DIATA DIATA’S A FAIRY’S TAIL AT HUDSON MIDDLE SCHOOL
by Holly Allen, as dictated by Pamela Badila

On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, May 17-19 at 7 PM, DIATA DIATA INTERNATIONAL FOLKLORIC THEATRE, directed by Pamela and Andre Badila, and the Hudson Department of Youth, present A FAIRY’S TALE: A Wonderful Adventure in a Land of Make Believe, at Hudson Middle School on Harry Howard Avenue.  Admission is FREE.  The production is the beneficiary of Pamela Badila’s experience as writer and director.  All ages are strongly encouraged to come and enjoy.

For information, contact Pamela Badila 518 828 0954.

Pamela Badila has concocted another fantastic story suitable for all ages, this one about a vain and insolent fairy whose tail is confiscated with the intent to rescue her from the crippling pride that has spared her friendship and vital experience in her marvelous environment.  Cast without exclusion, this lyrical play has stretched to accommodate all interested committed participants, 40+ enthusiasts including students from John L. Edwards Elementary School, Greenport Elementary School, Hudson Middle School, Hudson High School, as well as adults and senior citizens.  Ngounda Badila glistens at the heart of their frenzy of lively narration and original choreography.  This classic fiery heroine’s stubborn haughtiness promises wild entertainment and unravels the premise for such an unthinkable assault on her spectacular tail.  So consuming is her singular focus that the neglected relationship with her environment is yet undeveloped.  Only the most severe shame and disgust can impel her into the apparently ominous landscape that has been prepared with ingredients afforded by the imaginations and accesses of a fabulous design team.  Beautiful vintage accessories and homemade inventions in harmony attain a remarkable consistent unlikeness to the recognizable.  Both the protagonist and the audience are alien to this masterwork of a spectacle by Pamela Badila, Andre Badila, Ntangou Badila, Larry Marshall of Hudson House Antiques and others.  Maestro Vinnie DeGrazia jumbles instantly recognizable numbers with striking foreign melodies which add to the multi-layered experience.  Combined efforts deliver the writer’s vision of a frightening wonderland inhabited by strange beings that is ultimately intriguing, exquisite and irresistible, fitting for the uplifting surprise of unexpected reactions.

A multigenerational cast presents a fantastic quest that sprouts from a particular childish preoccupation and descends into the hereafter of existence minus the object of confidence and satisfaction.  Set in a poetic state of perfection, this truly juicy chronicle of impudence repudiated, vanity betrayed and discovery gained colorfully describes an indulgent self-absorption at seclusion’s core and eloquently exposes the magnificence of kindness.  Painfully relevant to the challenge to develop identity and learn to enjoy being one’s self is such a captivating and perceptive description of a fierce yet fragile beauty and her precious bushy tail.

The bizarre is effortlessly translated into familiar experience by the insights communicated.  Who can testify that an element of distinction deemed necessary to self-establish in the social environment may actually be deeply personal and alienating?  Who has ever marveled that circumstances incompatible with aspirations and arrangements may be far more fascinating and enriching than those imaginable enough to intend?  And furthermore, who has ever witnessed the peculiar persistence of sympathy, compassion and benevolence against insolence and disregard or received the most valuable support from the least expected source? 

This fantasy of self-admiration run rampant dares its audience to contemplate the appropriate extent of self-absorption.  To what degree are those qualities for which we can not credit ourselves, including but not limited to physical features, appropriately prized?  What personal attributes, including those earned or obtained, are worthy to compete with our surroundings for our appreciation and attention and energy?

A Fairy’s Tail is the fifth annual production made possible by public funds from the Decentralization Program of the NYS Council on the Arts, administered in Columbia County by the Columbia County Council on the Arts through the Twin Counties Cultural Fund.  Funding for this production was also secured by Assemblyman Marc Molinaro.

Each year Animalkind, a local cat rescue group, holds its Art for Animalkind fundraiser.  Local and national artists are asked to donate works of art -- preferably related to animals, but not necessarily -- for Animalkind's largest single annual funraiser.  The art donations are reviewed and categorized and then hung at a local restaurant for viewing a month in advance of a raffle-auction and vegan dinner.

This year, as is usual, Art for Animalkind will be held at the Red Dot Restaurant, 321 Warren Street in Hudson.  The event is scheduled for Sunday June 10.  Tickets for the event (which includes a vegan dinner and champagne) will be available prior to the event from Animalkind at $100 or can be purchased at the event if space allows.  Ticketholders are allowed to choose any piece of art from the available art on display once their number is called.  Often, ticketholders will end up with a piece of art valued well over the $100 ticket cost.  A select few of the donated art pieces are not part of the raffle, but are auctioned separately at the event.

The Art for Animalkind event enables Animalkind to continue its work on spay/neuter and vaccination for feral (wild) cats and for pets owned by low income pet owners, for finding homes for homeless adoptable cats, and for providing needed medical care for injured or sick cats

Animalkind is in the process of soliciting art pieces for this event, and interested artists are encouraged to contact Animalkind, 721 Warren Street, Hudson, NY 12434 or call 518-822-8643.  Animalkind's website is at www.animalkind.info

LUCIO POZZI AT BCB ART IN HUDSON

From May 5 through June 24, BCB ART will present The void that holds pebbles and stars in their place, new minipaintings by Lucio Pozzi. The minipaintings are a series of small site specific paintings, focusing on color and texture, which are strategically placed throughout the gallery. Often not larger then a hand, the minipaintings are 3 dimensional, and interact with the architecture of their surroundings. Pozzi has stated that “this is not a painting on a wall, but a wall activated by a painting”.

Pozzi was born in Milan, Italy in 1935, and came to the Untied States in 1962 as a guest of Henry Kissinger’s Harvard International Summer Seminar.  He eventually took up residence in New York. Describing himself as “a painter who pursues painterly concerns in other media as well,” he has also worked in performance, video and photo collage. Currently he is an instructor at the School of Visual Arts in New York.

His work has been shown at The Museum of Modern Art, the DIA Center for the Arts, PS 1, the Venice Biennale, Documenta 6 in Kassel, Germany, and at the Leo Castelli, Holly Solomon, John Weber and Paula Cooper galleries in New York. He is represented in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Detroit Institute of Arts, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, The Fogg Museum, Cambridge, MA, Conte Panza de Biumo, Varese, Italy, and others.

Also on display at BCB Art will be a group exhibition of gallery artists, including Mark Briscoe, Rodney Alan Greenblat, Richard Hamilton, Scott Reynolds, Eric Rhein, Joan Waltemath, Jeffrey Wasserman, and others.

An opening reception for the artist will be held at the gallery on Saturday May 5th from 6-8 pm. BCB ART is located at 116 Warren Street in Hudson. Gallery hours are Saturday and Sunday from 12 — 6PM, and Fridays by appointment. For more information please contact the gallery @ 518.828.4539 or BCBART.COM

BRITISH FARCE AT THE GHENT PLAYHOUSE

For the last production of the 2006-2007 season, the Ghent Playhouse will present the madcap British farce See How They Run by Phillip King, directed by Kate Gulliver. See How They Run will open on Friday May 18 and run through Sunday June 3.

Set in the English village of Merton-cum-Middlewick, See How They Run is about mistaken identities - many of them!  All of them involve men wearing clerical dog-collars. Into the mix add village spinster and nosy parker, Miss Skillon, who is convinced that her beloved vicar’s actress wife is having an affair, and wants to expose her. She is thwarted by Ida the maid, a local village girl. The vicarage, home to Lionel Toop and his American wife Penelope, is besieged by a Russian spy looking for a place to hide, the arrival of an American soldier friend of the Vicar’s wife, the Bishop of Lax, and the Reverend Humphrey, who has come to preach a guest sermon. All arrive within minutes of each other.  Once these Anglican clergy arrive, and the American and the Russian are themselves disguised as clergy, the fun begins, which is non-stop until the end of Act Two, when everything gets sorted out.

See How They Run first opened on the London stage in 1947.  It has since had two successful revivals in London, in 1983 and in 2006, both opening to great reviews and long runs. See How They Run has been billed as “one of the funniest comedies ever written,” and is often compared with Michael Frayn’s Noises Off, which Ms Gulliver directed at Ghent a few seasons ago.

Sarah Cooke and Ted Phelps play Penelope and Lionel Toop. The visiting clergy are Fred Gibbons as the Bishop of Lax and Mike Sanders as Reverend Humphrey. Tracy Trimm is the Russian spy, Kathy Wohlfeld is Miss Skillon, and Burnell Shively is Ida the maid. Myron Koch plays Sergeant Towers, the local bobby who tries to sort it all out.

Bill Camp is designing and building the set with the aid of Robert Bisson, and Vivian Wachsberger is creating the costumes. Ian Gulliver is Stage Manager and lighting designer for the production.

See How They Run opens Friday May 18 and runs through Sunday June 3. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM. Tickets are $15 general admission, $12 Ghent Playhouse members. Reservations strongly recommended. Call 518-392-6264 or leave message at boxoffice@ghentplayhouse.org. For all information concerning The Ghent Playhouse go to www.ghentplayhouse.org.

WALKING THE DOG THEATER 10TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Walking the dog Theater celebrates its 10th Anniversary this year with a gala event on June 23 in Germantown. SAVE THE DATE! for the best theatrical and musical entertainment, delicious food & drink, silent auction, grand raffle, good company, and dancing!  In addition, the company will present a season of new and familiar plays sure to enthuse every theatergoer.  The season opened April 5 with the U.S. premiere of THE GOSPEL OF JOHN in a three week run in residence at Stageworks/Hudson*.  The season will also include from June 29 to July 15 a new adaptation of CYRANO by Jo Roets, based on the play by Edmond Rostand and directed by Lenard Petit, venue TBA.  (We are seeking sponsorship for a free run of performances on the Philmont Village Green!).  From September 14-30 WTD presents HAMLET, a co-production with ShakespeareAlive! and The Actors' Ensemble, directed by John McManus, in residence at Stageworks/Hudson. A SUITE OF ONE-ACTS by Bertolt Brecht and Patrick Doyle, venue TBA, debuts October 12-28, 2007.  And the season close with THE TAMING OF THE SHREW by William Shakespeare November 9 – 25, directed by Melania Levitsky, in residence at Stageworks/Hudson.                                                

Founded in Australia in 1997 by two Americans and two Australians, and incorporated as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization in 1998, the company thrived for several years as a professional touring ensemble, performing and giving workshops over three continents, before landing in Columbia County and deciding to make a home here.

Walking the dog Theater (WTD) established itself by creating avant-garde theater performances which incorporated movement and live, original music, and through successful children’s productions employing the same style.  The touring ensemble gave performances and workshops in venues as varied as festival theaters, universities, schools, and prisons.  In 1999, under John McManus’ leadership, the company inaugurated Shakespeare Alive!, an intensive summer theater workshop experience for youth, which evolved into its own organization, eventually offering a yearlong college-accredited actors training as well as its annual summer productions.  (In 2006 the Shakespeare Alive! youth ensemble performed OTHELLO.) 

In 2004 WTD developed its Shakespeare in Schools program.  Since its inception, this program has created 18 productions and a Midwest Shakespeare Festival with young people.  In addition to its ongoing workshops for youth and adults, its in-school, after school, and summer intensive programs, the professional company produces original, new, and classical plays, with a special passion for Shakespeare.

WTD creates theater events that seek to inspire as well as entertain.  Last year the company presented 11 youth and 5 professional productions, which included Lanford Wilson’s BURN THIS, the U.S. premiere of THE STORM (a new comedy adapted from Plautus), and BLUE ARCHES,  an original one-woman play by Melania Levitsky, a long-term partner of Walking the dog Theater.

As the company deepens its roots in Columbia County, it continues to welcome collaborations with local artists and the opportunity to discover new possibilities and directions for meaningful theater.  WTD’s professional productions and educational programs focus on freeing the creativity of the artist, developing Ensemble Theater, and invoking the spirit of a play so that audiences can become enlivened by the theater event.

To make the season even more rewarding for its growing audiences, Walking the dog Theater has created several new membership categories.  Join at the Angel level and you can reserve as many seats to as many performances as you wish for 20% off box office prices!  The goal of this new membership structure is to make live theater experiences available to even more friends and neighbors.  To find out more about membership, reserving your seats, and the company’s many projects, visit www.wtdtheater.org. Membership Levels are $35 for Basic Membership (10% off all tickets for 2007); $50 for Supporter Membership (15% off all tickets for 2007), and $100 for Angel Membership (20% off all tickets for 2007!) To use your membership, buy your tickets at

1-877-725-8849 or www.wtdtheater.org , and we will bill you for your membership.

Even at 70 (dog years) of age, this old dog wants to learn new tricks…

* Walking the dog Theater, an independent producing company, is not a function of Stageworks/Hudson.

Hudson Valley Ruins Book Signing at the Stuyvesant Railway Station.

Hudson Valley Ruins, Forgotten Landmarks of an American Landscape is an elegant homage to the many deserted buildings along the Hudson River—and a plea for their survival. 

On Saturday May 19, The Stuyvesant Railway Station committee hosts a lecture and book signing at the station from 3 to 5 PM, followed immediately by an author’s reception with authors Thomas E. Rinaldi and Robert J. Yasinsac at a private home with magnificent river views.   There is no charge for the book signing.   There is a $30 charge for the reception; all proceeds go to the restoration of the station. 

The Stuyvesant Railway Station is featured among the important historical sites along the Hudson River that have been neglected.  Like the Railway Station, many of these treasures are listed on the National Register of Historical Places, and a few are National Historical Landmarks. In spite of their significance, these structures have been allowed to decay, and in some cases, to disappear altogether.

In addition to great river estates, the book profiles sites more meaningful to everyday life in the Valley: Churches and hotels, commercial and civic buildings, mills and train stations. Included are works by some of the most important names in American architectural history, such as Alexander Jackson Davis and Calvert Vaux.

Four parts correspond to the upper, middle, maritime, and lower sections of the Hudson Valley. Sites were selected for their historical and architectural significance; their relationship to important themes in the region’s history; their physical condition or “rustic” character; and their ability to demonstrate a particular threat faced by historical buildings in the region today.

The Dutch Reformed Church at Newburgh tells the story of the Valley’s oldest religious group; the Luckey Platt department store in Poughkeepsie was for decades the “leading store of the Hudson Valley,” and the ruins of the West Point Foundry at Cold Spring are all that remain of what were important industries. This is a critical picture of the region’s past because it is so relevant to the present and future.

More than 200 black-and-white illustrations include historic photos, engravings, and plans, as well as recent photos.

“Hudson Valley Ruins tells of the factories, railroad stations, quaint estates, department stores, brickyards and other historic structures near its banks that are now threatened by redevelopment and argues elegantly and persuasively that we need to save them. Bravo." ~ Kenneth T. Jackson, Jacques Barzun Professor of History, Columbia University

RSVP:  Marilyn Burch 518-758-6474  Checks for the reception should be made payable to Town of Stuyvesant.   Check Memo: Stuyvesant Restoration Committee.  Pay at the door or mail to Stuyvesant Town Hall, Stuyvesant, NY  12173

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