Theatre & Dance Update April & May 2017

admin Posted OnMarch 28, 2017

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Theatre & Dance Update April & May 2017: Have you been out to see local theatre this season. If not – we know who you are. The 2016-17 season concludes in June but there’s still plenty of drama, comedy, dance and spectacle in April and May. Here’s the best 17 events in & around town.

April

Local! Axial Theatre’s “Glass Ceiling Breakers” Festival of Women Playwrights and Directors – Fri-Sun, 3/24-26 & 3/31–4/2: Eight original one-act plays including The Second Coming by The Axial’s Gabrielle Fox whose work has appeared at La Mama; Jill Maynard’s Free Shipping Every Day about a Christmas season worker at an Amazon warehouse; Dry Bay Leafby Linda Giuliano whose work has appeared in New York and LA, and Alexandra Angelica’s A Day of Wonderful about a surreal coffee shop. (St. John’s Episcopal Church, 8 Sunnyside Ave., Pleasantville; www.axialtheatre.org)

Local! The Robber Bridegroom, Arc Stages – Fr-Sun, 3/31-4/2 & Fri-Sat, 4/7-8: A bawdy Southern fairy tale from Alfred Uhry (Driving Miss Daisy) based on the Eudora Welty novella about a Robin Hood like character. The stage adaptation takes place in the late 18th century and features a bluegrass score – the only Broadway musical ever to feature such a score. The 1975 Broadway production receive two Tony-noms including Best Actress for Patty Lupone. Barry Bostwick won The Tony for Best Actor in the 1976 Broadway revival. (147 Wheeler Ave., Pleasantville; www.arcstages.org)

Mama Mia, Westchester Broadway Theatre – Thurs, 3/23- Sun, 6/25: Based on the songs of the Swedish pop group ABBA, Mama Mia, is set on the Greek island of Kalokairi. A 20 year old woman named Sophie wants to have a traditional wedding and hopes her father will walk her down the aisle, but there’s one problem: she has no idea who her father is! With help from her mother’s journal, she narrows the possibilities down to three men, and hilarity ensues as they all claim her as their child! Featuring the ABBA hits “Dancing Queen”, “Thank You for the Music”, and, of course, “Mamma Mia!”. (One Broadway Plaza, Elmsford; www.broadwaytheatre.com)

Hot Ticket Alert! Rick Thomas Illusionist, Palace Theatre Stamford – Thurs, 4/6: 7pm: Renowned Vegas performer, Rick Thomas has received the Academy of Magical Art’s highest recognition, “Illusionist of the World”. He has received his own special on ABC, appeared on NBC’s The World’s Greatest Magician, Masters of Illusion and has performed at The Sydney Opera House. (61 Atlantic St., Stamford; www.palacestamford.org)

Dance off the Grid, Emelin Theatre – Fri, 4/7: 8pm. This standout dance series at the Emelin Theatre continues with three dance companies at each performance. This one features The Dance Theatre of Harlem performing everything from ne0-classical works by George Balanchine to works that use the language of ballet to celebrate African-American culture; Max Pollack’s Rumbatap that fuses jazz, tap and body percussion, and the New York Theatre Ballet. (153 Library Ln., Mamaroneck; www.emelin.org)

Local! Bad Jews, The Armonk Players – Wed, 4/12: 8pm: The Armonk Players present a staged reading of Joshua Harmon’s comedy Bad Jews, about a family brawl over a piece of jewelry secreted away from the Nazis that is at once a family heirloom and the symbol of their faith, legacy and the validity of their romances. Such mishegas! (North Castle Public Library, Whippoorwill Hall, 19 E. Whippoorwill Rd., Armonk; www.armonkplayers.org)

Local! The Mask of the Jaguar King, Schoolhouse Theatre, Croton Falls – Thurs-Sun, 4/6-9, 4/13-16 & 4/20-23: The Schoolhouse Theatre presents Stuart Warmfish’s The Mask of the Jaguar King, a story reminiscent of the magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The story, set in the Guatemalan rain forest in 1933 follows Sophia, an archaeologist, working to unlock the mystery of a Mayan ruin. Part ghost story, the play uses indigenous and original sound landscapes with live musicians. (3 Owens Rd., North Salem; www.schoolhousetheatre.org)

Local! SHERLOCK HOLMES MEETS MONTY PYTHON! The Hound of the Baskerville’s, Hudson Stage Company, NCPL – Fri- Sun, 4/28- 5/13: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most celebrated Sherlock Holmes story gets a comedic makeover in this cheeky spoof. Three actors take on more than twenty roles in retelling the story of the classic thriller with the killer dog in this production that is billed as part Abbott and Costello, the Marx Brothers and Monty Python! (Whippoorwill Hall Theatre, North Castle Library, Kent Place, Armonk; www.hudsonstage.com)

KVIS Present Pressure Makes Diamonds, Katonah Library – Fri-Sat, 4/28-29: 8pm. In his new one-man multi-media show Anthony Valbiro taps into the characters from his past, from Grandma Rose to a gangster named Mikey Napp, to figure out that life is hard, but Pressure Makes Diamonds. Valbiro is best known for his role in the 1988 horror flick Spookies and is a regular performer with the Actors Conservatory Theatre in Yonkers. (26 Bedford Rd., Katonah; www.katonahvis.com)

Hedda Gabler, NTL Live, Performing Arts Center Purchase – Sun, 4/30: 3pm. Experience the best of British theatre, recorded live and broadcast in spectacular digital HD. Tony Award-winning director Ivo van Hove returns to National Theatre Live screens with a modern production of Ibsen’s masterpiece. Ruth Wilson (Luther, The Affair, Jane Eyre) plays the title role in this new version by Patrick Marber (Notes on a Scandal, Closer). (735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)

May

Billy Porter, Emelin Theatre – Fri, 5/5: 8pm: A Tony® and GRAMMY® Award-winner, Billy Porter is a singer, composer, actor, playwright and director. Having won the 2013 Drama Desk and Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Musical for his role as “Lola” in the smash hit Broadway musical Kinky Boots. he traded in his high heels for tap shoes to join Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell in Savion Glover’s revival of Shuffle Along, “the [2016] season’s essential ticket” according to The New York Times. (153 Library Ln., Mamaroneck; www.emelin.org)

Thirty Something, The Connecticut Ballet, Stamford Palace – Sat, 5/6: 7:30pm: 35th anniversary program featuring revivals of three dynamic one-act ballets: Les Sylphides, a classic ballet to music by Chopin, Strays by Paul Taylor dancer Lila York to Aaron Copland’s Clarinet Concerto, and Steam Heat: The Best of Bob Fosse by the creator of such classics as Chicago, Pippin, and Sweet Charity. Tickets just $35 to honor CB’s 35th. (61 Atlantic St., Stamford; www.palacestamford.org)

Affordable Pricing for families! Hamlet, The National Players, Westchester Community College – Sat, 5/6: 8pm: America’s longest running touring company from Washington DC, The National Players has presented over 6,600 performances bringing affordable professional theatre to 41 states since 1949. Here they present Shakespeares’ ghost story, comedy, thriller and seven-murder tale of revenge about Hamlet the Prince of Denmark. Tickets are just $22 for adults and $16 for kids under 13 for this 2 hour production. (75 Grasslands Rd., Valhalla; www.wunywcc.edu)

Twelfth Night, NTL Live, Performing Arts Center Purchase – Sat, 5/6: 8pm. Experience the best of British theatre, recorded live and broadcast in spectacular digital HD. Simon Godwin (Man and Superman, The Beaux’ Stratagem) directs this joyous new production with Tamsin Greig as a transformed Malvolia in a new twist on Shakespeare’s classic comedy of mistaken identity. “A knock out. Simon Godwin has pulled off a wowser. Tamsin Greig gives one of the performances of the year. “ – The Times (735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)

Local! Steel Magnolias, Armonk’s Small Town Theatre Company – Fri-Sat, 5/12-13: 8pm: See what goes on in the beauty parlor in Louisiana when Armonk’s Small Town Theatre Company presents a staged reading of Robert Haring’s 1987 comedy-drama about the bond amongst Southern women – as delicate as magnolias but as tough as steel. The play ran Off-Broadway for 1125 performances from 1987 to 1990, was made into a motion picture in 1990 and debuted on Broadway in 2005. Admission is just $15. (The Hergenhan Center, 40 maple Ave., Armonk; www.smalltowntheatre.com)

Dance off the Grid, Emelin Theatre – Fri, 5/12: 8pm. This standout dance series at the Emelin Theatre continues with three dance companies at each performance. This one features 10 Hairy Legs that explores the male role in dance; Palissimo, the Bessie Award-winning dance company that merges the abstract aspects of dance with the nonlinear qualities of theatre and mise-en-scène into multidisciplinary works, and the iconic, internationally distinguished post-Modern Trisha Brown Dance Company. (153 Library Ln., Mamaroneck; www.emelin.org)

Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Company, Performing Arts Center Purchase – Sat, 5/13: 8pm: The innovative Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company presents a new work, Lance: Pretty aka The Escape Artist, (Part II of the Analogy Trilogy). Lance tells an often tragic and sometimes outrageously humorous narrative based on the life of Bill T. Jones’ nephew Lance. The work explores Lance’s life in the underworld of the 80s and 90s club culture and sex trade. Composer Nick Hallett and baritone Matthew Gamble provide accompaniment with a mixture of lullabies, R&B and house music. They will perform onstage while the dance evokes a ballet class, a disco, and more indefinable interior landscapes. (735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)

The Jason Bishop Show, “America’s Hottest Illusionist”, Tarrytown Music Hall – Sun, 5/21: 2pm: Jason performs original state-of-the-art magic. Each show features exclusive large illusions and award-winning sleight-of-hand and “close-up” magic that is captured live and projected onto plasma screens, giving the audience a clear view of every detail. The show is delivered with a modern energy and a rock & pop soundtrack. (13 Main St., Tarrytown; www.tarrytownmusichall.org)

Coming in June…

Local! L.O.V.E.R, Schoolhouse Theatre – Thurs-Sun, 6/8-11, 6/15-18 & 6-22-25: L.O.V.E.R. is the world premier of a new theater work from the creative mind and talent of Lois Robbins. It’s a comic and poignant riff she describes as: A TALE OF LOVE AND LUST FROM A #GROWN-UP WOMAN’S P.O.V. (3 Owens Rd., North Salem; www.wchoolhousetheatre.org)