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Magnifique! The Baker’s Wife now on stage at the Ridgefield Theater Barn

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The set of the Baker’s Wife

The Ridgefield Theater Barn presents another outstanding musical. The Baker’s Wife is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and the book by Joseph Stein, based on the 1938 French film of the same name by Marcel Pagnol and Jean Giono. The musical premiered in the West End of London in 1989 for a short run but, toured the United States but unfortunately it was  never produced on Broadway.  Now  it is  on stage at the Ridgefield Theater Barn in Ridgefield Ct.

Stephen Schwartz  has an impressive resume with his work on such hits as  Godspell, Pippin, and Wicked.  He has also penned the music and lyrics for movies such as The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, The Prince of Egypt and Enchanted.

The story of The Baker’s Wife is set in a small remote village in rural France that has recently lost its only baker.  The villagers are miserable without fresh bread until Aimable (Joe Harding) the baker and his much younger wife, Genevieve (Claire Simard) move to the village and open a bakery.   The villagers rejoice but the audience soon learns about the tensions and issues between many of the citizens.

It is not long before Genevieve realizes that she is not happy with her life and wonders why she is in this village married to man many years older.  When a new man comes into her life, her world, the village, and the bakery is turned upside town.   She runs away with her new love and the bakery ceases operation.   The villagers now have a common cause and they rally to the baker and work together to reunite the baker and his wife.

The two act, two hour production moves along quickly and the audience is drawn into the story immediately.   The songs are catchy and memorable, and the vocal performances by the large 17 member cast are captivating.   The set design is beautiful and the band (now located to the side of the stage) was wonderful.  Direction by Rena Gavigan was first rate and the entire production was high quality that one would see in a much larger venue.    Music direction is by Sarah Fox.

The show runs through June 22, 2024 . Check out their website for the 2024/25 season as well as donate to the Barn as it has recently undergone many improvements.

The Ridgefield Theater Barn https://ridgefieldtheaterbarn.org/

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The Foreigner: an award winning comedy presented by the Armonk Players

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The Armonk Players are presenting on stage  the comedy “The Foreigner”  by Larry Shue now through Saturday December 8th 2018.  The play is a hilarious comedy which had the audience roaring with laughter and applause throughout the two act two hour performance.

The play which has had two off Broadway runs as well as regional theater productions is set in a lodge somewhere in Georgia.  Here we meet Charlie, an Englishman who has tagged along with his friend  Sgt. Froggy Le Sueur of the British army who has business nearby at an American army base.  Charlie is a quiet, nervous proofreader of a science fiction magazine, and has lost all confidence in himself due to his wife’s cheating ways.   He rather be alone at this time, so Froggy hatches a scheme where Charlie will act like he cannot speak or understand English and the owners of the Lodge and the other guests will give him peace and quiet.  Quite the opposite happens.  The owner of the Lodge, Betty Meeks is  fascinated by meeting a real “foreigner” and dotes on him.  Heiress Catherine Simms begins to confide her secrets to him thinking he cannot understand her.  And her brother, the somewhat dim witted Ellard, who everyone ignores, takes a shining to the new stranger and he to him and insists on teaching him English!

Charlie ( Keith Young) is hilarious not only with his body language and facial expressions but his use of his imaginary “foreign” language which even includes references to science fiction names and terms. The peaceful Lodge and its occupants reveal their secrets to their foreign guest including the fact that Catherine’s fiancé, Reverend David Lee is secretly a leader of the local Klan and wants to take over the Lodge and turn into their headquarters.  Can the meek and withdrawn Charlie come to the rescue of Betty, Ellard, Catherine and the Lodge?  Only the audience will know as Act Two comes to its hilarious and explosive conclusion.

A comedy like The Foreigner is a success due to a number of vital factors including the quality of the script, the actors themselves and their comedic timing, and of course the directors ability to ensure that the lines of the actors are paced correctly to deliver maximum comedic effect.  All those factors are present in the Armonk Players production.  An excellent ensemble cast of Chris Jamison as Betty Meeks, Richard Lauria as Ellard, Cassie White as Catherine, Jeff Schlotman as Froggy LeSueur, Zachary Curtin as Rev. David Lee, Scott Brannon as Klansman Owen Musser, and Keith Young as Charlie.  Directed by Pia Haas who expertly guided this talented cast in this fast paced, lively two hour comedy.  The audience responded with a standing ovation at the conclusion.

This was our first time seeing the Armonk Players and we were very impressed by the quality of the production, lighting, sound and excellent set design.

The show runs through December 8th.   For more information and tickets:

The Armonk Players

https://www.armonkplayers.org/schedule.html

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From the creator of House of Cards: “Farragut North” at the Ridgefield Theater Barn

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Playwright Beau Willimon, the creator of “House of Cards” (Netflix hit series), delivers a powerful and timely play about the inner workings of presidential campaign.  The work was influenced by his own personal experience of working on both US Senate and Presidential campaigns.

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Farragut North premiered in 2008 at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York and would become the basis for the screenplay for the motion picture “Ides of March“.  That screenplay was written by Willimon, George Clooney and Grant Heslov (The Monuments Men).  The play has now come to the Ridgefield Theater Barn and will be performed through October 1, 2016

The play is set during a presidential campaign in the days leading up to the Iowa Caucuses.  The audience meets many of the main characters in Scene One including Stephen (Jack Tynan) they young and blindly ambitious press secretary, his boss Paul (Fred Rueck) the seasoned campaign manager, Ida (Julie Zelman) the crafty and ambitious New York Times reporter who will do whatever it takes for a story, and Ben (Ryan Wenke) the young reserved staff assistant who is kept at a distance by his seasoned superiors.  We learn in this scene both the intrigue and the behind the scenes tactics of a national campaign and how the campaign can manipulate the press and craft the candidates message to serve its needs.

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Scene Two of Farragut North is a critical scene where Stephen meets secretly with Tom (Steven A Miller) who is the Campaign Manager of his rival.  In the meeting in a quiet restaurant outside Des Moines, we learn the dirty secrets of misinformation and poll manipulation by the other candidate.  The crafty Tom leads Stephen to believe that his candidates campaign is all but over and he should jump ship and join his team.  Stephen who is both young and ruthlessly ambitious has had his life turned upside down by these revelations and he begins to question his own future.

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The political intrigue and games continue for the rest of the play with the appearance of Molly (Margaret Fegan) who is a young amorous intern who is learning more than just national campaigns.  It is her interactions with Stephen that brings to light issues of loyalty, fidelity, betrayal and honesty both on a personal level and in the campaign.

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There are excellent performances all around and direction by Cathy Fitzgerald Linder is first rate.

NOTE:  The play contains adult language and subject matter and is not suitable for minors.

Tickets:       $24  ( a real bargain!!)    $20 for seniors, students and veterans

Seating in the 70 seat theater is Cabaret style at tables and doors open 1 hour before showtime.  You can bring your own food, wine and snacks to enjoy prior to the show.

For tickets and information:

Ridgefield Theater Barn 

37 Halpin Lane Ridgefield Ct

http://ridgefieldtheaterbarn.org/

 

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