Theatre & Dance Winter 2017

admin Posted OnDecember 22, 2016

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Theatre & Dance Winter 2017: Winter is culture-vulture time and we have 13 local theater and dance events you won’t want to miss. Including an exciting two night run of the stripped down version of Stephen Sondheim and James LaPine’s adult fairy tale Into The Wood at the Performing Arts Center at Purchase College. Ben Brantley of the New York Times called it “Enchanting. Magnetic, Ingenious.”

Saturday Night Fever, Westchester Broadway Theater – 12/29-1/29: The stage production of this film classic is back for another month after a 10 week run last fall. So they must be packing ‘em in. Complete with all the Bee Gee classics “Stayin’ Alive”, “Night Fever”, “Jive Talking”, “You Should Be Dancing” and “How Deep is Your Love”. And, of course, Tony Manero the hardware store stock clerk from Brooklyn who becomes a legend when he hits the dance floor. (One Broadway Plaza, Elmsford; www.broadwaytheatre.com)

Sister Act, White Plains Performing Arts Center – Tues-Fri, 12/12-30: 8pm, Fri-Sat: 1/6-7: 8pm & Sat-Sun, 1/7-8: 2pm. The big glitzy and bold musical Sister Act fared better than the original movie. It received four Olivier Award nominations for its original stage production at London’s West End Theatre. It moved to Broadway in 2011 where it received five Tony and five Drama Desk Award nominations. The musical features music and lyrics by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater. Menken has won eight Academy Awards for his Disney Scores that include The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Pocahontas. His stage hits include Little Shop of Horrors and Sister Act. Glenn Slater is his frequent collaborator. (11 City Place, 3^rd Floor, White Plains; www.wppac.com)

Paul Taylor Dance Company, Performing Arts Center Purchase College – Sat, 1/28: 8pm: After over 60 years, Paul Taylor continues to win critical acclaim for the vibrancy and power of his dances. One of modern dance’s seminal artists, Taylor is equally known for tackling big themes like war, sexuality and mortality and cheeky topics like insects. He performed for Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham and George Balanchine. And helped launch the careers of choreographers such as Twyla Tharp, David Parson and Laura Dean. (Concert Hall, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)

Hot Ticket Alert! Into The Woods, Performing Arts Center Purchase College – Thurs-Fri, 2/2-3: 8pm: “Enchanting … Magnetic … Ingenious,” wrote Ben Brantley about this stripped down version of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods. Gone are the “literal-minded storybook flourishes.” In their place the ensemble is “costumed in Grandma’s-closet outfits.” And “Everyone plays an instrument and helps change the scenery.” Brantley wrote, “love the stuffed wolf’s head, love the stick horses for the Princes, love the briefcase for the cow.” This Fiasco Theatre production premiered at Princeton’s McCarter Theatre in 2013 and opened off-Broadway at Manhattan’s Laura Pels Theatre in 2015. (Concert Hall, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)

The Bikinis, Westchester Broadway Theatre – 2/2-3/19: This new musical beach party follows a sixties girl group that returns to the Jersey Shore, where they got their start to raise money to save Sandy Shores Mobile Home Beach Resort. These Jersey Girls relive their heyday in a non-stop celebration of song with over 30 hits like “It’s In His Kiss”, “Yellow Polka Dot Bikini”, “The Twist”, “Heat Wave”, and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”. Plus some great bikinis. (One Broadway Plaza, Elmsford; www.broadwaytheatre.com)

Sylvia, Arc Stages – Fri-Sat, 2/3-4, 10-11, 17-18: 8pm & Sun, 2/12: 2pm: A modern romantic comedy about a marriage and a dog. “Dramatic literature is stuffed with memorable love scenes, but none is as immediately delicious and dizzy as the one that begins the redeeming affair in A.R. Gurney’s new comedy, SYLVIA…” —NY Times. “”Gurney’s mad comedy is the most endearing good time to trot down the pike in many a moon. Howlingly funny…” —BackStage. (147 Wheeler Ave., Pleasantville; www.arcstages.org)

Twisted Valentines, Axial Theatre, Pleasantville – 2/10-19: Howard Meyer’s Axial Theatre presents an evening of “Non-Hallmark” one acts to celebrate the Valentine’s season. The plays, selected by Axial’s Artistic Director Howard Meyer include, Double Date (Two’s company; three’s a crowd; a blind date becomes crowded) by award-winning playwright Albi Gorn; and Gin Joint (“In all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world she walks into his…in ‘the dress.’” by award-winning playwright and head instructor of Axial’s Playwriting program Gabrielle Fox. (St. John’s Episcopal Church, 8 Sunnyside Avenue, Pleasantville, 914.286.7680; www.axialtheatre.org)

Two Henrys, Hudson Stage Company Armonk – Fri, 2/10: 7:30pm: Just $10 will get you into this staged reading of Kenneth Jones’ new play at NCPL. Two Henry was a semi-finalist for the O’Neill National Play Conference and was recently seen in workshop at the Pacific Resident Theatre in Venice, CA. Two Henrys is a humor laced-drama set somewhere between the days of the AIDS crisis and the dawn of marriage equality. Directed by Scottt Allen Evans and starring Susan Pellegrino. (Whippoorwill Hall Theatre, North Castle Library, Kent Place, Armonk; www.hudsonstage.com)

Not just Doo-Wop! The Nifty 50’s, Simply Theatre Play Readings by The Armonk Players – Wed, 2/15: 8pm. A loving look back at the music of the not-to-be forgotten decade.The 50’s was not only the era of doo-wop and beatniks, it was also the Golden Age of Broadway. So get out your pink carnations and poodle skirts and hurry to Whippoorwill Hall for an evening of laughter and memories. (19 Whippoorwill Hall East, Armonk; www.armonkplayers.org)

Spectrum Dance Theater + Donald Byrd, Performing Arts Center Purchase College – Sun, 2/18: 8pm: Under the direction of Donald Byrd, the Pacific Northwest’s preeminent dance company has gained a reputation for innovation and surprises. Byrd earned a Tony nomination for his choreography in The Color Purple. He toured the country with his funky Harlem Nutcracker set to the Duke Ellington-Billy Straythorn arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. “Spectrum…showed us again how contemporary dance, especially when paired with great live music, can be one of the most exciting of art forms.” –The Seattle Times (PepsiCo Theatre, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)

Dancin’ Broadway, Ridgefield Playhouse – Sat, 2/25: 8pm: DANCIN’ BROADWAY is a multi-media extravaganza featuring leading Broadway dancers and vocalists performing live on stage with a band in the styles of Broadway’s most sensational show-off dances of the past century. (80 E. Ridge, Ridgefield CT; www.ridgefieldplayhouse.org)

Dance off the Grid, Emelin Theatre – Fri, 3/3: 8pm. This standout dance series at the Emelin Theatre kicks off with three dance companies. Featuring the forward-looking choreography of Raushan Mitchell + Silas Reiner, the post-Graham artistry of RIOULT Dance NY, and the powerful, athletic, and contemporary Bessie Award-winning Souleymane Badolo. (153 Library Ln., Mamaroneck; www.emelin.org)

Shen Wei Dance Arts, Performing Arts Center Purchase College – Sat, 3/25: 8pm: Shen Wei Dance Arts has won acclaim for “a body of works so strikingly original they defy categorization” (The Boston Globe). Shen Wei’s choreography draws on influences from traditional Chinese culture and arts, European Surrealism and American high modernism. Their performances incorporate vivid colors, striking design, and imaginative use of space into a kinetic theatrical experience. “This is Dance that must be savored moment by moment.” –The New York Times (Concert Hall, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)

Jesus Christ Superstar, Ridgefield Playhouse – Sat, 3/25: 2 & 8pm. This special event features a cast of Broadway stars accompanied by Broadway’s finest rock band in this unique adaptation of the multiple Tony Award winning, and Laurence Oliver Award nominated, classic Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice rock opera! Featuring the full score including the mega-hits “Superstar” and “I Don’t Know How To Love Him”. Two shows only! (80 E. Ridge, Ridgefield CT; www.ridgefieldplayhouse.org)

The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, Performing Arts Center Purchase College – Sun, 3/26: 3pm. From the writer of the Academy Award-winning film Trevor comes The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey. James Lecesne’s one-man show follows the disappearance of a 14-year-old boy. A boy who dared to be different and the New Jersey town that won’t be the same without him. Tony Speciale directs with music by Tony Award-winning composer Duncan Sheik. “A tale that shimmers with needling suspense. Lecesne’s performance glows with such humanity (and robust humor) that you may find yourself choking back a tear or two.” -Charles Isherwood, The New York Times (PepsiCo Theatre, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)