DISPATCH - OCT. 22, 2013
NEW YORK CITY, NY-
Bay Street Theatre celebrated the arrival of its new artistic director, Scott Schwartz, with a special welcome party held recently at a private club in New York City. The party was hosted by Bonnie Comley and Stewart Lane and was held by way of introducing Schwartz to Bay Street Theatre patrons and members of the Broadway community of actors, directors and producers.
Schwartz is an internationally acclaimed artist whose work has been seen on and off Broadway, across the United States, in Great Britain, and Asia. Over the past 20 years, Schwartz has built a reputation for pursuing and embracing a wide range of works for the stage, from new plays to classics to musicals and opera. Plays, under Schwartz's direction, have a habit of winning multiple awards.
The Welcome Party drew around 50 Bay Street patrons and VIPs, many with ties to the Hamptons and New York City theater worlds. Guests included Broadway producers Bill Gaden, CFO Imagen (Rodgers & Hammerstein), Dr. Bruce Horten; Dr. Sarah Schlesinger, Professor at the Rockefeller University and Elie Hirschfeld, Tony winning Broadway producer and real estate developer; Elisa Stein, widow of Joseph Stein, who helped bring Enter Laughing to Bay Street in 2011. She attended with her daughter, playwright and author Jenny Lyn Bader.
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Stewart Lane (host), Scott Schwartz, and Bonnie Comley (host).
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Paul Cadell, Bill Gaden, and Ana R. Daniel.
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Marcia Milgrom Dodge, who directed and choreographed Bay Street’s production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in August, attended with her husband Anthony. Other Broadway producers in attendance included Barbara Whitman and Jayson Raitt, as well as patrons Ada Samuelsson, Jim Peck and Bruce Sloan.
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Jerry Cohen, Stewart Lane, and Elie Hirschfeld.
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The Bay Street Board of Trustees turned out in force. They included Ana R. Daniel, Chair; Adrienne Cohen, Robert Florio, Lance Gotko, Gary Hygom, Producer, Tracy Mitchell, Executive Director, Ken Searles and Pia Zankel.
Dr. Bruce Horton and Tracy Mitchell.
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Jimmy Zankel, Scott Schwartz, and Pia Zankel.
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In true theater style, the evening included live entertainment. This included a performance by Tony nominee Jeff Blumenkrantz, who sang two self-composed numbers while playing piano. Blumenkrantz is one of two actors in Murder for Two, which is directed by Schwartz and appeared at Second Stage Uptown over the summer.
The musical murder mystery opens tomorrow (Oct. 23) at New World Stages with Opening Night set for Nov. 6. Blumenkrantz is joined by Brett Ryback in the two-cast murder mystery comedy. One actor investigates the murder while the other plays all of the suspects. In an added twist, both actors play the piano.
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Alyssa Renzi, Lorien Reese, Diana Aceti, Tracy Mitchell, and Bonnie Comley.
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The celebration to welcome Schwartz to the Bay Street family is being extended to the public through a special Holiday Theatre trip to benefit Bay Street's educational programs. Patrons are invited to see a special presentation of Murder for Two on Thursday, Nov. 21, at 8 p.m. at New World Stages. A Q & A with Schwartz and the cast members follows the performance.
Schwartz’s tenure at Bay Street will inaugurate a new vision for the theater beginning with the 2014 season, to ensure an exciting and sustainable future for our cultural community, according to Bay Street.
Schwartz is an internationally acclaimed artist whose work has been seen on and off Broadway, across the United States, in Great Britain, and Asia. Over the past 20 years, Schwartz has built a reputation for pursuing and embracing a wide range of works for the stage, from new plays to classics to musicals and opera. Plays, under Schwartz's direction, have a habit of winning multiple awards.
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Daniel Marsili and Bruce T. Sloane.
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Schwartz directed the longest running one-woman show in Broadway history, Golda’s Balcony, William Gibson’s one woman play about Golda Meir, starring Tovah Feldshuh (Lucille Lortel Award: Best Actress, Best Solo Performance, Drama Desk Awards).
Schwartz directed the off-Broadway musical hit Bat Boy: The Musical at the Union Square Theatre (2001 Drama Desk Award Nomination: Outstanding Director of a Musical, 2001 Outer Critics Circle Award, and Lucille Lortel Award: Best Off-Broadway Musical).
He also directed Jonathan Larson's tick, tick... Boom! at the Jane Street Theatre (2002 Drama Desk Award Nomination: Outstanding Director of a Musical), Kafka’s The Castle at Manhattan Ensemble Theatre (2002 Outer Critics Circle Nomination, Outstanding Director of a Play), Rooms: A Rock Romance at New World Stages and most recently Murder for Two at Second Stage Uptown.
Schwartz directed Séance on a Wet Afternoon starring Lauren Flanigan at New York City Opera, as well as its world premiere at Opera Santa Barbara for which he won a Santa Barbara Indy Award as Best Director.
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Adrianne Cohen, Ana R. Daniel, Scott Schwartz, and Jerry Cohen.
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A graduate of Harvard University, Schwartz is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. He is an Associate Artist at the Alley Theatre in Houston, and his work has been seen at major regional theaters across the country. This includes ACT, Alliance Theatre, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Dallas Theatre Center, Denver Center Theatre Company, Goodspeed Opera House, La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, Papermill Playhouse, Philadelphia Theatre Company and Westport Country Playhouse among others.
BASIC FACTS: Bay Street Theatre is located at 1 Bay Street, Sag Harbor, NY 11963. www.baystreet.org.
The special benefit presentation of Murder for Two takes place on Thursday, Nov. 21, at 8 p.m. at New World Stages. Following the performance will be a Q & A with Schwartz and the cast members. Tickets are $125. For reservations, contact Diana Aceti at [email protected] or 631.725.0818. Proceeds benefits Bay Street Theatre's educational programs.
Bay Street Theatre is offering special rates for its 2014 Mainstage Season through Oct. 31. For details, call the Box Office, Tuesday through Saturdays, at 631-725-9500.
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