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The Armonk Players: Community Theatre at its Best

April 18, 2019 by Ella Ilan

PHOTO BY CATHY PINSKY

The Armonk Players (the “Players”), a true embodiment of high-quality theatre and community participation, is Armonk’s local community theatre group, which has been putting on productions at the 186-seat Whippoorwill Theater Hall adjacent to The North Castle Public Library for more than 22 years. Staging two full productions every year, one of which is a musical, along with free staged readings, the Players offer a plethora of opportunities for people to see great theatre, perform in shows, or work behind the scenes.

Key Players

The Players was the brainchild of three longtime Armonk residents, Barbara and Hal Simonetti and Susan Geffen. Geffen’s and Mrs. Simonetti’s friendship developed in the 1980s when they were both living in Tokyo while their husbands were on work assignments for IBM. Simonetti, whose passion had always been theatre, was directing a staged reading for the Tokyo International Players, and asked Geffen, an interior designer by profession, for help with producing, staging, and costumes. Geffen loved the experience and there began a great friendship and shared love of theatre.

Upon returning to Armonk, the women learned that the library was adding on a theatre complex to the building. Once it was built,  they decided they needed a community theatre group. “My husband Hal, Susan and I sat in my kitchen and said ‘Let’s put on a show!’ and that’s how it all started,” recalls Simonetti.

“First I thought it was a crazy idea because even though we knew about theatre, we didn’t know about the making theatre end of it,” says Mr. Simonetti. “But after we started it, we found that out of the woodwork from every direction came people who were interested in it. We gave them an opening and in they came.”

The Armonk Players is sponsored by The Friends of the North Castle Library (“The Friends”), a non-profit organization whose mission is to raise money for purchasing “extras” for The North Castle Public Library. One of the Friends’ biggest fundraisers is the annual Armonk Outdoor Art Show, which benefits the library and the Whippoorwill Hall theatre. Geffen was on the board of the Friends and was instrumental in arranging the early funding for the Players.

“When you have a theatre group, you need an angel and there was the magic confluence of the Friends having as their mission to bring culture and education to the community, having a theatre, and putting together a theatre group,” explains Geffen.

“We’re very blessed to have the facility that we have at the library and we’re extremely blessed to have the Friends be our patrons and supporters – that’s an unusual situation and a very lucky one,” says longtime Armonk resident Rodd Berro, board member and former president of the Players. Berro, who is the president and co-owner of Pegasus Asset Management, has been involved with the Players since performing and doing lighting for them in their very first show.

Let’s Put on a Show

For that first staged reading, the Players chose 84 Charing Cross Road, a play about a writer and an antique bookseller, for its literary focus since the theatre was at the library. Mrs. Simonetti played the lead and Mr. Simonetti directed it. It was a community effort from the very beginning.

“For the set, we took furniture from people’s houses… a desk, bookcases, books, an old fashioned typewriter… Everybody involved brought something from their home,” remembers Mrs. Simonetti. “Everyone that came out that day, either in the show or doing tech or costumes or props for the show, ultimately stayed as long as they could over the years to help us with all the shows we did.”

Current Artistic Director Pia Haas was brought in as a director soon thereafter to direct Lovers and Strangers and has stayed on ever since to help any way she can. She currently handles publicity for the Players in addition to her role as Director of Press and Public Relations at Westchester Broadway Theatre.

“I was immediately accepted as part of the family and it really was a family at that point,” says Haas.

Delivering High Quality Theatre

“We supply good theater to the community –remember, we are within a stone’s throw of Broadway so in order to get people to come, there have to be a couple of reasons and one of them is to see your friends and one of them may be the price, but at the end of the day you need to put on quality performances,” says Berro.

“I think we’ve achieved a quality that is kind of remarkable for a community theatre. I think our shows have really high quality productions and we pride ourselves on that,” says Haas.

“Many of us go into New York to go to the theatre. It can be a multi-hundred dollar event–we are either taking a train or driving a car in and paying fifty dollars to park, we’re going out to dinner, we buy tickets, and we get home after midnight.

“Here, you can go to the theatre within 10 or 15 minutes, you don’t pay for parking, you’re home by 10:30, and you’ve seen excellent theatre,” proffers Geffen.

Amazing Volunteers

It takes an enormous amount of effort to put on a show. The Players are grateful for all their devoted helpers and are always looking for more volunteers. From early on, they were lucky to have Haas and Christine DiTota, both experienced directors, on the theatrical side. Berro, besides his contributions as a leader, on the board, and on the stage, was critical in setting up lighting for the shows. Berro’s father, Nat Berro, designed and supervised the construction of authentic-looking sets.

“Some people have been with us for 20 years…Phyllis Sederbaum, Ann Nisenholtz, Ron Aaronson, and others…these are stalwarts whose lives have been affected by this. It’s a successful cooperative community effort that’s longstanding. Not too many of those around,” says Mr. Simonetti.

“One of the biggest challenges is finding volunteers. Everybody enjoys the acting part but finding people to do the work–from the backstage to the lighting to building the sets and taking them down to getting props and costumes to just being in there to organize–the people that do this are the unsung heroes and the unsung volunteers,” says Berro. “It’s a challenge but it’s always wonderful when new people come in. The challenge creates an opportunity to meet new people and to have new ideas.”

“We really need more people to do this; to make an investment in the town where they live,” says Geffen. “I love this town and made a decision to bring in a theatre group and get involved wherever I can. I get back so much more than I give. I have met the best people because the volunteers are always the best people.”

“For me, personally, it was the start of getting involved in volunteer work and community spirit. Even though I had a love of theatre, having a BFA from a conservatory, and it was wonderful to get back into theatre, what it did most for me is allow me to recognize the importance of community outreach to make the community stronger and better through the arts and through other volunteer organizations,” reflects Berro. “It was also wonderful to have my dad, who is now 97, involved. He built some wonderful sets over the years.”

Coming Up

Their next show, Baby, a musical comedy, is scheduled to run for two weekends beginning May 10th and promises to be a great production. The musical with a book by Sybille Pearson and music by David Shire and lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr. first ran on Broadway in 1983. Poster design and graphics for the show were provided by generous volunteers, Janet and Rich Ferrante.

“Baby is a very relatable story about three couples all in different age brackets who discover they are all pregnant at the same time. The music is fantastic and the cast is phenomenal. It’s not a show that is produced too often so it should be really interesting for the audience,” says Director and Choreographer Tom Coppola.

“It’s one of my favorite musicals,” says Rachel Schulte , the actress playing the role of “Lizzie,” in the show. “I fell in love with the music after listening to a CD of it in college and it’s been a dream role of mine ever since.”

In addition to the regularly scheduled staged readings, the Players recently hosted their first “improv night,” which was a great success. They hope to do more in the future.  For tickets to Baby and information about upcoming performances, please visit armonkplayers.org

VARIOUS PRODUCTIONS OF THE ARMONK PLAYERS

Filed Under: Armonk Cover Stories Tagged With: Armonk Players, Artistic Director, baby, braodway, Broadway caliber, community, Friends of the North Castle Library, gotta have arts, improvisation, Local, musical, Pia Haas, shows, Staged Reading, theater, Theatre, Whippoorwill Hall Theater

NWH Welcomes First Baby Born in 2016 in a Westchester Hospital

January 1, 2016 by Inside Press

Little Nelson Garcia is one of the First to Join the Northwell Health Family

New Castle–Northern Westchester Hospital is proud to be the first hospital in Westchester County to welcome a baby in 2016. Nelson Garcia was born at 2:10 a.m. on January 1, 2016, to proud parents Marinel Garcia and Nelson Bautista of Mt. Kisco, New York.

Nelson is also one of the first babies born at a Northwell Health hospital, formerly the North Shore-LIJ Health System, New York State’s largest integrated health system and private employer Northwell Health launched an innovative advertising and marketing campaign on January 1st, 2016 featuring a baby born at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2016. See all of Northwell Health’s New Year’s babies; simply follow @NorthwellHealth on Instagram to see the newest members of the Northwell Health family. Share your own photos using #NorthwellFamily.

Nelson Bautista, Marinel Barcilai Garcia and newborn Nelson Garcia, New Year's Day, Northwell Health/Northern Westchester Hospital, Mt. Kisco, NY. 01/01/2016 Photo by Steve Hockstein/HarvardStudio.com
Nelson Bautista, Marinel Barcilai Garcia and newborn Nelson Garcia, New Year’s Day, Northwell Health/Northern Westchester Hospital, Mt. Kisco, NY. 01/01/2016 Photo by Steve Hockstein/HarvardStudio.com

Northwell Health shot “Happy Birthday,” a touching, first-of-its-kind ad featuring emotional footage of a mother and baby meeting for the first time. The tender moments were captured in real time and inserted into the TV ad and broadcast within seven hours of the birth. The ad debuted on January 1st, 2016 on New York area broadcast stations including: WABC, WNBC, WCBS, and WPIX. A print version of the ad is running this week in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsday, The Journal News and The Staten Island Advance as part of Northwell Health’s robust 360-degree rebranding and marketing campaign entitled “Look North.”

“There’s no better way to symbolize Northwell Health’s new beginning than to highlight the first of more than 40,000 babies who will be delivered at Northwell Health hospitals in the coming year,” said Northwell Health President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Dowling. Northwell hospitals account for 17 percent of all births in New York State and 1 percent nationwide, far surpassing any other New York area health system.

Created with advertising agency J. Walter Thompson New York, the campaign is designed to introduce Northwell’s new name, logo, website, tagline and philosophy to consumers while providing a look at its pioneering vision for medical technology and the future. “Look North” is Northwell’s first brand campaign and the biggest marketing push in its history.

“As the largest healthcare provider in New York State, we are pursuing new and different ways of telling our story of innovation, providing consumers with a glimpse into the advanced care and individual attention that our patients receive from our more than 61,000 employees,” Mr. Dowling said.

The campaign will also include a digital and social media initiative directing viewers to the new Northwell “Look North” hub page (www.Northwell.edu/looknorth), giving them the opportunity to learn more about the campaign and explore baby-related content and other health news. Future elements of the campaign will launch on January 18.

About Northwell Health
Northwell Health is New York State’s largest health care provider and private employer. With 21 hospitals and nearly 450 outpatient practices, we serve 8 million people in the metro New York and beyond. Our 61,000 employees work to change health care for the better. We’re making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institute. We’re training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine and the School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. And we offer health insurance through CareConnect. For information on our services in more than 100 medical specialties, visit www.Northwell.edu.

About Northern Westchester Hospital
Northern Westchester Hospital (NWH), a proud member of Northwell Health (formerly North Shore-LIJ Health System), provides quality, patient-centered care that is close to home through a unique combination of medical expertise, leading-edge technology, and a commitment to humanity. Over 650 highly-skilled physicians, state-of-the-art technology and professional staff of caregivers are all in place to ensure that you and your family receive treatment in a caring, respectful and nurturing environment.

NWH has established extensive internal quality measurements that surpass the standards defined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA) National Hospital Quality Measures. Our high quality standards help to ensure that the treatment you receive at NWH is among the best in the nation. For more information, please visit www.nwhc.net and connect with us on Facebook.

Above story was via a release from Northern Westchester Hospital.

Filed Under: New Castle Releases Tagged With: baby, birth, Inside Press, New Castle, Northern Westchester Hospital, Northwell Health, NWH, theinsidepress.com

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