The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Inside Press

Clive Davis Pledges Major Support Toward Transforming Bedford Playhouse

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MUSIC LEGEND CLIVE DAVIS TO MAKE MAJOR GIFT TO  BEDFORD PLAYHOUSE

ARTS CENTER TO BE NAMED IN HIS HONOR

Bedford Playhouse announced today that legendary music producer Clive Davis has pledged substantial support towards the capital campaign that is funding the transformation of the space into a vibrant, state of the art cultural center.

John Farr, Clive Davis, Sarah Long

Five-time Grammy award winner and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member Clive Davis is credited with discovering some of music’s biggest stars, including Janis Joplin, Bruce Springsteen, Carlos Santana, Aerosmith, Billy Joel, Earth, Wind & Fire, Whitney Houston, and Alicia Keys. It’s little wonder he is known throughout the industry as “the man with the golden ears.”

The gift will establish the Clive Davis Arts Center at Bedford Playhouse. Within the Playhouse, the Davis Center will encompass all the arts programming offered beyond film, including music performances, theater, art exhibits, and stand-up comedy. The Center will receive prominent exposure, both inside and outside the theater.

“Clive Davis is a living legend in the music industry,” said Chairman of the Board Sarah Long. “We are thrilled to have him engaged in this project in such a meaningful way. His wisdom, creativity and guidance will be invaluable.”

Founder John Farr observed: “Beyond all the other benefits of Clive’s support and involvement, our ability to brand the Clive Davis Arts Center will help us convey that we’re not just a beautifully renovated movie house, but also a vibrant cultural center. Some people still don’t realize the breadth of our mission and all we want to offer.”

As part of this gift, the forty-seat theater off the cafe on the first floor will be named “The Clive Davis Theater,” to be known as “The Clive.”

A new, recently approved exterior sign outside the theater will read: “Bedford Playhouse, home of Clive Davis Arts Center”. In light of the building’s historic significance, the existing sign will be restored and moved up higher on the front façade of the building.

Reached for comment, Mr. Davis was enthusiastic. “I am thrilled to support the creation of the new Playhouse and its new Arts Center,” he said. “I love this community and I strongly endorse the expanded mission of the Playhouse. This all seems like a perfect fit, and I can hardly wait for it to open!”

The Playhouse plans a partial opening later this Spring. This will involve operating just the downstairs portion of the new facility, including the main theater and concessions, for weekends only. Assuming the Playhouse completes its seat naming effort for the main theater over the next several months, the full opening is projected for later this year.

(Story via Release Courtesy of the Bedford Playhouse.)

Axial Theatre’s April 6 Benefit: A Dual Celebration!

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Welcoming New Leaders and Ushering in 20th Anniversary

Event to be held in the Gallery of ArtsWestchester

 

 

Westchester, NY – Axial Theatre’s annual spring benefit will be a special dual celebration this year as it welcomes the company’s new co-artistic directors, Catherine (Cat) Banks and Linda Giuliano, and ushers in a milestone year –the 20th anniversary of the professional theatre company based in Pleasantville.

The event will take place on Friday, April 6, from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Gallery of ArtsWestchester and will feature cabaret performances by Axial singers; gourmet bites and libations from Jean-Jacques Culinary Creations in Pleasantville; and a live auction featuring a luxury getaway to the Italian Riviera and a South African safari. ArtsWestchester is located at 31 Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains.

The Banks-Giuliano duo will officially take over on September 1, 2018, the beginning of Axial’s 20th production year, joining Betsy Klampert, managing director and general counsel, as Axial’s leadership team. Howard Meyer, Axial’s founder and current artistic director, will remain the head of Howard Meyer’s Acting Program, and a member of the board.

Catherine Banks

Catherine Banks, who has performed leading roles and co-directed several Axial productions since coming to Axial three years ago, says, “Creating a theater company the caliber of Axial, nurturing it and sustaining it for 20 years takes a leader of diverse skills and irrepressible passion. It is an honor to carry on the legacy Howard Meyer has created. The original mission statement, creating collaborative, relevant and provocative theatre, is one that deeply resonates with me, and I believe that Axial will find its future by upholding these core values and beliefs in the next phase of its journey. I truly look forward to working with Linda to best interpret that mission in today’s dynamic world.”

Linda Giuliano

Linda Giuliano, a playwright who is currently Axial’s literary manager and associate artistic director says, “Theatre is community. Great leaders serve. Howard has sustained 20 years of vision, theatre craft and leadership as artistic director. It is a responsibility and privilege for this role to be passed on to Catherine and me. We hope to serve the evolution of Axial’s present and future. We hope to bring stories to the stage that inspire, move and change artist, audience and our community.”

Banks began acting with her local award-winning children’s theater at the tender age of 11. Following college at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, she continued to study acting and founded her own production company, Bombshell Productions in New York City. She comes to Axial with over 20 years of high-level experience in business, having worked as senior vice president of operations for a financial services company prior to starting her own business in 2014. She is currently a member of Howard Meyer’s master class, a faculty member of the acting program where she teaches children and teens, and an Ensemble member of Axial Theatre. Banks will perform the role of Lenny in the upcoming Axial production of Beth Henley’s Crimes of the Heart this May. She appeared last fall as Audrey (one of the two leads) in Axial’s world premiere of Katie Baldwin Eng’s Nectar.

Giuliano, an Axial Ensemble member for 14 years, has had plays produced through Axial, such NYC groups as Playwrights Horizon and Midtown Festival and with companies in the U.S. and Canada.  A founding member of WritersGroup, a 25-plus-year-old group of six playwrights who write, direct, produce and teach in New York and Maine, Giuliano currently runs the Sunday Writers series at Axial, as well as Axial’s staged reading series wherein new works and classics are presented at various local sites. She has worked in mental health for 34 years as a licensed clinical social worker.

Meyer notes, “After 20 years of guiding the organization, it is time to pass the baton to the capable and gifted hands of Cat and Linda. As we enter this milestone season, it is time for fresh ideas and new leadership.”  

Managing Director Betsy Klampert echoes these sentiments, adding “I am thrilled to be part of this thriving theater community.  Howard’s leadership has taken Axial to its 20th year and Cat and Linda will raise the curtain on another 20 years of theater magic.  Stay tuned.”

The benefit’s cabaret singers will be accompanied by concert pianist Dan Forman; Axial Ensemble member Patrick McGuinness will serve as auctioneer. A silent auction also will be held.

General admission tickets for the benefit are $60, including all food, wine and other beverages.

For more information, visit https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3361706,  Axial’s Facebook page or its Website; or contact Axial at AxialTheatre@gmail.com; (914) 286-7680.

 

 

Horace Greeley High School Class of 2018 presents DISASTER: Save Yourself.

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Performances Thursday, March 22nd at 7 p.m., Friday, March 23rd at 8 p.m. and Saturday, March 24th at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.

The year is 1979 and the hippest floating discotheque and casino is about to open.  It’s not too late to get on board.  But be careful, because earthquakes, tidal waves and burning infernos await.  You might have to help save a reporter and her long-lost boyfriend, a nightclub singer and her young twins, a greedy businessman, a nun with a secret, a singer that’s hit the skids and a scientist that just might be able to rescue us all.  Plus, there’s romance, intrigue, sharks, rats and more than a hundred other guests on board.

This is “DISASTER” a hilarious homage to the 70’s complete with bell bottoms, feathered hair and the music of a generation.  You’ll be dancing in the aisles to classics like “Knock on Wood,” “I Will Survive,” “I Am Woman” and “Never Can Say Goodbye.”  Director Lee Kasper tells us “I love all of the music in Disaster! Moment to moment, each song is one that the audience will love to hear and will be excited to learn how it has been contextualized for the show.” 

Cast member Katie Katz tells us “We are all so excited to be a part of this and the audience will love to hear these classic songs delivered in a whole new way.”  Violet Gautreau portrays Jackie the nightclub singer and told us “She loves the opportunity to do something she loves with the entire class.”  And John Admunsen, who portrays Chad added “it’s great to part of this community and it has been a joy to spend time with the senior class throughout the rehearsal process.”

Cast member Ashleigh Wachtfogel said, “Disaster is fun and upbeat, and everyone will really get into the music, especially our parents.”  And nightclub owner Chase Sullivan says, “The show is crazy, unexpected entertainment.”  Get ready to bring back all those 70’s dance moves as well.  Choreographer Jesse Pellegrino tells us, “he loves the 70’s vibe and teaching the kids to embrace the style of dance, which was new to all of them, was a blast.”

Over 150 students are participating as cast members, crew, pit band, assistant directors, choreographers, make-up artists and costume designers. 

Since auditions the cast and crew of this show have had to deal with many real Disasters such as nor’easters, canceled rehearsals, no power, closed roads and St. Patrick’s Day.  But we survived.  Will you?

Don’t wait because tickets are going fast.

www.sellingticket.com/greeleyseniormusical

All Seats $20.

Thursday, March 22nd at 7 p.m.

Friday, March 23rd at 8 p.m.

Saturday, March 24th at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Horace Greeley High School Auditorium

Why I Walked Out

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Before the walkout, 17 desks had been placed around the parking lot in honor of those who were killed in the Parkland shooting.  

Story by Ari Silver  Photos by Hannah Rosenberg
 
Chappaqua, NY, March 14, 2018 — My decision to walk out today was a simple one. I chose to speak and stand up for those who unfortunately no longer have the ability to. Though the walkout drew criticism from a handful of students who claimed that the event was a call to push a “liberal agenda,” this had no effect on my decision, or the choice to participate for the majority of Greeley students.

This issue of gun violence is much larger than politics, and it is not an issue that belongs to Democrats or Republicans. We all need to find a solution to the epidemic of gun massacres that are taking place far too frequently in our nation’s schools.

The walkout began promptly at 10 a.m., as directed by the student organizers. Students calmly filled the visitors parking lot and very quickly began to quiet down.

Before the walkout, 17 desks had been placed around the parking lot in honor of those who were killed in the Parkland shooting.  

The event began with a few brief speeches from a class president and two siblings who had recently moved from Parkland.

Hannah Fenlon (right), the student-body president, along with Sasha and Brandon Litwin, freshmen who moved from Parkland, Florida in 2015, shared stories from a victim of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, and discussed what this walkout signified. Photo by Hannah Rosenberg

‘The students spoke of positivity, the call to action and the remembrance of the lives that were lost on February 14th. The students then walked a planned route, with some students shouting, “What do we want, Action, When do we want it, Now!” Several students held hand-made signs that had different political and non-political messages.

Photo by Hannah Rosenberg

Administrators and teachers surrounded the school to witness the march and to ensure students were safe. Since the event had drawn some security concerns, the district had assigned increased security personnel and members of the New Castle Police Department to the site. The walkout concluded inside the cafeteria, where students wrote messages on pieces of paper, each assigned containing the name of a victim of the Parkland shooting.

Overall, this was a very meaningful experience for Horace Greeley students. For myself and many others, emotions ran high. For me, the walkout comes two weeks after I had the opportunity to meet with Representative Nita Lowey and law enforcement officials in White Plains to discuss school safety. I feel that this walkout shows that my generation is beginning to become more involved, and my peers are starting to understand the powers that they possess to create change.

Ari Silver is a junior at Horace Greeley High School and a new writing intern for the Inside Press. Ari’s article about a Temple Beth El/Antioch Baptist Church civil rights trip for students appears in the current edition.

Hannah Rosenberg, also a junior at Greeley, is a Photo Intern for The Inside Press. Hannah photographed the ‘A New Beginning’ cover story of the current edition.

 

Bell School Student Explains Why the Youngest Voices Must Also be Heard

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By Isabelle Good-Ricardo

“When I first heard about the walkout movement,* I wondered why our school wasn’t showing more effort to do something meaningful like the other schools who were going to walkout,” eighth-grade student Isabelle Good-Ricardo said.

“Middle school is such a weird time in your life. You’re growing up, making friends, and you’re trying to figure out who you are. You have to do all this while juggling school work. That doesn’t leave much time for politics,” Good-Ricardo explained.

“What some people don’t understand is that we are the next generation of voters,” she emphasized. “In a few years, we will be the people who decide the fate of our country. It is so important that we establish a foundation of beliefs when we are young.”

Good-Ricardo said the walkout isn’t to force anyone to participate. “It is to make sure we know that we are people whose voices can and will be heard. We are living history in the making and we’re missing it! It’s time that we stop watching and start doing.”

“I urged the school and my peers to join and follow the national movement by planning a walkout for (Robert E.) Bell (Middle School in Chappaqua) on March 14th at 10 a.m. and started by reaching out to some of the eighth graders,” she said. (When) it became clear students from other grades decided to join, “I emailed the teachers and principal to let them know what will happen so that they are aware of what will take place on that day.”

Good-Ricardo then met with school Principal Dr. Martin Fitzgerald.

“He is concerned about safety and liability and urged me to think about possibly pursuing a different, ‘safer,” more passive action,” she said. “I think it’s so important to be honest with my peers, so after the meeting I consulted them and told them everything he said. They responded by saying that they still want to do it.

After getting feedback from other students, the group decided to continue with its plans.

“We feel that it is our responsibility to take part in a nonviolent civic action such as this one,” Good-Ricardo maintained. “I have gotten such a positive response from this, and I hope that this sparks a fire in people to let them know that they are important and their actions do make a difference.”

She hopes the momentum from this movement “will be enough to leave a memorable mark, and that the country will begin to understand that we will no longer watch history go by. We will make our own.”

* Editor’s Note:  This story of Isabelle’s statements to the Inside Press was edited by Janie Rosman. For additional background, see Rosman’s related story: https://www.theinsidepress.com/here-at-home-area-students-plan-to-support-their-peers-in-parkland/