April Theatre/Highlights
4/17,18,19- V-Day Woodstock presents THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES, as a benefit for Family of Woodstock, at the Colony Café, Woodstock—The phenomenon that is The Vagina Monologues—most recently highlighted by the “scandalous” use of the “c” word on national television by TVM performer Jane Fonda—started out quite modestly, as a one-woman play, written by and starring Eve Ensler at the off-Broadway Westside Theatre. After interviewing 200 women about their views about sex, relationships, and violence against women, Ensler put together a series of monologues that at first was meant to “celebrate the vagina,” but as time has gone by, with multiple readings worldwide by both celebrities and regular women, the piece had been added to and adapted in keeping with current events. Ensler has taken the popularity a step further, launching V-Day, a non-profit that raises money and awareness for women’s anti-violence groups, using performances of TVM, usually between February 1st- April 1st. This particular performance benefits Family of Woodstock, which provides a network of services for those in need: providing shelter, emergency food pantries, court advocates, counseling, hotlines, and child care support, among other things. Three nights, two good causes, fourteen local women talking about You Know Whats. Don’t miss it. Colony Café, 22 Rock City Rd., www.colonycafe.com, www.familyofwoodstock.org, 845.679.5342. Fr/Sa 4/17 &18: 7:30 PM; Su 4/19: 2:30 PM
Th 4/23, Sa 4/25- PRI’s THIS AMERICAN LIFE-LIVE at Time and Space Limited, Hudson—Ira Glass’ radio show—now also a television show on Showtime—This American Life has become a coast-to-coast favorite with its unique blend of stories and essays that tend to center on certain themes, often quite loosely. From the website,
“We do these stories that are like movies for radio. There are people in dramatic situations. Things happen to them. There are funny moments and emotional moments and—hopefully—moments where the people in the story say interesting, surprising things about it all.” Though journalistic and documentary at times, the stories are compelling and often poignant, with tasteful incidental music interspersed (visit www.thisamericanlife.org for samples and podcasts). This rare event has Glass and some of his popular contributors performing “for the big screen,” broadcast live via satellite in HD and Cinema Surround Sound. Time and Space Limited, 434 Columbia St., www.timeandspace.org, 518.822.8448. Th 4/23: 7:30 PM (live), Sa 4/25: 2 PM (replay)
4/24 through 5/3- 4th Wall Productions presents INTO THE WOODS (musical), by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, at Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center, Poughkeepsie—Though much maligned in recent years—no doubt thanks to Andrew Lloyd Webber—the modern-day musical can always count on one particular writer/composer to keep the flame, as it were. Stephen Sondheim’s fantastic run of work: Gypsy, West Side Story (both as lyricist), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, Sweeney Todd, and Sunday in the Park With George (as composer and lyricist) are just a sample of his multi-Tony Award winning work. Loosely based on Bruno Bettelheim’s The Uses of Enchantment, Into the Woods (debuted in 1986) pulls together a smattering of Brothers Grimm fables into a cohesive story, following their famous characters’ (Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, etc.) stories past the end of the fables, beyond “happily ever after.” Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center, 9 & 12 Vassar St., Poughkeepsie, www.cunneen-hackett.org, www.4thwallproductions.net, 845.486.4571. Fr/Sa 4/24&25, 5/1&2: 8 PM, Su 4/26, 5/3: 2 PM
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