Taconic Stage Company Announces August 2017 Show

 

Taconic Stage Company Announces August 2017 Show

Diedre Bollinger as Zelda Fitzgerald Photo Credit: Michele Midori Fillion

 

Copake, NY – Local summer theater company Taconic Stage Co. (TSC) presents a play about Zelda Fitzgerald, The Last Flapper, by William Luce, starring Diedre Bollinger and directed by TSC founder and Artistic Director Carl Ritchie.

Based on her letters and stories, this fascinating one-woman play is the definitive portrait of Mrs. F. Scott Fitzgerald: the glamorous, fun loving and tragic Zelda. Luce reveals the contradictions and mysteries of an extraordinary woman while fashioning a moving yet witty play. Set in an insane asylum in Asheville, NC on the last day of her life, Zelda tells of her innocent rebellion as a southern belle, of her destructive marriage and of her mental disintegration.

Performances will be held at historic St. John in the Wilderness Church, 261 Route 344, Copake Falls, NY, on Aug. 25 and 26 at 7 p.m., and Aug. 19, 20 and 27 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20 (senior citizens and students pay what you can) and can be purchased online through the website www.taconicstage.com orwww.lastflapper.brownpapertickets.com or by calling 800-838-3006.

TSC was founded in 2009, and has delighted audiences each summer with shows such as the hilarious, original send-up on growing older I Know I Came in Here for Something… and a spoof of the locals vs. weekenders mentality The Real (Desperate) Housewives of Columbia County, both written and directed by Ritchie. For several recent summers, reprises of his musical revues had them leaping to their feet at both Mac-Haydn Theatre and the Theater Barn (as well as in NYC and Las Vegas). Other TSC productions include several one-woman shows starring English actress, Leda Hodgson and Canadian actress, Susan Fullerton. Following in that tradition is this summer’s play starring Diedre Bollinger.

Bollinger and Ritchie have worked together many times beginning with a production of Grace and Glorie (co-starring the lovely and talented Chase Crosely) while he was Artistic Director at the Copake Theatre Company over ten years ago. Since founding Taconic Stage – currently in its Ninth season – Bollinger has appeared every single year, bringing down the house in Ritchie’s musical revues. But Bollinger is also well known for numerous dramatic roles including a production earlier this summer of Love, Loss and What I Wore in Pittsfield, MA. Critic Peter Bergman wrote that she, “dominates without overwhelming…a truly memorable performance… The Ephron sisters have written better characters, but never have they had one better delivered to an audience.”

William Luce wrote his Broadway and London success The Belle of Amherst for Julie Harris, who won her fifth Tony Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Emily Dickinson. Luce’s Broadway hit Barrymore starred Christopher Plummer as legendary John Barrymore. Plummer won a Tony Award for Best Actor. For her portrayal of Isak Dinesen in Luce’s play Lucifer’s Child, Julie Harris received a Tony nomination. Harris also starred in Luce’s play Brontë, written for WGBH and Irish Television. The WGBH production won the Peabody Award and Columbia University’s Armstrong Award. Lillian, Luce’s Broadway play on Lillian Hellman, starred Tony Award actress Zoe Caldwell, with productions in London and the Sydney Opera House. Other plays include My Business Is To Love, Chanel and Nijinsky.

There will be a free sneak preview of The Last Flapper on Copake Falls Day – August 19 – courtesy of TSC season sponsors, Herringtons, Inc and Brad Peck Insurance. Taconic Stage Company is a 501 (3) non-profit.

###

 

Calendar listing:

Taconic Stage Company presents “The Last Flapper”, St. John in the Wilderness Church, 261 Route 344, Copake Falls, NY: on Aug. 25 and 26 at 7 p.m., and Aug. 19, 20 and 27 at 2 p.m.  Tickets $20 (senior citizens and students pay what you can), available at www.taconicstage.com , www.lastflapper.brownpapertickets.com  or call 800-838-3006.

Author: Harlem Valley News