By Ellen Frankman

 “The title of this play is not a misnomer,” Reg Rogers insists, the actor who plays a defense attorney in this month’s production of David Mamet’s “Romance” at Bay Street Theatre. It certainly seems however, that audience members may have to dig deep – or perhaps just stick to the surface of absurdity – to confirm this.

Mamet’s “Romance” appears inherently unromantic in fact – a biting conceptualization of a farce that sets nearly every existing ethnic and sexual stereotype amidst the setting of a traditional courtroom drama. The defendant is a Jewish chiropractor, on trial facing a pill-popping judge, defended by an anti-Semitic defense attorney, who is battling a homosexual prosecutor. To laugh at the characters it is suggested that the audience be willing to laugh at human madness itself.

“Romance” first premiered in 2005 with the Atlantic Theater Company, a theater group founded in 1985 by William H. Macy and David Mamet himself. In order to master the scathing humor that emanates from the production, the cast (gratefully an all-star lineup) first had to perfect the staccato rhythm signature to Mamet’s language.

“Mamet’s language is so specific and tricky. You really have to be on the syllable,” explains Chris Bauer who plays the courtroom’s prosecutor, a character he describes as being “verbose, over-mannered, aggressive and obsessive.” Bauer even admits to having started memorizing his part much earlier than what is typical for him.

For actor Richard Kind (Judge), the language — which requires that every word, every breath, every pause be exact — is “close to impossible.”

“This is the toughest thing I’ve ever had to work on in my life. Literally my brain hurts,” says Kind. Although the words sound as they should coming from the characters’ mouths, Kind insists that “gobbledygook” is in fact what the person is actually saying.

Joe Pallister (Doctor) found the style equally as nuanced. “It’s got a very specific rhythm. It’s like music. You can’t paraphrase this type of writing,” says Pallister.

“He wrote a symphony and you can’t start playing any notes you want to,” Kind agrees laughingly.

Ultimately, the true thrill of theater emerges from mastery of the script. “It’s so satisfying when you get it right,” grins Pallister.

And the show’s director Lisa Peterson agrees. “When it’s right, it’s exhilarating!”

There is more to “Romance” than a taxing twist of the tongue, however. “The other part that’s so exciting is how naughty it is,” describes Peterson, who expressed surprise and a modest smirk of approval in the fact that the only insults Mamet chose to not include are those about women.

The cast, described as a “dream come true” by Bauer, is entirely male, “all very good actors and funny guys” according to Peterson, who finds that “they all come at the work at very different angles.” Each one recognizes the absurdity of the content, and though all back the genius of Mamet’s language, few are certain of what the audience’s reaction will be.

“If you’re not liberal hearing and of liberal humor, stay away,” advises Kind. “This is not ‘Hello Dolly.’”

Most of the actors remain positive in anticipation of the public’s reception. Though Bauer admits, “it’s an outrageous 85 minutes,” he exudes confidence in that it is “a play that is dangerous in the way theater should be dangerous.”

Pallister is trusting of the audience as well. “The crowd here I think will be open because it’s so over the top and so politically incorrect.”

“I see them getting it and being taken by it,” agrees Matt McGrath (Bernard).

Whatever the outcome, it appears everyone involved is giddy to take the production on stage. “You’ve got to have the partner of the audience to make the rhythm work,” explains Peterson.

And beneath its charming traditional exterior, Bay Street Theatre certainly gets credit along with its actors for taking on such a challenge. Says Kind, “I love this theater. I think it’s a very brave theater.”

David Mamet’s “Romance” directed by Lisa Peterson will premiere at Bay Street Theatre, Long Wharf, Sag Harbor on August 10 and run through September 5. Performances are Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., Wednesdays at 2 p.m., Saturdays at 4 p.m., and Sundays at 7 p.m. Tickets $55/$65. 725-9500.

Popularity: 1% [?]

By Marianna Levine

Bay Street Theatre’s 2010 season starts off with the play “Dissonance,” a witty, intelligent drama by the British writer Damian Lanigan. The play, which is named after Mozart’s famous String Quartet No.19 (often referred to as the “dissonance” quartet because of something in the beginning of the piece which sounds slightly awkward), focuses on the intense relationships between members of a string quartet as they rehearse for a performance at Carnegie Hall. The quartet’s delicate equilibrium is unexpectedly disturbed by an encounter between the group’s sole female musician and a handsome rock star.

Lanigan, who has often written about performers in his previous novels and in his work for BBC television, said he was drawn to writing about a string quartet because “it offered an excellent little hothouse of possibilities with lots of dramatic potential.”

Furthermore, Lanigan loves listening to classical music. “It’s my hobby so to speak,” he admits, and therefore writing about music and musicians was a pleasure for him. In the end he thinks, “A lot of writers are attracted to writing about artistic personalities because they basically are trying to figure themselves out.”

“Dissonance” is Lanigan’s first play and it grew out of his desire to write something with a group and perhaps more dramatically serious than his earlier, more comic turns writing for British TV.

“I wanted to work on something that was a collaborative piece. I’m not naturally a loner,” Lanigan states, and adds the first time he heard his words read out by live actors, when the play premiered in 2008 in Williamstown, Mass., he was tremendously invigorated and excited by it.

This New York Premiere will be a somewhat different staging of “Dissonance.” Lonny Price, a Tony-award winning director and veteran of the Bay Street stage, will direct an ensemble of five actors including Rosie Benton, from Broadway’s “Les Liaisons Dangereuses,” Daniel Gerroll of TV’s “Ugly Betty,” Morgan Spector, who was most recently Scarlett Johansson’s love interest in Broadway’s “View from the Bridge,” Robert Stanton of “Confessions of a Shopaholic” and Gregory Woodell of TV’s “30 Rock.”

“A few things have come up during rehearsals this last week, and [with this staging] you get to see the play from a slightly different light. However the main difference for me this time around is that I’ve basically given it to the director. I don’t feel the need to be breathing down his neck,” Lanigan explains and yet does state he has rewritten a few things in the past week to coincide with this new staging.

Bay Street Theatre’s artistic directors Sybil Christopher and Murphy Davis are thrilled to have “Dissonance” kick off a season of entertaining and intelligent drama. After the huge success of the complex play “Dinner” last season, the two realized they needed to respond fully to their audience’s desire for challenging adult dramas.

“The biggest response we’ve ever had from our audience to a play was to ‘Dinner’ last year,” explains Davis. “And this response opened us up to the staging of certain plays we wouldn’t have considered before. Really in the end Sybil’s and my job is to take the pulse of what the community is looking for and mix it with our taste.”

Christopher and Davis had heard about the play back in 2008 when it first premiered, but didn’t have the time to stage it until this year. Davis does add it is a pleasure working with both Price and Lanigan on “Dissonance” because both are such entertaining yet professional individuals and these qualities lend themselves to presenting a drama that is “a multilayered play that is very intelligent, very witty, and very moving. It is great to see a play and be amused as well as touched by it.”

“Dissonance” runs June 1 through 27 and tickets can be purchased from the box office at the theatre on Long Wharf, Sag Harbor for $55 or $65. Previews run June 1 to 4, and a talk back with the actors will follow the June 8 performance. For more information contact Bay Street Theatre at 725-9500.

Popularity: 1% [?]

At one point on Sunday evening, Bay Street Theatre managing director Gary Hygom found himself surrounded in the booth by would-be Oscar viewers, desperately trying to help Hygom find a live feed able to broadcast the 82^nd Annual Academy Awards.

“Everyone had said, you can get it on ABC, you can get it on Hulu,” said Hygom. “But once the event started everything shut down.”

Hygom and the crowd of roughly 100 East End residents gathered at Bay Street for its annual Oscar night broadcast were not alone. An estimated 3.1 million Cablevision subscribers were without WABC/7 at the start of the Oscar telecast after the channel pulled its signal at 12:01 a.m. Sunday morning in the midst of a contract dispute with Cablevision.

According to a statement broadcast to Cablevision subscribers days leading up to Sunday’s blackout, Walt Disney Co. was demanding $40 million more in annual fees, over the $200 million Cablevision already pays Disney. Disney released its own statement on the company’s website, arguing that Cablevision charges $18 a month to its customers for basic broadcast signals like ABC, but does not share any of that revenue with the broadcast networks.

After the signal was pulled Sunday morning, Cablevision sent subscribers e-mails detailing where the telecast could be watched via the Internet, and offered free movie rentals from the company’s on-demand movie system. However, several subscribers reported trying to access the free movies, only to find the system was overloaded and the films not available.

At Bay Street, where residents munched on popcorn and sipped wine while watching Hollywood parade down Oscar’s red carpet, several people expressed disdain with the cable provider – some saying the stalemate with ABC may be the last straw for them as Cablevision subscribers.

“It seems like this is all about money and yet we are paying our bills,” said Cynthia Battaglia, the owner of a Sag Harbor-based catering company.

Battaglia said she was at Bay Street specifically because she was without the Oscar telecast, but also bemoaned the possible loss of programs like Lost, and Oprah, as well as Good Morning America and World News Tonight – her two favorite news programs.

Battaglia said this is not the first time she has taken issue with Cablevision and how it handles contract disputes. In January, in the midst of a battle with the Scripps Network, which airs The Food Network and HGTV, those channels were also pulled for three weeks.

“Of course there are two sides to every story,” she said. “But I also think both parties should remember they are in the service industry. If I did this to my clients, I would be out of a job.”

As Battaglia settled in for the Oscar telecast following the red carpet, the screen went dark.

“The funniest thing was the parade of people coming to the booth to give me suggestions,” said Hygom. Finally, two men hailing from Las Vegas, who are able to view their cable television on their iPhone, worked with Hygom to connect the phone to the theatre’s system.

While a third of the theatre’s patrons had already left Bay Street, some finding Oscar solace at The American Hotel, which has Direct TV, Hygom was able to get the telecast up and running, although the image was badly digitized. Wiping his brow, and walking into Bay Street’s lobby, Hygom noticed they were broadcasting a clean telecast of the Academy Awards.

At 8:43 p.m., just before Christoph Waltz took the Best Supporting Actor award for his performance in “Inglorious Basterds,” a deal was inked and ABC was back on-air for Cablevision subscribers. Details about the deal have yet to be released and calls to Cablevision were not returned as of press time.

“Probably around 60 to 70 people stayed all the way through,” said Hygom. “The number of people who came really surprised all of us, especially with everything so up in the air. But we all had a great time. Everyone had fun and was accepting that we might not see it here. It was like we were all working as one big team.”

Popularity: 1% [?]

The 35-year-old talks about why she and a group of Sag Harbor residents think the diversity and artistic core of the village make it the perfect location to create The American Music Festival of Sag Harbor, a hopefully annual tradition held each April, but one festival organizers hope to kick off at this year’s HarborFest.

First off, why a music festival in Sag Harbor?

Well, to be honest, the whole process has been completely organic. My background is in music and it is where my passion lies and this is my community. When I came back I first noticed the music at Bay Burger and I was really knocked out at the quality of musicianship, the number of people coming each week and the good, down to earth feeling. When I found out they were going to continue the jam sessions at Bay Street Theatre, I was inspired. I talked to Claes Brondal from the Bay Burger jazz jam sessions and asked how this had all come about and he told me about how Bay Street had really been engaging the community and opened up and how the event was free. It was inspiring, this partnership and that Bay Street would continue this musical momentum. I told Claes about the idea for a music festival and he said I should talk to John Landes [co-owner of Bay Burger]. I told him I thought it would be great to do a music festival and we started gathering a group of people and the more we talked about it the more enthusiastic the feedback we got was. In the meantime, music at Phao began and the singer songwriters at Bay Street. It’s exciting – out of the whole East End, I feel Sag Harbor has this artistic vibe – it just fits. Sag Harbor is unique and in particular, is very supportive of the arts.

The festival also aims to support Sag Harbor itself. The idea originally was to start it before the season, but we have decided this year, because of conflicts, to launch the festival this September with the help of the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce at HarborFest. We have talked to Robert Evjen [president of the chamber] and he is really excited about the idea of being able to bring music into the event. We are operating as a non-profit with John Landes, Laura Grenning and I serving as directors. We are hoping  through sponsorships we can raise enough money to cover the costs of the festival and anything that is left over we would look to use to provide scholarships for musicians.

The festival has been billed as an “American” music festival. When I think of American music, I think of blues, jazz, rock-and-roll – musical genres created here or genres that flourished in the United States. What is your definition of American music?

You are right on target. That is the feeling we want for the festival. I would also include in that folk music and rhythm and blues and also Americana. That really leaves us wide open for a variety of artists. We would like to start small with a three-day festival. The first time out, our goal is to exceed expectation know we have a good model set up. We are hoping it will be an annual event at the end of April after this year’s kick off. In April, every one has spring fever, it’s the off-season and it could draw people to Sag Harbor becoming an off-season magnet for the village. It is also for the community. In-season we are all so busy, we don’t always get to enjoy the cultural events going on out here. This year we are hoping to collaborate with the schools – this school district is known for its emphasis in music – as well as students and community members that are interested as well. We want a festival feel to the weekend – music on the streets with Bay Street serving as the main stage with three concerts over the weekend of September 10 through September 12.

Are you modeling this weekend on any other music festivals around the country?

To be honest, not one in particular. We really want this to be about music and about Sag Harbor. We are hoping to collaborate with organizations throughout the village to enfuse Sag Harbor history into the festival.

Do you have “dream” headliners the festival would attract in a perfect world?

In a perfect world, there are a lot of local greats out here, and a lot of big names we would like to get involved, not just as performers, but as organizers. We are establishing a music advisory committee to help set up the program. There are so many genres in American music we want to have a program that touches on them all, but holds a theme. I hesitate to say any names of dream headliners, but they know who they are.

As for local musicians, part of the idea is to have street music throughout the village during the festival, correct?

We are still working with the [Sag Harbor Village Board of] trustees to get the proper permitting. In concert with HarborFest, we hope to have different locations throughout Main Street and other areas of the village and have different acts playing throughout the day, kind of like the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Our philosophy is the more, the merrier, but we are open to seeing how it evolves because this is for our community. We hope it will bring more business to the village in the off-season while also supporting this incredible surge of creativity. There is just so much music going on in Sag Harbor right now.

How can local musicians get involved?

First of all, the best way to get involved is if you are not in the local music scene yet get to the open mic sessions, get to Blue Sky, get to Bay Street. Being involved in music and networking you have to get out there performing – be where the action is. Specifically with the music festival, we will do an open call and anyone who is interested in sending a CD or whatever they have, with contact information, can reach us at The American Music Festival of Sag Harbor, PO Box 2323 Sag Harbor, NY 11963.

What is your personal connection to music — why does this matter you?

The short story is I have worked for non-profits for the last 15 years, starting with Bay Street Theatre, but it has almost all been music related. For seven years, I was the director of the Henry Mancini Music Festival in Los Angeles. We brought in children from all over the area and hosted free concerts at UCLA. I am a local Long Islander, so I came back to New York and worked for the Grammys from 2004 to 2006, which taught me a little bit more about music. The last couple of years I have been doing consulting work because while I love New York City, I prefer a different lifestyle. I have worked from Ireland to San Francisco, but my home base is Sag Harbor and I am trying to do more work locally.

But this is not about me, and I want to stress that. Music is my passion, and my happy place right now is bringing the right people together. I am just excited to do that.

Popularity: 3% [?]

The sounds of horns, drums, bass guitars and freestyle rap will not be stifled by the onset of winter thanks to a new partnership between Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theatre and Bay Burger restaurant, which will bring its popular Thursday night Jam Session to Bay Street while it shutters its doors through April.

The inaugural Bay Burger Jam Session at Bay Street will be held tonight, December 3, at 7 p.m. The sessions will take a recess through the holidays and reopen on January 7, and be held every Thursday night until Bay Burger opens its doors again in the spring.

The jam session is free and open to the musical and non-musical, young and old.

The partnership is one of several efforts on behalf of the theatre to become a venue for all members of the community, not just those who can afford a $50 theatre ticket come August. Over the course of the last year and a half, the theatre has opened its doors for a number of free, community events in its off-season when Bay Street’s stage is often dark, including televised presidential debates and the inauguration, as well as camps, community meetings and the ever-popular visit to Sag Harbor by Santa Claus, set for this Saturday, December 5.

“The idea is this is a place for everyone in the community,” said Bay Street Theatre Executive Director Tracy Mitchell. “I think it is really important, I believe to the very soul, that no matter if you are doing well or not, as an organization you have an ongoing obligation to serve the community you live in. To me, it is so important that we are able to offer things for free, as well as things that cost $5, $10 and $20. I think, if you are in the world of the arts, you have to keep that at the forefront because at the end of the day, if people cannot afford to see what you are putting up, you don’t have the ability to capture their imaginations, build an audience for the future.”

Building an audience was not difficult for the Bay Burger Jam Sessions, which were conceived by restaurant co-owner John Landes and Sag Harbor drummer Claes Brondal, who opened the first jam session this past April. Musicians of all instruments and styles are invited to jam with The Jam Session House Band.

Brondal said in addition to wanting to provide a much-needed venue for local musicians to hone their craft in front of a live audience, he also envisioned the sessions as an opportunity to create community and raise awareness about jazz and improvisational music. Providing a free venue for all ages, even Brondal’s toddler son, was also crucial to his goal of making the sessions as inclusive as possible.

“We sat down and talked to Bay Street about bringing the session there because it was working so well, we wanted to keep it going, keep it consistent and reliable,” said Brondal. Brondal hopes the new venue will open the sessions up to an even more diverse mix of musicians and audience members.

“I am extremely humble and grateful for this collaboration,” he said.

Brondal believes in the importance of music for children, one of the reasons he strove for an all-ages showcase.

“It is one of the reasons I became interested in the Jam Session,” he said. “A lot of kids have zero experience with live music certainly. I have had parents come down to Bay Burger with their kids and their eyeballs are literally falling out of their heads.”

As a nine-year-old, growing up in Denmark, he realized at an early age that his passion lay in music.

“I remember the first time I listened to really cool music, it gave me the goosebumps,” said Brondal. “I knew I wanted to do that with my life.”

After playing professionally in Denmark, he moved to the States in 1998 after experiencing what he called “a romantic love story” with wife Mare, an American. Living in New York and Oregon, the couple settled in Sag Harbor eight years ago and has a young son, Griffin. Brondal is a career musician, teaching drums privately and at local schools in drum workshops and music appreciation classes.

On Monday, Liza Tremblay, who owns Bay Burger along with Landes, who is her father, and her husband Joe, the restaurant’s executive chef, said the popularity of the jam sessions was beyond any of their expectations drawing a host of accomplished musicians and residents of all ages to the eatery.

“Thursday became our busiest night of the week,” she said. “It was a really fun atmosphere.”

Tremblay said she hopes a partnership with Bay Street continues after this winter.

“I would be interested in doing cross promotions in the future,” she said. “I think we can promote each other from opposite ends of Sag Harbor.”

“This was a no-brainer,” said Mitchell. “It fit well for us, and the artists – the talent – are terrific. This is not some karaoke night. These are real musicians with a true following.”

Popularity: 2% [?]

By Marianna Levine

Back in 1978, the writer/performer Spalding Gray commented in his journal “the unobserved life doesn’t feel like living.”  It is an entry of major significance considering a man, who eventually made a successful career out of observing and relating the captivating details of his daily life, wrote it. And also sadly a reminder of how that articulated life ended.

“Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell”, a performance of some of Gray’s written works by a five member cast, will have a homecoming of sorts at the Bay Street Theater this Saturday night, when it is performed for one night only as a fundraiser for the imperiled Bay Street Theater.  Mercedes Ruehl, who will perform the stories relating to Gray’s career and ensuing fame, will be that night’s celebrity guest reader.

Gray wrote about his life in Sag Harbor, and some of those stories will be performed at Bay Street. He had moved to Sag Harbor from New York City in 1996, and his family continues to reside here. Therefore, some of the stories will really resonate with locals who will intimately know the people and places mentioned in the tales.

His widow, Kathie Russo, the producer of The Morning Show with Bonnie Brice on WLIU as well the co-creator of this compilation, explains that bringing the play to Bay Street after having it performed in other U.S. cities “feels like coming home.  The references to Sag Harbor will have a much more profound impact.”  Although she also acknowledges that what makes Gray’s personal stories so compelling is their universality.

Gray, who during an era of burgeoning high tech communications became famous as the guy who sat behind a desk with a note pad and glass of water telling stories, left a tremendous body of work both published and unpublished for his family to sift through after his untimely death in 2004.

Russo explains that the play’s title “Stories Left to Tell” came from something she found written within Gray’s notebooks.

“Spalding had written ‘left over stories to tell’ as a title in a journal,” Russo explained, and she along with director and co-creator Lucy Sexton decided to change the title so it didn’t sound like the stories were mere “left overs.” That is certainly not the case with these stories, several of which have been published already, and which have been grouped into categories such as love, family, career, and adventure by Russo and Sexton.  A different cast member specializes in performing each category.

Russo started compiling this work about a year-and-a-half after Gray’s suicide. It could have been an emotional and daunting task but it turned out to be a positive experience for her.

“I found it really therapeutic to go through his journals,” Russo explains, and then notes, “but I am currently working on a book and find the book more painful than the play. There are more difficult stories in the book.”

The play, Russo explains, was crafted in the likeness of Gray’s monologues, which gained a larger audience with the success of the film “Swimming to Cambodia” in 1987.  She clarifies, “There are ups and downs. You’re laughing and crying.” Russo continues that she very much intended the play to be a celebration of his life and therefore the stories selected represent the entire arc of his life.

Russo worries however that “some people might shy away from coming because they are aware of how his life ended. People might walk in (to the theater) knowing the end, but this play is about what comes before all that happens.”

Watching the play, as Russo has done numerous times, has been an affirmative experience for her, and she certainly hopes audiences will come away with the same life-affirming experience.

Gray has been so tied to the performance of his words that it has been a new and inspiring experience to hear all different types of actors speak them. Both men and women speak Gray’s words. Russo says she remembers one of the best pieces of direction Sexton gave the play’s cast of actors was to remember, “This is your story. Tell it the way you want to tell it.”

And yet she also explains despite the different voices, “I feel like he’s in the room during the performance. I will catch something new each time. It’s surprising sometimes. Even some of the dated stuff still works, about Studio 54 or Kung Fu. It’s still funny.”

In the end, the ancient tradition of telling an entertaining tale to a group of friends is still alive and well with this new production of Gray’s work. Despite all the high tech ways people communicate these days, hearing a human voice live still seems to penetrate the soul more satisfyingly then a text or email, and thankfully Gray, who kept this tradition going into the 21^st Century still had a few words left to pass on.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Sag Harbor may have television stars Dylan and Cole Sprouse, on the screen at Bay Street Theatre Thanksgiving weekend, but according to producers for the duo’s feature film “The Kings of Appletown,” the village may see more of the Sprouse brothers in the future as producers mull shooting the twins’ next feature film right here in Sag Harbor.

The Sprouse brothers’ Disney show “The Suite Life on Deck” is television’s highest rated series for children six to 11 years old, earning second place in the nine-to-14-year-old demographic and drew 6.8 million viewers on October 2, its highest numbers to date. This is due in large measure to the enormous popularity of its charismatic 16-year-old teen stars who began their rise to fame on their first Disney show, “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody”

On Sunday, November 29 at 2:30 p.m. Sag Harbor teens, and parents, are invited to The Bay Street Theatre for a special screening of their unreleased feature film “The Kings of Appletown,” which is being brought to Bay Street by executive producers Tom Kelly and Joe Reilly and Blue Sky restaurant co-owner Gerry Wawryk.

Directed by Oscar-winning screenwriter Robert “Bobby” Moresco, who took home the film industry’s highest award with screenwriter Paul Haggis for penning the film “Crash,” “The Kings of Appletown” is inspired by the Mark Twain character of Tom Sawyer. It centers on two cousins – Will and Clayton – who, on the precipice of adulthood, growing up in a small, idyllic American town, witness a terrible crime. Will and Clayton are joined by their friend Becky in what is billed as a suspenseful, action-comedy that follows the trio as they quest to find the perpetrator and redemption for their own actions.

The film also includes the work of Emmy-nominated actress Kate Burton as Aunt Birdy. Burton, a well-known actress, is also the daughter of actor Richard Burton and Sybil Christopher, one of the founders of Bay Street and an artistic director at the East End theatre.

In addition to the screening, Wawryk said there would be a 2 p.m. “Meet the Filmmakers” session allowing for a question and answer period with the film’s award winning director and executive producers.

Both the screening and the Q & A, which will benefit Bay Street Theatre, has largely come about due to Wawryk’s efforts. Wawryk said on Monday that the producers have shown an interest in shooting the Sprouse brothers next feature film in Sag Harbor, and as a business owner, he would love nothing more than to see the community reap the economic benefits and notoriety that can come with hosting a film shoot.

In addition to community support for the project, Wawryk added that investors are also being sought for the project, and given the twins’ popularity — and the success of fellow Disney and Nickelodeon stars like Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers — said it seemed like a “no-brainer” of an investment in his mind.

“We are certainly interested,” said Kelly on Tuesday. “And seeing local interest and support always plays a role.”

Kelly said the crew of  “The Kings of Appletown” found a lot of local support in New Braunfels, Texas, and it was the combination of that support with the idyllic scenery that led the team to shoot there. Sag Harbor, he said, has the same small-town, American feel.

“It is an idyllic, coastal community,” said Kelly. “The architecture is great, the people seem nice. Of course, this all plays a role in the kind of story we have in mind. Any location will play a role in a film like any other character. It adds depth, it adds layers and that makes it a better, more successful project.”

Reilly, who spent summers in Noyac and is familiar with Sag Harbor said the village was “very high up in consideration” for the next Sprouse brothers’ movie, which is also slated to be directed by Moresco. Moresco’s daughter Amanda penned the twins’ first film, an adaptation of “The Prince and the Pauper,” as well as “The Kings of Appletown,” and is also slated to write the next feature.

Reilly said the next film has a few central story ideas, including teens grappling with love, loyalty and alienation – themes all teens can relate to, even in the tony Hamptons.

“The whole world lives with that,” said Reilly. “It’s every kid and every community. More than just a universal theme, I think it could be a story that works very well out there.”

“The Kings of Appletown” will screen at The Bay Street Theatre on Long Wharf at 2:30 p.m. with doors opening at 2 p.m. Tickets are $8 for children, $10 for adults and all proceeds will benefit Bay Street Theatre.

Popularity: 4% [?]

 “The arts live continuously, and they live literally by faith; their nature and their shapes and their uses survive unchanged in all that matters through times of interruption, diminishment, neglect; and they outlive governments and creeds and societies; even the very civilizations that produced them. They cannot be destroyed altogether because they represent the substance of faith and the only reality. They are what we find again when the ruins are cleared away.”

                                    – Katherine Anne Porter

Not too long ago Bay Street Theatre received a letter from a former student who took part in our educational program who said, “…I had an experience of a lifetime that was much needed for a fifteen year old. You all left such a mark of inspiration on my life that encourages me still today. Thanks for your investment in my life and the life of others…”

Inspiring and investing in lives is part of what we do. And so we write to ask you, our East End community, to reinvest in us.

It will be of little surprise to anyone that we have been hit hard by the economy.  But what many folks don’t realize is that Bay Street is a not-for-profit institution which derives less than half of its operating income through actual ticket sales. The remaining percentage must be raised through individual gifts, government and corporate support, and fundraising events, with a preponderance of that income coming from the individual –that’s you.

Why save a theater? There are several reasons.

First, we are here to serve the communities’ needs. May sound corny, but it’s true. And we don’t mean simply keeping people entertained.

In recent years we have made a very concerted effort to open our doors for any and all community requests—and to be a good neighbor without being asked. We hold events and offer ticket donations to benefit other non-profits such as the Southampton Hospital, East End Hospice, our local fire departments and food pantries. We respond to the requests of our community by offering theater camp for kids and a home for Stages Children’s Workshop, and by providing low cost family entertainment such as the Classic Picture Show Film Series. We serve as a gathering place for the community, from holiday sing-a-longs to a place for Santa to visit. And we do all of these things at little or no cost to the public.

Second, the money you invest with Bay Street goes right back into the East End community. Throughout the year, we employ large numbers of people—from carpenters to piano tuners, from bartenders to plumbers. We shop in our local stores, frequent our local restaurants, and purchase supplies from our local vendors. We rent 10-12 houses and rooms at our local hotels. We purchase ads in our local papers and radio stations. Throughout the year we bring in over 25,000 visitors to this community who come to see our shows, and they too frequent our local establishments.

Finally, we firmly believe that having a theater that provides entertainment, education, and community support in all different forms, both on and off season, is simply a wonderful asset to any community. But Bay Street will not survive unless the community feels the same. We truly believe that together, with your help, Bay Street can survive and flourish so that our community here in Sag Harbor, on the East End, continues to be enriched and made more vital. 

If you feel the same, then any size donation is welcome and checks may be written and sent to Bay Street Theatre, PO Box 810, Sag Harbor, NY 11963. Or you may call us at 631-725-0818, or go to www.baystreet.org  and click on ‘Ways To Give’, or visit us on the Long Wharf in Sag Harbor.

Sybil Christopher, Murphy Davis, Julie Fitzgerald, Gary Hygom, Tracy Mitchell

Bay Street Theatre Management Team

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This week Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theatre will host an Open Mic rally to save the East End’s public radio station, WLIU-FM, but according to theatre general manager Tracy Mitchell, WLIU is not the only cultural institution in need of community support. Bay Street Theatre, a not-for-profit, is facing a half million dollar deficit next year after a tumultuous economy that led not only to cutbacks in state and federal funding of the East End theatrical mainstay, but also a decline in the number of theatre goers during its peak summer season.

“We knew donations would be down,” said Mitchell on Wednesday, noting 50 percent of the theatre’s revenues as a not-for-profit are derived from ticket sales, but the other 50 percent is dependent on grant funding, donations and monies from the state and federal government. “We knew we would take a hit there, so last year we cut back. But we thought we would at least still get butts in the seats.”

Mitchell said despite rave reviews for this summer’s mainstage productions, not only from the local papers, but also from The New York Times and Newsday, Bay Street did not see the kind of patronage it was accustomed to having in July and August — crucial months for the theatre to make profits before the beginning of the off season.

“The tourists just were not there,” said Mitchell. “We did not see the number of Europeans we were used to. Families did not seem to be spending the extra money on theatre. It was kind of shocking. Despite our rave reviews, we were sometimes playing to less than 50 percent of the house.”

This week, with the financial reality of the theatre apparent to its board, Bay Street has reached out to the East End community in an effort to preserve its theatrical productions, educational programming and film, music and comedy nights. Appealing to the local community and its plethora of artists, Bay Street has started this imitative with a Columbus Day weekend event featuring Alan Alda and Joy Behar, and comedian Lewis Black performing the following Wednesday.

“As personal friends of the artistic directors, Sybil Christopher and Murphy Davis, all of these incredible artists have agreed to appear at Bay Street in order to show their support,” said Mitchell in a press release.

Alda and Behar are set to appear on Saturday, October 10 at 8 p.m. with Black performing October 14, also at 8 p.m.

On Wednesday, Mitchell said it is the theatre’s hope that events like the Columbus Day weekend extravaganza will help shepherd Bay Street through this economically tough time, but she noted it will need continued financial support from not only marquee names like Alda, Behar and Black, but the community at large.

“Quite frankly, we need to get the message across to the community that we are not doing fine,” said Mitchell. “We are a not-for-profit, and I don’t think many people realize what we mean to the community. We may be a traditional regional theatre in the summer, but we are much, much more the other nine months of the year.”

Hosting community forums like the WLIU rally, educational programming, fall movie nights, kids theatre and community events, Mitchell noted Bay Street has essentially become Sag Harbor’s unofficial community center.

“We don’t make money on a lot of these events,” said Mitchell. “But we open our doors because we are the community center by default, which we want to be. But now we need a little support.”

“I think all of us firmly believe we will get this support and we are not ready to cross that bridge,” said Mitchell when asked what will happen to Bay Street if the public does not hear its call for help. “If I was not an eternal optimist, I don’t think I would have gotten into the arts. God knows none of us are doing this for the money.”

To make a donation to Bay Street Theatre, or learn more about the upcoming Columbus Day weekend events, call the box office at 725-9500 or the administrative offices at 725-0818.

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