Schwartz said he would make an introduction. “There’s this guy named Stephen Schwartz, and I’ve always wanted to work with him,” Mr. ![]() Doyle wanted to make it even more of a musical, which required a composer. With many songs built into the text, “it’s almost a musical the way Shakespeare wrote it,” Mr. Schwartz said he is “thrilled.” He has “one of the greatest directors today” in John Doyle, who guided award-winning stage productions such as the “Sweeney Todd” revival and “The Color Purple.” “I’ve always wanted to work with him and he wanted to do ‘As You Like It,’ one of my favorite plays,” Mr. Of “As You Like It,” his first Mainstage Shakespeare production, Mr. Esther makes lingerie for fancy ladies and ladies of the evening while searching for more meaning in her life. Running in Sag Harbor from July 4 to July 30, it will star Kelly McCreary, a theater and television star from “Grey’s Anatomy,” as Esther Mills, an African-American living in New York City in 1905. He will follow that by “giving a fresh look to an earlier play by a master playwright.” “Intimate Apparel” was produced 14 years ago, before Lynn Nottage won Pulitzer Prizes for two of her plays, “Ruined” and “Sweat.” He said “the smaller plays ebb away and get lost, because the next thing keeps coming.” “It’s central to us, and I love new musicals.” Schwartz said the world premiere of this musical continues a tradition he started of having one premiere each season. “I can see opening this show on Broadway.” Mr. David Korins worked up something similar for the set design. Feiffer’s illustrations for the original graphic novel. Rick Lyon, the puppet designer for “Avenue Q,” crafted puppets based on Mr. Andrew Lippa, who wrote the music and lyrics for the show, will be acting in it as well. It is the first time Jeffery Seller, known for his work as a producer of “Hamilton,” “Avenue Q,” and “Rent,” will direct a production. It is also a “show with three major artists all stepping out of their comfort zone.” It is Mr. It’s the first New Works Festival play that has gone on to a full production. Jules Feiffer’s “The Man in the Ceiling” is first up from Tuesday (with a limited number of “pay-what-you-can” tickets available at 11 a.m. ![]() This year’s Mainstage season will consist of three plays: “The Man in the Ceiling,” “Intimate Apparel,” and “As You Like It.” 25, Bay Street will once again be in Mashashimuet Park with a concert presentation of “Kiss Me, Kate,” Cole Porter’s musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew,” starring Melissa Errico. Schwartz’s father performing with friends. Other performers include Ben Vereen, Lorna Luft, first and Mr. The cabaret-style concerts that were usually scheduled on Saturdays have moved to Mondays with Betty Buckley up first on July 10. ![]() This year, comedy has moved from Mondays to three Saturdays, beginning with Colin Quinn this weekend, Colin Jost on July 1, and a final comedian to be announced for Aug. The theater is building on what worked in the past couple of seasons, and shaking its schedule up a bit to accommodate its patrons better. Schwartz said that the theater’s “subscriptions were way up over last year’s,” which were also “way up.” The theater’s New Works Festival had full houses for most plays, and the fall and spring events have been selling out. In a recent junket to discuss the new summer season, Mr. An off-season schedule that has shifted from old films to live performances from musicians, comedians, and even opera, has also brought winter crowds to the theater and to Sag Harbor.Īfter an awkward stage, Bay Street has emerged as a swan, or rather, a diva ready for its close-up. His productions that draw on national and international sources of plays, directors, actors, and designers and shaped for East End summer and year-round audiences are clearly a hit. Schwartz is now helming his fourth season fully in charge of programming. Bay Street had fallen on uncertain times with a few years of lackluster performance, management shakeups, and a transitional season that might be best characterized as Florida dinner-theater classic. When he first arrived almost five years ago to take over as Bay Street Theater’s artistic director, the Broadway brat (he is the son of Stephen Schwartz, the award-winning composer of “Wicked,” “Pippin,” “Godspell,” and numerous other scores and musical works) was an outsider and an unproven commodity on the Sag Harbor theater scene. Well, not really, but it is tempting to go “over the top” after spending an hour with his infectious enthusiasm. Scott Schwartz speaks in superlatives - “greatest,” “magnificent,” “world-class,” “thrilling,” “unparalleled,” and that is just in one sentence.
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