Category Archives: Ivoryton Playhouse

Stocks, shares, sex and doughnuts!

Other People’s Money
at The Ivoryton Playhouse

Edward Kassar* and Elizabeth Donnelly* star in Other People's Money at the Ivoryton Playhouse

Corporate takeovers and romantic comedy make unlikely bedfellows in this though-provoking, fast-talking, satire of the excesses of the 80s, opening in Ivoryton on April 17th  Though this play premiered in 1989, it’s themes of passion, loyalty , betrayal and greed are sadly,  just as relevant today. Winner of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Play, Jerry Sterner’s brilliant script skewers not only corporate raiders but all of us in our comfortable New England world. What is more important, our community or our pockets?
 
Wall Street takeover artist Lawrence Garfinkle’s computer is going crazy over the undervalued stock of New England Wire & Cable. If the stockholders back his takeover, they will make a bundle but what will happen to the 1200 employees and the small New England town when he liquidates the assets?  Opposing the rapacious financier are the elderly patriarch who has run the company since the year one and his chief operations officer.  When they bring in a young lawyer who specializes in fending off takeovers, things really start to heat up, in more ways than one.

“Funny, serious, suspenseful, involving, disturbing, and, above all, expertly crafted…. [with] both epic grandeur and intimate titillation.” – N.Y. Magazine

Directed by Maggie Jennings, the show features Edward Kassar*, Elizabeth Donnelly*, Denise Walker, Gary Allan Poe* and Dennis Fox. The set design is by William Stark, lighting design by Marcus Abbott, and costumes by Kari Crowther.

Other People’s Money opens in Ivoryton on April 17th and runs through May 5th. 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.

Pictured:  Edward Kassar* (playing Lawrence Garfinkle) and Elizabeth Donnelly* (Kate Sullivan)

Members of the press are welcome at any performance.  Please call ahead for tickets.

*member of Actors Equity

Generously sponsored by The Safety Zone and PCI Medical.

Leave a comment

This is one hot summer at the Ivoryton Playhouse.  Having just closed a smash-hit run of The Producers, we are now rehearsing, building and promoting Ring of Fire:  The Music of Johnny Cash – another musical sure to please crowds throughout Connecticut.

Ring of Fire opens August 10

Opening August 10, Ring of Fire is a celebration of the life and music of Johnny Cash.

The musical takes for its marquee the title of one of the hit tunes of American singer-songwriter Cash. But the show, conceived by William Meade and created by Richard Maltby Jr., drawing on a cache of Cash songs, is not a biography of The Man in Black.

The cast of Ring of Fire

In 38 musical numbers, a mosaic of American experience is pieced together in Ring of Fire, the creators say. There’s a scene about keeping the love fires burning in middle age (“While I’ve Got It On My Mind”), there’s a scene with generations of a family sharing a meal (and sharing music) in “Daddy Sang Bass,” there’s the second-act opener about life travels (“I’ve Been Everywhere”), even a section with a chain gang (“Folsom Prison Blues”).

Maltby said, “It’s about home and family and getting together and loving somebody and having a backyard and generations living together, it’s about what holds you together in the face of a hard life, it’s about the really basic family values.”

Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash

The show’s song list includes Cash’s “Country Boy,” “A Thing Called Love,” “Five Feet High and Rising,” “Daddy Sang Bass,” “Ring of Fire,” “I Walk the Line,” “I’ve Been Everywhere,” “The Man in Black,” and his final hit, “Hurt.”

David Lutken* , just back from London’s West End where he had a terrific run with his new show Woody Sez, about the legendary Woody Guthrie, directs and appears in this production. David was a member of the original Broadway company of Ring of Fire. Staging and choreography is by Sherry Stregack and musical direction by Eric Anthony*. Cast includes John Rochette*, who was seen last summer at the Playhouse in Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story and Finian’s Rainbow, Scott Sowers*, Helen Russell*, Deb Lyons*, Megan Loomis*, Michael Hicks*, Jon Brown* and Eric Anthony*.

Ring of Fire  opens on August 10th  and runs thru September 4th  for 4 weeks. 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.

Leave a comment

One of the largest productions ever attempted at the Ivoryton Playhouse opens today.  The Producers features a cast of 20, huge sets, unbelievable costumes and a whole lot of talent on stage!  Photos from dress rehearsal just released.  Click here to see images from this fantastic show!  Don’t miss The Producers at the Ivoryton Playhouse – running until July 31.  Tickets on sale now – (860) 767 7318.

Leave a comment

Rehearsals for How The Other Half Loves have had everyone in stitches!  This show is F-U-N-N-Y!!  If you love british humo(u)r grab your tickets now!  And the costuming process has been a hoot.  If it’s made of 100% polyester – it’s in!  And the set!  Multiple table settings, handmade wallpaper, and….um…cuckoo clocks???  It’s all in the details, folks!  How The Other Half Loves opens next Wednesday, April 13.  Put the kettle on then call the Playhouse for tickets today.

1 Comment

A sold out crowd sent the cast of The Irish on their way back to Tipperary this past Sunday as the highly successful show closed at the Ivoryton Playhouse.  Thank you to Morgan, Michael, Kathleen and Annie who made the run so enjoyable!

Leave a comment

Photos courtesy of Anne Hudson.

Leave a comment

The Ivoryton Playhouse is proudly celebrating two centennial birthdays this year!  Not only is the Playhouse celebrating a century on stage, but today we recognize a century of achievements by the women who have played a part in shaping our past.

 International Women’s Day (8 March) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.  Suffragettes campaigned for women’s right to vote. The word ‘Suffragette’ is derived from the word “suffrage” meaning the right to vote. International Women’s Day honors the work of the Suffragettes, celebrates women’s success, and reminds of inequities still to be redressed. The first International Women’s Day event was run in 1911. 2011 is the Global Centenary Year.

The Ivoryton Playhouse thanks the strong women whose shoulders the continuing success of the Playhouse rests upon.  Your contributions have been, and forever shall be appreciated.  Here is to another 100 years of strong women and the arts!

Leave a comment