"I love Love!"

Salem Theatre Company opened its production of Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing on Thursday, and it is one of my favorite productions to take their stage.  Wonderfully cast with Joseph O'Meara playing the romantic Henry and Sarah Carlin playing his second wife, Annie, the play takes us on a journey through fact and fiction, love and divorce, London and Glasgow.

Will Neely as Billy and Sarah Carlin as Annie in The Real Thing

Through two acts of questioning what love is, and why, The Real Thing left me with a smile and a great sense of delight to have a local theater that continues to bring great plays to their intimate stage.

Not being a theater critic by trade, I don't dare delve any deeper, lest I inadvertently provide a spoiler.  I assure you, however, that this poetic, romantic play offers a grand examination of love through beautifully articulated analysis. 

The Real Thing at Salem Theatre Company
Through February 18
Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 PM
Sundays at 3:00 PM
Adults: $22, Seniors $18, Students $12

An Empty Plate

I got to go to opening night of the "comic tragedy," An Empty Plate in the Cafe du Grand Boeuf at Salem Theatre Company last night, and it was indeed tragic, and it was indeed funny. 

Sebastian Konarski as Antoine, Andrew Winson as Victor, and Dann Anthony Maurno as Claude.

The Salem Theatre Company consistently produces plays that are a delight to watch.  I became so attached to the characters in An Empty Plate, I was sad to see the curtain close at the end of the second act.  I wanted more!

An Empty Plate in the Cafe du Grand Boef is on stage through December 17. It is poignant, funny, and at times absurd - a lovely respite from the holiday chaos swirling outside. 

Here is the show description from SalemTheatre.com: 

Billed as “a comic tragedy in seven courses,” An Empty Plate in the Café du Grand Boeuf takes place in the title’s café. No menu necessary at this, the world's greatest restaurant, because they have everything! On this hot summer night, the staff awaits the imminent arrival of Victor, the Café's owner and sole patron. But when "Monsieur" returns from the bullfights in Madrid, disheveled and morose, his wish is simple: to die of starvation at his own table. The frantic staff, whose very lives depend on Victor's appetite, try all means to change his mind, but to no avail. Finally, they make a last-ditch plea: out of respect for their life's work, will he let them prepare one final meal—provided they leave it in the kitchen? Instead they will describe it, course by course, over a series of empty platters. Victor reluctantly consents, and the "feast of adjectives and adverbs" begins, celebrating the joys of cooking, sex, bullfighting and the collected works of Ernest Hemingway. The Boston Globe calls it "…an absurdist tragicomedy…that manages to pay homage to Hemingway and Beckett in an…often hilarious existential romp."


Pair the play with one of the Theatre's restaurant partners, and you have a great date night.  The shopping can wait until tomorrow!

Upcoming Music on the Salem Theater Company Stage

MASON DARING & JEANIE STAHL 

On Saturday, November 12, STC features two beloved area singer-songwriters, Mason Daring and Jeanie Stahl. Film composer Mason Daring has explored many paths on the way to his current career - entertainment lawyer, folk singer, cabbie and truck driver, commercial director, and potential rock star among them. But his professional life has always returned to the world of music. He has scored 16 films for director John Sayles and 57 other scores, including the films Eight Men Out, The Opposite of Sex, Earth to the Moon, Music of the Heart, and themes for the PBS programs NOVA and Frontline. Joining Mason is Jeanie Stahl his good friend and collaborator on the Coffeehouse Circuit. Besides collaborating on two albums -- Sweet Melodies in the Night, Heartbreak and The Early Years, Stahl and Daring collaborated vocally on the scores for several of the John Sayles-directed films. The Early Years, released in 1992, samples tracks from their two albums and movie soundtracks. In addition to performing frequently at New England folk music clubs and coffeehouses, the duo periodically joined with Bill Staines, Guy Van Duser and Billy Novick in the folk super-group, The Passim All-Stars. Tickets for Mason Daring & Jeanie Stahl are $25.

Tickets are available online at salemtheatre.com/tickets or may be reserved for pick-up at the door (cash and checks only at the Box Office) by calling the Salem Theatre Company at 978-790-8546 or e-mailing info@salemtheatre.com. Online ticketing ends 24 hours in advance of each performance. The STC Box Office is open 30 minutes prior to every performance.

TRIPPING LILY

On Friday, November 18 at 7:30, Tripping Lily returns to the STC Theater. Their sold-out STC show in April of this year warranted a quick return by many in the audience that night. With Demetrius Becrelis (guitar/vocals/ukulele), brother Alex Becrelis (mandolin/vocals), Monica Rizzio (fiddle/vocals/ukulele), and Laird Boles (stringed bass), Tripping Lily blends a unique sound of traditional and contemporary genres. A group of musicians who draw their inspiration from within, Tripping Lily has explored songwriting with their personal and professional passion. Touted as fresh, energetic, and alive, Tripping Lily’s pop-rock groundwork is cross-fertilized with folk music and cutting edge vocal harmonies. The band’s unique ability to absorb traditional music while speaking to the here and now is proof of their versatility as contemporary musicians. This young quartet might be described as a string band with pop music sensibilities, or perhaps a cutting edge vocal quartet with acoustic instruments. With two Independent Music Award nominations, being featured on Showtime’s New Hit Series The Big C, and hitting number one for several weeks on Boston’s Folk Station WUMB - it is no wonder why the Boston Globe called the band “…..a genre unto itself.” Tickets for Tripping Lily are $18 in advance and $20 at the door.

Tickets are available online at salemtheatre.com/tickets or may be reserved for pick-up at the door (cash and checks only at the Box Office) by calling the Salem Theatre Company at 978-790-8546 or e-mailing info@salemtheatre.com. Online ticketing ends 24 hours in advance of each performance. The STC Box Office is open 30 minutes prior to every performance.

Cravings at STC this week

A new show opens at the Salem Theatre Company this week, and it looks really funny, and poignant, and good.  Cravings: Songs of Hunger & Satisfaction is a cabaret with food by Belle Linda Halpern runs this Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 PM and Sunday at 3:00 PM.  

For more information, visit SalemTheatre.com or find STC on Facebook.

(If you don't see the video in this email, you can watch it on Vimeo.)

Shooting Star at STC

For the next two weeks, we have the perfect answer to the question, "What should we do after dinner?"  We are lucky in Salem to have excellent local theater, and for the next two weeks our Salem Theatre Company is raising the curtain on the romantic comedy Shooting Star. 

Here's STC's information on Shooting Star:

The Salem Theatre Company will produce Steven Dietz’s romantic comedy Shooting Star, as part of their Music & More Series for eight performances only from August 3 to Sunday August 14. The production is directed by STC Artistic Director, John Fogle. The two person play features Sarah Carlin of Beverly and Dave Rich of Marblehead. Salem’s Emma Cavaliere will serve as production Stage Manager.

Snowed in overnight at a middle-America airport, college lovers Elena Carson and Reed McAllister have an unexpected and life-altering reunion. Elena has stayed true to her hippie-ish, counter-culture path, while Reed has gone predictably corporate and conservative. As the night gives way to laughter, banter, remembrance and alcohol, Elena and Reed revisit a past that holds more surprises than they imagined—and a present that neither of them could have predicted.

The production runs from August 3 to Sunday August 14 at the STC Theater, 90 Lafayette Street in Salem. Performances are Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 5:00 p.m. Tickets are available online now at www.salemtheatre.com or can be reserved for pick up at the box office by calling 978-790-8546, or emailing info@salemtheatre.com. Online ticketing ends 24 hours in advance of each performance.

Tripping Lily at the STC Theatre

Here's another reason we love the Salem Theatre Company - when their stage is dark, they use it for concerts and comedy - which they aptly call their "Music and More Series." 

Tripping Lily is worth checking out on Saturday, April 9th.  You can listen to a few of their songs at TrippingLily.com.  Here's the info provided by STC: 

Called “a genre unto itself” by the Boston Globe, the group takes the stage for one night only at Salem Theatre Company’s STC Theater, 90 Lafayette Street on Saturday, April 9, at 7:30PM.  Tickets are just $15 and are available now at www.salemtheatre.com/tickets, or you may reserve tickets for pick-up at the door by calling 978-790-8546 or e-mailing info@salemtheatre.com.  Only cash and checks are accepted at the box office.

Tripping Lily’s music has been featured on Showtime’s “The Big C” and went to #1 on WUMB in Boston.  The quartet also appeared at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in 2010.

Described as a string band with pop music sensibilities, or perhaps a cutting edge vocal quartet with acoustic instruments, the group features Demetrius Becrelis (guitar/vocals/ukulele), Alex Becrelis (mandolin/vocals), Monica Rizzio (fiddle/vocals/ukulele), and Laird Boles (stringed bass). 

Touted as fresh, energetic, and alive, Tripping Lily’s pop-rock groundwork is cross-fertilized with folk music and cutting edge vocal harmonies. The band’s unique ability to absorb traditional music while speaking to the here and now is proof of their versatility as contemporary musicians.

Dead Man's Cell Phone

An incessantly ringing cell phone in a quiet café. 

A stranger at the next table who has had enough. 

And a dead man—with a lot of loose ends.

Dead Man's Cell Phone is our latest must-see show at the Salem Theatre Company.  Written by Sarah Ruhl and directed by John Fogle, the play has been called, “a fresh and humorous look at the times we live in” by Variety and “vital” in its “lyrical and biting takes on how we behave” by the Washington Post.

Ruhl’s play is satirical look at how we “connect” in today's wired world. It is the comic odyssey of a lonely woman who, looking for love in all the wrong places, embarks on an adventure involving smuggling, international intrigue and time-travel… and triumphs!

The production will feature an original score by Salem-based Richard Lewis (Machine 475).

 

The show runs March 10 - April 2 at the STC Theater at 90 Lafayette Street in Salem, MA

Thursday - Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday at 3:00 p.m.

Adults: $22.00

Seniors: $18.00

Students: $12.00

Tickets on sale now.

Margaret Edson's Wit in Salem

It has not been an easy week in Salem.  Last week we painted the town yellow for Cervical Cancer awareness, and this week the Salem Theatre Company tackles Stage 4 Metastatic Ovarian Cancer (that just feels like these should be capitalized) when it opens Margaret Edson's Wit, directed by Sarah Carlin, tonight.  I'm a bit nervous to ask what next week will bring.

Mary Niederkorn as Vivian Bearing, PhD. in Wit

I am so happy I got to see Wit last night.  The Pulitzer Prize winning play has been on my wish list since it first took the theater world by storm in the late 90s, and I am so glad that I was able to see it last night.  The performances in Salem Theatre Company's production of Wit were beautifully delivered. 

Wit is true art because each personal perspective is going to leave the theater with a different opinion. Some cheer life, some are saddened by death, some find a renewed frustration from diagnoses and treatments that they or the people they love have wrestled with. 

The cast transports you into the life of Vivian Bearing, PhD, led by the wonderful Mary Niederkorn. She connects with the audience in a way that is natural and inviting, bringing us all that much closer to her story.  I always enjoy Stephen Cooper, who plays Dr. Kelekia, on the stage at Salem Theater Company.  As I said, I've never seen Wit before, so I can't compare these performances to others, but I can assure you that I was entranced by the story and convinced by the performances.  The intimate size and nature of the Salem Theatre Company makes emotional connections with these actors unavoidable. We laugh, we learn, we feel awkward and sad and scared. 

So, go see Wit. Not because it is going to give you a couple of hours of mindless escape, but because it will make you feel and think and, I hope, toast life. 

Wit opens on January 20 with a special opening night performance to benefit Hospice of the North Shore and Salem Theatre Company. All tickets to the Opening Night show are $35.  It then runs through February 12 with Thursday-Saturday shows at 7:30 PM and Sunday shows at 3:00 PM. 

On Thursday, January 27, there is a post-show talk-back (question/answer session) with the cast and director.  Sunday, January 23 at 3:00 PM, they are allowing you to "Pay what you will" for the performance.

Other than Opening Night and January 23, tickets are $22 adults, $18 seniors, and $12 students.
Visit SalemTheatre.com for more information.

Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Wit runs January 20-February 12.

STC's Season Eight - themed By & About: Women in Contemporary Theatre - will present Margaret Edson's powerful drama  Wit as the next main stage offering.

Termed "moving, funny, and wise" by the London Times and "among the finest plays of the decade" by The Wall Street Journal,  Wit is a poignant look at love and knowledge, grace and redemption, and living and dying. 

   

In 1999,  Wit won both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the New York Drama Critics' Circle's Best New Play award.  

It has been called "exquisite...exhilarating, and harrowing" by Newsday..."moving, enthralling, and challenging" by the New York Daily News...and "a one-of-a-kind experience: wise, thoughtful, witty and wrenching" by The New York Times.  

"A dazzling and humane play you will remember till your dying day," raved John Simon of New York magazine.

  

Wit features Stephen Cooper of Marblehead, Seby Konarski of Middleton, Mitch Kyle, Andrew Winson, Paul Morin, and Sue Kirby of Salem, Mary Niederkorn of Needham, Cheryl Quinones of Swampscott, and Libby Schap of Newton

Wit at the Salem Theatre Company, 90 Lafayette Street, performs January 20 - February 12, Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 3:00pm. 

Tickets are $22 for adults, $18 for seniors (60+), and $12 for students.  

Tickets are available now at www.salemtheatre.com and may be purchased online up to 24 hours prior to the performance.  

Tickets may also be reserved for pick up at the Box Office by calling 978-790-8546 or by e-mailing info@salemtheatre.com. 

A One-Woman Show Worth Checking Out!

STC welcomes the irrepressible Zehra Fazal in her one-woman show, Headscarf and the Angry Bitch, for four performances on November 11, 12, and 13 at 7:30pm and November 14 at 3:00pm.

Fazal’s original show is just closing a wildly popular run in New York City, where the New York Times called it “animated” and “engaging.” NYTheatre.com says “Anyone who is a Hyphenated-American will related to it…Fazal is a formidable artist” and Backstage.com raved “Warm, wise, and very funny…delicious theater.”

Fazal’s character, Zed Headscarf, is a “Muslim Weird Al,” who takes the audience on a folk-rock comedy exploration of faith, love, sex, and what it means to grow up Muslim in America. “The future of American-Islamic relations could hinge on this one-woman show,” writes City Paper of Washington, D.C.

Tickets are $20 and are available online at www.salemtheatre.com or at the door.

Something different at Salem Theatre Co.

Salem Theatre Company and Exquisite Corpse Dance Theatre
present The Book of Lilith

Salem Theatre Company and Exquisite Corpse Dance Theatre present an original theatrical bellydance production The Book of Lilith, based on the story of the ancient Middle Eastern goddess and demoness. From her beginnings as handmaiden to the Great Goddess, initiating men into Her mysteries through sacred eros, to her appearance as First Woman in the Garden of Eden - come with Lilith as she flies across the ages through dance and artistry.

Exquisite Corpse Dance Theatre is led by Artistic Director Aepril Schaile and also includes, for this full-length premiere performance, dancers Amelia Kurpeski, Libby Rowe, Shaina Rae, and Samara Martin.

Performances are September 3 and 4 at 7:30pm and September 5 at 3:00pm at the STC Theatre, 90 Lafayette Street in Salem.

Tickets are $25 and are available for purchase online at www.salemtheatre.com or at the door (if available).

Six ways to raise your spirits in Salem this weekend

Usually I compile my list of Six in Salem as a recommendation, a thought, food for a whim. But this weekend's programming in Salem is SO OUTSTANDING that I'm writing this one as a "don't miss these six" list.

There's a definite buzz in the air, and the humidity is low, which makes it easier to hear (feel?!) the buzz! Salem's hoppin', so come on over.

1. Essex Street Fair, presented by the Salem Chamber of Commerce. It takes two words to get my family to the Essex Street Fair: Kettle. Corn. But there's oh-so-much more to it than that. Crafts, jewelry, paintings, stained glass, street performers, face painters, strolling musicians, and fun, fun, fun. The Essex Street fair stretches the length of Essex Street from Hawthorne Boulevard to Washington Street, and the hours have been stretched this year to 10am-6pm on Saturday and 10am-6pm on Sunday.

2. Tour the visiting tall ship Peacemaker, docked at Central Wharf until August 22. Tours of this 400-ton barquentine are free to the public between 10am-9pm on the weekends and 10am-7pm during the week. Central Wharf is part of the Salem Maritime National Historic Site. nps.gov/sama

3. The Ninth Annual Phillips House Car Meet is on Chestnut Street this Sunday from 12pm-3pm. There will be a great assortment of cars, including the two Pierce-Arrows and Model A Ford that are part of the Phillips' collection. This is a free event.

4. Improv on the Bricks! Join the Salem Theatre Company for their 3rd annual improv comedy bash. Bring a lawn chair! Bring padding! This is the perfect way to add hilarity to your Saturday. Saturday and Sunday at 3:30pm. (It's worth noting that Maria's Sweet Somethings is RIGHT THERE, next to the bricks, selling dozens of excellent flavors of ice cream. And it's a known fact that ice cream is the perfect accompaniment for comedy.)

5. Crowninshield-Bentley Open House at the Peabody Essex Museum. In conjunction with Heritage Days, the PEM is offering free public tours of the Crowninshield Bentley House every hour on the hours. Period kids games will be presented in the yard ona drop in basis. The PEM opened the 1727 Crowninshield-Bentley House to public tours in June of this year.

6. Eat outside. Have you seen the weather forecast? Find a table street-side at Gulu Gulu Cafe, Caffe Graziani, Green Land Cafe, Asahi, The Lobster Shanty, or Rockafellas and enjoy great food and libation while watching the world walk by. Or, find a table waterside at The Black Lobster, Finz, Capts, or Victoria Station and relax while watching the tide change and the boats make their way in and out of Salem. Ahhhhhh.

These are my pics for the weekend, and there are many more events to choose from. Visit the calendar on Salem.org for more inspiration, or just head down to Salem and see where your mood takes you. It's going to be a great weekend! Enjoy.

STC presents "Hair"

Salem Theatre Company is presenting Hair this weekend and next at the Marblehead Little Theater. Last night the theater was filled with a who's who of local personalities, theater enthusiasts, parents and STC sponsors. We were all given flowers by the cast as we entered the theater, a sure sign that an interactive experience would ensue.

And it did.

The cast, STC's largest ensemble according to North Shore ArtThrob, filled the space with the song, dance, incense and (fake, of course) marijuana smoke. We were transported back to the Sixties in the bat of an eye. Cast members worked the aisles, hung out during intermission, and were in character, interacting with the audience prior to the curtain going up. It was a great be-in!

The dawning of the age of Aquarius is a great excuse to take a trip to Marblehead and Let the Sun Shine In. Wear comfortable shoes - you may be dancing in the aisles by the end of the show!

Hair, Directed by Catherine M. Bertrand
Musical direction by Karen Gahagan
STC @ Marblehead Little Theater, 12 School Street, Marblehead (Map)
June 2- 12
Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun @ 7:30
Saturday matinee @ 2:00
Buy tickets online here
Adults $20 advance, $25 at the door
Students and Seniors $15 advance, $20 at door

Join the cast and directors for Free Q&A after the show on Thursday, June 10