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Mohonk Mountain Stage Company
Art For The Ears
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November 2007 - MMSC Prologue
Fall in the Hudson Valley




Greetings!

Welcome to November. The last official month of Fall. We love this time of year. Breath it in. Take a walk. Take a break. And while you're at it, take a moment to join all of the good folks at MMSC on November 3rd for the short stories of Mavis Gallant.

Also, this is your final chance to sign up for an advance copy of our new audio book, TIE YOUR SHOES! It is the perfect gift for that young person on your Holiday list. And you can't beat these pre-publication prices!

And more big MMSC news:
  • Our raffle for a two-night stay for two at beautiful Mohonk Mountain House!
  • Barbara Adams wins First Prize!
  • MMSC On The Road.
Read on. Join us as we usher out Fall in the Hudson Valley.

Until then,

Bob

 Robert Miller
 
Next Up - The Short Stories of Mavis Gallant
Mavis GallantSelected and directed by Ruth Berg.

Readers will be William Connors, Catherine Cattabiani and Christine Crawfis.

Described by The New York Times as having "radically reshaped the short story decade after decade," Gallant has contributed to the short story genre for over half a century. "Her characters do not flee from home; they start out homeless, spending their lives conniving at accommodation with a century that started in horror and is ending in hollowness. Gallant primes us to expect them to be good or bad, but never hints which are which; and in her stories tragedy can turn to comedy in a sentence. In a real sense her style and attitude are her message."

Mavis Gallant is the author of more than 100 short stories, most of which first appeared in The New Yorker, where she continues to publish.

ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY!
November 3, 2007
8 PM
St. Andrew's Church, 163 Main Street in New Paltz

Admission: $10
Call 255-3102 for reservations.

 
Coming in December...
December comediesJust For Laughs
Friday and Saturday, December 7 & 8
Unison Arts Center
Directed by Robert Miller

Comedies by Alan Ball, Nina Shengold, Frederick Stroppel, David Ives, Paul Dooley, and Garth Wingfield.

Readers include Bruce Pileggi, Jack Kroll, Michael Frohnhoefer, Janet Nurre, Elizabeth Barrows and Christine Crawfis.

Send 2007 out with a laugh!  
MMSC On The Road...
MMSC On The RoadYes, we are packing up our music stands and stools and taking our act  "On The Road" in November & December!

In November we will be performing some Holiday favorites up at beautiful Mohonk Mountain House.

And on December 11th we will be featured at the Business Luncheon for the New Paltz Regional Chamber of Commerce at the Terrace Restaurant on the SUNY Campus.

stool and chair MMSC can go anywhere! From libraries to private homes, classrooms to retirement centers, theatres or under the trees in a park. If there's an audience, we can be there. We have limited technical requirements--our voices and your imagination is all that's needed! 
Looking Back - Ten Years Ago
Prologue November 1997!
bob's deskAs MMSC comes to the end of 2007, we took a look back on where we were in November 1997, a mere ten years ago.

Here was Bob's editorial in Volume #2, Issue #10 of MMSC's Prologue

Bob Reflects at the End of Year III for MMSC
  • Friday, October 1, 1994: Mohonk Mountain Stage Company (known as "Miller's Folly" in those days) opens its very first production, a double-bill consisting of a Readers Theatre version of Shaw's How He Lied To Her Husband and a fully-staged production of The Dock Brief.
  • March 20, 1995: Androcles and the Lion, our first Theatre for Young Audiences production, begins a two-week residency at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
  • March 30, 1995: Our first fully-produced Readers Theatre Group production - Shaw's Don Juan In Hell - opens.
  • December 1, 1995: our first issue of Prologue, MMSC's own newsletter, is published.
  • January 11, 1996: The Jungle Book is presented at the International Young People's Performing Arts Showcase for Children at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
  • November 10, 1997: Bob's head falls off. Christine, Bob's wife, refuses to reattach it.
Yes, gentle readers, these are just some of the highlights of our adventures over the past three years, adventures shared by dozens of other stalwart, generous and foolhardy souls. During this time, our Readers Theatre Group has produced 7 full-length plays and 22 Storied Word programs in 8 different venues. Our Theatre for Young Audiences has given over 150 performances of 4 different productions, which have been seen by more than 40,000 people from Atlanta to Kalamazoo to Albany.

We want to express our profound appreciation to all of you who have helped to make our dreams a reality; those who brought to life the words of great authors in our Readers Theatre Group, those who went on the road to perform for an audience which desperately needed an infusion of imagination in their lives, and those who have supported us with kind words and thoughts and with their attendance at our programs. Thanks for three great years.

So what's next? I'll figure that out as soon as I get my head back in the right place. So don't touch that dial. We'll be right back.

Bob

Highlights of November 1997:
  • November 15, 1997 - Molly Sweeny by Brian Friel, performed at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills in Kingston, with Christine Crawfis, Richard Cattabiani and Don Wildy.
  • November 21, 1997 - Storied Word at the Painted Word, Short Stories of Richard Ford, with Ron Schade and Gerry Brooks.
That was November 1997 - ten years ago.

And our sentiments haven't changed very much. We owe it all to our wonderful MMSC troop and you, our unfailingly supportive MMSC audiences. 

Thanks for sharing our magic since 1994.
And finally, from all of the good folks here at MMSC please remember:
  • a conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.
  • never do card tricks for the group you play poker with.
  • the colder the X-Ray table, the more of your body is required to be on it.
  • change is inevitable - except from vending machines.
  • bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks.
  • if at first you don't succeed, skydiving definitely isn't for you.
Sincerely,
 
Robert Miller, Producing Director
Mohonk Mountain Stage Company, Inc.
845-255-3102
Barbara Adams
Congratulations to Barbara Adams!

We are thrilled to announce that a poem written by our very own Barbara Adams has just won First Prize in the 2007 Frost Poetry Award, sponsored by the Robert Frost Foundation.

 Stephen Sturgeon,  Editor of Fulcrum Poetry, made the announcement at the 11th Annual Robert Frost Festival on October 27. 

MMSC audiences will remember the '99 premiere of Adams' one-act play, God's Lioness and the Crow: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, as well as her other creations for MMSC, including The Poetry of War and Who's Your Dada?

 Ms. Adams received her Ph.D. from NYU and she is retired as Professor of English at Pace University. She has been instrumental in the success of MMSC's Vanguard Voices of the Hudson Valley Poetry Contest
.

We are pleased to claim her as one of the
Good Folks At MMSC!


Mohonk Mountain House
Win A Two-Night Stay For Two at Mohonk Mountain House!

AND Support the Programs of MMSC!

Treat yourself to a fabulous two-night stay for two in the magnificent Mohonk Mountain House. Built on the deep-blue waters of Lake Mohonk in 1869, this grand 265-room Victorian castle is a distinguished favorite among Hudson Valley hotel resorts, Mohonk offers access to 85 miles of hiking trails, tennis, golf, lake swimming, boating, ice skating, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, children's programs, and so much more.
Only 100 raffle tickets will be sold!
(You have a great chance to win!)


Check it out!
Steve Jordan fern
NEW AUDIO-BOOK PROJECT!
We are putting the finishing touches on a  new project - an audio package of Tie Your Shoes! by Carolyn Watson Dubisch. Just in time for holiday gift-giving.

The package contains an audio version of this fun  book featuring MMSC's wonderful readers & original music & sound effects, a pair of special shoelaces, plus a hard-copy of the original book, so your child can read along and participate.   AND a special "ACHIEVEMENT Certificate" that can be personalized for your child once he or she has learned this important skill. All for $10, plus tax and shipping.

 Send us an e-mail and we will place your name on the list for advance copies at the pre-publication price. (Publication date: November 15, 2007)

Order your copy now.
  Pre-Publication Price:
$ 8.50
List Price: $10.00

encorelogo
Stay Tuned
Our Winter Encore Series will be announced in the December issue of Prologue.

Question Marks
Things That Bob is Thinking About.

If a parsley farmer is sued, can they garnish his wages?

Would a fly without wings be called a walk?

If a book about failures doesn't sell, is it a success?
Send us your questions
[email protected].

2 For 2 @
MMH!
  • A  2 night stay for 2 @ Mohonk Mountain House.
  • Only 100 Raffle Tickets will be sold.
  • The value of this stay is more than $1,200.
  • The drawing will be January 19, 2008.
  • You need not be present to win.
  • Tickets are only $25 each.
  • Proceeds support on-going programs of MMSC.
  • Download the Raffle Ticket Form here.
Get Your Raffle Ticket(s) Now - Only 100 will be Sold!