Archive: Arts & Entertainment

Following their sold-out production of In the Heights, the Hangar Theatre will present Third by Wendy Wasserstein from July 21 until July 30, 2016. Set in a small, prestigious college town in New England (like Ithaca), the play tells the story of a professor whose seemingly well-ordered life is thrown into dizzying disarray after she accuses a student athlete of plagiarism.  Interim Artistic Director, Michael Barakiva, will be directing this production; he also directed the world premiere of this show at Theatre J in Washington, D.C. Join the cast, crew, and Hangar staff on opening night, Friday, July 22 at 8pm at the Hangar Theatre, located at 801 Taughannock Blvd, Ithaca, NY 14850 in Cass Park.

Wasserstein's Third tells the story of college a professor at a prestigious New England liberal arts college. After accusing her student and campus wrestling star Woodson Bull III of plagiarism, Professor Jameson's supposed well-ordered life as wife, mother and daughter is thrown into chaos. Featuring smart, witty dialogue and intelligent humor, Third shows that the late Wendy Wasserstein remains one of the most prominent female playwrights of the last 50 years.

The director, Michael Barakiva comments, "In addition to the sharp comedy and brilliant observations that are a trademark of a Wendy Wasserstein play, Third anticipates the national debate about privilege and entitlement in a way that is extraordinarily insightful as well as prescient." This play was the last show Wasserstein wrote before her untimely death in 2006.


Director Michael Barakiva was not only fortunate enough to direct the world premiere of this piece, but also worked as Wasserstein's typist. In the Hangar Theatre's 2016 Playbill Magazine, Barakiva tells us that "a well-paying day job in the biz - watching one of the country's greatest playwrights do her thing - was invaluable." He goes on to say, "If I hadn't got that job, I have no doubt I would've dropped out of the arts."

Wasserstein not only has a connection to our interim artistic director, Michael Barakiva, but to the Ithaca community as well. During the 2005-2006 academic year, Wendy Wasserstein was the Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University. According to the website for A.D. White Professor-at-Large program, this prestigious professorship is given to individuals who can "enliven the intellectual and cultural life of the university." Her official title was President's Council of Cornell Women A.D. White Professor-at-Large.

Third stars Dee Pelletier, who plays protagonist Professor Laurie Jameson. This production will be her Hangar Theatre debut. Pelletier has recently been seen on Broadway in August: Osage County. Her other theatre credits include Good People at Geva Theatre, Women Without Men at Mint Theater Company, and A Streetcar Named Desire at Vermont Stage Company. Her television and film credits include "Elementary," "Girls," and "All My Children." Third also features the chair of the Department of Theatre Arts at Ithaca College, Catherine Weidner, who plays Nancy Gordon. Weidner has recently been seen in the Hangar's recent production of Other Desert Cities in 2014. Her other stage credits include A Streetcar Named Desire at the Kennedy Center and Wasserstein's The Heidi Chronicles at Arena Stage.

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