Sneak previews

Bethel Woods is the newest, but scarcely the only, performing arts venue in the area. A myriad of local performance groups and arts centers provide extraordinary entertainment in a variety of settings. Here is a sampling of some of their summer offerings.

Bethel Woods Performing Arts Center

BETHEL, NY — Allan Gerry’s dream child—a world-class performing arts center on the site of the original Woodstock concert—has become reality, and will hold its sold-out opening performance on July 1. The New York Philharmonic with Audra McDonald and Lang Lang will headline. Doors open at 5:00 p.m. and the performance starts at 7:00 p.m.

Performances booked for later in the season include Ashlee Simpson and The Veronicas with Ashley Parker Angel on July 8, a stellar jazz festival weekend on July 22 and 23 featuring such greats as Wynton Marsalis, and a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young concert aptly scheduled for August 13, close to the anniversary of the 1969 Woodstock Concert.

Visit bethelwoodslive.org for complete information on the season.

Big Sky Productions

SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — Formed in 1996 by Sullivan County Dramatic Workshop alumna Carol Montana, this community theatre company, which puts on about three shows a year, has gained a reputation and a following of its own in its ten years of operation. See page 6C for this summer’s production, Neil Simon’s “I Ought to Be in Pictures.”

Delaware Valley Opera

NARROWSBURG AND LOCH SHELDRAKE, NY — The Delaware Valley Opera Company (DVO), now in its 20th season, is a rare Upper Delaware Valley gem, bringing big-city classical opera to our picturesque small-town venues. As it did last year, the DVO has teamed with the Hudson Opera Theatre, giving added depth to the pool of talent that enriches its performances. Productions will be held at both the Tusten Theatre in Narrowsburg and Sullivan County Community College’s Seelig Theatre in Loch Sheldrake.

Operas produced this season will be Handel’s “Giulio Cesare,” believed by many to be Handel’s finest opera, Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” and Verdi’s “Aida.”

The season will premiere, however, with something lighter and more modern: “Broadway á la Mode,” a Broadway revue accompanied by coffee, tea and pie á la mode at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 15 at the Tusten Theatre.

Visit dv-opera.org for complete information on the season.

Forestburgh Playhouse

FORESTBURGH, NY — The Forestburgh Playhouse, which staged its first production in 1947, is the oldest continuously operating summer theatre in New York State. Every summer, it features several adaptations of well-known Broadway plays and musicals, as well as a series of shows designed especially for younger audiences.

The 2006 season led off with “Carousel,” which premiered last weekend and will be performed at 8:00 p.m. Thursday, June 22 through Saturday, June 24, and at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 25. (See page 2C for our review.) Next up will be “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” from June 27 through July 9. Several more musicals and some classic Neil Simon will finish off the season for adults.

Children’s plays are shown on Thursdays and Saturdays at 10:00 a.m., and include the current “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Aesop’s Fables.”

Curtain times for the adult productions are Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 3:00 p.m.

Visit fbplayhouse.com for complete information on the season.

Mountain Laurel Performance Center

BUSHKILL, PA — The Mountain Laurel Performance Center has had a few financial stumbles, but it is back this year with some stellar headliners in a wide array of styles, including country music titan Hank Williams, Jr., the Boston Pops Orchestra, and the Dave Brubeck Quartet. There will even be a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance.”

Leading off will be a Broadway-for-kids show, “Dora the Explorer, Live!” on Saturday, July 8 at 3:00 and 6:00 p.m. and Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

Visit mountainlaurelcenter.com for complete information on their season.

NACL

HIGHLAND LAKE, NY — NACL (North American Cultural Laboratory) is one of our most inventive theatrical companies, drawing simultaneously on ancient thespian traditions and cutting-edge experimental forms. Now in its seventh year, the NACL Catskill Festival of New Theatre will present international avant-garde performers who bring new plays, physical theatre, devised performance, community interactive works, site-specific theatre, new media and performer training workshops to NACL’s theatre and artist residence.

The opening show, “American Value,” a joint effort by NACL, Carpetbag Brigade and Sojourn Theatre of Portland, Oregon, is an interactive affair that will explore what it means to be an American. It will be performed on Friday, July 14 and Saturday, July 15 at 8:00 p.m.

Other productions this season will include “Ffionn and the Three Sisters Meet Chaos,” a shadow-puppet play, scheduled for Sunday, July 23 at 3:00 p.m., and “Mudfire,” a family show produced in conjunction with the Carpetbag Brigade stilt-walking troupe that features fire-red stilt characters who emerge from subterranean realms, enchanting children and mystifying adults.

Visit nacl.org for complete information on their season.

Sullivan County Dramatic Workshop

SOUTH FALLSBURG, NY — The Sullivan County Dramatic Workshop, the area’s longest-standing community theatre company, stages its productions in the air-conditioned Nartoff-Wells Auditorium of the Rivoli Theatre. The company is coming off a strong 2005 season, in which its production of “Veronica’s Room” was one of only seven to be invited to the 46th Annual Theatre Association of New York State festival.

After debuting with the farce “Lend Me a Tenor,” the Workshop’s summer season will continue with “Over the River and Through the Woods” starting on Friday, July 7; “Steel Magnolias” starting on Saturday, July 8; and “The Wizard of Oz” in August. A special stage reading by Soprano’s star Joseph Castellana of an original work by Michael Corriere, “Hangar 1,” is planned for Saturday, July 29.

The website scdw.net will be updated with complete season information in the next few weeks. In the meantime call 845/434-7232 for more information.

Weekend of Chamber Music

JEFFERSONVILLE, NY — This group, now in its 13th year, not only puts on exquisite chamber music performances but also engages in community outreach, coaching local students and giving rehearsal-performances that allow the audience to interact with the musicians. Every year it presents a summer festival focused on a particular theme. Last year, the theme was a celebration of the work of contemporary classical composer Nicholas Maw. This year it’s a tribute to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on the 250th anniversary of his birth.

The Mozart festival starts on Sunday, July 9 in Jeffersonville, when the man himself (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) will show up and mix with the townfolk, and a free outdoor concert will be held at 2:00 p.m. next to the Presbyterian Church on Main Street. The festival will migrate around the county over the subsequent two weeks, showing up in Parksville, for instance, on Tuesday, July 11 at the Dead End Cafe for a 6:00 p.m. “Cafe Concert with Panache.” Most of the performances, however, will be held at the group’s new home in the Eddie Adams Barn in Jeffersonville.

Visit wcmconcerts.org for complete information on the season.

Wildflower music festival

WHITE MILLS, PA — The Dorflinger-Suydam Wildlife Sanctuary is yet another idyllic local setting that hosts concerts appealing to a wide spectrum of musical tastes. Concerts take place outdoors at the Wildflower Amphitheater on the grounds of the sanctuary, and guests are invited to bring lawn chairs and picnics. In the event of inclement weather, the performances are held at the air-conditioned auditorium at the Wallenpaupack High School.

Most performances are on Saturday and begin at 6:00 p.m., though this year two 1:00 p.m. Sunday performances have been added to the schedule.

The season will kick off with Montana Skies, an unusual pairing of cello and guitar playing a range of music from classical to flamenco, on Saturday, June 24. Other performers on this year’s schedule include the River City Brass Band; flamenco guitarist Jesse Cook on Saturday, July 8; New Orleans’ Own Dukes of Dixieland on Saturday, July 15; and the Tommy Dorsey orchestra on Saturday, August 5.

Visit dorflinger.org for complete information on the season.