Monthly Archives: October 2013

The Seven Year Itch
at the Ivoryton Playhouse

A fabulously funny farce from the fifties!

Ivoryton:  Looking for something a little different this fall? Then head to the Ivoryton Playhouse to experience one of those plays that are part of our common cultural heritage but which are rarely given professional productions. The Seven Year Itch opens in Ivoryton on October 30th and runs through November 17th. Most people remember the Billy Wilder movie with Tom Ewell and Marilyn Monroe, and even if they haven’t seen the movie, who could forget the iconic photograph of Marilyn in the white dress over the subway grate?

But the play proves itself remarkably fresh and funny, and a lot edgier than the film. With his wife and child off to the shore for the summer, but a job that keeps him in their downtown apartment during the work week, a husband of seven years fantasizes about having a fling with a young woman who is apartment sitting in the unit above. The scenes in his head combine with actual events as his fantasies and his fears merge into a hilarious comedy.

When Axelrod wrote The Seven Year Itch in 1952, he was already a veteran of 400 radio and film scripts. His one desire was to do a Broadway hit play, which put him at odds with most of his fellow playwrights who wanted write Hollywood movies. The Seven Year Itch played for 1141 shows on Broadway, before being adapted to the Billy Wilder film with Tom Ewell and Marilyn Monroe.

Larry Thelen will be directing this production and the cast includes Holly Holcomb* who was just seen here in I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE;  David Conaway*, who has appeared many times in Ivoryton; John Little*, Jason Naylor, Elizabeth Talbot, Carson Waldron,  and making their Ivoryton debuts Emma O’Donnell*, Carolyn Cumming and Caitlyn McInerney.

Costumes are by Kari Crowther, set design by Dan Nischan and lights by Marcus Abbott.

The Seven Year Itch opens in Ivoryton on October 30th  and runs through November 17th Performance times are Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2pm. Evening performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 8pm. Tickets are $40 for adults, $35 for seniors, $20 for students and $15 for children and are available by calling the Playhouse box office at 860-767-7318 or by visiting our website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org (Group rates are available by calling the box office for information.) The Playhouse is located at 103 Main Street in Ivoryton.

Generously sponsored by: Essex Meadows.

Members of the press are welcome at any performance.

*member of Actors Equity

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Whoo hooo!  Thank you to all the readers of the Shore Line Times for voting the Ivoryton Playhouse the Best Place to See Live Theatre for 2013!

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Press Release and Audition Call
For Immediate Publication from Vista Arts Center with the Ivoryton Playhouse

For Release:
Vista Arts Center is proud to announce the production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Ivoryton Playhouse

Additional Information Contact:    Jeanean Cox, Arts Program Manager
jcox@vistavocational.org; (860) 399-8080
www.vistavocational.org

In partnership with the Ivoryton Playhouse, Vista Arts Center presents their inaugural, inclusive, all-ability, community production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

A dazzling, family friendly story, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, is the first musical by legendary theatrical team Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice. Created for a British school choir, the first performance on a cold winter afternoon on March 1, 1968 was only 20 minutes long. Joseph continued to grow, both in length and in popularity, receiving major productions in London and on Broadway.

This colorful retelling of the biblical story about Joseph, his prophetic dreams, his wondrous adventures and his designer coat, sings out to young and old alike. The score includes a variety of musical styles and wall-to-wall hits – including Close Every Door, Go, Go Go Joesph and Any Dream Will Do.

With Pat Souney as director and Jim Teti as musical director, the Vista production of Joseph will return to the roots of the original performance and incorporate a children’s choir as an integral part of the production.  The goal of this production is to unite the shoreline community through theatre by producing a fully inclusive creative experience that will foster friendships and open communication for participants of all ages and all abilities.

Vista Arts Center will hold open auditions for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat on Tuesday, October 15 and Thursday, October 17 at the Vista Art Center, 107 Bradley Road in Madison.  Versatile performers of all abilities, aged 7 to 70 are needed.  Please be prepared to move and bring music for a short audition song.  Accompanist will be provided.  Children ages 7 to 14 will be seen starting at 6:00 pm, adults from 7 to 9 pm.  Please call for an appointment.

In a special partnership with Ivoryton Playhouse, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat will open on February 29, 2014 at 7:30 PM. Additional performances will be held on March 1 at 7:30 pm and March 2 at 2:30 pm. Note that the March 1 show will mark the 46^th anniversary of the original British production.

For an appointment or additional information, please contact Jeanean Cox at jcox@vistavocational.org or (860) 399-8080.

The mission of the Vista Arts Center is to provide quality arts programming to a diverse, adult population that promotes self-expression and learning in a nurturing, noncompetitive environment

The Vista Arts Center would like to acknowledge the generous support of the Peter and
Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation and the Maximilian E. and Marion O. Hoffman
Foundation

Vista’s Mission Statement
To provide services and resources on an individualized basis to assist adults with
disabilities to live an independent and successful life

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Talkin’ Broadway Regional Reviews
By Zander Opper

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/ct/ct222.html

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By Geary Danihy
CT Theater News and Reviews and Connecticut Critics Circle

He loves me, he loves me not.
Can’t live with her, can’t live without her.
And so it goes in the eternal square dance called love.

There has been confusion and misunderstandings ever since Eve proffered the apple to Adam, and though the dosey doeing has often been the cause of a lot of angst and anxiety, it has also generated, if looked at in the proper light, a lot of laughter. Hence “I Love, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” a delightful take on the never-ending search for true love and happiness that recently opened at the Ivoryton Playhouse under the discerning direction of Christopher Sutton.

“I Love You” is basically a series of musical sketches that begins with a first tentative date and ends with, well, a first tentative date. Along the way there’s a lot of Mars/Venus humor interspersed with some bittersweet moments that capture how easily we can be wounded if we are not careful. The characters listed in the program have no names, just “Man One,” “Woman One,” etc., emphasizing the universality of the occurrences depicted, but the flesh and blood men and women up on the stage who struggle with the dynamics of love are, in almost every scene, engaging and delightful, for Sutton and Ivoryton’s executive/artistic director Jacqueline Hubbard have gathered together four extremely talented actors — Christopher Sutton, Michael Brian Dunn, Holly Holcomb and Sheila E. Coyle — who are more than capable of creating multiple personas.

There are nudge-nudge scenes aplenty in this pastiche of romantic pitfalls and pratfalls created by Joe DiPietro and Jimmy Roberts, covering everything from the oh-so-busy young urbanites who don’t have time to connect (“We Had it All”) and thus go through the ultimate speed-date, and the awkwardness of that first date between self-proclaimed “losers” (“A Stud and a Babe”), to the inevitable “cooling off” after marriage (“Marriage Tango”) and eternal urge to be with someone, to share a life together (“I Can Live With That”).

Oddly enough, although almost every scene contains a song, it is the dramatic moments that stay with you long after you’ve left the theater, two of which seem to stand out. The first is “The Very First Dating Video of Rose Ritz,” which features Holcomb in what can only be described as a bravura performance as a divorcee who has decided to get back into the game via a dating service that allows participants to essentially showcase themselves on tape. A large monitor is rolled onto the stage and Holcombe sits on a stool facing a camera, her back to the audience. Her image appears on the screen and Rose begins to “sell” herself, but the pitch soon devolves into a bitter summary of the pain her divorce has caused. It’s strong stuff, so much so that you can’t take your eyes off that monitor as Holcombe’s character bares her soul.

The second memorable moment is the penultimate scene – “Funerals are for Dating” – which contains the “I Can Live with That” song. The setting is a funeral parlor where an elderly woman, portrayed by Coyle, and man, Dunn, meet by chance. Neither knows the deceased – she is there simply to accompany a friend; he is there for another viewing which has yet to begin and has decided to take a load off his feet. It turns out that he has seen the lady before at other funerals and uses that as an overture. She responds tentatively, but soon they are in conversation as embers long thought extinguished begin to glow again. It is a touching, gentle conclusion to a very enjoyable evening and a reminder that age is no barrier to falling in love. We will seek companionship until we take our final breath – that’s simply how we are wired.

“I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” runs through Oct 13. For tickets or more information call 860-767-7318 or go to www.ivorytonplayhouse.org.

For CT Theater News and Reviews and Connecticut Critics Circle

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Connecticut Arts Connection review of I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change by Lauren Yarger:

http://ctarts.blogspot.com/2013/09/theater-review-i-love-you-youre-perfect.html

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