Ivoryton Christmas Block Party

Head to Ivoryton for your

“Christmas Vacation”!

December 4^th Christmas Block Party

And Ivoryton Illuminations

Ivoryton: Looking for a different way to celebrate Christmas? Then head down to Ivoryton for a “Not Your Traditional Christmas Block Party” on December 4^th from 5pm to 8pm. The entire village of Ivoryton will be participating in this Holiday Extravaganza with carol singing, face painting, Santa’s Workshop Holiday Bazaar, culminating with the lighting of the Ivoryton Illuminations at 6pm (over 70,000 lights!) and the arrival of Santa.

Family activities include writing letters to Santa and holiday letters to our soldiers abroad at the Ivoryton Library; visiting with Santa in the Gazebo (photographs can be purchased from The Ivoryton Studio); face painting and musical entertainment at Leo’s Gallery; carol singing outside the Playhouse at 5:45pm with the clowns and circus folk from The Ivoryton Playhouseupcoming production of “Barnum”; artisans with hand crafted gifts at Gather; Santa’s Christmas Workshop and Holiday Bazaar run by Boy Scouts and local churches; Aggie’s for free hot dogs and cookie decorating at “Something Special ” and finally chili and hot cider at the Ivoryton Tavern & Café where you can also catch “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” to round off this wild and crazy Christmas celebration.

Ivoryton residents are invited to enter your home in the “Colors of Ivoryton” Christmas Lights competition. Pretty and white or wild and crazy – celebrate in your own style! Lots of great prizes from hometown businesses – email shanec89@comcast.net

If you want to experience some real Christmas cheer, then come and join the party – The Ivoryton Christmas Vacation Party! Fun for all ages – we put the crazy back in Christmas!!

Barnum At The Ivoryton Playhouse

The Prince of Humbug!

Barnum

At The Ivoryton Playhouse

Ivoryton: Back around 1875, the circus impresario P.T. Barnum planned to make Port Jefferson the permanent home for his ”Greatest Show on Earth.” Apparently, however, Barnum was not well thought of in that Long Island community. People were worried about his strange cast of characters and the smell from his animals! Not in My Back Yard prevailed, and Barnum took his show across the Sound to Bridgeport , Connecticut and the rest is history.

Barnum which had a successful Broadway run, is a biographical overview of P.T.’s life, with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics byMichael Stewart and book by Mark Bramble. It gives us a little nibble of how Barnum became the Prince of Humbug – charming his more practical and earth bound wife and into supporting all his schemes and dreams. The music is circus to the core- stirring and exciting – and the story of the enduring romance between Barnum and his wife, Chairy makes for a heart-warming and endearing family show.  Bruce Connelly*, who was last seen at the Playhouse as Finian in Finian’s Rainbow, returns to Ivoryton to play the title role. He will be joined by Beverley Galpin, who plays his wife, the long suffering Chairy, and a colorful cast of gymnasts and jugglers, aerialists and clowns!

If you have kids, or you are still a kid at heart, you won’t want to miss Barnum.

Barnum opens on December 9th and runs thru December 19th for 2 weeks only. Performance times are Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2pm. Evening performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm. Tickets are $30 for adults, $28 for seniors, $20 for students and $15 for children and are available by calling the Playhouse box office at 860-767-7318 or by visiting our website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org (Group rates are available by calling the box office for information.) The Playhouse is located at 103 Main Street in Ivoryton.

*Denotes member of Actors Equity
Members of the press are welcome at any performance.
Please call ahead for tickets.

Ivoryton Playhouse Presents CUCKOO’S NEST, 11/3-21

Tuesday, October 19, 2010; Posted: 07:10 PM – by BWW News Desk

Boisterous, ribald, and ultimately shattering, Ken Kesey’s One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest is the seminal novel of the 1960′s that has left an indelible mark on the literature of our time. The book was dramatized by Dale Wasserman and is based largely on Kesey’s experiences as a volunteer working with mental patients.

Here is the unforgettable story of a mental ward and its inhabitants, especially the tyrannical Nurse Ratched and Randle Patrick McMurphy, the brawling, fun-loving new inmate who resolves to oppose her. We see the struggle through the eyes of Chief Bromden, the seemingly mute half-Indian patient who witnesses and understands McMurphy’s heroic attempt to do battle with the awesome powers that keep them all imprisoned. Through the conflict between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy, the play explores the themes of individuality and rebellion against conformity, ideas that were widely discussed at a time when the United States was committed to opposing communism and totalitarian regimes around the world. However, Kesey’s approach, directing criticism at American institutions themselves, was revolutionary for its time.

The play was first produced on Broadway in 1964, two years after the novel was published. The Broadway production starred Kirk Douglas as McMurphy, Gene Wilder as Billy Bibbit, and Ed Ames as Chief Bromden. Douglas retained the rights to make a movie version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest for a decade, but was unable to find a studio willing to make it with him. Eventually, he gave the rights to his son Michael Douglas, who succeeded in getting the movie produced. By then, Kirk Douglas was deemed too old for the role of McMurphy, and the role was given to Jack Nicholson.

This cast includes Daniel Robert Sullivan* as McMurphy and Andrea Maulella*, who was last seen at The Playhouse as Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker, as Nurse Ratched. The play will be directed Peter Lockyer, a one-time resident of this area and past student of Valley Regional High School. A Broadway veteran, Peter has played the title role in Phantom of the Opera, and has recently finished performing in South Pacific at the Lincoln Center. Set design by Dan Nischan and lighting design by Doug Harry.

Jacqui Hubbard, Playhouse Executive/Artistic Director comments: “We are so fortunate to have this talented cast and director on our stage to bring this Cuckoo’s Nest to life. As part of our mission, we are committed not only to bringing first class musicals and comedies to our audience, but also significant dramas that shine a light on problems that are still issues in our society. Peter Lockyer has a deep understanding of this classic of the American theatre and we are overjoyed to be bringing his vision to our audiences and subscribers.”

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest opens November 3rd and runs thru November 21st and runs for 3 weeks, Performance times are Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2pm. Evening performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 8pm. Tickets are $38 for adults, $33 for seniors, $20 for students and $15 for children and are available by calling The Playhouse box office at 860-767-7318 or by visiting our website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org .(Group rates are available by calling the box office for information.) The Playhouse is located at 103 Main Street in Ivoryton.