Maude Adams Theater Hub Heats Up the Summer!

MATHarts

Barely into its second year of programming, the Maude Adams Theater Hub (generously sponsored by the Catskill Mountain Foundation) brings a full slate of opportunities on and off the stage to the Mountain Top this summer.

Kicking off in June, MATH will offer weekly dance classes and theater workshops at the Studio on Main, above the Tannersville Antique and Arts Center. On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, from 3:00 until 6:00, Hedda Flynn will be coordinating a range of dance classes, from First Steps, to beginner, and intermediate/advanced levels.

Starting in July, there will be two-hour master class workshops on Wednesdays and Saturdays, offering an assortment of theater skills development: improv, sketch writing, Shakespeare, audition technique, stage combat, and much more! Students will also be able to arrange private classes with a variety of professional actors and vocal coaches, all at affordable rates.

In order to facilitate this educational programming, the Hub has created “MATHarts,” and brought in Paris InterdonatoCarreras as coordinator. A graduate of Windham Ashland Jewett High School, Paris is a rising junior at SUNY Oswego, dual majoring in Voice and Business Administration, with the pursuit of singing opera her core goal. Paris brings to MATHarts a focus on the education of the “whole performer” and will help guide participants with the classes best suited for their levels and ambitions.

To round out the MATHarts summer programming, Paris will be overseeing a week-long workshop for kids ages 9-13 that aims to incorporate all the parts of putting together a play. Through the format of Aesop’s Fables, students will work in small groups to write, design, produce, and act their own versions of different fables. Arts educators will be on hand to guide the groups through all aspects, including writing, movement, costuming, puppetry, sets, and of course, acting. The workshop will be held August 7 through August 11.

For more information on all MATHarts programming, you can either visit maudeadamstheaterhub.org, or reach Paris directly at mathartsinfo@gmail.com.

Double Vision

After the overwhelming support by audiences of MATH’s inaugural musical, Into the Woods, in 2022, they are doubling the fun this summer with two full-stage productions.

From July 13 through July 15 MATH takes the stage at the Orpheum Performing Arts Center with the hilarious The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a show that’s as wise as it is funny. Six students compete for the crown as the adults around them do their best to push them to greater glory. Though cartoonish in nature, Spelling Bee also has some mature content, and parental discretion is advised (PG-13). Shannon Sambrook, returning director, said of her vision, “It’s such a gift to have a community full of people who can literally play any part they’re given. It makes directing a show like Spelling Bee—which I’ve always wanted to do—a joy!”

The cast is composed of community favorites: CJ DunnCappellino, Myra Garcia, Marina Garcia, Lillian Gracia, Kameron Greene, Christian Green, Aly Hoyt, Paris InterdonatoCarreras, Luke Mauer, and introducing Peyton VanDerHeyden. Sambook will be joined by Jenn Eisenberg as choreographer, and Sarah Murin as set designer. The casting of Cara Dantzig and Brian Flynn as the teacher “hosts” promises a great time with audience participation a key component of the fun.

As summer rounds the corner into August, MATH will be taking over the Big Tent at the Red Barn in Hunter from Catskill Mountain Shakespeare, fast on the heels of their inaugural Mountain Top production run of As You Like It.

What better musical to put up in a hidden-away location than the timeless Cabaret? Carolyn Wright (Onteora Club Theater Program Director) and Paris Interdonato-Carreras are teaming up to co-direct the Kander and Ebb classic set in 1929 Berlin, during the rise of National Socialism and the heyday of dark speakeasystyle clubs where entertainment and decadence entwined.

Many familiar faces take the stage, some for the first time in years. “I’m thrilled to bring to the Tent a range of powerful, mature actors,” Carolyn Wright said of the casting. “And to work with Paris to develop younger talent in a way that makes everyone shine.” A key part of this vision is Wright’s casting of the Kit Kat Girls: Patricia Charbonneau, Allegra Coons, Jessica Gibbons, and Abby Ross have combined decades of professional dance experi-

ence that forms the mesmerizing center-force of the Bob Fosselaced choreography created by Hedda Flynn and Charbonneau, including the famous Mein Herr “chair dance.”

Timothy Dunn, who wooed and wowed audiences in The Drowsy Chaperone last summer at the Onteora Playhouse, steps into the suspenders of the Emcee. A long-time favorite of New York City’s improv community, Dunn also makes his home in Haines Falls, and directed the smash success of Casa Valentina at the Doctorow Center for the Arts in Hunter last February.

Hot off of their debuts with Broadway singers in MATH’s From Broadway With Love, Hedda Flynn and CJ Dunn-Cappellino find themselves in another star-crossed situation as Sally Bowles and Cliff Bradshaw (after the failed union of Cinderella and Prince Charming last summer’s Into the Woods), squared off by Glenda Lauten and Michael McDonald as the other doomed pair, Frauline Schneider and Herr Schulz. Cara Dantzig, Brian Flynn, Myra Garcia, Marina Garcia, Lillian Gracia, Christian Greene, Aly Hoyt, Luke Mauer, and Peyton VanDerheyden will fill out the company fresh off their dictionaries from July’s Spelling Bee, and Aidan Gibbons, Mike Ryan, and Carolyn Wright will make their MATH debuts.

To stay in the loop on all of this wonderful programming, please subscribe to the Maude Adams Newsletter, follow MATH on Facebook and Instagram, visit the website at maudeadamstheaterhub.org, or email maudeadamsinfo@gmail.com.