Month: April 2015

The Art of Staging Turf Wars

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Bruce The Blog’s take on turf wars that take the stage, from Emerald Isle to Manhattan Island.

BRUCE THE BLOG

Bruce caricatureBruce the BlogBy Bruce AparWhen Bruce The Blog Listens, People Talk

Turf is turf, whether it’s auld sod in the Emerald Isle or pavement in Manhattan; whether it’s an in-your-mug Irish lass sparring over a patch of land with the feisty farmer next door or American hooligans pounding the pavement to protect their territory from an Hispanic street gang.

Two such scenarios are playing out to magical effect on a couple of the finest stages of entertainment in the Hudson Valley.

Outside Mullingar cast + producersThe insiders behind the outstanding “Outside Mullingar” are (from left) actor Davis Hall (Tony Reilly); producers Denise Bessette, Olivia Sklar, Dan Foster (who directed), actors Susan Pellegrino (Aoife Muldoon), Sean Hayden (Anthony Reilly), Susannah Schulman Rogers (Rosemary Muldoon). Photo by Bruce Apar

IMG_7352John Patrick Shanley, the supremely gifted dramatist who has spun contemporary classics like Oscar winner Moonstruck and Tony- and Pulitzer-honored Doubt, is very well…

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The Art of Staging Turf Wars

Standard

Bruce caricatureBruce the Blog By Bruce Apar When Bruce The Blog Listens, People Talk

Turf is turf, whether it’s auld sod in the Emerald Isle or pavement in Manhattan; whether it’s an in-your-mug Irish lass sparring over a patch of land with the feisty farmer next door or American hooligans pounding the pavement to protect their territory from an Hispanic street gang.

Two such scenarios are playing out to magical effect on a couple of the finest stages of entertainment in the Hudson Valley.

Outside Mullingar cast + producers

The insiders behind the outstanding “Outside Mullingar” are (from left) actor Davis Hall (Tony Reilly); producers Denise Bessette, Olivia Sklar, Dan Foster (who directed), actors Susan Pellegrino (Aoife Muldoon), Sean Hayden (Anthony Reilly), Susannah Schulman Rogers (Rosemary Muldoon). Photo by Bruce Apar

IMG_7352John Patrick Shanley, the supremely gifted dramatist who has spun contemporary classics like Oscar winner Moonstruck and Tony- and Pulitzer-honored Doubt, is very well served by Hudson Stage’s gloriously performed Outside Mullingar at Whippoorwill Theater, part of Armonk’s North Castle Library.

IMG_7353A few miles (or minutes) west, at Westchester Broadway Theatre in Elmsford, the Jets and Sharks are having at each other in the towering West Side Story, miraculously scored by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim with a veritable hit parade of hummable and infectious standards.

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