Spring Theatre & Dance 2017

admin Posted OnMarch 10, 2017

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Spring Theatre & Dance 2017: 30 Spring productions of dance, theatre and magic from Bad Jews to Jesus Christ Superstar (you can’t make this stuff up!) The Connecticut Ballet to STOMP, Mousetrap to Romeo & Juliet, Mama Mia to Sondheim Unplugged.

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)

Critics Choice! The Zabrecky Hour, Stamford Palace Theatre, Thurs, 3/2: 8pm. Rob Zabrecky has been called the David Lynch of magic for the bizarre and contemplative human behavior he explores and the austere and abstract universe he creates (and explodes) through magic. We’d say a little like David Byrne. Penn Gillete called his act the first truly funny mentalist act he’s ever seen and compared him to Salvatore Dali when he appeared on Season 3 of Fool Us. Check it out. (61 Atlantic St., Stamford, CT; www.palacestamford.org)

Shanghai Acrobats: The New Shanghai Circus, Ridgefield Playhouse – Fri, 3/3: 7pm: “Feats of circus art that reach literally breathtaking heights of skill” – The New York Times. As seen on Broadway and PBS, the show features 2000 years of Chinese circus traditions blending acrobats, jugglers, and contortionists and more. (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)

Local! Sherlock Holmes: Redheads and Bohemians, Manhattan’s Gotham Radio, Schoolhouse Theatre, Sat, 3/4: 7pm. Inspired by the Lux Radio Theatre of the 1930’s and 40’s, Gotham Radio Theatre brings you the experience of actors performing in vintage radio style! Masterpiece plays are performed live, by an ensemble of actors and sound performers as if you were in a radio sound stage. In this show within a show, the actors perform the Holmes characters as fictional 1940’s stage and screen stars. (3 Owens Rd., North Salem; www.schoolhousetheatre.org)

Local! Sondheim Unplugged, Pleasantvilles’ Arc Stages – Sat, 3/4– 8pm: A celebrated New York event since 2010, the Broadway World & Bistro Award-winning series Sondheim Unplugged serves up the musical world of Broadway’s master composer. Tunes from A Little Night Music, Company, Into the Woods, Follies, Passion and Dick Tracy are featured in this tribute to the man behind such tunes as Send in the Clowns, Being Alive, Broadway Baby, Losing My Mind & Comedy Tonight. A currently-running hit show at NYC’s leading nightspot, Feinstein’s/54 Below, Sondheim Unplugged is hosted by series creator Phil Geoffrey Bond. (147 Wheeler Ave., Pleasantville; www.arcstages.org)

HypnoHype, White Plains Performing Arts Center – Sat, 3/11: 8pm: Master hypnotist Asad Mecci stars in this comedy/hypnosis show performed for over 1.5 million people live and on MTV, HGTV, Entertainment Tonight and Maxim Online. “Blew my mind.” – Entertainment Tonight. (11 City Place, 3^rd Floor, White Plains; www.wppac.com)

Rhythm in the Night, Paramount Hudson Valley – Sat, 3/11: 11am & 7pm: A tale of good versus evil, love and salvation is told through Irish step dancing with a world-class troupe of 18 male and female dancers. This epic, 90-minute journey follows Mythical King Balor as he tries to find his way out of the dark world. There are battle scenes with lightning fast rhythms in this age-old art form and Irish dance spectacular. (1008 Brown St., Peekskill; www.paramounthudsonvalley.org)

Local! Clever Little Lies, The Armonk Players – Wed, 3/15: 8pm: The Armonk Players present a staged reading of Joe DiPietro’s comedy Clever Little Lies, about a son who tries to keep a secret (that he shares with his father) from from his mother. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT! Admission is free and a reception with yummy treats follows the reading. (North Castle Public Library, Whippoorwill Hall, 19 E. Whippoorwill Rd., Armonk; www.armonkplayers.org)

Mousetrap at Lyndhurst Mansion – Fri-Sun, 3/17-4/2. The longest running play on London’s West End comes to Lyndhurst Mansion. It’s murder…and spine-tingling fun when an eclectic group of strangers are stranded in a remote mansion (played by Lyndhurst Mansion) during a terrible snow storm. Sargent Trotter arrives to investigate a grisly crime that appears connected to someone there. The roads are blocked, the phone lines cut and then, MURDER! Will he find the murderer before another one is committed. (635 S. Broadway, Tarrytown; www.lyndhurst.org)

Local! Around the World in 80 Days, Manhattan’s Gotham Radio, Schoolhouse Theatre, Sat, 3/18: 7pm. Inspired by the Lux Radio Theatre of the 1930’s and 40’s, Gotham Radio Theatre brings you the experience of actors performing in vintage radio style! Masterpiece plays and screenplays are performed live by an ensemble of actors and sound performers as if you were in a radio sound stage. Here Gotham Radio takes on the Jules Verne classic, Around The World in 80 Days. See Phineas Fogg prove he can travel the world in 80 days and find the Bank of England robber. (3 Owens Rd., North Salem; www.schoolhousetheatre.org)

Romeo & Juliet, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival Spring Tour – Paramount Hudson Valley, Sat, 3/18: 2pm. HVSF’s 90 minute production of Shakespeare’s classic tragic love story takes place in a New England prep school. Rifts exist between the legacy students and the scholarship kids, teachers and staff and, of course, the Montagues and the Capulets. (1008 Brown St., Peekskill; www.paramounthudsonvalley.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)

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 Leaf by 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)

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)

Stomp, Stamford Palace –Sat, 3/25: 8pm: This iconic show, featuring percussion on everyday objects, dance and comedy was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Entertainment and won for Best Choreography when it originated in London’s West End. It moved to NYC’s Orpheum Theatre where it won an Obie Award and a Drama Desk Award for Most Unique Theater Experience. They have performed with The Muppets, in their own IMAX movie, at the Lincoln Memorial, the Summer Olympics and at Brazil’s Carnaval. It has run for the past 15 years in London. (61 Atlantic St., Stamford; www.palacestamford.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)

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)

April

Memories of Patsy, Tarrytown Music Hall – Sat,4/1: 7:30pm: The national touring Patsy Cline tribute recreates the experience of seeing the legendary singer live in concert during the days when she graced stages across America. The performance includes over two dozen of Patsy Cline’s songs, including Crazy, Walkin’ After Midnight, I Fall to Pieces, She’s Got You, Sweet Dreams and many more. (13 Main St., Tarrytown; www.tarrytownmusichall.org)

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, 4/18- 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)

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)