Archive: Arts & Entertainment

It’s winter in upstate New York, so we are all in need of some music and laughter. The perfect thing to warm us up on these cold, dark days is the Kitchen Theatre Company’s encore production of PRECIOUS NONSENSE, running from January 13 through February 7.

Using the much-loved melodies and lyrics of Gilbert & Sullivan as a start, Rachel Lampert has fashioned a play so full of plot twists and turns, laughs, and romance that you may think Gilbert and Sullivan themselves rose from the dead to create it. Mistaken identities, unexpressed love, and madcap mayhem combine in this screwball comedy about finding and falling in love.

Set in 1938, PRECIOUS NONSENSE introduces us to a ramshackle touring company, the Carter Family Savoyards. The founders and guiding forces of the company are the bombastic RDC Carter and his long-suffering but equally strong-willed wife Angelina. After years of touring, they long to retire and pass on the leadership of the company to their son, Frederic, who has up to now shown no interest in anything except getting away from his parents and their touring life as soon as he can. The Carter Family Savoyards also includes endearing ingénue Josephine, stage manager and philosopher, Pete, and the enigmatic music director, Herbie. Desperate to run away and join the theater is the star-struck Samuel and the mysterious Mack, who both arrive on the scene.

The plot of PRECIOUS NONSENSE mirrors the plot of Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE. In PENZANCE, Frederic wants to leave the pirates on his 21st birthday. In PRECIOUS NONSENSE, Frederic expects to be set free from his obligation to remain with his parents’ theater company on his upcoming birthday. But when the troupe arrives at the Blue Barn Theatrical Palace in the dead of winter, the theater manager insists that they do a full-length Pirates of Penzance. New cast members are recruited, and with a skeleton cast of seven, and the “show-must-go-on” banner on high, the onstage/backstage mayhem begins.

Written by Lampert, and directed by NYC-based director, Margarett Perry, PRECIOUS NONSENSE embraces the energy and romance of Gilbert & Sullivan. The members of the Carter Family Savoyards are loosely based on the archetypes found in the screwball film comedies of the 1930s. "I set the play in 1938 when America was struggling out of the Depression and war in Europe had begun - a time that mirrors some our current challenges. And like the Hollywood movies of that time, PRECIOUS NONSENSE is a welcome escape," says Lampert.

Perry is known for many successful productions with KTC, including A MARRIAGE MINUET, CLEAN ALTERNATIVES, STRANGERHORSE, THE TWO OF YOU and this season’s ENTERTAINER’S EULOGY and HO! She has collaborated previously with playwright Lampert, directing the 2009 revival of TONY & THE SOPRANO and the 2008 summer remounting of THE SOUP COMES LAST.

The cast includes: Erica Steinhagen (BED NO BREAKFAST, TONY & THE SOPRANO, WE WON’T PAY! among others) recreating her role as the well-meaning but ditzy Josephine. Jesse Bush (AEA) last seen at the Kitchen in TONY & THE SOPRANO and THE GLASS MENAGERIE, will play Frederic. Remembered as “Greta-Grrr” in BED NO BREAKFAST, Jessica Carr returns as Mack. Jake Paque, seen last year in ARCHEAOLOGY, is coming up from NYC to join the cast as Pete. Newcomer Kurt Merrill, an Ithaca College freshman will play the shy but determined Samuel. Perri LoPinto, long-time Ithaca theater performer, returns to the Kitchen to play Angelina. And AEA NY-based Broadway veteran (CATS, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF and more) Joel Robertson completes the singing cast. Richard Montgomery plays Herbie, the music director in the play and for the production.

Original set design by Hannah Davis, Lisa Boquist returns as costume designer and lighting designer is Daniel Hall. LaShawn Keyser is the stage manager.

In the intimate 73-seat Kitchen Theatre space, where singing is almost palpable, PRECIOUS NONSENSE will ring out with Sullivan’s long-loved melodies, Gilbert’s unforgettable lyrics and Lampert’s antics with both.   So, is there a recently discovered, heretofore unknown musical operetta by Gilbert & Sullivan? No! We've searched the trunks and still find only 14 operettas, but now is the time to add a new story to this timeless music. "Nonsense, yes, perhaps - but oh, what precious nonsense!" Great for ages 8 and up.

Performance Dates:
Wed., January 13, 2010 at 7:30pm
Thurs., January 14, 2010 at 7:30pm
Fri., January 15, 2010 at 8:00pm
Sat., January 16, 2010 at 3:00pm
Sat., January 16, 2010 at 8:00pm
Sun., January 17, 2010 at 4:00pm
Wed., January 20, 2010 at 7:30pm
Thurs., January 21, 2010 at 7:30pm
Fri., January 22, 2010 at 8:00pm
Sat., January 23, 2010 at 3:00pm
Sat., January 23, 2010 at 8:00pm
Sun., January 24, 2010 at 4:00pm
Wed., January 27, 2010 at 7:30pm
Thurs., January 28, 2010 at 7:30pm
Fri., January 29, 2010 at 8:00pm
Sat., January 30, 2010 at 3:00pm
Sat., January 30, 2010 at 8:00pm
Sun., January 31, 2010 at 4:00pm
Wed., February 3, 2010 at 7:30pm
Thurs., February 4, 2010 at 7:30pm
Fri., February 5, 2010 at 8:00pm
Sat., February 6, 2010 at 3:00pm
Sat., February 6, 2010 at 8:00pm
Sun., February 7, 2010 at 4:00pm (closing)

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