The greater Binghamton area’s longest running Equity theatre will celebrate its 10th anniversary season by premiering four plays never seen before in this region. Included are two new plays just beginning to be produced around the country. Both are from authors whose previous work has been seen exclusively on CRT’s stage in the Southern Tier.
Stella & Lou, regional premiere May 27 – June 19. Co-produced by NBT Bank and Pete and Karen Raymond.
Opening the 10th Anniversary Season is a play from one of our favorite playwrights, Bruce Graham (The Outgoing Tide-2013; Mr. Hart & Mr. Brown-2014). This piece, inspired by his parent’s own love story, is a romantic comedy that proposes that a second chance at love is still possible, even for two people with a lot of miles on them. You’ll be laughing hysterically one minute, and grabbing your heart the next, in this gem of a play.
On a quiet night at Lou’s bar, two kindred spirits navigate changing times and past relationships. Lou is about to close up for the night when Stella walks in. She reveals an unexpected surprise and
an even more startling suggestion. Despite their differing ideas of romance, deep down they know they need each other. But can Stella convince Lou that she’d rather stay than move away, if there’s something to stay for? An exploration of friendship and the longing for companionship that grows with the passage of time.
Last Gas, regional premiere July 8 – 31. Co-produced by IBM, Chobani Greek Yogurt and Esteban Fuertes & Alan Foster.
The second show of the 2016 season is Last Gas, from author John Cariani, who wrote CRT’s hit 2011 production of Almost, Maine. Set in the far north of Maine, Last Gas is the land of last chances – the last gas, last food and last phone for 41 miles before crossing over the border into Canada. It’s a little, family run convenience store, not one of those chain places. And this family isn’t quite conventional either.
On the eve of his 41st birthday, Nat’s old high school flame returns for her mother’s funeral and walks into the convenience store Nat and his dad run. Suddenly, Nat comes face to face with a chance to “get back to happy.” With a cast of delightful characters putting their noses into Nat’s business, this exquisite new play explores lost love, love that’s not quite right and love that is just right.
The Smell of the Kill, regional premiere Aug. 19 – Sept. 11. Co-produced by Edward Jones Investments and Jim and Debbie Dyal.
Suburbia: the final frontier. An unexplored wilderness where floating dinner parties belie the seething bloodlust of its primitive inhabitants. Take three delicious, malicious wives, add three unlovable husbands and chill. That’s the recipe for The Smell of the Kill, a tantalizing dark comedy by playwright Michele Lowe that had Broadway audiences laughing and cheering. The story revolves around housewives Nicky, Molly and Debra, marginal friends who have tolerated one another during once-a-month dinners for years. Nicky is married to an embezzler and is ready to kill for money. Molly is married to a stalker and is ready to kill for more sex. Debra is married to an adulterer and is just ready to kill. While their unseen spouses practice putting in the dining room, the women exchange confidences for the first time, revealing chinks in all three marriages. When a completely unlikely opportunity presents itself, and gives each of them an opportunity to escape their marriages, one by one the women make their choices with more than a little help from one another.
Taking Sides, regional premiere Sept. 30 – Oct. 16. Co-produced by Raymond Corp., Jim and Beth Daniels, and Anonymous.
Set in the ruins of post-war Berlin and based on a true story, this provocative drama by Ronald Harwood explores the tension between culture and political power. The “De-Nazification Tribunal”, led by a dogged U.S. Army investigator, has convened to take over the questioning of Wilhelm Furtwängler, the world famous conductor of the era. Prior to WWII, Furtwängler was at the height of his career. As the terrors of Nazism spread, many of Furtwängler’s colleagues fled, but Furtwängler chose to stay. Did he use his exalted position as “Hitler’s conductor” to help Jewish musicians escape, or did he fully support the Third Reich during the height of the war?
Based on Furtwängler’s actual diaries of his interrogation, the cast of six is led by two passionate men – one zealously searching for guilt and the other desperately trying to clear his name. Guilty or not guilty? Did history make the right decision? It all depends on which side you take.
Season tickets start as low as $70 to see all four of the shows. Season tickets are available starting April 11 online at www.chenangorivertheatre.org, using any credit card or PayPal. Individual tickets will go on sale April 20. To request a season brochure, email info@chenangorivertheatre.org or call 656-8499 and leave your name, address and phone.
Chenango River Theatre’s (CRT) intimate, air-conditioned 99 seat theatre is just 15 minutes north of Binghamton at 991 State Highway 12, Greene, N.Y. CRT is the greater Binghamton area’s premiere professional non-profit theatre company under annual contract with Actors’ Equity Association, the national association for professional actors and stage managers in the United States – the same actors you see on television, in film and at major theatres across the country.
