theater

For 45 years, the Batavia Players have had to do without a place to call their own. Now, at last, they will have their own theater in the historic Batavia Industrial Center on Harvester Avenue.

According to board member Michelle Stamp, BP president Patrick Burk "put a lot of legwork into finding a physical space for us."

"It always helps the actors when they have a space to call their own," she adds.

"This is a really exciting thing for us to be doing," said Matt Mayne, BP board member and actor. "Hopefully, it will help to draw more attention to the building, which is definitely historic."

The location of the new theater is BIC's new Artisan Center, which the Mancuso Business Development Group wanted to establish in order to increase their own business activity.

The Artisan Center not only helps foster a relationship between business and the arts locally, but also affords artists of various stripes the chance to support each other.

"We will be doing things to encourage other artists," Burk said. "There will be areas in the Artisan Center in which they can work. And we'll also have people who come in regularly for BP events and shows, and we'll allow people to display their artwork for people to see."

Burk, Stamp and Mayne all believe that the coming change will prove beneficial to actors and their performances as well. One of the greatest challenges they have dealt with in the past was that of finding, in Mayne's words, "readily available space."

"Before, we would be in situations where we weren't sure what venue we'd be performing in," Stamp said. "Now we'll have our own space we can become accustomed to, we'll know what we have to work with, and we'll have all the materials at hand."

"Our types of performances will change," Burk said, "because we'll experience greater flexibility in terms of what we can do and when. We've had shows that we've wanted to do for quite some time that we'll now be able to fit into this venue."

The new theater's black-box format, which will have audience members seated to the right and left of the stage as well as in front, also offers fresh creative challenges and opportunities.

"This type of set up requires actors to do a little bit more, because people will be watching them from three sides instead of just one," Mayne said.

All BP performances -- beginning with the Spring 2010 show -- will be held in the Artisan Center except for the Summer Youth Theatre performances, which tend to require greater stage space. Please contact the Batavia Players for more information.

The following video was taken at Batavia High School on Friday, Jan. 8, before and after the Encore Theatre Arts performance of Disney's "High School Musical." There is another performance tonight at 7:30 and at 2 p.m. on Sunday at the BHS auditorium.

Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvrrisCIuSs

The Disney Channel's immensely popular "High School Musical" franchise comes to the local stage!

The cast of Encore! Theatre Arts' production of "High School Musical" at the Richmond Memorial Library - left to right: Alex Grayson (Chad), Brian Bogdan (Troy), Samara Brown (Gabriella), Justin Ryan (Ryan), Cara Ferraro (Kelsi), Kiera Davis (Taylor) and Tara Kaczorowski (Sharpay).

Performances aren't until January, but fans young and old got a sneak peak Tuesday night at the Richmond Memorial Library. The show's seven main cast members came running into the library's Gallery Room -- each fully in character -- to perform some of the play's songs, including "We're All in This Together."

Children and their families who attended could buy advance tickets to the show, and anyone who did so was rewarded with free HSM gift items.

"The kids love [HSM]," said Sandra Gillard, RML children's librarian and coordinator of the event, "so this seemed like a great cooperative venture."

The library has done similar preview programs with other groups in the past (see, for example, article on RML's "Cinderella" program at http://preview.tinyurl.com/ye5kecg), and Encore! Theatre Arts, being a fairly new organization, was interested in a similar collaborative effort.

ETA was founded in June by Eric Traugott, who is also producer and musical director for HSM.

"I wanted to make sure that there continued to be quality theater in Batavia and Rochester," Traugott said. "We have a lot of great groups already, but I still wanted to fill in the gaps and make sure there's always something available."

ETA has put on many performances in Batavia and in Rochester since its inception, but arguably none are comparable to HSM in popularity. The kids who came on Tuesday knew all of the words to the songs, and one young girl even commented that her basketball coach uses HSM lyrics to motivate his team.

Traugott and Director Lynda Hodgins hope people will be happy to see this nationwide phenomenon in the hands of local talent.

Performances of HSM will take place at Batavia High School from Jan. 7-10. For information on times, tickets sales and other details, please visit www.encoretheatrearts.com.

On Tuesday, December 1, tickets for Encore! Theatre Arts’ January production of Disney’s High School Musical will be on sale to the general public. Whether you’re buying a holiday gift for theatre goers or the East High “wildcat” in your life, tickets to Disney’s High School Musical are a perfect choice.

Tickets are available for $10 advanced sale at Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle (located at 8 Center St., Batavia) during regular business hours. After 3 p.m. on show dates, tickets will be available for $12 at the venue door.

The show premieres January 7-10, 2010 at Batavia High School (260 State St., Batavia).

For more information, hours or phone orders, call Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle at (585) 343-0548 or visit http://adammillertoyandbicycle.com.

The cast of "The Mysterious Case of the Missing Ring" (photo by Daniel Crofts)

“Terror!”

“Intrigue!”

“Romance, blooming like a lotus in the springtime…”

Entire cast in unison: “What?!?”

“Just kidding.”

There you have it — the opening lines of “The Mysterious Case of the Missing Ring," the latest play put on by the Drama Club at Batavia Middle School. The first performance took place last night.

The show was directed by Matthew Mayne, English/Drama teacher at Batavia High School, and starred 22 BMS students (grades 6-8) in a variety of comedic roles.

From a stage play written by Janie Downey Maxwell, “Missing Ring” centers around a Queen — played by 7^th grader Mica Pitcher — who has lost her royal ring and hires several competing teams of detectives to find it. All of the detectives — from the pratfall-prone, tap-dancing Oliver (Blake Carter) to the nervous, germaphobic Kat (Spencer Hubbard) — prove to be hysterically incompetent.

Mayne, who is certainly no stranger to local theater (see article about his recent Thornton Wilder production at http://tinyurl.com/yknj4bu), began work on the production of "Missing Ring" in late September. He took Maxwell’s play and made of it an opportunity for everyone involved to bring his/her own ideas to the performance.

"We added a lot to this,” Mayne said. “I added some characters that weren’t in the original script. That’s good for me as a director, because then the story has more characters to work with. And it’s good for the kids, because there are more roles available and they can add their own personal touches to the overall performance.”

Additionally, there were numerous jokes and humorous bits that were not in the script.  Mayne said the students “came up with a lot of ideas and put so much of their own unique humor into it.”

In so doing, they drew plentiful laughter from the audience.

Thursday night’s performance was well performed and well received, but the production was far from easy. Because of his extracurricular duties at BHS, Mayne could only devote three days a week to rehearsals. So with a total of only 20 rehearsals, the cast had to exercise a great deal of dedication in order to make the play work.

If this weren’t enough, a number of students became ill during the course of production and had to quit the play. There was even a last-minute cancellation the night before the performance, forcing one of the cast members to learn new lines overnight.

“I’m amazed at how much the kids care about the show,” Mayne said. “They really pulled themselves together.”

The play also featured set designs made by BMS teacher Lucille DiSanto and BMS students Riley Cole, Megan Draper and Kayla Gannon.

“Missing Ring” will have one more performance, this time intended exclusively for BMS students, faculty and staff; this will take place during the school day Monday.

The Stuart Steiner Theater at Genesee Community College has hosted many quality college productions over the years. However, these past three weeks, a younger group of thespians called it home.

They are members of GCC's theater camp who'll be performing “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” this Friday and Saturday.

The musical comedy features the beloved Peanuts characters from the late Charles M. Schulz’s comic strip. The gang's all here -- Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Sally, Schroeder and Snoopy, of course.

Maryanne Arena, director of Fine and Performing Arts at the college, says she picked the show because of its wide appeal and because it is a full-length musical.

“I felt we were ready to do a full-scale show,” she said. 

The 22 campers, who range in age from 8-16, say the past three weeks have been fun, but challenging. 

“It’s a great experience to be onstage, and it gives the kids the idea of what it’s really like," said Margaret Gayford, who is playing Lucy. "Everyone works really hard." 

This is the 13-year-old Warsaw native’s fourth year at the camp, and she says she enjoys seeing old friends year after year.

“We’re all like a family from working together so much,” Margaret said.

Spencer Hubbard, also 13, has the role of Linus. He says the camp has made him realize his love of live theater.

“I’ve learned that I really, really want to be an actor," Spencer said. "And now instead of acting on TV, I’d much rather do Broadway.”

“You shouldn’t be afraid to come out and show the world what you can do,” added 11-year-old Alix Young, with a grin, spreading her arms theatrically.

Alix has the part of Sally.

Arena says that she hopes the children will take away from the camp an appreciation for more than just the applause at the end of the show.

“I try to teach love for the process, not just the end result,"  said the director. "I try to teach respect for what goes into making a show.”

Performances of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” are Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at  2 p.m.. The college is located at 1 College Road in Batavia. Tickets are $5. For ticket reservations contact the Box Office at (585) 343-0055 x6814 or by email to BoxOffice@genesee.edu.

Genesee County's Summer Youth Theater Program will present Jesus Christ, Superstar at Batavia High School August 14, 15 and 16. Tickets are available during rehearsals at Batavia High School, at Roxy’s Music Store on 228 West Main Street in Batavia or at GO ART! at 201 East Main Street, Batavia. Tickets are $10 for Adults and $8 for Students and Senior Citizens. Call (585) 343-9721 for more information.

Thousands of live chickens spilled from their crates onto the state Thruway yesterday when a truck carrying nearly 10,000 of them overturned at the Route 190 off-ramp in Erie County. WBTA's Dan Fischer spoke with state police who said they had never seen anything like it. Dozens Thousands of chickens were killed. Many others were taken to the Erie County Society for the Prevention of Animal Cruelty. The truck driver was ticketed with unsafe lane change.

UPDATE (9:18am): The Buffalo News ran a full story on this sad crash—the photographs and video are unsettling. It turns out that not dozens but thousands of chickens died, either at the scene or later by euthanization. From that article:

Gina Browning, the public relations director of the SPCA in the Town of Tonawanda, described a grim scene of blood and broken eggs inside the SPCA facility.

“In 18 years [working at the SPCA], I can tell you I’ve never seen anything of this magnitude,” Browning said.

The facility closed 2 hours early to make room for the birds. SPCA officials used the auditorium and the garage to fit all the crates.

“It’s mortifying,” employee Julie Ruppel said. “It’s unimaginable what we’re seeing.”

In other news, Batavia's Rotary Club will be holding auditions for its upcoming musical production of Singing in the Rain. Auditions for the November performance will be held on September 3, 4 and 5 in the Batavia High School from 7:00 to 10:00pm.

Genesee County's Summer Youth Theater Program will present Jesus Christ, Superstar at Batavia High School August 14, 15 and 16. A cast of 70 actors from all over western New York have come together for this production originally produced by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice.

The story is based on the days following up to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It is told from the perspective of the Apostles and followers of Christ including Judas Iscariot. There is rarely any spoken word in this musical. The entire story is told in song.

Director Patrick Burk:

“This musical rock opera is full of phenomenal singing and choreography. We have been very fortunate over the past 12 years to be able to mount productions that include top quality music and dance.”

Jesus Christ, Superstar tickets are available during rehearsals at Batavia High School, at Roxy’s Music Store on 228 West Main Street in Batavia or at GO ART! at 201 East Main Street, Batavia. There is both reserved seating and general admission. Tickets are $10 for Adults and $8 for Students and Senior Citizens. For further information please call 585-343-9721.

Check back with The Batavian later this week for an exclusive behind-the-scenes video of the cast in rehearsal.

Patrick Burk finds The Batavian minutes after launch (amazing that we're already showing up in Google) and leaves the first comment.

He wants you to know about this:

Batavia Players, Inc. present: "COME BACK TO THE 5 & DIME, JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN" BY Ed Graczyk

May 8 - 10 at Stuart Steiner Theater, Genesee Community College, Batavia, New York

This is a fun filled PG - 13 Romp of the aftermath of the filming of the movie "GIANT" which starred James Dean in Marfa, Texas. The story takes place in the year 1955 AND 20 years later in 1975 and reunites the Disciples of James Dean. A touching, poignant play that looks at the best and worst of friendship and love. The Batavia production stars: Valeria Antonetty Shawnie Euren Lynda Hodgins Brittaney Lang Nikole Marone Peggy Marone Joan Meyer Patti Michalak and Introducing Jake Bortle as "Joe"

Tickets are $10 General Admission and $8 Students and Senior Citizens. Tickets can be ordered by calling 585-343-9721 or they can be purchased at Roxy's Music Store or GO ART! on Main Street.

UPDATE: We don't think we're in Google yet.  No search we do reveals thebatavian.com; we're not sure how Patrick found us.