"Big River"- Musical Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
January 31, 2012 "If you thought playing sports took a lot of time from your kids, think again," says Hank Milano. His son Christopher has a part as one of Huck's boys in "Big River". The part requires practice three-to-four nights a week, for a minimum of four hours per day, as Christopher dances, sings and prepares for the opening of the show on February 2 at the Westchester Broadway Theatre.
A few months ago Christopher Milano saw an opportunity to audition for a part in “Big River” with the Light House Theatre Group in Pleasantville. As a sixth grader, he had no prior experience on the stage, other than a six-week summer hip-hop class at Armonk Dance two years ago. Armonk Dance Founder and Director Heather Conway commented, "I remember we had three boys that summer and it was very exciting to see the boys dance. Christopher was enthusiastic and willing to try anything. There is still a stigma attached to dance for boys, but with all the dance-related shows on TV now, I hope to see more of them take the chance. They would learn that dance helps with sports, as well as balance, agility and jumping. I am happy to hear he is performing."
After completing the first tryout with almost 70 other boys, Christopher got a call back and earned a part among six other boys. The boys will be performing in the musical rendition of Mark Twain's classic tale. The adventure "sweeps the audience down the mighty Mississippi as the courageous Huck Finn frees a slave and transcends the prejudice of their time. Through powerful dialogue and heartfelt song, a vibrant cast brings the timeless themes of diversity, acceptance, respect and freedom front and center."
"Christopher had no experience on the stage and it's a wonderful opportunity for his first time out," said Hank. The entire family must be very familiar with the play by now since Christopher and his twin sister, Michaela, have spent a lot of their time singing the score together.
BOTH PERFORMANCES SOLD OUT The Small Town Theatre Company will be presenting a play reading of "Art." The admission is free and open to the public.
Written by Yasmina Reza
Directed by Maggie Thompson
Wednesday · February 15
Thursday · February 16
8:00 PM
The Hergenhan Center
Maple Avenue
Armonk, NY
The Hudson Valley Fellowship Band Updated July 23, 2011 Bernie Williams and The Hudson Valley Fellowship Band held an outdoor concert at Wampus Park. They played some tunes from his CD, "Moving Forward", cover tunes of smooth jazz and a sample of the tunes they play at the Hudson Valley Fellowship Church: www.hvfellowship.org. The concert was sponsored by the Small Town Theatre and North Castle Parks and Recreation Department.
Movie Reviews with Amanda Boyle
The Artist By Amanda Boyle
The Artist is a black and white silent film that is making lots of waves right now. There are a lot of nice things about it: radiant smiles abound, a pretty awesome scene revolving around the thud of a glass placed on a surface and a very cute dog.
The Artist is the story of silent film star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) whose pride holds him back from transitioning to talkies. His stubbornness is ill-timed, the stock market hits and little interest in silent films puts him out of work. Meanwhile, the jaunty and charming Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), an ingenue he brought into the star light, becomes Hollywood's darling.
A strong beginning and a strong ending bookend a sagging, and somewhat boring, middle. It was difficult to feel bad for Valentin, as it was his own choice to not switch to talkies, whereas so many people suffered from the Depression from no fault of their own. It was not even that he tried to be in a talk and was shunned by the audience.
One of the true delights of The Artist is the always fantastic John Goodman as a studio head. Dujardin and Bejo are hamming it up in a style similar to that of the silent era, and that's fun but times have changed, and Goodman's subtlety is what drew me in.
There is a story of Charlie Chaplin reacting to the news with a disdainful four-letter expletive. It's hard to imagine a curse word coming from the cheery, sometimes bumbling, Chaplin of silent films--or in relation to any silent films. So when the audience can clearly lip-read (there are not many text plaques giving dialogue here) Goodman saying "Get the f*** out" in an early scene is an interesting, and entertaining, tweak on the era. I'd been excited for The Artist and it's too bad that the film as a whole does not rise to the level of moments such as this or the aforementioned glass cup.
The Ides of March Seeing the trailer for The Ides of March after seeing the movie, it all seems rather silly. The dramatic music, the furtive looks off-camera. This is what many the trailers for many dramas are like, but what is silly about The Ides of March's is that the movie itself strives so ardently for those drums and cymbals, and does so with plot points that are shakily believable.
Not that The Ides of March is a bad movie. There are some good parts, there are even a few very good parts, but a lot of the film is flat and forced. The romance between Ryan Gosling's Stephen and Evan Rachel Wood's intern Molly is chemistry-less, which is too bad, since both actors are quite charming. I was constantly rolling my eyes during their scenes and even snorted out loud once. Paul Giamatti and Phillip Seymour Hoffman turn in the best acting, as opposition campaign managers. Hoffman, in particular, has a moment at the end of the film that might be the highlight of the entire thing. What sets these two performances apart from the others is that they really embody their character in a way that they are living the story, whereas many of the other actors just seem to be showing churning out lines. George Clooney's presidential hopeful is just slightly off and I think I might be Gosling-ed out.
A large defining plot point was unearned, given the character's previously built up personality. This isn't going to be a political movie that will be remembered with the likes of All the President's Men or the original The Manchurian Candidate. However, Clooney does a nice job directing and I enjoyed the cinematography. The movie was visually crisp and I'm looking forward to see what he'll direct next.
More Movie Reviews
50/50 50/50 is an attempt to add some realistic humor and lightness to the common life struggle of illness. Call it a cancer buddy comedy. 2010's Love and Other Drugs tried a similar approach (with Parkinson's instead of cancer) but 50/50 is a more enjoyable movie, which isn't saying much.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Adam, a twenty-something living and working in Seattle. Seth Rogen is Kyle, Adam's best friend. After chronic back pain, Adam visits a doctor and tests show that he has cancer. He's in shock. "That can't be," he pleads with the disinterested doctor, "I don't drink, I don't smoke, I recycle." Adam is indeed very healthy, but the type of tumor he has is rare and genetic.
The rest of the movie follows Adam through chemotherapy and the changes in his life as he deals with the fact that his case might be fatal. Rogen is playing more or less the same character he has played previously: the goofy, cursing, loud-talking stoner. That persona has made Rogen likable to audiences, but in 50/50 Kyle is less a real person than a cut-out character. Rogen is actually not as present in the movie as the trailers suggest, and allows Gordon-Levitt to shine. Gordon-Levitt is a solid actor and his Adam is someone you'd want to be friends with, someone you root for to beat the odds. There are funny moments, although most of the big guffaws were put into the trailer. The nicest moments of the movie come from Adam bonding with the two older cancer patients that he goes through chemo with.
Feb. 10, 2012 Audition Notice for the Spring, 2012 Production of Neil Simon's "Fools" directed by Pia Haas. The Armonk Players proudly announces auditions for "Fools" March 13 and 14 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm at the Hergenhan Recreation Center at 40 Maple Avenue, Armonk. Callbacks willl be on March 18 from 2:00pm to 4:00pm. The performances will be from June 1 through June 10.
Neil Simon's "Fools" is a "no-brainer" comic fable. This "fractured fairytale" tells the story of a small Ukrainian village in 1890 that has been cursed with stupidity for 200 years. When a new schoolteacher arrives in the town, his job is to break the curse. No one tells him that if he stays over 24 hours and fails to break the curse, he becomes stupid too. Why doesn't Leon leave? He has fallen in love with a girl so stupid that she has only recently learned how to sit down. The script is filled with villains, heroes, maidens, love and good old-fashioned bad jokes. Visit the Armonk Players web site for up to date information.
Byram Hills Concert Choir Presents "Glee"
The 52-member Byram Hills High School Concert Choir will present its annual Cabaret Concert this Friday, October 21 at 7:30 p.m. Under the direction of choir teacher Adam Shatraw, the concert features the music of the hit television show, Glee, including some of the show's biggest hits, rocking anthems and moving ballads. Featuring large group numbers, small ensembles and individual solos, this show is suitable for the whole family.
Tickets, $10, are available at the door. Byram Hills High School 10 Tripp Lane, Armonk
The Circus By Danielle Corpina
Posted April 9, 2011 Have you ever been to the circus? Do you ever wonder who are the people walking the highwires and performing all the aerial acts? Well, I had the privilege and opportunity to speak with Chris Glover, a former member of the Big Apple Circus. She has appeared in many circuses, clubs, fairs and television shows throughout the United States and Canada. Today, Chris is busy running the Circus Arts Camp. She is one of the founders and co-directors of the Circus Arts Camp, which was formerly held at SUNY Purchase but has since moved to the Upper School campus of the Solomon Schechter School in Hartsdale, New York. As a certified yoga instructor, Chris also teaches yoga at several yoga studios and fitness centers around the county as well as privately to individual students.
Chris’ passion for the circus began with her love for dance. She took dance classes as a child and as a teenager. As a young adult, she moved to New York City because it was the center of modern dance. She heard about tryouts for the Big Apple Circus and auditioned. She was accepted into the school and began her circus career. She trained three hours a day if she was not performing in two shows daily. She said, with a smile, “You’re constantly on the site and hanging out with all of your co- performers. It was one of the most amazing and exciting things I have ever done, and also the hardest!”
The Big Apple Circus is where Chris met her husband, Philippe Vercruyssen, a spectacular trapeze aerialist, a skilled tent raiser and a charming Frenchman. Today, Philippe is a professional of the Entertainment Technician Certification Program certified as a rigger and rope rescue technician. He works on death-defying shows all around the world!
After performing with the Big Apple Circus, Chris and Philippe travelled around the United States and Canada performing their circus acts and routines for many audiences. They lived in a trailer, pulled their equipment, and enjoyed their life together as performers and as a married couple.
After a terrible car accident on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Chris and Philippe decided to retire, start a family and work locally. This is when they started the Circus Arts Camp. Chris and Philippe have two children who now are young adults. They grew up with circus camp life and enjoyed it all. They learned to ride a unicycle, perform on the trapeze, walk on a wire, as well as all the fundamentals of being part of a circus. Chris grew up in White Plains and graduated from White Plains High School. She says with a giggle, “if someone had told me I was going to be a circus performer, I would say ‘No!’ I simply followed the road where fate took me.”
The Big Apple Circus has changed from the early years, “It had a street element when I performed. Over the years, it has become more glossy and elegant.” Chris is proud of her achievements and her exciting life. If she were to give a young dancer or an aspiring aerialist advice, she would say, “There are so many circus classes in Manhattan to take advantage of and learn from. You don’t have to have an agent, but it is definitely helpful!
One thing I really enjoyed about my performing years was that we created our act. If a show or circus creates an act for you, you are strictly their tool.” Chris says that “Circus is a great life. You’re not going to get rich from it, but you will be rich in many other ways!”
June 27, 2011 In the late 1950's more and more of the residents of Armonk wanted a public swimming pool. Many wanted it but nobody wanted it in their neighborhood and it became a dilemma. To dramatize the situation The North Castle Players, Armonk's theatrical group, turned the situation into a musical that was performed at the then new auditorium at North Castle Jr. High School in 1960. The musical was named The Big Splash.
George Thorn, an Armonk resident in the recording business known as the Thorn Creatives, had a recording studio on Whippoorwill Road. He was also a member of the North Castle Players, and made live recordings of the songs from The Big Splash. Recordings were done in the North Castle School auditorium on rehearsal nights for the best possible acoustics and sound quality.
Thorn's son George Fragos says, "My father wrote a number of hit songs. The most famous was I Hear A Rhapsody, words and music by George Fragos, Jack Baker and Dick Gasparre. It was recorded by virtually every famous artist from Frank Sinatra on down."
A record album of The Big Splash was pressed and made available at a modest cost to residents. The sound quality of the original vinyl, 50-year-old album is still quite good despite a few scratches.
Armonk finally did get a public swimming pool, thanks to Anita Louise Ehrman, who donated the funds to the town specifically for the pool. The efforts by the North Castle Players in 1960 may have helped.
North Castle's Got Talent show was a big hit, and hopefully, the first of many more. Dancing troupes, pianists, vocalists, solo performers, quintets, bands, a cappella group, and an improvisational group hit the Whippoorwill Hall stage to bring us some of Armonk's brightest talent. Watch a 10 minute video with clips of all the performers here.
January 30, 2012 Heather Conway is the director and founder of Armonk Center for Dance. She and her husband, Alan, opened a studio in Armonk 18 years ago. "We compete and do all sorts of different community activities throughout the year," says Heather.
Armonk Dance performed at the recent Byram Hills Preschool Winter Family Festival. "The dancers are able to adapt themselves to every stage. Each space is different; some are large, others are tiny. Each performance helps them adapt in whatever way they need to. At the Winter Festival we had a duet performance that was missing a girl. She was away, so we changed the dance to accommodate the performance and the next time we see it, there will be three girls. Sometimes we change it up and other times it stays the same," added Heather.
Armonk Dance's staff of professional dance instructors teaches a range of styles in ballet, hip-hop, jazz, and tap. Students have a variety of performances throughout the year, culminating with a recital at S.U.N.Y. Purchase Performing Art Center.
Heather commented, "We started our new season a couple of weeks ago at the Dancefest in Stamford, CT. The dancers performed different numbers and had fun meeting and watching other companies. There were 300 dancers from studios throughout Connecticut and New York.
"The American singer and actress Darlene Love is being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and we did a tribute performance in her honor this past Friday night at the White Plains Performing Arts Center."
Armonk Center for Dance is located at 28 Kaysal Court in Armonk, in a beautiful 8,000-square-foot facility that houses four dance studios.
Voted Most Random
Sept. 5, 2011 Ian Reibeisen graduated from Byram Hills High School in 2008. He attends Quinnipiac University where he met friends Salvatore Salemme, drummer, Scott Gunter, lead guitar, and Joe Mauti, bass, formed a band: Voted Most Random. Reibeisen is the lead singer. He says, "The 30 minutes on stage is the best part. It's worth giving everything we have, everyday."
Salemme describes their music as original pop-punk. "It's main street pop-rock with a little bit of edge." It's a group effort. He says, "We have no formal lessons, but everyone contributes to the success of the band."
Over the summer they hung out and mostly played music for the love of it. They have played in the music scene in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York. Sometimes they headline, other times they open for other groups. They played at the 2011 Bamboozle Festival at Giant Stadium, their biggest show yet. They also competed in Westchester's Battle of the Bands.
On their wish list was to play on their own campus and their dream came true as they returned to school and played on campus on August 27. Just before showtime they wrote on Facebook: "Thank you so much for having us tonight Quinnipiac! It makes us all even more proud to be BOBCATS!!"
Ian's father, Mark Reibeisen, heard them play in Greenwich. He says, "It was very entertaining, they were very good."
Follow them on Facebook to hear music from their album Everything You Want and More.
Lagond Music School By MaryBeth Weisner
Another studio housed students in a song-writing workshop taught by Darryl Tookes. They were performing "We Will Rock You", a song written by Brain May, lead guitarist of Queen. A student sang the introduction and when it was time to stomp and clap, all of his peers joined in with perfect timing. Tookes took the music and conversation to another level. A physicist and musician himself, Tookes explained how Queen, (four musicians) achieved and recorded the stomps and claps along with the reverberations, we all know so well. Tookes posed the question, "How did these four musicians make it seem like they were recording this song in a stadium?" The ten-minute conversation that ensued and the answer that followed are incredible.
“We Will Rock You”, a song primarily done a cappella, other than the last 30 seconds containing a guitar solo by Brian May, is made up of stomping and clapping as its rhythmic beat. No drums or other instruments were used on this song. The lead guitarist, Brian May of Queen, a brilliant physicist, determined which type of wood (when stomped upon) made the best reverberations. He had that wood brought over to the cathedral where Queen was recording. Once the recording was completed, May delayed all the prime number beats. In other words, if every fourth beat had a slight delay, it would have sounded calculated and unnatural. The stomping would have sounded like a few people trying to sound like thousands. Instead, all beats that feel upon a prime number; one, three, five, etcetera, were given a millisecond delay. It was planned inconsistent synchronicity, brilliant. Read more
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Byram Hills Graduate Tom Kitt Makes it Big on Broadway
Updated April 12, 2010 By Amanda Boyle and Michelle Boyle
A Long Island piano teacher warned Judy Kitt that
she was verging on stage mother territory. Mrs. Kitt, an Armonk
resident, had brought her five-year-old son in for lessons. But Mrs.
Kitt was not an overzealous and blindly proud mother, she knew her son
Thomas had real talent. At four Thomas had been stringing together
notes and chords on his own; he needed special attention to grow. She
insisted that Gloria, the teacher, at least listen, and when she did,
Thomas’ natural talent was undeniable.
And then last week, Tom Kitt won two Tony Awards. Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) written for the Theatre – “Next to Normal” Music: Tom Kitt, Lyrics: Brian Yorkey and Best Orchestrations - Michael Starobin & Tom Kitt, “Next to Normal”. This second Tony was awarded as a tie with Martin Koch, “Billy Elliot”. A third Tony award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical has been added to their treasure. Read more
Mr. Kitt visited Byram Hills High School last October and spent a day speaking with high school music students. Photo submitted by Boces.
