New Genesis Productions Summer Shakespeare, July 10-August 9, Little Globe Outdoor Stage, West Shokan
The young thespian campers in the summer Shakespeare intensive programs offered by New Genesis present another way to catch some of the Bard’s work outdoors. This year the productions at the Little Globe will include The Comedy of Errors performed by 7-to-12-year-olds on the weekend of July 10 through 12; The Two Gentlemen of Verona by the 12-to-14-year-old group July 24 to 26; and The Merchant of Venice by 14-to-17-year-old actors August 7 to 9.
All performances begin at 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Admission is by donation ($8 suggested in years past). For more info call 657-5867 or visit www.newgenesisproductions.org.
Rondout Repertory Theatre, July 24-August 7, Rosendale and New Paltz
Another summer Shakespeare program for youth in our region is the Rosendale-based Rondout Rep. Campers put on free performances in public spaces including the Water Street Market in New Paltz and Rosendale’s Willow Kiln Park. This year’s production is Much Ado about Nothing, and the performance dates are July 24 to 26 and July 31 to August 2. For exact times, locations and other info, visit https://rondoutrep.com.
Arm-of-the-Sea Theater, June 6-September 27, various venues
Based in Saugerties, the mid-Hudson’s favorite giant puppetry troupe takes its two current traveling shows, Hook, Line & Sinker: Fishing the Hudson River and The Rejuvenary River Circus, around to festivals and outdoor public spaces throughout our region and beyond all summer long. The Rejuvenary River Circus will be performed at three venues this summer: the Clearwater Festival at Croton Point Park in Croton-on-Hudson on June 20 and 21, Town of Olive Day at Davis Park in West Shokan on September 12 and twice daily at the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival in Saugerties on September 26 and 27.
Arm-of-the-Sea’s newest opus, Hook, Line & Sinker will visit the Orange County Earth & Water Festival in Montgomery on June 6; Athens Community Day on June 13; the Beacon Strawberry Festival on June 14; the Hudson River Maritime Museum in Kingston on June 27; the Saugerties Historical Society on July 24; the Dutchess Dragon Boat Festival at the Hudson River Rowing Association Community Boathouse in Poughkeepsie on July 25; Community Day at Upper Landing Park in Poughkeepsie on August 8; Henry Hudson Waterfront Park in Hudson on August 12; the Newburgh International Festival on September 6; and Norrie Point Environmental Center in Staatsburg on September 20.
Performances are mostly free of charge. For start times and other details, contact individual venues or visit https://armofthesea.org. Or call 246-7873.
Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice, July 31-August 2, Phoenicia
When this festival launched in 2009, it was predominantly a celebration of opera, but its programming in the years since has expanded fractally to include nearly every conceivable aesthetic application of the human voice. The three-day event in downtown Phoenicia is jam-packed with such tidbits as workshops on Appalachian shape-note singing, Inuit throat singing and the art of the cantor in Jewish liturgy, gospel, barbershop, pop and chamber concerts.
There’s also live theater, including a production of Sondheim’s A Little Night Music; Souvenir, Stephen Temperley’s play about the famously bad singer Florence Foster Jenkins; and the world premiere of Robert Manno’s play Do Not Go Gentle: The Last Days of Dylan and Caitlin. And yes, there’s opera – two of them, in fact: Menotti’s The Medium and Carlisle Floyd’s adaptation of Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Among the celebrity singers participating this year will be the great mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade.
The venues for these varied events, all within easy walking distance of one another, include the Festival Stage, Phoenicia Parish Field, the Phoenicia United Methodist Church, the St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, the Shandaken Theatrical Society Playhouse and Mama’s Boy Coffeeshop. Admission is free to a few events; ticket prices otherwise range from $5 to $75 each, with a $170 Da Capo Pass getting you into all main stage events.
To find out more details or purchase tickets, call 688-1344 or visit www.phoeniciavoicefest.org.
PianoSummer, July 11-31, SUNY-New Paltz
For 21 years, Russian émigré pianist Vladimir Feltsman has been organizing PianoSummer, which combines a summer institute for up-and-coming young pianists from all over the world with a festival of performances by a distinguished faculty and visiting artists, on the SUNY-New Paltz campus. It culminates with the Jacob Flier Piano Competition, named after one of Feltsman’s mentors. Most of the associated events – even master classes – are open to the general public, and this year nearly all will be held in Studley Theatre in the Old Main Building.
PianoSummer 2015 kicks off with a faculty gala on July 11. Other highlights include recitals and master classes by special guest artists, who this year include Hung-Kuan Chen, Vladimir Ovchinnikov and Alexander Toradze. And the yet-to-be-determined 2015 Flier Competition winner will front the Hudson Valley Philharmonic in the season-ending symphony gala on July 31. You can also watch the young piano students compete on July 20 and 22.
Admission to a few of these campus events is free; for others, details on ticket prices will be available online after June 1. To order or to find out more, call the box office at 257-3880 or visit www.newpaltz.edu/piano.
Performing Arts of Woodstock, June 12-21, Byrdcliffe Theater, Woodstock
As of press time, Performing Arts of Woodstock has only announced one play in its summer lineup: Other Desert Cities, Jon Robin Baitz’s Pulitzer-nominated 2011 drama about a seriously dysfunctional California family. It runs June 12 to 14 and 19 to 21.
Tickets to the theater at 380 Upper Byrdcliffe cost $20 general admission, $15 for seniors and students. To purchase, or just to keep an eye out for upcoming productions, visit www.performingartsofwoodstock.org or call 679-7900.
Kaatsbaan International Dance Center, June 14-20, Tivoli
Year-round dance events continue into the summer at the Kaatsbaan International Dance Center in Tivoli. Grounded in the traditional performing arts of southern Asia, the Maya Dance Theatre appears on June 14. And international superstar choreographer Lar Lubovitch will be bringing his Dance Company to Kaatsbaan on June 20. Keep an eye on the website for announcements of new shows as the season progresses.
Tickets for most Kaatsbaan performances cost $30 for adults and $10 for students and children. For information and reservations, call 757-5106, x10, or visit https://kaatsbaan.org/events.html.
Shandaken Theatrical Society, July 10-26, STS Playhouse, Phoenicia
The only production that STS has so far announced for its playhouse at 10 Church Street in Phoenicia this summer is Little Shop of Horrors, the campy hit musical based on a 1960 Roger Corman comedy about a man-eating plant, with a score by Disney songwriting team Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. Victoria McCarthy directs. Performances will run Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday matinées, July 10 to 12, 17 to 19 and 24 to 26.
Tickets cost $20 general admission, $15 for members, seniors and students. To order and for additional information, call 688-2279 or visit www.stsplayhouse.com.
Coach House Players, July 10-19, Coach House Theatre, Kingston
Based in a charmingly restored, gable-roofed old brick coachhouse at 12 Augusta Street in Kingston, this little community theatrical group typically only puts on four productions each year. Its 2015 summer offerings will be its annual variety show on an as-yet-unspecified date in August and a July run of an Agatha Christie mystery, The Hollow. Barbara Melzer directs.
Performances will take place July 10 through 12 and 17 through 19. Tickets cost $20 general admission, $18 for seniors and children. To order, call 331-2476 or visit www.coachhouseplayers.org.
