PRODUCTION HISTORY

Blue Heron Theatre Productions

2005-2006

Bartleby the Scrivener by R. L. Lane, adapted from the story by Herman Melville. Directed by Alessandro Fabrizi. Featuring Gerry Bamman. Nov. 4-27, 2005.

"Melville's existential antihero of Wall Street has been beautifully brought to life at the Blue Heron Arts Center. From the set which looks like a Victorian illustration…to the characters, dressed in antic black and white reminiscent of a Phiz drawing for a Dickens novel, this rendition of Bartleby is a gem….Gerry Bamman couldn't be better as Standard, a prosperous 60-ish lawyer who is nearly unhinged by the cipherlike Bartleby." Phoebe Hoban, The New York Times, Nov. 9, 2005

"The story revolves around a largely conceptual character, a silent force of nature defined by stagnancy. It takes a delicate hand to transform such inaction into viable stage life, but Lane, along with the excellent team behind the play's American premiere, does it with chilling skill…. Quaglia gives the scrivener a burning intensity that can't be ignored….(Bamman's) remarkable performance sculpts countless detailed steps in Standard's journey from confident success to a man made hollow by his clerk's impassability." Mark Blankenship, Daily Variety, Nov. 18, 2005

"R.L.Lane has taken one of the classic American short stories and turned it into a fascinating play, one that the audience doesn't leave in the theater. Rather Bartleby the Scrivener is the kind of drama that inspires the audience to discuss and to wonder at the subtle nuances that lurk beneath the simple tale that has unfolded before their eyes." Gene Kilik, Town & Village, Nov. 17, 2005

2004-2005

Trailerville by novelist John Dufresne. World premiere of Dufresne's first full-length play. Directed by Wayne Maugans. June 3-26, 2005.

"…a deceptively complex, bittersweet and realistic tale about the different manifestations of affection and the human sense of obligation that both enriches and deprives lives of joy or fulfillment…." Kessa De Santis, June 13, 2005

"Dufresne has done a wonderful job creating a full slate of characters who skate to the edge of stereotype and then reveal complexity and richness….The rich characters are complemented by strong acting across the board." Loren Noveck, nytheatre.com, June 5, 2005.

Farm Boys by Dean Gray and Amy Fox. Adapted from Farm Boys, Lives of Gay Men in the Rural Midwest by Will Fellows. Directed by Jim Pelegano. Featuring David Drake and Thomas James O'Leary. September 19 - October 10, 2004.

"The stories in this play feel authentic and resonant; they deserve to be told. ... Farm Boys would do a lot of good touring the Heartland, helping people to discover, as Lois does in the play, that love comes in all shapes, sizes, and combinations." NYTheatre.com

"Resonates with truth and ends with poignant conclusions that seem to bear out Thomas Wolfe's prophetic warning ...you can't go home again."Danbury News-Times

2003-2004

Bee-Luther-Hatchee by Thomas Gibbons, Directed by Jim Pelegano. March 8 – April 4, 2004

“The play has intriguing twists, turns and moments of revelation. It also has splendid direction by Jim Pelegrano.” The New York Amsterdam News, April 1-April 7 2004.

“Bee-Luther-Hatchee crafts a lively, stimulating narrative, cleverly fills its outlines with compelling characters and a plot that generates questions of the highest importance.” Columbia Spectator Online Edition, April 1, 2004

“Bee-Luther-Hatchee - a cauldron brimful and boiling with painful questions of race, literary license, honesty, celebrity and money.” (CurtainUp.com)

“Intelligent and unsettling, Bee-Luther-Hatchee pulls off a nearly impossible trick: creating a situation in which two people, at a complete bypass, are both right and wrong at the same time.” Broadwayworld.com, March 24, 2004

“Bold, in the tradition of David Mamet’s ‘Oleanna,’ Mr. Gibbons‚ play fights from multiple positions with equal fervor and intelligence.” The New York Sun, April 7th, 2004

2002-2003

Harlem Duet by Djanet Sears.  Award-winning play from Canada in its New York  premiere.

Directed by the author. “Her method is a kind of dramatic impressionism that…has undeniable emotional power….She directs a cast that has the nimble cohesion of an ensemble group.”  D.J.R.Bruckner, The New York Times, November 21,2002.

“Harlem Duet is a powerful, riveting brainstorm.  Black playwright/director Djanet Sears serves up an intense menu of food for thought.” Linda Armstrong The Amsterdam News, Nov. 21-27, 2002.

Trailerville by John Dufresne.  A  fully staged reading of a play in development by the author of Louisiana Power and Light.  Directed by Wayne Maugans.  Dec.  27-29, 2002.

Alma and Mrs. Woolf by Anne Legault, translated from the French by Daniel Libman.  Directed by Jim Pelegano. “…the play is an intelligent blending of historical record, philosophical dissertation and interpretative biography.”  Kessa De Santis “Electric Link Journey” March 12, 2003. “…Legault’s erudite work introduces the audience to two fascinating women who, in spite of having achieved professional success in a patriarchal society, still envision causing their deaths as their truest expression of control.”  Andy Propst, “American Theater Web”  March 13, 2003.

Shakespeare’s Songs.  A benefit for Blue Heron Theatre featuring 14 songs from Shakespeare’s plays, set to music by Joe Hillyer.  Directed by Michael Hillyer.

2001-2002

A Passion for the Shadows, a staged reading a new play by Ray Aranha.  Directed by Mr. Aranha.  September, 2001.

Two Rooms by Lee Blessing.  Directed by Roger Danforth.  November 2001.

“Blue Heron Theatre is to be commended for bringing this exceptional piece of theater to its stage and for having the conviction that it is an important work that should be seen as a city and a nation begin to rebuild and rethink what the national character might be.”  Andy Propst, “American Theater Web, November 11, 2001.

Twelfth Night, or What You Will by William Shakespeare.  A fully staged reading directed by Michael Hillyer.  New music by Joseph Hillyer.  January 6, 2002.  Repeated at Columbia University on March 18, 2002.

The Cure at Troy, a Version of Sophocles’ Philoctetes by Seamus Haney.  Directed by Kevin Osborne.  February 2002.  “One leaves the theater with a sense of fulfillment, having seen a real work of art—not just in the writing or translation of an ancient text but a vivid mastery of its execution.”  Columbia Daily Spectator.

Rockwell, the Musical ­ A view of the life and work of the famous American illustrator  Book and lyrics by Eileen Bluestone Sherman.  Music by Gail C. Bluestone. Directed by Conrad John Schuck.  Choreography by Robert La Fosse.  May 2002. 

2000-2001

As You Like It  Shakespeare’s glowing pastoral comedy directed by Michael Hillyer,  August 9 through August 21.

Sacred Journey by Matt Witten.  Directed by Michael Warren Powell.  A solo performance by Gregory Zaragoza as a homeless Native American, a man whom the playwright met on the streets of New York. “This is ultimately a tale of redemption.  John undergoes a spiritual awakening when he finally gets in touch with his heritage…Witten knows a good story when he hears one.”  Robert Dominguez, Daily News, Oct. 10, 2000.

Canadian Quartet Reading Series.  Produced by Leslie (Hoban) Blake).  Harlem Duet, wirtten and directed by Djanet Sears;  Coronation Voyage  by Michel Marc Bouchard.  Directed by Mark Owen; Beating Heart Cadaver by Colleen Murphy, directed by Leslie (Hoban) Blake; and Reading Hebron, written and directed by Jason Sherman.  November- December 2001.

We Are Your Sisters on tour. Performed at Blue Heron Arts Center,  IS131, East Side Middle School, Ramapo College and St. Catherine of Sienna.  February 2001.

Medal of Honor Rag by Tom Cole.  Directed by Jim Pelegano.  January 18 to February 25, 2001. “Tom Cole’s drama…playing in a revival by the Blue Heron Theatre…retains its relevance, its power, its tortured compassion….Smoothly written and well played [it] remains absorbing theater and a bracing reminder of time past and distance yet to be traveled.”  Lawrence Van Gelder, The New York Times February 1, 2001.

Race by Jamie Pachino.  Adapted from Race: How Blacks and White Thank and Feel About the American Obsession by Studs Terkel.  Directed by Leslie (Hoban) Blake. School performances: Blue Heron Arts Center, East Side Middle School and IS 131.

A Prophet Among Them  by Wesley Brown.  Directed by Marie Thomas.  Choreography by Hope Clark. Featuring Reggie Montgomery as James Baldwin.  June18 to July 15, 2001.

“The play…is a loving and honest tribute to a writer and man worthy of remembrance.”

Brooke Pierce, “TheaterMania.com.”

 1999-2000

Rescuers, Selected scenes in a fully staged reading, directed by Jim Pelegano.  Oct. 13, 1999.

O’Neill by Anne Legault, translated by Daniel Libman.  American and English language premiere.  Directed by Michael Hillyer.  Jan. 7-30, 2000.

Spring Ahead Reading Series.  Produced by Leslie (Hoban) Blake.  Directors: Michael John Garces, Joe Morton, Leslie (Hoban) Blake, Julia Murphy, and Suzanne Brinkley.

Fanny and Walt by Jewel Seehaus-Fisher.  Directed by Julia Murphy.  June 9-July 1, 2000.

1998-99

We Are Your Sisters by Stephanie von Hirschberg.  Directed by Julia Murphy.  February 23-26, 1999.  On tour to IS 234 Brooklyn; East New York Academy, Brooklyn; Rikers Island - Alternative High Schools; and the opening production at the Arts Center.

Admissions by Tony Vellela.  Directed by Austin Pendleton. March 7-March 31, 1999. “Admissions grabs you, you get sucked in, and you leave with a buzz of energy in your head.” J. Kleefield, CitiSearch.

Viva Cummings!  Conceived and composed by Stephen R. Scotti.  Directed by William A. Finlay. April 13-16 at BHAC and Suffolk County Community College.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Shakespeare.  Directed by Gary Cavello and Lu Yu.

Shakespeare in a Chinese Opera style.  April 22-May 9, 1999.

Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected. Adapted and directed by Dan Fields.  Co-production. June 18 - July 12, 1999.

Flight: One Acts by Ray Bradbury.  Directed by Hilary Adams. June 23-July 11.  Co-production with Blue Heron - in rep with Tales.

Lucky 7: Summer “Pot Luck” Reading Series. Produced by Leslie (Hoban) Blake.  Directors: Michael Hillyer, Leslie (Hoban) Blake, Arnold Mungioli, Barry Kleinbort, Jim Pelegano and Ron Holgate.

1997-98

A Tattle Tale, written and performed by Judith Sloan. Directed by Maxine Kern. Nov. 13-December 7, 1997. At HERE.  “A Tattle Tale holds our attention with its good humor and the force of its details.  A cop breaking ranks against police brutality is a story worth telling…”  Jonathan Mandell, Newsday (Dec. 1, 1997)

Black Russian by Thomas Gibbons, directed by Seth Rozin.  June 4-21, 1998.  At Theatre Row Theatre.

We Are Your Sisters at Queens Theatre in the Park, upstate New York and Kansas.

1996-97

Rescuers on tour to the U. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Fordham University, and the Pepsico Performing Arts Center at SUNY-Purchase.

We Are Your Sisters  on tour in New York, Delaware and Maryland.

Viva Cummings! on tour to Schenectady, NY.

1995-96

Rescuers by Elizabeth Striker.  Based on Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust  by Gay Block and Malka Drucker.  World premiere. Director: Joe Banno.  At Hudson Guild, November 1995.  “Playwright Striker places these scenes judiciously, so that the audience senses a grim inheritance being built.  Director Joe Banno creates a headlong, urgent pace, a rich fabric of ensemble work and a whirling choreography that propels us from scene to scene…conveying desperation and terror.”  Julie Nord, The Resident.

We Are Your Sisters (new production choreographed and directed by Darryl V. Jones)

Hudson Guild, February 1996.  Winner of AUDELCO Award for Excellence in Black Theatre.

1994-95  

Twelfth Night by Shakespeare. Director: Brian Leahy Doyle.

Chikamatsu’s Forest by Edward Sakamoto. Director: Tom Prewitt.  April-May 1995 at the 30^th Street Theatre.  “Chikamatsu’s Forest fascinates with its deep involvement in Japanese history and culture; while the meticulous acting and Tom Prewitt’s directing supports a vibrant and authentic non-Western work.”  Dan Isaac in Backstage.   

1993-94 

Exchange by Yuri Trifonov.  Translated by Michael Frayn. American premiere.

Directed by B. Peter Westerhoff.  SoHo Rep. Theatre. “Exchange … is a ruefully ironic dissection of a man without a spine….Directed with considerable ingenuity by Peter Westerhoff on John Douglas’s cramped, multi-level set, the production does create an appropriate sense of physical and spiritual claustrophobia….Blue Heron should be applauded for introducing it to New York.” Ben Brantley, The New York Times, March 16, 1994.

The Sound of a Voice  and As The Crow Flies co-produced with One Dream Theatre Dir. William A. Finlay.

1992-93

Them That’s Got by Robyn Hatcher.  Directed by Charles Dumas. Theatre Row Theatre.

The Sound of a Voice and As The Crow Flies by David Henry Hwang. Dir. William A. Finlay. At One Dream Theatre.

1991-92

We Are Your Sisters on tour to schools throughout New York City.

Edna St. Vincent Millay: A Celebration of the Artist Through her Letters and Poetry, arranged by Bobbi Randall.  Directed by Gary Cavello.

Viva Cummings!  International Theatre Festival in Caracas, Venezuela. Also performed in Bogota, Colombia. April 1992.

1990-91

Viva Cummings! A musical revue conceived and composed by Stephen R. Scotti.  Lyrics by E. E. Cummings.  Directed by William A. Finlay. Mazur Theatre.

We Are Your Sisters, Adapted by Stephanie von Hirschberg and Ardelle Striker from We Are Your Sisters: Black Women in the Nineteenth Century, ed. by Dorothy Sterling. Directed by Leon Bailey.

Women in the Nineteenth Century, ed. Dorothy Sterling. Directed by Leon Bailey.

Love in the Shadow of the Umbrella Bamboo by Oana Maria Hock. Dir. Ernie Barbarash.

1989-90

Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus. Directed by William A. Finlay.  Mazur Theatre.

The Day They Let the Lions Loose by Emilio Carballido, a staged reading directed by William A. Finlay.  Mazur Theatre.

1988-89

The Estate by Ray Aranha, a compelling drama about Thomas Jefferson and his complex relationship to slavery and slaves, including his long-term affair with Sally Hemmings.  “It is  heartening to see the play again and to feel the surge of history that inspired Mr. Aranha. ‘The Estate’ is a play rooted in conviction and dramatic truth.”  Mel Gussow, New York Times, February 18, 1989. Directed by Ray Aranha. Nominated for six AUDELCO Awards.

February 1989 at Westbeth Theatre Center. 

The Task by Heiner Müller. A Staged Reading, directed by Robert Bresnick. Mazur Theatre.

1987-88

On The Tightrope, or the Ballad of the Phantom Train by Fernando Arrabal. English version by Ardelle Striker.  New York premiere.  Director: William A. Finlay.  September 1987 at the Mazur Theatre.  “A new theater company - Blue Heron - was launched last night and the playwright Fernando Arrabal came in from France to give it, and his play ‘On the Tightrope’ a proper sendoff.”  Enid Nemy, New York Times, September 11, 1987.

Boogie Woogie and Booker T. by Wesley Brown.  Director: Leon Bailey. At the Mazur Theatre.  Winner of two AUDELCO Awards for Excellence in Black theatre.

February 1988. 

The Misanthrope by Molière.  A multi-culturally cast and modern dress production.  Richard Wilbur translation. Director: Juanita Rockwell. Mazur Theatre. May 1988.