My son and I attended the final SRO Productions III performance of Godspell, a fabulous production that truly was SRO (“curtain” was delayed while more chairs were brought in). How did the arts add some warmth to your week ?
Reviewed by George Basler
In staging Godspell, co-director Ann Szymaniak wanted to put forth a message of love, acceptance and hope that “our fast-paced cynical society needs to hear.”
On a less spiritual level, the musical, which has been around for 42 years now, is an opportune chance for younger performers to try out their singing and acting skills in a zestful show that requires youthful exuberance to make it work.
Both spirituality and this exuberance are on display in the SRO Productions III’s presentation of the show that runs this weekend and next weekend in the ballroom of the Roberson Museum and Science Center in Binghamton.
While Godspell’s mixture of solemnity and hippy-dippy cuteness might not be to everyone’s taste, the SRO production is first-rate with an energetic and talented cast, ranging in age from 25 to 15, showing off the fact that there are a lot of talented young people in Broome County. Read the rest of this entry »
Editor’s note: With this review, BAMirror welcomes a new writer, George Basler, recently retired from a long reporting career at the Press & Sun-Bulletin. (Due to technical difficulty, the review previously was posted under the editor’s blog sign-on.)
Reviewed by George Basler
To the casual theatergoer, the names Kander and Ebb might not be as familiar as Rodgers & Hammerstein, Lerner & Loewe or the Gershwins. But John Kander and Fred Ebb, who first teamed up in 1962, deserve a notch in Broadway history as the most long-running and successful duo of the last 50 years. Read the rest of this entry »
One came to the arts through his career, another changed careers to commit to the arts, a third juggles a career and arts volunteering, but all three 2010 Heart of the Arts Awards honorees have enriched the cultural landscape of Broome County.
At a press conference this morning (Oct. 1) at the Broome County Arts Council’s downtown Binghamton office, council Executive Director Sharon Ball and board chairman Fred Xlander announced that this year’s HOTA Awards will go to veteran union stagehand William “Billy” Carroll; Lou Ligouri, executive director of the Endicott Performing Arts Center, and Pam Ondrusek, president of the board of directors of S.R.O. Productions III. Also nominated were René Neville, artistic director of Dance Stories, and DJ and children’s entertainer Johnny Only.
BAMirror asked each honoree how he or she got into the arts, and why. Read the rest of this entry »
Solo or part of a troupe, onstage or behind the scenes, paid or volunteer, each of the five 2010 Heart of the Arts Award nominees gives 100 percent to the bright and varied world of arts and entertainment in Broome County. All this week BAMirror will be providing biographical background about the nominees. We’re also offering you an opportunity to congratulate the nominees and to share a story or two. Today we feature Pam Ondrusek, president of the board of S.R.O. Productions III. Read the rest of this entry »
broomecountyarts
Barb Van Atta
Sharon Ball
Broome Arts Mirror 