothing has changed one iota, except the air conditioning."

If the school hasn't changed, Gordon certainly has.

First, he's not Rick Gordon anymore: He's Rick Jacobs, a professional director in London, who took on a new name to avoid confusion with noted National Theatre director Mick Gordon. (Jacobs' parents, Shelly and Steve Gordon, still live in New City.)

Second, as is apparent when he points to a class picture down the hall from the auditorium, Jacobs has less hair than he used to. And he's a bit rounder.

Then there are expressions that pop up during rehearsals, sayings that belong in Piccadilly, not within a stone's throw of the Palisades Center.

"Let's give it a go," he says.

When a cell phone goes off as he's staging a huge scene, he asks: "Whose mobile is that?"

After interrupting the cast, he's ready to continue: "Carry on."

When he likes what he sees: "You've captured it well." Or "You pitched it just right."

These bits of instruction are delivered with an accent he certainly didn't pick up at the New City Diner as a kid.

Rick Jacobs is an American director with a British accent - and an inclusive approach to directing.

He's more apt to ask what actors think than to tell them what to do.

Matthew Prigge, 16, a junior at Pearl River High School who plays Jimmy in "Millie," says Jacobs' approach is more collaborative than most.

"He really makes it into a back-and-forth," Prigge says.

"Sometimes I do character parts, other times I do parts like this. With character parts, it's like 'Yeah, act funny, the end of it.' With things like this, I try to do the whole development process."

After 30 minutes working on a short scene with Jacobs, Prigge allows: "He's digging deep."

But digging doesn't mean nailing it on the first try.

"A lot of actors expect they have to get it perfect the first time," Jacobs says. "I always try to say 'We have plenty of time to experiment. We're not on for weeks.' "

Or, one of his favorite rehearsal sayings, repeated often: "That's what rehearsals are for."

Sara Cichorek, 17, of New City, plays Millie Dillmount, the thoroughly modern title character. She's in her fourth summer of summer theater.

"It's good to have someone who's from the real world, I guess you could say, even if it's over in Great Britain," she says. "It's interesting to have someone professional and to see his views on things, because he's there and here.

"He takes our thoughts and ideas and puts them into the show," Cichorek says.

Jacobs - who wanted to be an actor when he went off to Oswego after playing Moonface - soon discovered he didn't have the fire of other would-be actors. So he turned to directing and writing, getting degrees in both from the SUNY school.

After graduation, in 1994, he followed up on an ad he saw announcing visas for working abroad. Before long, he was off to London on a six-month visa. The visa was extended, and extended. After four years, it became a permanent visa.

Jacobs started in London as a bartender and usher at the Prince Edward Theater, where director Mike Okrent was transplanting "Crazy for You" from Broadway to the West End.

The new Londoner was able to watch it all, a real education in mounting a big production.

After 14 years abroad - spending several summers in Edinburgh scouting talent at the Fringe Festival - Jacobs was looking for something new this year.

Jacobs' old friend, Alisa Schiff, who was in that long-ago production of "Anything Goes," saw last year's CSTF production of the same musical and suggested he come stateside - and maybe direct for summer theater.

And - Bob's your uncle - here he is.

(All photos taken by Journal News photographer Angela Gaul.)

The following article appeared in THE JOURNAL NEWS in the People In The News section on Sunday April 22, 2007. We are re-printing  it  below. Reprinted by permission of The Journal News.
(c) 2007 THE JOURNAL NEWS.

Rockland people in the news
(Original publication: April 22, 2007)
Clarkstown

Summer theater

The Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival has been awarded a $500 grant from Clarkstown. The grant will help to defray the cost of acquiring the rights for "Thoroughly Modern Millie." For information on the production, visit :www.summertheatrefestival.com.

The following article appeared in THE JOURNAL NEWS December ROCKLAND MAGAZINE. We are re-printing  the article below. Reprinted by permission of The Journal News.
(c) 2006 THE JOURNAL NEWS.

Everybody Loves Phil Rosenthal

By Jeanne Muchnick
Rockland Magazine
(Original Publication: December 21, 2006)

Phil's Rockland
Phil says he didn’t go out much when he was young (he was too busy watching TV), but when he did, he’d go to the following haunts:


Nanuet Mall: “It was new then. We’d go mainly to hang more than shop” (75 W. Rte. 59; 623-9040).
 

Hogan’s Diner: “Perfect after a high-school play rehearsal for a cheeseburger deluxe” (17 Dutch Hill Rd.; Orangeburg; 365-3166).
 

New City Diner: “Wow. It’s still there? I remember its gaudy décor” (127 Rte. 304; Bardonia; 624-1400).
 

TKTS booth: 42nd and Broadway; NYC: “I’d take the bus into the city and stand in line for half-price tickets for a Broadway show. And I’d always get a hotdog at Nathan’s.

Rosenthal, center, poses with clockwise from left: his mother Helen, sister-in-law Karen Rosenthal, dad Max, brother Richard, niece Tess, 8 and nephew Jack, 6.

  

Rosenthal's new book, "You're Lucky, You're Funny," stacked up at the Barnes & Noble bookstore in the Palisades Mall in West Nyack.

It could have been a scene straight out of Everybody Loves Raymond: Max Rosenthal, New City resident and father of Raymond creator and producer Phil Rosenthal, calls an editor of Rockland Magazine and gives her his famous son’s cell phone number. “He just wrote a book; he’s coming to Rockland. It should be a story in your magazine,” he says in a brisk German accent. “Call him. He won’t mind.” And so, our surprised, skeptical editor hands me the number (she knows I don’t mind embarrassing myself), and I bravely dial the digits, reaching a completely unaware Phil at his Los Angeles home. I begin with a quick, “You don’t know me but your dad said it would be OK to call” much like a nervous teenager who is simply following a parent’s orders.

To his credit, Phil—despite his big-man-on-campus status (hey, the guy hangs with Ray Romano and Norman Lear, among others)—is the ultimate good sport. He not only takes my call, but he tells me to call back. He even invites me to his book signing at the Palisades Center in October, where I get to see him with the whole mishpucha (Yiddish for the family), including his infamous parents (I spy Max’s bald head right away), assorted aunts, uncles, and friends, along with three Clarkstown High classmates (girls who he said never really noticed him in high school) who brought an old yearbook and made him sign it.

The truth is, I feel as if I know Phil before I even meet him. He looks like the skinny, nerdy middle-schooler-turned-filled-out, self-assured married guy (with a full head of dark-brown hair and a normal-sized nose despite his claims that it’s a beak) who’s a lot cuter than he thinks. He’s tall (about 6 foot) and wears a casual sweater and jeans, making him approachable. He’s good-looking and much younger-looking than his 46 years: the gawky teenager who turned from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan somewhere between New York and Los Angeles. In other words, he’s the nice Jewish boy your mother always told you to marry.

The fact that he’s funny, of course, is an added bonus. Like the actor who always wanted to direct, he’s the writer-producer who always wanted to act. He’s big on laying on the shtick. And family is the backbone of his stories. Phil’s account of sending his parents pears from the fruit-of-the-month club for Hanukkah and the reaction it spawned (“Oh my god, you got us into some kind of cult?!”) helped launch Raymond to the top of the sitcom heap and positioned the New City native as the ultimate authority on surviving family with humor. In fact, much of his family fodder has made it into both sitcom history and his new book, You’re Lucky You’re Funny, a phrase his wife coined when he nearly ruined a Club Med vacation with incessant complaining. It was on that trip that he started e-mailing his friends with snippets of his horrible days in paradise. Which led to a book. Which, lucky for him, is funny.

This being the holiday season—when elderly aunts come bearing gifts (but not before pinching your kids’ faces), your mother will survey your house for cleanliness, and cousins you haven’t seen in ages will sample your cooking—we could all use some sage advice to get through the New Year without screaming, yelling, or saying the wrong thing. Which is why we put our skepticism aside, told Max he was right, and turned to Phil, the master of surviving family with humor. After all, if anyone can inspire us to see the humor in our own families, it’s him.

TV Junkie
As with most good stories, you need to start at the beginning. And for Phil (only his mom calls him Philip and that’s usually only when he’s done something wrong), that means age 5 when thanks to the birth of his brother Richard, he was dethroned from the center stage of parental attention “when everything revolved around me, me, and a little bit more me.” The shift in star power was tough to take, and he was jealous. “I was really the Robert in Everybody Loves Raymond,” he says. As a result he was mean to his brother (whom he calls “Richard the Cute with his blond hair and normal nose”). Very mean. “I was skinny and short, and he was the only person smaller than me, so I’d take it all out on him,” he says. That included throwing things (like pieces of crockery, food, and toys) at the dinner table. Which, of course, made his parents yell—mostly for peace and quiet—“which we never really had. But we didn’t know any other way to function,” he explains.

For Phil, watching TV and movies (over and over again, his parents say) gave him a way of looking at and understanding the world. While most people’s first memories revolve around their first Christmas or Hanukkah, Phil remembers being 4 and watching Mary Poppins, in which he learned life’s simple rules: Be kind. Love your family. Feed the birds. Fly a kite. Enjoy your life. Find a wife like Mary.

Back then his fascination with the movies was just beginning. Phil’s love for Mary (and Julie Andrews) soon transferred to the small screen and to The Honeymooners, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Taxi, and The Odd Couple. The fact that he was a “nebbishy shrimpy little nothing” (his words, not mine) who often got beaten up by the neighborhood kids meant he spent months of prime teenage time locked in the den staring at the boob tube. He loved HBO (which his parents would only get if he went to summer school and upped his grades) and found himself recording dialogue from Annie Hall and other classics in an effort to absorb the intellect and meaning. His parents were so worried about him holed up in his room that one New Year’s Eve, in an effort to make him a “regular teenager,” his mother bought him a bottle of amaretto. Instead of going out, though, he stayed home and watched nightclub comedy on HBO, got drunk, and threw up—something that made his mom proud.

Truth is Stranger Than Fiction
Fast-forward 30 years and Phil’s family encounters still revolve around the television—except this time, they were being played out on the small screen. And as an avid Raymond fan, I needed to know which of those stories were fact and which were fiction. The monogrammed toaster that Raymond bought for his parents, which Marie and Frank exchanged for a coffeemaker without ever seeing the toaster’s inscription? True. That happened with one of Phil’s Hanukkah gifts. The fruit-of-the-month-club story where Marie and Frank complain that their son Raymond think they’re invalids and can’t buy their own fruit? Also based on Phil’s real life. The horrible cooking of Raymond’s wife Debra that was a running joke throughout all nine seasons? True, and mostly based on the culinary efforts of Phil’s mom, Helen, who, one Passover, made matzo lasagna, which he says tasted like cardboard soufflé. Most of his holiday memories, in fact, revolve around food. “No one wanted to come over if my mom was cooking.”

Interjects Phil’s dad, Max, “Even the cockroaches would run.” And then there’s the time his Aunt Hilda was on a health-food craze and served grouper one Thanksgiving instead of turkey. “None of it was funny when it was happening,” Phil says. “But later. Later it was funny.” And of course, the grouper story became fodder for a Thanksgiving Raymond classic: Remember the tofu turkey?

Humor can be a defense mechanism, as well as a way to entertain and share memories. For Phil, it became his tool to survive in his New City neighborhood where he says he was considered a bit odd, due to his small size and fascination with Ed Sullivan and Jackie Gleason. And so, he started cracking jokes and became the class clown as a way of becoming more accepted among his peers, though TV remained his ultimate refuge. “When we’re young,” Phil writes in his book, “we try to be an amalgam of our influences. I was trying to be my mom and dad. I was trying to be Bill Cosby, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, and Don Rickles. You try to be all these other people and at some point, you taste the soup and it’s you.” He didn’t get beaten up as much when he could imitate the sketch from Monty Python or retrieve dialogue from Woody Allen. The confidence he got from those performances led to leads in various high-school plays. He became a mini celebrity at Clarkstown High and in the joy of discovery, “of rehearsing comedy, feeling good at it, and then getting big laughs on a stage from hundreds of parents and kids who would normally be punching me in the head, this was enough to make me understand: Oh, I should be doing this and Oh, this is how one gets girls.”

Friends Equal Family
Because his parents escaped Nazi Germany and came to the United States without many relatives, their neighbors and friends became Phil’s second family. They spent their holidays (Thanksgiving, Yom Kippur, Hanukkah, Passover, etc.) rotating houses. One year, they’d celebrate Hanukkah with Lee and Stan (also throwbacks to Raymond); another year Passover with Hilda and Artie. He called these people aunts and uncles and their kids were “cousins.” The family also spent many Sundays together. “It’s almost like Sunday was a holiday,” Phil recalls. “We were always surrounded by friends. That’s just how we were comfortable.” ?Today, it’s much the same in his Los Angeles home. With his immediate family on the East Coast (brother, Richard, and his wife, Karen, live on the Upper West Side), he and wife, Monica Horan, (who played Amy on Raymond and is originally from Pennsylvania) have made friends their second family. Like history repeating itself, their circle of friends rotates houses each holiday. This past year they had a sukkah (a small hut in their backyard for the harvest festival of Sukkot) and invited over a gaggle of friends. They will celebrate Hanukkah by taking their annual week-long vacation to Hawaii with Ray Romano and his family, along with Lew Schneider and his family. (Schneider is a former Raymond writer.)

Like holidays past, Phil says he’ll most likely obsess over the perfect present for his parents, though, every time he sends them anything, “it’s no good.” Nowadays his best gifts to them tend to be trips: They went to Italy together as a family (played out on Raymond); and he often flies them to Los Angeles to be with his children, Ben, 12, and Lily, 9. The best present he ever gave anyone, however, he bought for his wife on her 40th birthday. He chartered a plane (without telling her where they were going) and invited some of her Los Angeles–based girlfriends along to New York, where family from Pennsylvania was waiting. As for the best present he’s ever received? “That’s easy,” he says. “My kids. And anything they’ve ever made for me that says ‘I love Daddy.’”

Despite the fact that he decided long ago to make good on childhood threats to go into show business and get even with his family (when he started making money in television, he sent them the biggest TV he could find with a note that read “Ha, Ha”), he involves them in his life as much as he can. But while family seems to be a perfect fit for his script, it doesn’t always work out behind the scenes. He recalls a time he had to throw his own father off the Raymond set because he was taking photographs with a flash. “That’s my father,” he says. “He knows no boundaries.”

Today at the Palisades, watching him interact with his parents, Max and Helen, who still live in the New City home he grew up in, along with his brother, sister-in-law, Karen Sonet, niece, Tess, 8, and nephew, Jack, 6, is almost like watching a Raymond rehearsal. There’s a lot of kibitzing and joking, as well as a lot of hugging, laughing, and yes, even a little good-natured bickering. Now, however, I’m on a mission. I want to learn something about him that’s not in his new book and hasn’t been on the show. “Hmm...that’s a hard one,” he says. “Everything is pretty much in the show.” “C’mon,” I plead. I even go so far as to ask three women who were in his 1978 graduating class for some gossip. “Did you kiss him?” I ask. “No,” they say, giggling. “But he was really good in the show Little Me [the school play],” one of them adds. Not quite juicy enough for me.

I move on to his brother, Richard. “Was he really as mean as he claims in the book?” “Meaner,” he says. “What about holidays? What do you remember about those?” “Well, you’ve heard about the grouper?” he says. “That was tragic.”

Max is next on my hit list. “What don’t I know?” I ask. “What about how funny I am?” he says, smiling. (I can see where Phil gets his sense of timing.)

I turn to his left, where Helen is standing. “How do you feel having your family paraded in front of America?” “It’s fine,” she says. “Though each time the stories get embellished and embellished. I think we’ll end up in an insane asylum eventually.” “What about your life becoming a screenplay? Are you ever worried about telling Phil anything?” She gives me a look that only a parent could give: an unwavering stare that says, I’m his mother, which I take as a no.

I ask his sister-in-law Karen for some gossip. “Do you worry about telling Phil stuff? Worried he’ll write about it later?” “Not really,” she says. “Although Richard tells me he uses my parents a lot and disguises them so I don’t know. They travel a lot to crazy places, and I know he’s used that as fodder for Debra’s parents,” she says.

“What about Max and Helen?” I probe. “Are they really as nuts as Phil paints them to be?” “They’re just Max and Helen,” she says, “And to be honest, they’re fantastic. It’s been a love fest from the first day. They’ve totally embraced me and my family.” Prodded, she admits they often say funny things. In fact, she tells me she was sitting at their kitchen table on the day the pears from the fruit of the month club came from Phil. Score, I think! Maybe I’ll learn something new. “I heard the whole ‘other end’ of the conversation,” she explains, referencing the pear story that ran on the show. “And you know what? Helen sent me home with a ton of pears. And they were amazing—the best pears I ever tasted.”

The following article appeared in THE JOURNAL NEWS, on Sunday November 5, 2006. We are re-printing  the article below. Reprinted by permission. of The Journal News.
(c) 2006 THE JOURNAL NEWS.

Everybody loves Rosenthal

By HEATHER SALERNO
THE JOURNAL NEWS

On one episode of the CBS classic "Everybody Loves Raymond," Marie and Frank Barone confess that they don't particularly care for some of their relatives. The revelation was inspired by a conversation that the show's creator and executive producer, Phil Rosenthal, had with his own parents - and it hit a little too close to home.

Many classic moments from "Everybody Loves Raymond" were inspired by creator Phil Rosenthal's family. Here are a few of the best, which he recounts in his memoir, "You're Lucky You're Funny: How Life Becomes a Sitcom."
 

"Pilot." In this first-ever episode, Frank and Marie are upset when Ray gets them a gift of the Fruit-of-the-Month Club. Rosenthal had the same thing happen to him, with his mom, Helen, delivering the line that Marie (Doris Roberts) later mimics: "I can't talk anymore, there's too much fruit in the house!"

"The Toaster." In season three, Ray buys his parents an engraved toaster, which they return to the store without telling him. When Rosenthal gave his folks a special toaster with the name of the show engraved on the side - a holiday gift to the cast and crew - he later found out that they exchanged it at Bloomingdale's for a coffee maker.
 

"The Angry Family." Rosenthal's son, Ben, inspired this season six episode, after he read a story that he wrote about his horribly angry family in front of a classroom full of parents. At first, Rosenthal writes, "I was mortified. But in the next split second I asked myself, 'How lucky am I to have a child who writes for my television show?' "
 

"Robert's Wedding." The first dance between Robert and Amy is a loony number to a remix of Elvis' "Little Less Conversation." Rosenthal danced crazily at his own wedding to Louis Prima's "Buona Sera."

"I got this call after the show from my mother saying, 'Are you out of your mind? We have to see these people!' " says Rosenthal.

"And I said, 'Ma, your comfort is just something I'm willing to sacrifice for the program.' "

Rosenthal has done pretty well for himself by sticking to the old writer's adage, "Write what you know."

The show was based on Ray Romano's life, but many of its hilariously dysfunctional plots were pulled from Rosenthal's own family interactions, especially those with his parents, Max and Helen, who still reside in his New City hometown.

"I'd say 90 percent of what you saw on the show happened to me, or Ray, or one of the other writers," says Rosenthal.

Those all-too-real experiences turned "Raymond" into an Emmy-winning hit. And now Rosenthal has based a memoir on that nine-season adventure, titled "You're Lucky You're Funny: How Life Becomes a Sitcom."

Rosenthal - who lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Monica Horan (who played Rober Barone's wife, Amy, on the show) and their two children - whipped through New York recently to promote his new book. In four busy days, he appeared on "Today," the "CBS Early Show," "The View," at the Museum of TV and Radio and two Barnes & Noble book-signings.

He also stopped at Long Island's Hofstra University, his alma mater, to speak to students with his best friend and fellow Hofstra alum, actor Tom McGowan, best known as Ray's neighbor Bernie and station manager Kenny on "Frasier."

Before cracking up a standing-room-only crowd, Rosenthal says he so loved working on "Raymond" that he stayed with the show for its entire run. That's an unusual move in the TV biz, where most executives leave to launch new franchises while the old one is still hot.

"Woody Allen said, 'You can't ride two horses with one behind,'" explains Rosenthal, who's 46.

"So the show you're leaving suffers because you're not there, and the new show suffers because it doesn't have your full attention either. So if you're lucky enough to get one of these shows that becomes successful, maybe think about riding it out before you're so quick to jump on the next horse."

And most of those associated with the series followed Rosenthal's lead.

"There was very little turnover on that show because he treated everyone so nicely," says McGowan. "He's such a great guy and so good at what he does. People love him."

Since "Raymond" left the air in May 2005, no other half-hour sitcom has achieved its ratings success. Now, only one sitcom - "Two and a Half Men" - is even in TV's Top 20. Only a few years ago, "Raymond," "Friends" and "Frasier" dominated that chart.

"It's a fallow period. But it will come back," says Rosenthal. "It's all cyclical. I'm not worried about it."

But he acknowledges that television is having a "golden age of dramas right now." And he confesses to adoring many of them, including "Prison Break" and "24." He's not planning to attempt writing one of his own, however.

"I'm not smart enough," he says. "Those shows are unbelievably intricate and sophisticated. I'm always marveling at them."

Instead, he's working on a comedy for the big screen, a documentary and another sitcom. None of which he'll "jinx" by talking about.

He's happy to talk about his other great passion, though.Food.

As "Raymond" fans probably know, the name of Rosenthal's production company is Where's Lunch.

"Lunch is the writer's main preoccupation," he says. "Because when you're locked in the writer's room - or, as we call it, the Veal Pen - the only sunshine coming in is the menu."

For Rosenthal, no trip back to Rockland is complete without a few slices from Nanuet Pizza. As he crosses the country with McGowan on his book tour, the two pals have made sure to factor in time for some other great meals.

In fact, McGowan confesses that their plan is to visit six of the country's top 50 restaurants - as named in Gourmet magazine's October issue - in just 10 days.

Rosenthal is such a foodie, he has invested in several Los Angeles hot spots and owns a Beverly Hills chophouse, Jar. ("Best steak in L.A., best pot roast in the world," he says.)

And why is food so important to him?

"Well, my mother won't like this, but I'm going to say it anyway. She wasn't a magnificent cook," he says.

"So when I got out into the real world, and tasted great food in great restaurants, it was as if I had come out of the wilderness and into Candyland.

"But she knows I'm only kidding. Kind of."

Phil is an Honorary Trustee and Alumni of Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival. For more info about Phil go to our ALUMNI PAGE.

A Review of "Anything Goes" from: THE ROCKLAND COUNTY TIMES
published Thursday August 10, 2006 by George Dacre
(c) 2006 THE ROCKLAND COUNTY TIMES, INC.


"Anything Goes:" A Smash Hit at Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival   By George J. Dacre
Theatre Critic

     A very entertaining, professional and fun production of Cole Porter's "Anything Goes" is being presented at Clarkstown High School South as part of Clarkstown's Summer Theatre Festivals 34th season. Starring Raina Levine as Reno Sweeney, who has an Ethel Mermanesque quality to her performance, this show is a blockbuster. This kid can really belt out a tune and Porter's score is made to fit her talents. Maxx Casanova, as the leading man in the show, is excellent as Billy Crocker and there are stellar performances by Cory Asinofsky as Moonface Martin, Eric Schwartz as Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, Brittany Meshberg as Hope Harcourt, Kimberly Frost as Mrs. Harcourt, Hopes mother, Alyssa Fleisher as Erma, Michael Pilacek as Ellisha Whitney and Jake Allyne as the Captain.

     The rest of the cast is made up of very talented youngsters who bring an enthusiasm to the production that makes it work. Add to this a very good orchestra led by Charles Czarnecki, who has been a conductor of Jersey Boys on Broadway, and brilliant direction and choreography by Justin Boccitto and Jennifer Bauer-Conley, and the result is a topflight production of Cole Porter's 1950's classic about a bunch of zany people on an ocean cruise.

     The songs are the thing for "Anything Goes" and the well-known Porter tunes including " I Get A Kick Out of You," "Anything Goes," "Easy To Love," "You're The Top," "Friendship," "It's De-lovely," and "Blow, Gabriel, Blow," give the stars and the cast a lot to work with. And that they do with Raina Levine stopping the show with the "Gabriel" number, Alyssa Fleisher coming up big with "Buddie Beware" and Raina and Cory Asinosky scoring with "Friendship", Brittany Meshberg and Maxx Casanova doing "It's Delovely" and Casanova and Levine dueting wonderfully on "You're The Top."

     Costume designer Susan Rutkwoski has done wonders coming up with the clothes for the actors to fit the time, the 1930's. Set and Scenic Design by Matt Sherman is shipshape. Sound Engineers Dynamic Productions are very expert in filling the beautiful Clarkstown South theatre with the great sounds of the show. And Vocal Coach Celeste Simone has done wonders with the young talent she is working with.

     This is a production worth seeing. It makes you feel good to see this wondrous young talent, including the youngsters who portray sailors on the cruise and the Angels, all tap dancing and singing their way into the audience's heart. I rate "Anything Goes," part of the Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival, Four Stars out of Four!

There will be additional performances on August 10th, 11th and 12th.
 

 

 

 

The following article appeared in theTHE JOURNAL NEWS, on Friday July 28, 2006. We are re-printing  the article below. Reprinted by permission. of The Journal News. (c) 2006 THE JOURNAL NEWS.

Summer wishes, Broadway dreams

By PETER D. KRAMER
pkramer@lohud.com
THE JOURNAL NEWS
    (Original publication: July 28, 2006)

Charles Czarnecki's hectic summer is just too good to be true. He's musical director for "Anything Goes" opening next Friday, the 34th production of Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival in West Nyack.

He's musical director for the Helen Hayes Youth Theater Summer Stock program — now in residence at Rockland Community College in Suffern — where he has overseen four productions since June: "Into the Woods," "Babes in Arms" and two productions of "Honk!," one of which runs next weekend.

Oh, and from Aug. 26 to Sept. 17, he'll cover for the musical director on "Jersey Boys" on Broadway, conducting this year's Tony-winning best musical.

Teenagers and Broadway actors, Cole Porter and Frankie Valli, Rockland County and the Theater District. It's all in a summer's work for the Buffalo native who is now a Jersey boy himself.

His recent luck on Broadway began when a friend, Trent Armand Kendall, needed an accompanist for an audition for the Broadway-bound revival of "The Wiz," about to start previews in LaJolla, Calif.

Waiting to go into the audition, Czarnecki struck up a conversation with Stephen Oremus, musical director for "Wicked."

When Kendall was called in, he did well — "he tore it up," Czarnecki says — but so did the pianist, playing despite his sheet music falling to the floor and drawing the attention of Ron Melrose, the music director of "The Wiz" and "Jersey Boys."

Within 20 minutes, Czarnecki had swapped business cards with two of the most influential music makers on Broadway.

Now, he's getting jobs from an audition at which he wasn't even auditioning.

Czarnecki is one of three substitute music directors of "Jersey Boys," and he's on the team of Jersey Boys International, the company that's preparing the American tour of the "Four Seasons" musical and, perhaps, productions in London and Las Vegas.

Melrose is leaving his conducting duties for the next couple of months to shepherd "The Wiz" in La Jolla, ensuring more baton time for Czarnecki. He's conducted about a half-dozen performances so far and he'll soon step in for a 27-show stretch.

It's a grueling show, he says, and the conductor is responsible for plenty.

"I have a stage manager, and a sound designer and an orchestra and a cast all waiting for me," he says.

Conducting Porter one night and The Four Seasons the next, with Rodgers and Hart in the mornings, just comes with the territory, he says.

"I'm a professional. This is what I do for a living," he says matter-of-factly.

"It's refreshing in both ends. It's refreshing going to conduct a Broadway show and not having to tell people to be quiet. It's also refreshing to come here and see people so excited about something that they never knew."

With Broadway calling, Czarnecki may be at a crossroads in his career.

"It's bittersweet for me this summer because I don't know what my options are going to be with youth theater in the future.

"Who knows? Maybe I'll be able to keep on doing these programs every year, but maybe I won't and I'm coming to terms with that now."

On Broadway or in the burbs, Czarnecki sees one distinct parallel: "Strip it all down and we're all artists."

At the Clarkstown rehearsal, he's bringing a Broadway work ethic to high-schoolers. They rehearse plenty, four hours a night, Mondays through Fridays.

He stands at the piano in a steamy band room, keeping time by tapping one hand atop the upright and playing the "Anything Goes" title song with the other.

Ten of the 11 members of his student orchestra have gathered.

He is encouraging all the while, taking time and making progress on the part of the song where the cast will sing

"In olden days a glimpse of stocking

"Was looked on as something shocking

"Now heaven knows, anything goes."

Czarnecki starts them slow, making sure they have the notes, then increases the tempo, shouting out instructions as they go.

"Try not to breathe on beat 2" and "Trumpets, let's growl a bit more here..."

But one bit of instruction may say the most about a professional conductor striving to get the most from his young talent

"Don't rush," he says, "or we'll sound so amateur. And we're not allowed to do that."

The following article appeared in theTHE JOURNAL NEWS, on Thursday December 29, 2005. We are re-printing excerpts of the article below. Reprinted by permission. of The Journal News. (c) 2005 THE JOURNAL NEWS.

Youth theater programs abundant in Rockland

By RON X. GUMUCIO
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original Publication: December 29, 2005)

When Stephanie Rosen heard the Helen Hayes Theatre Company's Youth Theatre program had been canceled, she worried it would turn children off to theater.

The co-president of the Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival — a summer theater program at Clarkstown High School South for students in ninth through 12th grade — said she saw firsthand the rewards youth theatre could have on a child, both as a member of the group's board of directors and as a parent.

"We see the growth, the changes and the self-confidence," said Rosen, whose daughter, Jessica Rosen, 31, and son Jason Rosen, 27, were involved in the Clarkstown Summer Theater Festival growing up. "A lot of the same things that the Helen Hayes Youth Theatre program encourages with the students. It keeps us going and the programs going."

There are several youth theater programs for students to join in the summer. Many also accept children from beyond Rockland, including Orange and Westchester counties and New Jersey.

While the Helen Hayes Youth Theatre may have found a new home in the Cultural Arts Center building at Rockland Community College, programs such as the Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival, Rockland Teen Theater, Stage Left Children's Theater  in Rockland, and the Cagle & Company Arts Warehouse in Westchester also put on a variety of theatrical productions.

The Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival, now in its 33rd season, was started by the Clarkstown South's Parent Teacher's Association in 1973 as a way to foster students' love for the arts during the summer. The program runs for six weeks, from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. It's open to students interested in joining the cast, crew or orchestra, Rosen said.

"Over the years it has evolved and we're getting other opportunities for students to do internships," said Rosen, including to help direct and choreograph productions. "We're always looking for students to play in the orchestra and be part of the crew. Any student, even if they never picked up a hammer, can join."

Clarkstown North senior Maxx Casanova, 18, said he signed up his sophomore year because he wanted to still do theater after the school year ended for the summer.

"It's a very relaxing atmosphere for the shows," said Casanova, of Congers. "We really get into details for what we have to get down and what we have to do to become our characters."

Rockland Teen Theater provides multiethnic theater projects designed to build self-esteem in underserved young people 13 to 18 years old who like to sing, dance, act and write their own shows. The free program, now in its 11th season, culminates with teens performing one of their original works, said Stone "Bud" Widney, the theater's creator and director.

The group meets at 4 p.m. Tuesday and Fridays at the Nyack Library. Widney said he hoped to attract students for their spring productions who couldn't afford to pay or travel to RCC for the Helen Hayes Youth Theatre program.

"If some kids can't get over that way and are looking for something in the Nyack area, this would be a wonderful alternative for them," Widney said.

Stage Left Children's Theater, which was founded in 1999 by artistic director Ayn Lauren, offers a variety of camp workshops, classes in creative drama and a travelers' program for children between the ages of 5 and 17. Classes are usually held at the Colman-Gromack Performing Arts Center (Camp Venture) in Sparkill and theater productions at the Ritterhausen Theatre in Nyack.

North Rockland Music Coordinator Mike Roth said giving students an opportunity to continue theater in the summer was vital to their learning. The North Rockland school district offers a four-week summer music program, which includes acting and theater classes.

"Most schools don't have a curriculum theater program where students can sign up for classes and study just theater during the school day," said Roth, whose son Jon Roth, 17, a senior at Nanuet High School, was in the Helen Hayes Youth Theatre program. "The rest of us do it after school, in the evening and as extracurricular activities. That's a big disadvantage because they have to do it on their own time."

The Cagle & Company Arts Warehouse in Dobbs Ferry offers a variety of theater classes for students in grades one through 12 year-round and the Rivertown Teens Summer Stock Program in conjunction with the villages of Dobbs Ferry, Hastings-on-the-Hudson and Ardsley, for five weeks beginning in July.

"This particular summer stock program is not like a theater camp," said Joe McDonald, who's wife, Cagle, founded the performing arts center. "This is geared towards presenting one musical. The production is done in a 100-seat black box theater we have here. It's a performing center, but it's also a training center."

The following article appeared in the ROCKLAND COUNTY TIMES, on Thursday August 11, 2005. We are re-printing the article below. Reprinted by permission. of  Howard Megdal publisher of the Rockland County Times. Thanks to Barry Sabino of the Photo Shoppe for supplying the photos!

The following article appeared in the  JOURNAL NEWS, on Saturday  July 16, 2005, in the Rockland section.. We are re-printing the article below. Reprinted by permission. Copyright © 2005 - Gannett Westchester-Rockland Newspapers, Inc.

All the summer's a stage in Clarkstown

By REBEKAH BINGER

THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: July 16, 2005)

WEST NYACK — Erica Villani spent the night of her 16th birthday singing and dancing, but not at a sweet 16 party.

Villani, a student at Clarkstown South High School, was rehearsing at the school Wednesday for the Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival production of "West Side Story."

"My friends brought me cupcakes and my parents brought me a cake," Villani, who will play Maria, said after her cast mates serenaded her with a rendition of "Happy Birthday."

"I've wanted to play this part since I was really young," Villani said. This is her third summer participating in the festival. "It is definitely a family here. By the end of the shows you're crying hysterically."

This year marks the 33rd summer the festival has been in production. "Our motto is, kids have fun," said Donna Lazreg, co-president of the program's board of trustees.

The summer theater festival is a nonprofit program in which students are encouraged to give back to the community, Lazreg said. The student cast and crew hold food drives every summer for People to People, a volunteer-based organization that provides food and clothing to those in need.

"Their shelves are empty this time of year, and they are so grateful for our food," said Lazreg, who is also a volunteer for People to People. The food drive will be held today at supermarkets across the county including ShopRite in West Nyack and Pathmark in Nanuet.

Proceeds from the Aug. 10 performance will be donated to People to People.

The 65 students participating in the festival this summer have the choice of joining the cast, orchestra or stage crew.

"I wanted to do something creative and fun," said Perri Fine, 15, a student at Clarkstown North High School and a member of the stage crew. "This is what actually creates the play," she said in reference to creating the sets.

Vincent Nappi hopes to relive his high school "West Side Story" experience through the summer theater. Nappi, 19, graduated from Ramapo High School in 2004. At Ramapo, he was in the cast of the musical; this time he is playing trombone in the orchestra. "I liked the show, and I already know the music," he said.

Some student participants said they chose to participate in the program because it gave them something to do for the summer.

"There is nothing else to do besides go to the mall," said Raina Levine, 16, a student at Suffern High School. "Why not dance and sing and hang out with friends?" Levine said. She will be singing the song "Somewhere."

"We would probably be doing nothing if we weren't doing this," Devra Alper said about herself and her friends while she waited to paint a set. Alper, 15, is a student at Clarkstown North High School and a member of the stage crew.

Other students, such as Vincent Brooks, participate in the show because they love to perform. "I feel comfortable acting," said Brooks, 15, a student at Clarkstown South. "It's a chance to be someone else and not the way you are in Students rehearse for six weeks with professional directors, musicians and vocal coaches. Rehearsals are held from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at South, with a break for dinner.

Opening night of the show is Aug. 5. Some musical selections will be performed July 23 at the Palisades Center.

A board of volunteers that includes parents and former festival participants runs the theater program.

As a "runner" crew member of the Clarkstown Summer Theater Festival, Heather Whittaker, 15, of Bardonia paints the set for "West Side Story" at Clarkstown South High School in West Nyack on July 13, 2005.
( Photo by Dyana Van Campen for The Journal News )

At Clarkstown South High School in West Nyack, Amanda Telesca, 14, of Suffern, attends a "West Side Story" vocal rehearsal with fellow Shark cast members of the Clarkstown Summer Theater Festival on July 13, 2005.
( Photo by Dyana Van Campen for The Journal News )

Members of the horn section, from left, Eric Silver, 17 of Suffern, Jared Berger, 21, of Pomona, Jeanine Jilleba, 19, of Suffern and Vincent Nappi, 19 of New City, belt out "America" during rehearsal Wednesday for the Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival production of "West Side Story"."

The following letter appeared in the JOURNAL NEWS Letter to the Editor section on Saturday September 25, 2004. It was from Dolores Trager, executive director of People to People of Rockland County. 

What a great show

     If you did not have the opportunity to attend Clarkstown Summer Theatre’s production of “Singing in the Rain,” you missed a wonderful, professional, local theater experience.
     These talented young people sang and tap danced right into the audience’s heart. And yes, it actually rained on the stage during the show stopping song “Singing in the Rain.”
     We thank the cast and crew of Hugh Janow for holding a food drive for our pantry. Thank you to the Board of Directors, Donna Lazreg, Stephanie and Jack Rosen, Anne Feig, Elise Lehrman, Vicki Liner, Sylvia and George Casanova and Andy Kaplan for allowing a special benefit performance night, with proceeds going to People to People. They raised more than $3,000 for us.
     Thank you, Doug Austin, Director; Justin Boccitto, choreographer; and Sol Bloch and his magnificent orchestra. And kids, please don’t “break a leg,” just keep tapping.

Dolores Trager
Nyack
 The writer is executive director, People to People.

The following article appeared in the  JOURNAL NEWS, on Sunday, July 25, 2004, in the Rockland section.. We are re-printing the article below. Reprinted by permission. Copyright © 2004 - Gannett Westchester-Rockland Newspapers, Inc.

SINGING TO "BEAUTIFUL GIRLS"

Matt Nulty, 18, of Nanuet, center, sings "Beautiful Girls" to a chorus of "beauties' during a preview yesterday of the Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival,s 2004 presentation of "Singin' In The Rain" at the Palisades Center Mall in West Nyack.

From left, Matt Nulty, 18, of Nanuet,,Jessica Montello, 16, of Valley Cottage, and Scott Sinclair, 16, of Suffern, perform "Moses Supposes" during a preview of the Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival's 2004 presentation of "Singin' in the Rain" at the Palisades Center mall in West Nyack July 24, 2004. The show will take place at Clarkstown South High School on August 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13 and 14. August 11 will be a special benefit show for People to People. For ticket information, call 638-3077. Tickets are now on sale in the main lobby of Clarkstown South High School on Demarest Mill Road in West Nyack.
( Kathy Gardner / The Journal News )

Matt Nulty performs "Moses Supposes" with Jessica Montello, 16, of Valley Cottage, center, and Scott Sinclair, 16, of Suffern, during yesterday's preview.

The following article appeared in the  JOURNAL NEWS, on Saturday, August 17, 2004, in the Rockland section. It was written by James Walsh. We are re-printing the article below. Reprinted by permission. Copyright © 2004 - Gannett Westchester-Rockland Newspapers, Inc.

Jazz festival in Clarkstown

By JAMES WALSH
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: January 17, 2004)

    Doug Feig is looking forward to making some new friends on Tuesday. That's when the sixth annual Rockland County Jazz Festival will be held at Clarkstown South High School. "It's great to meet people who love music just as much as I do," said Feig, a senior at the high school where he's a member of the jazz band, orchestra, choir, wind ensemble, and a group that presents recorder concerts at school functions.
           The concert will bring together jazz musicians from high schools around the county. They include both Clarkstown schools, Ramapo, Nanuet, Suffern, Nyack, and North Rockland. "You get to meet people who are as intense about music as you are," said Feig, who wants to become a music teacher after he graduates from high school in June. "Music's my passion, and you get to make friends every year." Besides offering a music-filled evening, the program includes a chance for the audience to help their neighbors in need. Concertgoers are encouraged to bring canned or dry packaged foods that will be donated to the cupboard of People to People in Nyack. Half of the money collected for admission to the concert also will be donated to People to People. Feig, who plays the vibraphone — the percussion instrument made popular by Lionel Hampton — said the festival also brings together musicians with a variety of skill levels who learn from and encourage one another.

       For Clarkstown South trumpeter Thomas Grussi, the evening will be a change of pace. "It gives you an opportunity to play something that's not typical of a band or orchestra," said Grussi, a junior who's been playing the trumpet since sixth grade. "My family's been very  supportive and encouraged me to continue," he said, "and I knew if I kept up with it, I'd be able to play music I enjoyed."
He's also a member of the school's concert band, orchestra, and marching band. It's anticipated that more than 150 musicians and their band leaders will perform at the concert, which begins at 7 p.m. in Clarkstown South's auditorium. 

      Each school band will perform three songs. That will be followed by a jam session involving all of the musicians. 

 

To all our students past and present, the following article appeared in the  JOURNAL NEWS, on Thursday, January 8, 2004, in THE LINE section. It was written by Linda Lombroso. We are re-printing the article below. Reprinted by permission. Copyright © 2004 - Gannett Westchester-Rockland Newspapers, Inc. It's all about a CSTF Alumni, named Christina Capobianco. Christina did our summer of '96 production of "BYE, BYE, BIRDIE".  We hope you will enjoy the article!

TAKING HER ACT ON THE ROAD

(Original publication: January 8, 2004)

   CSTF Alumni Christina Capobianco always knew she'd be an actress — even at the tender age of three, when she performed a song from "Annie" while standing on a tabletop at a Rockland County Ground Round. "Theater is where my heart is," says Capobianco, a Suffern native and the star of "Dora the Explorer Live! — The Search for the City of Lost Toys," which lands Tuesday at Eisenhower Hall Theatre at West Point. "I do love to sing and I love all types of music."

  Now 21, Capobianco — who goes by the stage name Christina Bianco — nabbed the role of Dora last January, one month after graduating from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts with a double major in drama and journalism. And ever since the show opened last April, she's been criss-crossing the country as the popular character, leading throngs of children on an interactive, bilingual adventure.

   For the uninitiated, Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer is a 7-year-old girl who, along with her pal Boots the monkey, traipses across an imaginary countryside, all the while keeping an eye out for the fun-killing Swiper the Fox. The stage production features many of the show's signature songs, plus new numbers and a Gloria Estefan hit.

"It's not as mild a children's show as people might be used to," says Capobianco, who was familiar with the TV version of the show from her babysitting days — but didn't speak a word of Spanish until she memorized a Spanish-language song for her audition. "I like to call it a big rock concert for kids. It's one big party."

To help the 4-foot-11-inch performer appear more childlike, Capobianco transforms her voice and wears exactly the same outfit as the animated Dora: orange shorts and a bright pink T-shirt — "very flattering for a 21-year-old," she adds with a laugh.

But it's not the clothes or the voice that have proved the most difficult for this young actress. "One of the challenges of this role is to deliver dialogue without seeming superior to the audience. When I first started the show, nothing prepared me for the kids and the energy," says Capobianco, who often finds herself on stage for three presentations of the show in a single day.

How does she keep up her energy? "Every time it's those kids," she says. "They get out there and they demand it."

Not that she's complaining. When "Dora the Explorer Live!" played last year at Radio City Music Hall, Capobianco had a hard time believing she was really there. "It was kind of a thrill to be on that stage," says the actress, who followed a successful high-school performing career with an assortment of professional productions. "To see three balconies of kids go nuts over me is a great feeling."

Capobianco is equally excited to be playing in front of friends and family at Eisenhower Hall Theatre. But she hopes her portrayal of Dora will please an even larger crowd. "I think the best compliment I ever get is when parents tell me they had a good time at the show," she says.

The following article appeared in the  JOURNAL NEWS, on Friday, August 1, 2003, in the Rockland section. It was written by Nancy Cacioppo. We are re-printing the article below. Reprinted by permission. Copyright © 2003 - Gannett Westchester-Rockland Newspapers, Inc.

'George M!' highlights youth program

From left, Sarah Joyce, 16, of Bardonia, Michael Pilacik, 14, of West Nyack, and Michelle Lehrman, 18, of Suffern, rehearse for Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival's production of "George M" at Clarkstown South High School on July 31, 2003. Shows will be at 8:00 p.m. today, tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday, August 8 and 9, and 2:00 p.m. Sunday. ( Vincent Disalvio / The Journal News)

From left, Jessica Margolis, 18, of West Nyack, and Christopher Shepard, 17, of New City, rehearse for Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival's production of "George M" at Clarkstown South High School on July 31, 2003. Shows will be at 8:00 p.m. today, tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday, August 8 and 9, and 2:00 p.m. Sunday. ( Vincent Disalvio / The Journal News )

By NANCY CACIOPPO
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: August 1, 2003)

The Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival is launching its 31st season tonight with "George M!" — the life story of famed song-and-dance man George M. Cohan. The festival is billed as the longest-running nonprofit youth theater program in the county.  The musical, set in Ohio and New York City between 1897 and 1937, portrays the rags-to-riches saga of Cohan's life, loves and songs and his career as a director, performer, writer and composer. It traces Cohan's life from the time he was a teenager in his parents' small-time vaudeville act, through the days and songs of his greatest successes, to the time when he was no longer writing or producing shows. The all-American production includes such memorable songs as "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy," "You're a Grand Old Flag" and "Give My Regards to Broadway." Cohan's patriotic World War I song, "Over There," earned him a Medal of Honor.

The life of the quintessential entertainer, who is said to have performed at the Haverstraw Opera House once, was also captured in Cohan's 1942 film biography, "Yankee Doodle Dandy," starring James Cagney.

Since 1973, the festival has offered thousands of high school students a summer stock experience with stagings of Broadway musicals. The six-week program, which is now open to high school students everywhere, culminates each August with a week of musical performances at Clarkstown South High School.

A chance to work with professionals is only one of many reasons youngsters join the troupe. Some have their sights set on entertainment careers. Festival organizers point to well-known alumni Alan Kirschenbaum, creator and executive producer of TV's "Yes Dear," and Phil Rosenthal, creator and executive producer of "Everybody Loves Raymond."

"After I saw 'Annie get Your Gun' last year, all I wanted to do was act, sing and dance," said Michael Pilacik of West Nyack, a 14-year-old freshman at Clarkstown South High School.

Other teens said they were seeking a productive summer activity and a fun way to meet friends.

"I look forward to this all year," said Allie Simone of Pomona, a 16-year-old junior at Immaculate Heart Academy in Washington Township, N.J. "I have a lot of close friends to keep in touch with."

"George M!" is the fourth festival show for Doug Feig, 17, of West Nyack. The senior at Clarkstown South High School said he was lured back by the camaraderie.

"It's like a big family," Feig said, echoing many of the cast members. "It's a close group of kids,."

"It's a great experience," said Jessica Olsen of Nyack, a 14-year-old freshman at Nyack High School. "Tap dancing has become my new favorite hobby."

While cast, crew and orchestra learn their parts, the adult board members rent costumes, arrange workshops, gather props, buy advertising, plan refreshments, create the playbill and serve as surrogate stage mothers and stage fathers. Some parents have worked on the festival committees for more to a decade.

"My daughter did three shows, and my son did two shows," said festival co-president Jack Rosen, who has been involved with the program since 1989. "They graduated, and I stayed on."

The nonprofit festival now has an annual budget of $50,000, which covers salaries for the professional staff, costume rentals and scenery, officials said. Each student pays $200 tuition and is asked to raise $180 worth of playbill ads.

"We always try to do big musicals with lots of production numbers that will appeal to adults, seniors and children," said director Eileen Geiger.

The staff also includes choreographer Justin Boccitto, musical director Sol Bloch, technical and lighting director Alan Seward and set designer Steven Geiger.

The following article appeared in the  JOURNAL NEWS, on Saturday, October 19, 2002, in the Rockland section. It was written by Randi Weiner. We are re-printing the article below. Reprinted by permission. Copyright © 2002 - Gannett Westchester-Rockland Newspapers, Inc.

    Ramapo senior and CSTF student  writes fall play

By RANDI WEINER 
THE JOURNAL NEWS 
      (Original publication: October 19, 2002) 

 
Ramapo High School senior Sara Paur, 17, right, and drama teacher Eileen Geiger, center, run through lines with Steve Branford, 16, seated left, and Jennifer Moran, 16, seated foreground, for "The Show; High School Unmasked," which will be presented Nov. 15 and 16. The play was written by Sara Paur and classmate Christopher Shepard over the summer.
 

                                                           
     Think of the stereotypes of high school kids: the jock, the thug, the smart girl, the class clown, the nerd, the politician, the ditz, the thespian.  Think of the hallways and classrooms as a stage where the types meet and interact. 
      Ramapo High School senior and CSTF student  Christopher Shepard and senior Sara Paur have done just that: They've written a play about high school that now is in rehearsal as the fall offering of the school's drama department. 
       It's a first for the school and for the two students, although "High School Unmasked" is not the first student-written play in Rockland to make it to the high school stage in recent memory, said Eileen Geiger, an English and drama teacher at the high school and adviser to the Ramapo Players. 
       Clarkstown North student playwrights have undertaken a similar project this year and last. Student writers also have written one-act plays for production over the years in other districts, but few have written full-length plays.  "I think it's remarkable that two high school students have done this," Geiger said. "I'm really amazed by the two of them." 
     As with most high schools, the Ramapo High School drama department produces two plays a year, and searching for something new is a traditional springtime headache. Last June was no different, Geiger said. 
      "We were talking about 'What play can we do next fall' — it's always a challenge to find something appropriate and appealing to our student population," Geiger said. "I said to Chris, 'Why don't we write our own play?' and he ran with it. He and Sara actually did it." 
     The process was almost that simple, Shepard said. He and Paur knew each other from a creative writing class, and the two agreed to collaborate on a play over the summer. There was no guarantee that the result of their creativity would be what Geiger was looking for, but they were willing to try. 
        "It was going to be for my senior year, and I knew I wanted to do something special," Shepard, 17, said. "I realized, you know, I'm not going to get much of a chance at any other area, no speech at graduation, no student council. I decided I'd go into my area, theater." 
        He said he and Paur, who had both studied drama, knew they wanted to do something a little serious in a high school setting with a chance for the actors to do monologues. They started talking about the different kinds of students who get stereotyped, and decided to use that as the basis for their play. 
       "I love to write," Paur, 17, said. "I jumped at the chance. I thought it would be great to put on something completely new. I knew the other kids would like it since it's written by us, by their peers, and it's about school." 
       The two made a list of 24 student stereotypes and wrote monologues for them. Shepard had envisioned the 24 standing in a row holding signs to identify their stereotypes, having scenes among them to show who they were on the outside, and then each coming forward to talk about who he or she was on the inside. 
       "We thought, 'Everybody wears a mask in high school, and no one is who they say they are,' and I thought that was perfect because it's very truthful, and it's something that people tend to ignore, whether they know it or not," Shepard said. "I wanted to get it out in the open. I wanted people to connect with it and
those not in high school to say, 'Oh, I remember.' " 
      High school, Paur said, "is very clique-y. There's the popular group. There's the losers, the thug group. We said, 'Why don't we go ahead and take all these stereotypes and use them?' " 
Setting the play in the school was even easier, Shepard said. 
       "The hallway, I felt, is the most important place in high school," he said. "Other people like to think the classroom is the center of the school. But the hall is where you learn your most important lessons in high school." 
        Although they occasionally began a part with a person in mind, the characters are actually composites, the two said. The writing began in early May, with the first draft completed the second week in September. It contains two acts, with 11 scenes in each act. 
      Auditions drew nearly 60 students, about twice the number who normally try out for fall productions, Geiger said. The actors were given a list of characters, but the authors reserved two parts for themselves. Paur said she chose a character similar to what she is like, and Shepard, something completely
different. 
      The two said they found that some people they had in mind for certain parts were horrible at them, doing better at completely different types of people. Some students liked something different because they wanted a part to dig into; others wanted something they lived every day to have a chance to explain who
they were, Paur said. 
        Rewrites are ongoing as characters get familiar with their parts and make suggestions, Geiger said. Once the play was in production, the playwrights found there was a character missing: the student who stands aside and makes snide comments on everybody and everything. The two wrote another part on
the spot. 
       Watching the players go through their scenes has been very satisfying, both authors said. 
       "It's wonderful to hear people speaking the words that you wrote and putting feelings to them and reactions," Paur said. Igmar Baez, 16, a sophomore at the school, is playing the part of Mark, the
"thug/gang member." 
         "I really like how it felt acting," he said. "I liked the character because of what
it has behind it. Mark is a closed-off kind of person. He doesn't like to communicate and let everybody in. I'm not like that. I like being on the opposite end of the curve." 
        Marquitta Blair, 17, a senior, plays several parts: the "angry chick," who is an outspoken feminist; the girl who is obsessed with the SAT; and a teacher. 
       "I knew the play would be fun because it's coming from kids our age," she said. "It's a riot. The characters are so real. What goes on in a typical high school goes on in our play." 
       The play is set for 8 p.m. Nov. 15 and 16 at Ramapo High School, 400 Viola Road, Spring Valley. Tickets are $7. 

The following article appeared in the  JOURNAL NEWS, on Friday, October 11, 2002, in the Rockland section. It was written by Randi Weiner. We are re-printing the article below. Reprinted by permission. Copyright © 2002 - Gannett Westchester-Rockland Newspapers, Inc.

Sarandon details acting, activism

By RANDI WEINER
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: October 11, 2002)

 

CSTF students highlighted include: (left to right) Jennifer Brown, Michelle Lehrman and Caesar Munoz) Drama students gather around the actress Susan Sarandon after she spoke to them about her career during a visit to Suffern High School.
Trish Abato, who invited Sarandon to speak, is at right.

Susan Sarandon walked through the halls of Suffern High School at lunchtime yesterday, leaving behind her groups of grinning and giggling students.

Striding into a small lecture hall to rousing applause that made her smile, the Academy Award-winning actress settled down to talk about acting, her life and her political activism.

"My passion was to get out of New Jersey," the Edison, N.J., native said of her early days. "I never took an acting class. I still haven't. You can't use my career as an example of anything except I followed my heart."

Sarandon, who won a best actress Oscar for "Dead Man Walking" in 1996 and was nominated for best actress Oscars in 1982, 1992, 1993 and 1995, visited the school at the request of high school parent Trish Abato. She met Sarandon during Sept. 11 memorials and had a chance to chat with her during the first anniversary observances at Ground Zero.

Abato was invited to Sept. 11 memorials as a close friend of Suffern resident Marie Anaya, whose husband, Calixto "Charlie" Anaya Jr., was a New York City firefighter killed in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

"Susan has been very, very involved with the firefighter families of 9/11. I've had the opportunity to get to know her and Tim Robbins," Abato said. "It was great to sit there and talk to them as Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, not as big screen actors. We talked about ... kids. I felt, after 9/11, the kids are very disturbed by what happened, they're upset. Their futures are dark and dim. They walk with fear."

Abato has an interest in acting, she said. Two years ago, her two children and a friend created Voices, a grass-roots acting group of students from kindergarten to 12th grade who put on productions to raise money for charity. In 2000, the group raised $6,000 for area soup kitchens; last year, the 35-member organization raised $12,000 to help pay for a Sept. 11 memorial in Suffern.

"I asked Susan if she would meet with the Voices kids because it would be a positive, an inspiration. I believe in the performing arts," Abato said. "She said she would love to speak with them and answer some questions."

Abato extended her invitation to students in the high school school drama club and acting classes. When Sarandon began speaking yesterday, it was to more than 100 students and staff who crowded into the lecture hall's seats, stood against walls and perched on steps.

Student questions ranged from her most enjoyable role — Annie Savoy in "Bull Durham" — to her favorite actor to work with — Sean Penn, because he is focused and businesslike.

"I am in the top 1 percent of the people who earn a living. There are people who struggle. There's nothing wrong with doing commercials or soap operas," she said. "You are lucky if you can make a living doing something you really care about. Don't try to be famous. Find something you are going to want to do every day."

She urged the students to be "uncompromising in your 20s in everything, your life and politically; if you are compromising at 16 or 17 or 18, your life will be a disaster."

Sarandon spoke of being temporarily banned from the Academy Awards for speaking at the 1993 Oscars about America's detention of Haitian immigrants. She also mentioned her protest in Central Park last weekend with others who oppose a pre-emptive strike on Iraq.

"When I was in school, the issues were really clear in college," she said. "There's nothing more empowering than taking action and seeing something come of it. Now, it's your guys' turn. You are the ones we're really depending on now."

Brett Casper, 16, a senior, found Sarandon's explanations of movie life "interesting."

Sophomore Brittany Asch, 15, was more excited: "I really admire her now. She's really down to earth. It's great to see and hear her."

"It was amazing just to see her right here," said Kaity Bemis, 15, a sophomore.

Lauren Sutter, 15, a sophomore, said she and her mother have watched nearly all of Sarandon's movies.

"We've been huge fans," Sutter said. "She has her own views on the issues of the world and that's really good in a person. She's not just an actress. She's so much beyond that."

The following article appeared in the  JOURNAL NEWS, on Friday, August 2, 2002, in the Rockland section. It was written by Nancy Cacioppo. We are re-printing the article below. Reprinted by permission. Copyright © 2002 - Gannett Westchester-Rockland Newspapers, 

 Teens hone talents in musicals 

By NANCY CACIOPPO 

 


THE JOURNAL NEWS 
(Original publication: August 2, 2002) 

For 30 years, Rockland teens have acted, sung and danced their way through many musicals under the banner of the Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival. 

Tonight, what is billed as the county's longest running summer musical theater program for young people launches a production of Irving Berlin's hit, "Annie Get Your Gun," at Clarkstown South High School
on Demarest Mill Road. 

The festival first performed the musical in 1974. This time, the popular story about Annie Oakley, star of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, is directed and choreographed by Justin Boccitto and Dawne Swearingen with musical director Sol Bloch and tech director Allan Seward. The show includes such well-known Irving Berlin favorites as "They Say It's Wonderful," "I Got the Sun in the Morning," "The Girl That I Marry" and "There's No Business Like Show Business." 

Since 1973, the nonprofit festival has offered close to 2,500 high school students a ''summer stock'' experience, with stagings of great Broadway musicals. In 1992, the festival won a Rockland County Executive's Arts Award for Best Arts Organization. Corporate sponsors of the festival, which
has a budget of about $50,000, include Orange and Rockland Utilities, Union State Bank, State Farm Insurance, Money Concepts and Gary Goldberg. 

Booker Stardrum, a Nyack High School freshman who plays Little Jake, summed up what teens have been saying for 30 years. "This is a great acting experience," he said. 

"Musical theater, movies, commercials — I want to do it all," said Brittany Asch, a Suffern High School sophomore who plays Annie and sees the festival as a good step to a theatrical career. 

"It's the people you meet and the friendships you make," said Kevin Coyne, a Nanuet High School senior who plays Sitting Bull. 

 

They have some inspiring role models. Festival alumni include Grammy Award-winning record producer Harry Weinger; TV writer/producer Alan Kirschenbaum, son of comedian Freddie Roman; musical theater actor Richard Holbrook; scenic designer Tim Saternow; and Philip Rosenthal, executive producer of "Everybody Loves Raymond." 

Whether they are headed for the lights of Broadway, or are just using their experience to make new friends, the teens agreed their biggest comfort comes from the dozens of parent volunteer ''stage mothers'' and ''stage
fathers'' who help out with each year's production. 

"This is one of the best summer theater programs around. And the parents are so good to us — they feed and clothe us," said C.J. Schwartz, a third-year festival veteran and Suffern High School junior who plays Dolly and hopes for a career in musical theater. 

"It's a great opportunity to meet people who like theater. I'm definitely coming back," said first-year participant and chorus member Alexandra Simone of Pomona, a sophomore at Immaculate Heart Academy in Washington Township, N.J. 

Many of the adult volunteers, whose own children have long since "graduated" from the program, continue to find enjoyment in a variety of backstage jobs. Mostly, parents said, their satisfaction comes from seeing the
teens attain a sense of self-esteem, camaraderie and team spirit. 

"The chance to be part of a theatrical troupe is a way to build their confidence and a guarantee of fun, whether they are a part of the cast, crew or orchestra," said parent Patricia Simone of Pomona. 

"It's not only a theater arts program but a social experience," added festival President Jack Rosen of New City. "When they first come here, they're often shy. But after one summer, they bloom." 

Performances are at 8 p.m. tonight, tomorrow and Aug. 7-10, with a 2 p.m. matinee Sunday. 

Each year, the festival grants $100 scholarships to graduating seniors and dedicates the proceeds from one performance to an area charity. This year, the Aug. 7 performance will benefit People to People. In addition, 60 tickets will be donated to Jawonio, Rockland ARC, Camp Venture, Rockland Family Shelter and the Northern Riverview Health Care Center. 

Tickets are $12 for adults, $9 for students, $8 for seniors and children under 12. For further information and group rates, call 638-3077, or visit the Web site summertheatrefestival.com. 

Send e-mail to Nancy Cacioppo at the Journal News.

Tom Morahan

Former CSTF President Jack Rosen greets New York State Senator Tom Morahan. Senator Morahan was responsible for getting a grant from New York State for air conditioning at Clarkstown South High School.