Probably the biggest draw of the 29th Powerhouse season will be a concert reading of Bright Star, a brand-new musical set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, written by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell and directed by Walter Bobbie. Running July 12 to 14, this will be one of two Martel Musical Workshops to be presented at the Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film on the Vassar campus. The other, onstage July 26 to 28, is a new musical inspired by The Brooklyn Hero Supply Company, based on characters created by Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman. It’s directed by Michael Mayer, with a book by Simon Rich and music and lyrics by Peter Lerman. Tickets for the Martel Musicals cost $30.
On the Mainstage at Powerhouse Theater will be two fully staged and designed works-in-progress: from June 26 to July 7, Downtown Race Riot by Seth Zvi Rosenfeld, directed by Scott Elliott; and from July 17 to 28, When the Lights Went Out by Mozhan Marnò, directed by Kate Whoriskey. Tickets for Mainstage productions cost $40.
Semi-staged Inside Look workshops at the Susan Stein Shiva Theater this summer will include Found by Hunter Bell and Lee Overtree, based on the Found books and magazines by Davy Rothbart, with music and lyrics by Eli Bolin. It will be directed by Lee Overtree and run from July 12 to 14. Mother of Invention by James Lecesne, directed by Michael Wilson, will run from July 19 to 21. Inside Look tickets cost $25.
The season will also include two weeklong Readings Festivals, running June 21 to 23 and July 26 to 28, for which admission is free by advance reservation. Among these readings will be The Hamilton Mixtape by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Yellow Kingdom by Patricia Wettig. And the Powerhouse Theater Apprentice Company will present free Soundpainting performances at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center and free classical theater works by Shakespeare, Aeschylus and García Lorca outdoors at the Vassar Farm and Ecological Preserve.
Casting of these stage works had not yet been announced as of presstime, but expect at least a few big names. For more information on specific performances, dates and times, or for tickets and reservations, call the Powerhouse box office at (845) 437-5599 or visit https://powerhouse.vassar.edu/boxoffice.
Powerhouse Theater, June 21-July 28, Vassar College, 124 Raymond Avenue, Poughkeepsie; (845) 437-5599, https://powerhouse.vassar.edu/boxoffice.
Shadowland Theatre
This charming old vaudeville venue in downtown Ellenville has recently completed a full renovation, and its high-quality theatre productions boast Actors Equity casts, often including famous names. The first show of Shadowland’s 2013 summer season will be The Outgoing Tide by Bruce Graham, a family drama set in a weekend cottage on Chesapeake Bay. It runs from May 31 to June 16.
From June 21 to July 7 you can catch the New York premiere of John Cariani’s bittersweet romantic comedy Love/Sick, directed by the author. July 12 through August 4 brings a revival of the classic farce Boeing Boeing by Marc Camoletti, in which an architect juggles simultaneous engagements to three airline flight attendants – until the invention of a new, faster jet engine wreaks havoc with their schedules.
In 2010 Shadowland had a hit in The Marvelous Wonderettes, a musical about a 1950s girl group by Roger Bean; now they’re back and growing up in Marvelous Wonderettes: Caps & Gowns. It runs from August 9 to September 8. Shadowland wraps up its summer season from September 13 to 29 with a production Bill W. and Dr. Bob, a story about the two men who created Alcoholics Anonymous by Samuel Shem and Janet Surrey.
Tickets for all Shadowland Theatre productions cost $35 for evening performances, $30 for Sunday matinées, less $2 for seniors and students. Full-season subscriptions run from $115 to $140. For more information on casts, dates and times, to subscribe or reserve tickets, call the box office at (845) 647-5511 or visit www.shadowlandtheatre.org.
Shadowland Theatre, Thursdays-Sundays, May 31-September 29, $28-$35, 157 Canal Street, Ellenville; (845) 647-5511, www.shadowlandtheatre.org.
