[Capdist-announce] Catskill’s Bridge Street Theatre Celebrates Survival in 2022: A Year-End Wrap-Up

[Steven Patterson]

*For Immediate Release*December 9 – December 31, 2022

*“It is a unique flame that burns in Catskill, New York.”*  J. Peter
Bergman, *Berkshire Edge*

In its first full season since the onset of the pandemic, one of the
region’s most adventurous and innovative small theatre companies came
roaring back! Catskill’s Bridge Street Theatre got all the way through 2022
without having to cancel a single performance or send on a single
replacement cast member!

BST’s five-play Mainstage Season, “Celebrate Survival”, transported
audiences to some truly unexpected places this past year: to the stockroom
of a Costco in rural Washington state (Samuel D. Hunter’s CLARKSTON), to a
small-town mortuary in Indiana (the surprisingly funny FOURTEEN FUNERALS by
Eric Pfeffinger), into the minds of an elderly woman with encroaching
dementia and her equally elderly canine companion (Brad Fraser’s SHELLEY’S
SHADOW), into the troubling relationship between a college professor and
his 19-year-old student (Hannah Moscovitch’s SEXUAL MISCONDUCT OF THE
MIDDLE CLASSES), and to a backstabbing royal Christmas in medieval France
(James Goldman’s THE LION IN WINTER). Two regional premieres, a U.S.
premiere, an American classic, and our first-ever commissioned world
premiere, acclaimed and enjoyed by audiences and critics alike. The theatre
also commissioned painter Agam Neiman to create artworks for the season as
a whole and each of the individual productions, plus original incidental
music from composer N. Jennings White for its production of THE LION IN
WINTER.

In addition, the collaborations BST initiated in 2021 with the Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum in NYC and Catskill’s Catwalk Institute continued with a
series of artists’ residencies. A new partnership was initiated with
Saugerties’ Round the Bend Theatre resulting in a series of new play
readings from local playwrights, presented to the public for an affordable
free-will donation. The theatre hosted its second annual Summer Musical
with an all-student cast – THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE – and
a two-performance run of A BINTEL BRIEF from Catskill’s Temple Israel.
Bridge Street Belly Dance returned with perhaps its most exciting program
ever. And Bridge Street also hosted a number of spectacular musical
evenings featuring such artists as Tom Judson, The Lost Radio Rounders,
Ustad Shafaat Khan, Michael Moss, and the Zelos Saxophone Quartet.

Topping the year off, Bridge Street Theatre was nominated for six 2022
Berkshire Theatre Critics Association Awards (for productions staged from
October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022) and took top honors for two of them
– for “Outstanding Production of a Play” (for our November 2021 production
of Eugene O’Neill’s LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT) and “Outstanding Lead
Actress in a Play” (Roxanne Fay for her shattering performance as Mary
Tyrone in LONG DAY’S JOURNEY). This scrappy “little theatre that can” has
become increasingly recognized for both the quality of the work it presents
and as an incubator for magnificent new plays.

A truly adventurous 2023 is currently in the works. A Season announcement
is imminent and Subscription Tickets will go on sale soon. To stay informed
on everything coming up at this four-time consecutive winner of “Best
Theatre/Performance Space” in the annual “Best of Greene County” Awards, be
sure to visit their website at bridgest.org.


*Critical Acclaim for Bridge Street Theatre’s 2022 Season “Celebrate
Survival”*
*CLARKSTON by Samuel D. Hunter* (Regional Premiere) *“Under the direction
of Daniel Elihu Kramer, the three perfectly cast actors traverse tricky
emotional terrain with such accomplishment that it’s often a marvel to
witness … Bridge Street Theatre is a gem.”  *Steve Barnes,

* Times Union**FOURTEEN FUNERALS by Eric Pfeffinger *(East Coast Premiere)* “An
East Coast premiere at Bridge Street Theatre that more than takes the
measure of Pfeffinger’s savvy material … A gentle (albeit at times,
sublimely antic), enormously insightful comedy about coming home, even if
it’s a home you never knew you had.”  *Jeffrey Borak

*, Berkshire Eagle**SHELLEY’S SHADOW by Brad Fraser *(World Premiere
Commission) *“Not only is this is the best play I’ve seen at Bridge Street
Theatre: I dare say it’s one of the best new plays I’ve seen anywhere,
ever! … ‘Shelley’s Shadow’ is simply wonderful storytelling, and I wish
every world premiere play could be as good as this!”  *Andrew Andrews

*, Opplaud**SEXUAL MISCONDUCT OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES* *by Hannah Moscovitch*
  (US Premiere) *“A triumph for all involved, compelling you to empathize
with flawed characters behaving badly and blessing you with the grace of
superb artistry … ‘Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes’ is a small
miracle of a play that will leave you amazed.”  *Patrick White,

* Nippertown**THE LION IN WINTER by James Goldman **“Director John Sowle
and his cast have found the small wonders in James Goldman’s script and
shifted them from the back burners to the front of the stove … Get your
tickets while you can and see this great, quizzical history, worthy of
Shakespeare but written by an American.”  *J. Peter Bergman*, Berkshire
Edge*

*Poster Art for BST's 2022 Season and Five Mainstage Productions by Agam
Neiman*

*To contact Bridge Street Theatre directly for features and interviews,
email contact at bridgest.org <contact at bridgest.org> or call their offices at
518-943-3894. For more information on Bridge Street Theatre visit
BridgeSt.org.*
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