Archive: Arts & Entertainment

Mwape Sokoni, Natasha Bratkovski, Rachel Lampert, and Benno Ressa in Aunt Mae Comes to Town. Photo by Lesley Greene
Martha eagerly awaits the arrival of her great Aunt Mae. Once a month, Aunt Mae makes the trip to Ithaca with a bag full of surprises and a photo album with a lifetime of photographs and "a story to go with every one of them!" Stories come to life and Aunt Mae and Martha get swept into all of them.

Fitz&Startz Production veterans (A Case for the Classics, Emmett & Ella:The Puppy Plot) Natasha Bratkovski, Benno Ressa, Mike Cyr and guest Eric Brooks* are quick-change artists playing numerous roles as they bring Aunt Mae's stories to life. Making her Fitz&Startz Productions debut is DeWitt Middle School student Mwape Sokoni (Martha). and writer/actor Rachel Lampert is on stage as Aunt Mae.

Lesley Lisa Greene directs; Travis Knapp music directs; Daisy Rudin assistant directs; Hannah Kochman designs the costumes; and Tasha Sinclair is the stage manager.

"There was a real great Aunt Mae in my life. She was a great story-teller. She lived on NYC's Lower East Side and loved to share stories of her childhood. She introduced me to the world of theater and dance. It's been a delight to remember her in this play and to work with everyone in the cast and on the creative team," says writer Rachel Lampert.

Fitz&Startz Productions, Theater for All Ages presents Aunt Mae Comes to Town, book & lyrics by Rachel Lampert, music by John Coyne at the Kitchen Theatre Company, 417 West MLK/State Street stage, on Saturday October 26 at 11am and 1pm and Saturday, November 2 at 11am and 1pm.

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