The Hudson Shakespeare Company of Jersey City kicks off its
24th Shakespeare in the Park series with a new twist on old favorite presenting a cross gendered “Love’s Labours Lost” where the men play the women and the women play the  men. The show is running coming to:   Saturday, June 20 at The Historic Jersey City and Harismus Cemetery at 435 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ. A
suggested $10 donation will be charged at the door and
concessions are available.

Show Detail:
When many of us are introduced to Shakespeare in school, one of the details that often stand out is that only male actors played all the parts. While this practice seems strange to us, it was the accepted convention that on the  professional London stage only men were
considered suitable enough for a dubious profession of being “an actor”.

Despite the fact that it was illegal for women to be actors and women did appear on stage in England but in regional
religious festivals and on the professional stages of Spain, France and Italy. This curious English only practice was so
entrenched in their culture that even decades after
Shakespeare died and women finally came to the stage some of the
old guard actors decried the practice saying that actresses couldn’t truly depict women on the stage.

“Each season, Hudson Shakespeare likes putting new and fresh spins
on popular titles and exploring titles that  audiences may not be normally exposed to,” said director Jon Ciccarelli. “Love’s Labours Lost on its own is a fun romp of a romantic comedy and a feast of Shakespearean poetry but we wanted to see how else to delve into what is  essentially of men and women trying to outwit each other when it comes to seduction of the other gender. So we decided to take the commonly known Shakespeare practice of men playing all of the roles and expand it to having  women take on male characters,” Ciccarelli said.

Ciccarelli urged that the show isn’t some treatment on
gender studies or making some bold statement but having fun
with the Shakespeare convention of cross gendering. “Shakespeare’s male actors did it their day and many of his other
plays feature cross dressed women who dress up as man, so we’re going more for what behaviors or attitudes make up what it
means to man or woman as played by the opposite gender and we’ve found there are really no hard fast characteristics. They run the gamut and “Love’s Labours Lost” is a hysterical play to explore how the other half lives”,  he added.

Synopsis of the show:
The King of Navarre and his three companions –
Berowne, Dumaine and Longaville – commit to a life of study exiling
themselves from the pleasures of the world and women for whole three years. But they forget that a visiting part with the Princess of France and three of her ladies are coming on a diplomatic mission, throwing the plan into chaos. The men from Navarre trump each other in a scene in which they are overheard reading aloud
their bad love poems and seek to woo the ladies in strange disguises. However, the ladies are on to the guys and outwit them at their own
seduction. A comic sub-plot is weaved with Armado, a flamboyant Spaniard, his clever page, Moth, a country clown, Costard and a precocious dairymaid, Jaquenetta. Long winded love rhymes, switched up love notes, comic chase scenes, virtuostic verbal
exchanges and a bit some bearded Russians punctuate this delicious Shakespeare comedy through the lens of the opposite gender.

Hudson Shakespeare Company, now in its 24th season of traveling Shakespeare. The company will return in July with
the “Lost Shakespeare Play” The Murder of Thomas Arden of Faversham, a black comedy featuring a bunch of inept killers in their various pathetic attempts to dispose of a rich land owner with a twist ending. For more information visit
http://ellem-fair.wix.com/hudsonshakespeare or call 973 -449 7443.

The post Hudson Shakespeare Company at Historic Jersey City and Harismus Cemetery first appeared on River View Observer.

By Sally Deering

“A cursed bloodline. A family on the edge.  If this house could speak, what stories it would tell.”

 Thatâ€s the tagline for the new play THE HOUSE OF ATREUS which premieres Thursday, June 4, at Art House Productions in Jersey City. Itâ€s a collaborative work between Christine Goodman (Executive Director of Art House Productions) who wrote the piece, Mason Beggs, who directed, and choreographer Meagan Woods.

THE HOUSE OF ATREUS is an immersive and unconventional theater piece. Instead of putting the actors on stage and the audience in rows of seats to observe, the set takes up the entire theater with a chair and TV in one area, a broken down porch in another, and a dining room table at center. The audience enters through a haze of smoky fog and is encouraged to find a spot of their choosing to watch the play as it unfolds around them. This immerses the audience into the playâ€s action, which becomes part of the overall theater experience.

“The audience will be active observers,” Goodman says, sitting on set with Beggs and Woods during a break in tech rehearsal. “Weâ€re changing the audienceâ€s perspective.”

The playâ€s plot focuses on the main character Alan who returns home after serving in Iraq. He comes back only to find his house in ruins and his family broken and as war torn as the place he left behind.

“Itâ€s an exploration of family and the impact of war on family,” Goodman says. “At the heart, ‘The House of Atreus†is a cursed house and Alan has to manage the reality of this cursed home and piece together his family.”

THE PLAYâ€S THE THING

THE HOUSE OF ATREUS stars Amy Fulgham, Ema Lakovic, Gabby Gowdie, Adam Hassan, Quanda Johnson, and Adam Resnick as Alan, the war veteran returning home. He explains his character this way.

“Heâ€s a dutiful military man,” Resnick says. “He has a sense of belonging, but he has a few gaps in his family life.”

Throughout the play, music serves as an integral part of the action and at times, the lyrics of the songs by Shayfer James seem to represent the characters†inner-voices, things they want to say but canâ€t. .

“Shayferâ€s songs help with the tonality of the piece,” director Mason Beggs says. “”We knew of Shayfer and his music and it seemed like a good fit.”

Set Designer Andrea McKenna created the broken home Alan comes back to, and Lance A. Michel designed the playâ€s dreamlike lighting.

“The main structure of the play comes from the Greek trilogy ORESTEIA,” choreographer Meagan Woods says. “We put it in a contemporary setting and used the text and movement to develop the story.”

According to Wikipedia: “The ORESTEIA is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus concerning the end of the curse on the House of Atreus. The ORESTEIA was originally performed at the Dionysia festival in Athens in 458 BC, where it won first prize. The name derives from the character Orestes, who sets out to avenge his fatherâ€s murder.”

“Iâ€ve always been drawn to Greek plays,” Goodman says. “Itâ€s because the Greek drama goes where a lot of plays donâ€t dare to go. They take it to extremes.”

 Is THE HOUSE OF ATREUS unconventional theater? Yes. And Goodman says this type of theater fits in with the companyâ€s artistic mission.

“The heart of Art House is theater,” Goodman says. “Weâ€re passionate about new theater and providing a platform for new works to be seen.”

IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR

 This past year was Art House Productionâ€s 14^th season, and on July 1^st it celebrates its first year in its new Journal Square location. During the year, the company presented an eclectic mix of theater and performance pieces including “Your Move,” New Jerseyâ€s Modern Dance Festival; FAME, JR. and THE WIZARD OF OZ which were part of Stages! Theater Company for Youth; IN FULL COLOR: Stories by Women of Color in celebration of Womenâ€s History Month; and No Peeking Theaterâ€s THE SHAPESHIFTER.

Art House served as the opening weekend host venue for the Black Maria Film Festival; and was a gallery stop on the Jersey City Artists†Studio Tour. The INKubator, a professional script and screenwriting development lab for writers, actors and directors meets at Art House, and it also offers acting classes and dance classes for kids and adults. With all that, executive director Goodman also finds the time to organize JC FRIDAYS, a festival of the arts that takes place throughout Jersey City.

“Itâ€s been a tremendous year in our new location,” Goodman says, “filled with growth and new possibilities.”

If you go

Thurs, Fri, Sat, June 4, 5, 6, 11, 12 & 13 at 8 pm; Sun, June 7 at 4 pm THE HOUSE OF ATREUS

Art House Productions

136 Magnolia Ave, JC

(201) 915-9911

http://www.arthouseproductions.org

TIX: http://atreus.brownpapertickets.com/

$18 ($20/door)

The post HOUSE OF SHARDS-Art House Productions “The House of Atreus” an American Vet Returns Home to More Casualties first appeared on River View Observer.

     The Playâ€s the Thing at STAGEfest 2013, the Loewâ€s Jersey Theatreâ€s First Play Festival

By Sally Deering

In her prime, she was a real looker. Decked out in red velvet and adorned in crystal and gold, the Loewâ€s Jersey Theatre was a glamorous show palace when it opened in 1929. Today, the Loewâ€s is a New Jersey Registered Historic Site owned by Jersey City and after many years of restoration by the volunteer group Friends of the Loewâ€s, the movie palace has ‘come back to lifeâ€. Like an aging Ziegfeld showgirl with gorgeous gams. the Loewâ€s is a grandly vintage venue for film festivals, film retrospectives – even weddings – and for the first time this month, the Loewâ€s will host its first every performing arts festival, STAGEfest 2013.  

Starting Fri, Mar. 22 and running through Sun, Mar. 24, STAGEfest 2013 raises the curtain on a weekend of theatrical, dance and musical performances highlighting Hudsonâ€s arts and artists.  The festival will feature three days of shows by local playwrights, musicians, dancers and solo-artists who will perform their works not just on the theaterâ€s main stage, but also in its lobbies, salons, promenades and hallways. The weekend event also features a costume exhibit by Leading Lady Costumes and refreshments by local vendors in the Grand Lobby Café.

“This marks the return to live theatre – in addition to classic film and concerts,” says Colin Egan, Executive Director of Loewâ€s Jersey Theatre.  “We always said we wanted theatre to be part of the Loew’s, but with all the work of renovating it and running the other shows here, we kept putting it off. So STAGEfest is the first of an annual (and maybe more frequent) theatre festival the Loew’s will host.”

THE PRODUCERS

Coordinating the event with Egan and the Friends of the Loewâ€s volunteers are Christine Goodman, Founder of Art House Productions in Jersey City, and David Zimmerman, Executive Director of the DeBaun Center for Performing Arts at Stevenâ€s Institute of Technology in Hoboken.  Zimmerman knows his way around play festivals; DeBaun formerly hosted the Hudson County One Act Play Festival.

“We were looking for variety as well as artistic integrity, something that had quality to it and something that was going to work well in the spaces at the Loewâ€s,” Zimmerman says. “Some shows are operating in multiple spaces. Some are performing on the main stage, some in the lobby and in spaces upstairs. This has never been done at the Loewâ€s. Audience members can go from one show to the next to the next to the next.”

For STAGEfest 2013, Zimmerman, Goodman and the rest of the STAGEfest 2013 committee chose 18 acts: eight plays, four musicals, three dance acts and three singer-soloists.

“Because we are so close to New York, we forget there are a lot of artists here,” Zimmerman says. “Theyâ€re telling a local story and itâ€s important for our artists to have a local venue to do that. Itâ€s great for the Loewâ€s to have live theater. Hopefully this is the start of more things to come.”

Audience members will get a big bang for their buck with ticket prices only $10 and $15, Zimmerman says. (Those ticket prices are for online purchases; tickets bought at the door are $5 extra.) Theater-goers can also buy a 3-day pass for $25; $30 at the door.

“Thatâ€s cheap,” Zimmerman says. “You can see five different shows on Sunday for 10 bucks. How amazing is that? Itâ€s ‘public-transportational†and we have discount parking around the back.”

THE STORYTELLERS

Many local playwrights are being featured in STAGEfest 2013 including Summer Dawn Hortillosa of Jersey City who wrote, directs and stars in “Before, After and Always,” a comedy that explores three stages of a relationship. The two-character play also stars Sergio Caetano, 22, a resident of Lake Hiawatha and student at Montclair University.

Hortillosa, 22, was the winner of the 2007 New Jersey Young Playwrights Festival, Governorâ€s Award for her first play, “The Not-So-Lovely Tale of Strawberry Fructose” about the daughter of two candy makers who is cursed with an allergy to sweets.  “Before, After and Always” will be performed in the Loewâ€s ‘Upstairs Left Lobby†and its performance schedule is Saturday at 3 pm and 7:45 pm; and Sunday at 2:45 pm.

“Iâ€m really excited,” Hortillosa says. “This will be my first time performing and presenting at the Loewâ€s. Theater is my real passion and this is what Iâ€m meant to do and what my talents are best for. Thereâ€s nothing like seeing your words come to life on stage.”

A former member of the musical theater workshop at the BMI in New York City, under the direction of Maury Yestin, Annie Kessler of Jersey City co-wrote the music and lyrics with Libby Saines to the musical “Woman with Pocketbook” with music by Tony Award nominee Jeff Blumenkrantz (“Urban Cowboy”).

“Woman with Pocketbook” is a musical comedy about a woman who goes to heaven but refuses to relinquish her purse. The half-hour musical has played St. Louis, Dallas and Los Angeles, and this production – the East Coast premiere – is produced by Christine Goodman of Art House Productions and directed by Art House Productionâ€s Artistic Director Jack Halpin. It features a cast of 15 (mostly) local residents including Norrice Raymaker, Judith Moss, Brad Brenner and Roland Ramos.

Thrilled to have her musical performed at the Loewâ€s, Kessler remembers the movie palace before its renovation and seeing the theater ‘come back to life†is like a dream come true, she says.

“I love the Loewâ€s,” Kessler says. “I think STAGEfest is a great idea and thereâ€s a lot of great stuff being done.”

Audience members can see “Woman with Pocketbook” on Saturday at 1:45 pm and 6:30 pm; and Sunday at 5:45 pm in the Loewâ€s ‘Upper Balconyâ€.

On the Fringe

Bill LaRosa, Director of Hudson Countyâ€s Cultural and Heritage Affairs/Tourism Division is a strong supporter of STAGEfest at the Loewâ€s and compares it with the very popular Fringe Festival that takes place every summer in Edinburgh, Scotland. LaRosa says if a festival of plays and other performing arts can be successful there, it can be successful here in Hudson, too.“I have always been intrigued by having an event like STAGEfest take root in Hudson County,” “Years ago, I made a private visit to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The Fringe showcases experimental, emerging, and classical performing arts. I was convinced then, as I am now, that something like this can work in Hudson County. The Friends of the Loewâ€s has taken the first important step in establishing STAGEfest as an annual event, with the potential to grow like the Fringe Festival, and with the promise of becoming a successful cultural tourism event.”

IF YOU GO:

Fri, Mar. 22-Sun, Mar. 24

Landmark Loewâ€s Jersey Theatre

54 Journal Square, Jersey City

www.loewsjersey.org

Tickets: All-day pass: Fri, Sat, $10; Sun, $15;

Weekend pass:  $25; $20 for students/seniors.

(Tickets are $5 more at the door)

 

To Order Tickets Online:

www.brownpapertickets.com/event/339371

The post Curtain Up! STAGEfest 2013 in Jersey City first appeared on River View Observer.