Archive: Arts & Entertainment

The regional premiere of David Mamet’s November performs July 8 through 18 at the Hangar Theatre.  An unpopular president up for re-election, Charles Smith is just days away from a major presidential election.  With a party that’s already turned its back on the commander-in-chief, an absent speechwriter, and poll numbers that are tanking, can he raise $1 million and ensure his re-election?  Smith hatches a scheme to pardon a turkey for Thanksgiving Day for a potload of cash but a myriad of mishaps stand in his way.  Taking politically incorrect to a whole new extreme, this rip-roaring comedy will sure to have audiences voting “yes.”

The Hangar’s regional premiere of November comes on the heels of the show’s Broadway run in 2008 which starred Nathan Lane.  The playwright, David Mamet, is often referred to as the quintessential American writer. His works are known for their clever and terse dialogue and have earned him a Pulitzer Prize for Glengarry Glen Ross and Oscar nominations for Wag the Dog and The Verdict.

Hangar Theatre artistic director Peter Flynn directs, having staged Dirty Blonde at the Hangar earlier in the season.  Flynn previously directed the Broadway concerts of Funny Girl with Whoopi Goldberg and Idina Menzel, and Chess with Josh Groban and Julia Murney, as well as created three nationally-acclaimed musicals for TheatreworksUSA.  Flynn will also teach in the Hangar Theatre’s Next Generation School.

Wally Dunn leads the cast as the cheerfully corrupt President Charles Smith.  Dunn has been seen on Broadway in Spamalot, Gypsy as well as One' Mo Time and Master Class and in the national tours of Spamalot, All Shook Up and Master Class. His screen credits include The School of Rock, In & Out, In Dreams, Herman USA, The Opportunists, The Good Shephard, Law & Order, and Law & Order: SVU.  Sharon Eisman plays the role of the head-cold-compromised speechwriter, Clarice Bernstein. Eisman has performed throughout the tri-state area with 1812 Productions and The McCarter Theatre, and starred in the hit cult film High Life.  The Representative of the National Association of Turkey By-Products Manufacturers is played by Ithacan Greg Bostwick.  In addition to teaching and directing at Ithaca College, Bostwick has performed in over twenty-five roles on the Hangar’s Niederkorn Stage, more than any other actor in the history of the Hangar Theatre.  The President’s right-hand man, Archer Brown, is played by Ithaca-native Jesse Bush.  In addition to being the associate artist and education and outreach coordinator for the Hangar Theatre, Bush has performed in and directed numerous productions at the Hangar Theatre and Kitchen Theatre Company.  Most recently, Bush directed this season’s musical Once On This Island and performed in the The Overwhelming and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, all at the Hangar Theatre.   The mad Indian Chieftain Dwight Grackle is played by Ryan Garcia who is a member of the Hangar Theatre’s Lab Company.  Garcia is currently earning his B.F.A. acting degree from the University of Central Florida and has performed in productions at regional theatres in Orlando and at U.C.F..

The set design by Julia Noulin-Mérat will set off giggles with an off-kilter Oval Office. Mérat has recently designed Dark Play or Stories for Boys, Moonchildren, Memory House, Rhinoceros and The Firebugs.  The set is paired with costumes designed by Jennifer Caprio, who returns to the Hangar for her ninth season. At the Hangar, Caprio most recently designed costumes for Oklahoma!, Bleeding Kansas, and Doubt.  Ed Intemann is the lighting designer for the show and is the resident lighting designer at Cornell University. Eric Watkins returns to the Hangar for his third season as sound designer, having previously worked on Doubt, All the Great Books (Abridged), last season’s The Playboy of the Western World , and this season’s Dirty Blonde. 

November will appear at the Hangar Theatre at the Treman Marina of Cass Park from July 8 through 18.  The production is made possible with the support of sponsors Center Ithaca with additional support from Iron Design.

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