The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Gotta Have Arts

Pleasantville Rocks this Summer

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On Saturday, July 9, thousands will gather in Parkway Field for “New York’s backyard jam,” the 16th Annual Pleasantville Music Festival, presented by Northwell Health. The day promises to be full of great music, great food and drinks, a beer and wine garden, activities to keep the kids happy, and will even be carbon-neutral to ensure sustainability. The lineup includes alt-rockers X Ambassadors, folk rockers 10,000 Maniacs featuring Mary Ramsey, the blues, funk, and soul act Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, singer-songwriter Paula Cole, and many others. This is truly a day that will be loved by all.

The universality of the Pleasantville Music Festival is no mistake. “When it comes to choosing who we go after, we really try to vary the artists based upon their music style and also the demographics of the audience. Our audience is diverse in terms of age and tastes, so I try to check off as many different boxes as I can,” said Bruce Figler, executive director of the festival. The fans are always put first, and the lineup is always new and exciting. Many of the acts like X Ambassadors and 10,000 Maniacs featuring Mary Ramsey are making their debut appearances at the festival. This is also by design. “We try to avoid booking acts multiple times. Years ago, we would repeat the occasional artist, but we found that our audience prefers that we keep it fresh,” said Figler.

You won’t just get the big names you hear on the radio, either. The festival is always showcasing great new talent that you’ve probably never heard of. “When it comes to lesser known artists, we keep our ears open. We weed through the hundreds and hundreds of artist submissions sent to the Festival every year. 

We check out leads. We visit music venues,” said Figler. The Pleasantville Music Festival, like a great radio station, gives you what you want, but they also show you something new. Figler also put an emphasis on the community in this process, saying, “we are particularly interested in bands who either are local or have local roots,’ and added, “what makes the selection process so difficult is the sheer amount of really good talent that’s out there.”

Figler knows a thing or two about music. When he isn’t working on the festival, he is a weekend DJ at 107.1 the Peak, the festival’s radio sponsor. It was Figler who first partnered them up almost 20 years ago, when he first started working for the station. Back in those days, he was just a “nonessential player” at the festival. He would introduce bands as one of the DJs from the sponsoring station and sit backstage and enjoy the music. All that changed in 2015 when there was a change of management for the festival, and Figler was asked to be the new musical director. They retooled the festival somewhat, moving away from their more folk oriented routes, and booking bands like the alt-rockers The Gin Blossoms. That year proved to be a big success, and earned a profit for Pleasantville.

The executive director stepped down the following year, and Figler was asked if he would take on the job. “My immediate reaction was, ‘No, I don’t need that in my life’. And my wife said the same thing,” said Figler. The festival had also grown since he had become involved with it.“There are so many moving parts,” said Figler. But he went on to realize,“I had a staff that knew exactly what they were doing.” And with the help of that incredible staff, Figler has guided the festival to new heights over the last several years.

Figler and his staff have faced their set of challenges, the pandemic certainly being one of them. “We had 2020 underway, but we had to pull the plug on it,” said Figler. But after all this time, The Pleasantville Music Festival is coming racing back. “Live music is a wonderful thing, and people have missed it over the last couple of years,” said Figler. Anticipation is already high. Every year before the lineup is announced, the festival does a presale for three or four months and sells a couple hundred tickets. This year their presale lasted three weeks and sold over 700 tickets. “The proof is in the pudding,” said Figler. 

The gates open for the festival on Saturday, July, 2022, at 11 a.m. Performances begin at noon and end at 9 p.m. There will be three stages, the main stage, the party stage, and the chill tent stage. 

X Ambassadors will headline the main stage, Paula Cole will headline the chill tent stage, and rock duo Illiterate Light will headline the party stage. The finals of the Battle of the Bands, presented by Lagond Music, will also take place as part of the festival that day, at Lagond Music in Elmsford. It’s a world-class experience and you don’t even have to leave Pleasantville.

At the Katonah Museum of Art this June/Summer, Excitement Builds Where…

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•Risk-Taking Works Challenge the Status Quo

•Contemporary Intersects with Traditional

•Internationally Acclaimed Artists Exhibit

•Young Artists Blossom

•Social Tours abound, and Much More!

The Katonah Museum of Art, since breaking ground in 1990, continues to be a valuable contributor to art, education, and to the community. A local gem with intriguing, ever changing exhibitions that offer discoveries with every visit.

I asked Emily Handlin, the Associate Curator of Exhibitions & Programs, how she comes up with ideas for new exhibitions.  “Often an idea comes up through books or articles I’m reading, or I’ll see a show or a work of art in a gallery or museum that I think would be interesting to put in conversation with other work or another artist.”

She likes the challenge of working “in a Kunsthalle (a museum without a permanent collection) because there are always new challenges and new things to learn–each of our exhibitions is completely unlike the one that came before.”

The current exhibition is Constant Carnival: The Haas Brothers in Context. “It explores the work of contemporary artists, Simon and Nikolai Haas, within the art historical tradition of the carnivalesque–artwork that is transgressive, challenges the status quo and social hierarchies, and celebrates the human body,” explains Handlin. It also includes work by artists like Salvador Dali, John Tenniel, Niki de Saint Phalle, and others.

The Haas Brothers are this year’s recipients of The Katonah Museum of Art’s Himmel Award, given in recognition of creators, conceivers, radical thinkers, and risk-takers that provoke new thinking in art and design. Past awardees have included: Robert Storr, Christo, André Leon Tally and Julie Taymor.

Of note, the work of Local Armonk resident and internationally represented artist, Antoinette Wysocki is exhibited in a two-person show called Natural Synergy.

The Summer will bring Tradition Interrupted, a show which examines the work of contemporary artists who are combining traditional techniques and materials with contemporary ideas. Also scheduled is the exhibition, Remy Jungerman: HigherGround. Jungerman is a Dutch-Surinamese artist whose work explores pattern and symbol across European modernism and Surinamese Maroon culture.

Margaret Adasko, the Curator of Education, who has been with KMA for nearly 20 years, shared that to engage younger audiences, she develops hands-on art activities and family gallery guides. The interactive Learning Center space also changes with each exhibition. 

“We present a diverse range of exhibitions that span various time periods, art movements, material choices, and cultures.”  All the while, striving to make exhibitions relevant and accessible to all through related programming, activities, tours, and bilingual materials. “We run outreach programs including ArteJuntos/ArtTogether, a bilingual family art and literacy program offered to new immigrant families and their young children.”

The goals are to overcome barriers and increase awareness and comfort in using museums as a place for informal family learning and enjoyment. 

The Summer will bring weekly art making workshops and a series of monthly “Creative Community Fridays” that include Stroller Tours, Artful Family time and Senior Socials. And the annual Young Artists exhibition, in its 39th year, one of the impactful programs that supports the growth of student artists in our community, features students’ work from 40 high schools, including Briarcliff, Ossining, Byram Hills and Horace Greeley.

The Museum is architecturally unique, beautifully situated among Norwegian Spruce trees, complete with a relaxing sculpture garden. The Museum hosts three to four exhibitions each year, lectures, films, concerts, workshops, and other events for a general audience.

Admission $12 for adults, $6 for seniors and students, free for children under 12 years. Explore the current exhibitions for free on the third Thursday of every month.

Open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Closed Mondays.

Masks are required for all visitors (ages 2+), regardless of vaccination status.

Katonah Museum of Art
134 Jay St. (Route 22) Katonah, NY 10536
(914) 232-9555
katonahmuseum.org

Four Premier Regional Arts Organizations Join Together to Offer the HUDSON VALLEY SUMMER ARTS PASS

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The Jacob Burns Film Center, Historic Hudson Valley, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, and Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival have joined together to announce an exciting new initiative: the Hudson Valley Summer Arts Pass.

The Hudson Valley Summer Arts Pass is a discounted bundle of tickets to the season’s top events. With an abundance of offerings across the four partner organizations, the Pass helps consumers plan a vibrant and diversified season of arts and culture – all within a short drive! The Pass costs $148, but is valued at over $320, and a link to buy the Pass can be found on each of the participating organizations’ websites through June 20, 2022.

You can check it out HERE!.

Le Jardin du Roi 202205
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Offers include:

Jacob Burns Film Center, Pleasantville

You’ll receive four tickets (plus two coupons for free popcorn and soda) to any regular* screening. With a diverse slate of films carefully curated by our talented programming team, you’re sure to have an outstanding experience at our state-of-the-art theater. Stop by to get a taste of all we offer – from buzzworthy new releases and award-winning foreign films to eye-opening documentaries!

Your tickets and coupons will be mailed within 10 days of purchase. *Special events are not included in the offer. Promotion expires 8/31/22. Questions? Contact us at support@burnsfilmcenter.org or 914.773.7663, ext. 6.

Historic Hudson Valley, Sleepy Hollow Country

This summer, enjoy spectacular treasures of the Hudson Valley with two tickets for tours of three National Historic Landmarks. See Washington Irving’s Sunnyside, the charming riverside home of the Father of American Literature; gaze in wonder at stained glass windows by master artists Henri Matisse and Marc Chagall at Union Church of Pocantico Hills; and be transported to the 1750s during a tour of Philipsburg Manor.

Two tickets for each historic site tour can be reserved on hudsonvalley.org within 48 hours after purchase of the Hudson Valley Summer Arts Pass. Promotion expires 9/11/22. Not valid for tours of Kykuit, the Rockefeller estate, or any special events. Learn more at hudsonvalley.org. Questions? Contact us at info@hudsonvalley.org or by calling 914.366.6900.

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, Katonah

Caramoor’s 2022 Summer Season is one of our most dynamic to date! Featuring top artists and ensembles spanning genres of classical, American roots, jazz, global, Broadway, and opera, Caramoor has something for everyone! Select two tickets to a concert of your choice (an $80+ value) and join us for world-class music in one of our open-air venues.

Your tickets will be emailed to you within one week of your performance. Some exclusions apply. Promotion expires 8/19/22, and is only valid for events in Caramoor’s summer season. Learn more at caramoor.org/upcoming-events/summer-caramoor-ticket-packages. Questions? Contact us at boxoffice@caramoor.org or by calling 914.232.1252.

Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Garrison

HVSF is bringing you a summer of storytelling, the first in our first-ever permanent home. The 2022 season includes a reimagined Shakespearean classic, a thrilling and timely contemporary American play, and an intimate and thought-provoking solo piece. Select two tickets to a weekday performance of your choice and come revel in the joy and magic of live theater.

Your tickets will be emailed to you within one week of your performance. Some exclusions apply. Promotion expires 9/18/22. Learn more at https://hvshakespeare.org/tickets-events/discounts-offers/. Questions? Contact us at boxoffice@hvshakespeare.org or 845-265-9575.

In addition to helping audiences navigate the vast summer offerings, the four organizations joined together to play an active role in rebuilding the profile of the arts in the region.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, arts presenters experienced some of the steepest economic declines, and while the world retreated into social distancing, NEA data reported that the arts shrank at nearly twice the rate of the economy as a whole. Yet throughout this downturn, the power of the arts – including both its economic and humanitarian value – burned even brighter as audiences and presenters yearned to return to live events.

Caramoor President and CEO, Edward Lewis, III, comments: “Music has the unique ability of uniting people across geography, through history, and from all lived experiences. During tumultuous times, the arts have long been a mode of healing, coping, and overcoming adversity. At Caramoor, we recognize and embrace the unique responsibility we have as arts presenters, and with our fellow participants, we create a welcoming and safe cultural community.”

“Our audiences need the arts more than ever, and the Hudson Valley Summer Arts Pass provides the opportunity for visitors to experience the richness of the region’s offerings,” said Historic Hudson Valley’s Vice President of Communications & Commerce, Rob Schweitzer. “We’re thrilled to offer this pass and to partner with the region’s top cultural organizations to provide even more ways for people to get out and explore the area this season.”

“We’re all excited to collaborate with other arts and culture nonprofits to highlight the diverse, vibrant cultural offerings within the Hudson Valley,” said JBFC Executive Director Mary Jo Ziesel. “We hope to encourage people to get out and try something new this summer. This discounted pass is the perfect entrée to enjoy the arts nearby.”

Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival Managing Director, Kate Liberman, comments: “HVSF is honored to be participating in this amazing program, which shows the impact of real collaboration among our regional arts institutions. Bringing our audiences together will be essential as the arts and culture sector recovers from the pandemic. As HVSF transitions to our new home this season, we cannot wait to celebrate our shared humanity by welcoming new friends under our theater tent.”

 

Hudson Valley Arts Pass News Courtesy of Caramoor Center for Music & the Arts

Origins of A Love Story in a New, Timely Novel on Ukraine

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A novel by Ben Frank

By Ben G. Frank

Many love affairs begin with a first glance.

Before the jet age, many romances began on a train or in a railroad station. 

Who does not recall the great Russian novel, Anna Karenina, or the classic film, Waterloo Bridge.

Rail stations were always a part of my family’s story. 

One hundred years ago, my mother, Sonya, of blessed memory, left Odessa, Ukraine, by train to Romania with her mother and sisters.  They were refugees. They wanted no part of the Russian Bolshevik Red Army, just as today’s Ukrainian refugees don’t want to live under a conquering Russian army. 

As a child growing up, I often heard the story of their escape, especially when the grownups got together. In whispers, my mother and her sisters talked about their brother, Mischa, who had disappeared. They believe he ran away to the army. He was never heard of again.

I dug deeper into the family story and after years of talking to relatives, I began to tell their story in what became my Klara Trilogy.

Klara’s Journey was the first of three historical fiction books, each independent of each other. This first novel is a gripping saga of Russia’s civil war–much of which takes place in today’s Ukraine, and involves the journey of the oldest sister, Klara who, leaves the family, and traves across Siberia to get to the U.S. to find her father.

Klara’s War, the second of the trilogy, finds Klara’s niece fleeing Ukraine when the Nazis invade Russia.  Her story ends during the turbulent post-war era of Israel’s Independence  in 1948.

And then I wrote the just-released, Klara’s Brother & The Woman He Loved,  the last of the Klara Trilogy. But I never believed that my new work of historical fiction, including much material about Ukraine which has been invaded by Russia, would be so timely. 

Indeed as I write this article, I watch on television Ukrainians fleeing their homeland. The newscaster reports that Odessa, this beautiful Black Sea port.  

In order to write this family story, I had to go to Odessa. I walked the city streets and admiring its buildings, designed in neo-classical architectural style, including the attractive, yellow-and-white, local mansions, many of which display a Mediterranean theme.

I visited Proharovskaya street where my family lived. I wonder if the building will still stand if the Russians reach it in this 2022 invasion.

I move along Primorsky Blvd. to Nikolaevsky Blvd. to inhale the “spicy aroma of the acacias” hanging over the city’s busy harbor and the famous 240 Odessa Steps

At the top of the steps stands the statue of the Duc de Richelieu clad in a Roman toga; he is known as Armand Emmanuel du Plessis, 5th Duke of Richelieu, a French émigré, who served as governor of Odessa from 1803 to 1814. Now the “stone duke” points at all those arriving to his beloved city, Putin’s Russians, excluded.

And here’s where railway stations come in, especially in Klara’s Brother & the Woman He Loved.” I head to the Odessa-Holovna railway station. It was built in the second half of the 19th century, damaged in 1944, and rebuilt in 1952. I decide to begin the novel’s love story here. The year is 1919. The Czar has been dethroned. The democratic government which succeeded it, has been deposed by the Revolutionary Russian Bolsheviks, commonly known as Reds.  Opposing them are the Whites, former Czarist army officers and Cossacks, Mischa, a Bolshevik starts out as member of the Communist Red Guard, becomes a Chekist secret police and is promoted to Commissar.

In the rail station, Mischa , trying to board a train is pushed to the ground by an unruly crowd trying to escape the city. He can’t get up. So, he sits up and raises his hands, hoping someone will take hold of them and lift him up. In seconds, his arms are grabbed and his body pulled upward by the strong, but soft hands of a young beautiful woman facing him. Both are pleased at what they see in each other.

Thus begins this tumultuous story.  From the moment Commissar Mischa Rasputnis embraces Basya Abramskaya, a Soviet spy, the couples’ fate is pitted against the Kremlin’s secret police who warn the couple never to communicate with each other again. Wrenched from the arms of his loved one, Mischa often dreams he sees Basya in the sunflower fields of Ukraine. Will their love endure years of separation?  

Finishing this article, I turn on the news. “It’s calm in Odessa now. But we’re waiting for the worst,” a Ukrainian official tells the BBC. Sounds like Mischa who in Klara’s Brother & The Woman He Loved, asked: “What’s end game.”

Ben G. Frank, a former resident of Chappaqua, is a journalist, lecturer and author of books on Russia and Ukraine, including the just published historical novel, Klara’s Brother & The Woman He Loved. He now resides in Palm Beach County, FL. Ben Frank’s books are available wherever books are sold.

 

Random Farms Kids’ Theater Returns to In-Person Mainstage Performances with Production of Seussical™, Featuring Local Students

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The Random Farms Kids’ Theater will present Seussical™ at The Paramount Hudson Valley Theater, January 28 –30, 2022. 

The show features Armonk residents, Maddie Wohl, Mallory Yahr, and Ben Wohl in the role of Baby Kangaroo, Who #1, and Horton the Elephant 

Now one of the most performed shows in America, Seussical™ is a fantastical, magical, musical extravaganza! Tony winners, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Lucky Stiff, My Favorite Year, Once on This Island, Ragtime), have lovingly brought to life all of our favorite Dr. Seuss characters, including Horton the Elephant, The Cat in the Hat, Gertrude McFuzz, lazy Mayzie and a little boy with a big imagination – Jojo. The colorful characters transport us from the Jungle of Nool to the Circus McGurkus to the invisible world of the Whos.

Over 40 young actors ages 8-17 will perform in the show, which marks the first Mainstage production to return to in-person performances since 2020. “We are thrilled to be heading back to the stage with these incredibly talented casts!,” says director (and Random Farms Artistic Director), Sarah Boyle. “In preparation we have been enjoying Green Eggs and Ham and making sure we eat our bread Butter Side Up!

ABOUT THE SHOW:

Seussical™ features music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, book by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty and was co-conceived by Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty, and Eric Idle, based on the works of Dr. Seuss. The production is directed by Sarah Boyle with music direction by Joseph Brewer. 

The Cat in the Hat tells the story of Horton, an elephant who discovers a speck of dust that contains the Whos, including Jojo, a Who child sent off to military school for thinking too many “thinks.” Horton faces a double challenge: not only must he protect the Whos from a world of naysayers and dangers, but he must guard an abandoned egg, left in his care by the irresponsible Mayzie La Bird. Although Horton faces ridicule, danger, kidnapping and a trial, the intrepid Gertrude McFuzz never loses faith in him. Ultimately, the powers of friendship, loyalty, family and community are challenged and emerge triumphant.

PERFORMANCE INFO:
Friday, January 28th @ 7:30 pm – Cast B

Saturday, January 29th @ 1:00 pm – Cast B

Saturday, January 29th @ 7:00 pm – Cast A

Sunday, January 30th @ 1:00 pm – Cast A

Performances run approximately 2 hours with one intermission.

TICKET INFO:
$20 (children/seniors), $30 (adults) and $40 for premium seats (first five rows center orchestra). Tickets available only at www.RandomFarmsNY.org/tickets. 

ABOUT RANDOM FARMS KIDS’ THEATER: The Random Farms’ Kids Theater is a not-for-profit organization that puts young people center stage. It is dedicated to creating a safe environment where children of all backgrounds are encouraged to discover the joy of theater within themselves – on and off the stage. Through its programs, students develop an appreciation for arts and music, cultivate leadership and life skills, and build self-esteem. Random Farms further extends this impact beyond its own doors by providing community resources that increase access to the performing arts, and by motivating social change through live theater.