Theater lovers ‘All Shook Up’

By Peter D. Kramer • pkramer@lohud.com • August 7, 2009

Two summer-theater troupes - one long established, the other in its inaugural season - offer the same musical starting tonight, part of a busy weekend on local stages.

Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival in West Nyack is in its 37th summer. Harrison High School Footlight Players Summer Theater is in its first. Both stage the Elvis Presley jukebox musical "All Shook Up" opening tonight: Harrison for one weekend, Clarkstown for two.

Joe DiPietro's book for "All Shook Up" borrows from Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" and has songs including "Jailhouse Rock," "Blue Suede Shoes," "Love Me Tender" and "Teddy Bear."

A fun-loving roustabout comes to town and gets the kids all riled up - to defy the town's Mamie Eisenhower Decency Act, which forbids "public necking, tight pants and loud music" - with a wink and a nod.

In Clarkstown, Joe Egan directs a cast led by Metro Award nominee Alex Domini as Chad and Rachel Gomberg, a Ramapo High School sophomore, as Natalie/Ed, the cross-dressing grease monkey.

Clarkstown has co-presidents, Diane Weber and Terri Allyne and vice-presidents, Monica Barrera Vidler and Val Cichorek, who work year-round with the trustees, on outreach, show selection, merchandising and all aspects of the production.

Past members now send their kids to be in shows: Neil Weiss was a Jet in the 1977 CSTF production of "West Side Story." His kids, Bethany and Harry, are in the cast of "All Shook Up."

The following article appeared in THE JOURNAL NEWS in the Lifestyles  section on Tuesday July 29,2008. We are re-printing  it  below. Reprinted by permission of The Journal News.
(c) 2008 THE JOURNAL NEWS.

                     Clarkstown troupe rides dark 'Carousel'

By Peter D. Kramer
The Journal News • July 29, 2008

West Nyack's venerable Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival - veterans simply call it "summer theater" - is gearing up for its 36th season with Rodgers & Hammerstein's dark classic "Carousel."

What's new this year is Clarkstown's production team.

Director Joseph Egan works with the cast of “Carousel.” (Angela Gaul/The Journal News)

Joe Egan, who has made magic at Nyack High School for years - including "The Phantom of the Opera" this year - is directing "Carousel" and has brought along nearly all of his creative crew: Musical director Kurt Kelley, costumers Tom Beck and Neil Schleifer, and tech gurus Andrew Gmoser and Bryan McPartlan.

"Carousel," a dark tale of love and loss in a small New England town, is not traditional summer fare, but Egan says the teens are taking to the material. "It's dark," Egan says. "It's not happy. There's one happy song in Act 1 - 'June is Bustin' Out All Over' - and then we're done. Tragedy strikes." "The kids are understanding the weight of the material," he says. "They're fine. "Choreography is by Luke Rawlings. Greg Baccarini, Egan's longtime choreographer, directed Yorktown Stage's "Godspell" and couldn't commit to stage the dances for "Carousel," but he still handled wig and hair design. Brittany Meshberg, 17, plays Julie Jordan, the girl at the center of the action. The Clarkstown South senior is used to the stage, but not to playing such a meaty role.    "It's tragic and Joe is telling me I really have to cry on stage to portray it and make it real," Meshberg says. "Joe likes everything full out in rehearsal, the way I'm going to perform it. And that's the way I like to work. "Meshberg, a CSTF veteran, says working with Egan has been eye-opening. "It's been an amazing experience," she says. "Joe is an incredible director. I'm learning a lot." She doesn't even mind the fact that Egan has brought along a Nyack tradition: When the cast fails to take things seriously, they run laps around the auditorium. "Whatever it takes," Meshberg says. Jake Allyne plays Billy Bigelow, a rough-and-tumble carnival worker who is Julie's love interest.        The role comes with a marathon song, the 8-minute "Soliloquy" - in which Billy softens when he learns he's going to be a father. "He's a very intricate character, full of changes," he says. "He's abusive, short-tempered and not very sympathetic to other people. Later, he wakes up dead and he's full of regret. "The recent Clarkstown South graduate - who spent his senior year at Rockland Community College - is looking to a theater career and appreciates Egan's professional approach. "He's a great director, but he's also a scenic designer, so he really has the whole picture. He knows where everything is," Allyne says, adding that having an entire production team come in means everyone is on the same page from day one.

Jake Alyne rehearses his carnival pitch as carousel operator Billy Bigelow.(Angela Gaul/The Journal News) "Carousel" runs Aug. 1, 2 , 6**, 7, 8 and 9 at 8 p.m., and Sunday August 3 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12, $9 for students, $8 for seniors and children 12 and under and $6 for groups of 20 or more, purchased in advance. Call 845-638-3077. At Clarkstown High School South, 31 Demarest Mill Road, West Nyack. **Benefit show for American Cancer Society of Rockland.

The following article appeared in THE JOURNAL NEWS in the Rockland People In The News section on Sunday July27, 2008. We are re-printing  it  below. Reprinted by permission of The Journal News.
(c) 2008 THE JOURNAL NEWS.

Rockland people in the news

                       Theater festival receives grant

Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival has received a $750 grant from the Community Investment Program of Orange & Rockland Utilities. The grant will defray the cost of costumes for the Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival's 2008 production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel." Another grant of $1,500 from the town of Clarkstown went toward the costs of obtaining the rights to "Carousel." Performances are scheduled at Clarkstown South High School, Demarest Mill Road, West Nyack at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and Aug. 6, 7, 8 and 9 and at 2 p.m. Sunday. Proceeds from the Aug. 6 performance will be donated to the American Cancer Society's Making Strides for Breast Cancer. Tickets are $12 for adults, $9 for students, $8 for senior citizens and children under 12. Groups of 20 or more can purchase tickets in advance for $6. Tickets for the Aug 6 benefit performance are $10 and must be purchased at the door. Tickets can be purchased at Clarkstown South. Visit www.summertheatrefestival.com.

The following article appeared in THE JOURNAL NEWS in the People In The News section on Sunday July 6, 2008. We are re-printing  it  below. Reprinted by permission of The Journal News.
(c) 2008 THE JOURNAL NEWS.

Clarkstown

Grant for theater festival

The Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival has received a $1,500 grant from the town. The grant will help defray the costs of obtaining the rights to Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel," which will be performed in August at Clarkstown South High School on Demarest Mill Road in West Nyack. Performances are scheduled for 8 p.m. Aug. 1, 2, 6, 7, 8 and 9 and 2 p.m. Aug. 3. Proceeds from the Aug. 6 performance will be donated to the American Cancer Society's Making Strides for Breast Cancer. Tickets are $12 for adults, $9 for students, $8 for senior citizens and children under 12. Groups of 20 or more can purchase tickets in advance for $6. Tickets for the the Aug. 6 benefit performance are $10 and must be purchased at the door. Tickets will be sold weekdays beginning July 21 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Clarkstown South. Visit www.summertheatrefestival.com.

The following article appeared in THE JOURNAL NEWS in the School News section on Monday June 23, 2008. We are re-printing  it  below. Reprinted by permission of The Journal News.
(c) 2008 THE JOURNAL NEWS.

              

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