Thursday, October 1, 2009
Austin Bommer, 14, portrayed Liesl in "The Sound of Music" opposite her father as Captain Von Trapp.
Austin Bommer is adjusting to life as a freshman at Columbia High School. However, she pulled off a far bigger transition this August, when she moved to the Kansas City area for a month to play Liesl in a production of "The Sound of a Music." "It was almost like a culture shock, because everyone was so nice there. They made me feel welcome," said Austin, who turned 14 this month and successfully auditioned to replace an 18-year-old actress who was headed to college and had to leave the show at the New Theatre in Overland Park, Kan., early. Austin had spent the beginning of her summer participating in the Paper Mill's Summer Musical Theater Conservatory, and then opportunity knocked. Her father Ron Bommer was portraying Captain Von Trapp in…
40.734997
-74.266716
Columbia High School
17 Parker Ave, Maplewood, NJ
/articles/chs-freshman-landed-summer-acting-job-in-kansas-city-2
2997
/locations/84767
Thursday, August 20, 2009
“Little Red Rosie and the Three Big Pigs” plays today.
Probably every kid who has ever heard the story of the Three Little Pigs has thought “what if the wolf wasn’t so big and bad?” Maplewood resident and playwright Jeff Larkin has illustrated how the little pigs' story and others would play out if the wolf in question was a good guy with an interest in environmental construction. “It’s kind of a fun, fractured fairy tale,” Larkin said of his creation “Little Red Rosie and the Three Big Pigs.” The play will be performed today at 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at Memorial Park. It debuted yesterday at 5 at Cameron Field in South Orange. The wolf isn’t the only fairy tale character skewed in the play. “This piece is a mash-up of the Little Red Riding Hood and Three Little Pigs story through the conduit …
40.731788
-74.273122
Memorial Park
124 Dunnell Rd, Maplewood, NJ
/articles/fractured-fairy-tale-performed-today-and-tomorrow-in-maplewood-and-south-orange
6760
/locations/63181
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
The show will be performed on Wednesday, Aug. 19, at 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. in Cameron Field.
Written by local playwrights Jeff Larkin and Nancy S. Chu, "Little Red Rosie and the Three Big Pigs" is described by its creators as a "fractured fairytale." Playing in both South Orange and Maplewood, the play is a mash-up of several popular children's tales, told with a skewed sensibility. The performances are scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 19, at 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at Cameron Field in South Orange and Thursday, Aug. 20, at 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at Memorial Park in Maplewood. During Patch's visit, the cast and crew were hard at work the day before the show opened. We recorded video of a run-through of the closing dance number. Check it out.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Performances will be held in Meadowland Park in South Orange and Memorial Park in Maplewood.
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Thursday, August 6, 2009
Performers have been announced for the second offering of "SOPAC Inside Out," a series of free outdoor performances for kids and families at Meadowland Park in South Orange and Memorial Park in Maplewood this month. SOPAC will present an original production of the fractured fairy tale Little Red Rosie and the Three Big Pigs by local playwrights Jeff Larkin and Nancy S. Chu. The cast includes Susan Leone (Mom and Granny), the director of Maplewood’s Jazzberries Kindermusic studio; Orange resident Hernell Gabriel (Flora the Pig); Gregory Omar Osborne (Gregory the Pig), a student at Montclair State University; Newark resident Pete Mars (Wolfgang), an NJ School of Dramatic Arts student; Maplewood resident Emma Leone (Rosie); Maplewood resident…
40.731788
-74.273122
Memorial Park
124 Dunnell Rd, Maplewood, NJ
/articles/free-performances-in-memorial-park-and-sopac
6760
/locations/62782
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Paper Mill Playhouse brings Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books to life.
Sandy Marino is a teaching artist in the education department at the Paper Mill Playhouse, but she clearly would be right at home performing on stage in any of its theater productions. Marino delighted and enthralled a small but enthusiastic group of children yesterday at the Main Branch of the Maplewood Library as she read from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books. But Marino did not have the children sit quietly while she turned the pages: she actively involved the children in the reading process. The children formed a wagon, splashed through imaginary streams, yipped liked coyotes, made Indian war cries (Marino explained to the children that Ingalls Wilder used the term “Indian” to describe Native Americans), banged on drums and, …
40.729183
-74.275908
Maplewood Memorial Library
51 Baker St, Maplewood, NJ
/articles/little-house-on-the-prairie-comes-alive-at-library-2
3620
/locations/51807
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Nine-year-old Eva Verzani plays Mustardseed in Verona production of the Bard's ode to summer.
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Wednesday, July 15, 2009
This weekend, the West Orange arts group New Jersey Arts Incubator puts on A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Festival in Verona Park. The festival runs form noon to 8 pm on July 18 and 19, and features entertainment by musicians, storytellers, jugglers and the New Jersey Renaissance Festival Players, who will offer provide sword fighting and games. In keeping with the festival’s title, a performance of Shakespeare’s whimsical fantasy play A Midsummer Night’s Dream is performed each evening to cap off the festivities. Sharp-eyed Maplewoodians may spot a familiar face onstage: 9-year-old Maplewood resident Eva Verzani appears in a dual role, playing both Mustardseed and a fairy.
