2016 presents
The Scarlet Letter
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
November 7-26, 2016
Click the Quotes below to read the reviews!
“Emotionally charged”
– Newsday
“'The Scarlet Letter' Offers Lessons for Young and Old"
- Sag Harbor Express
“The show is fantastic, authentic dramatic theater with a magical historical touch of authenticity”
– Hamptons.com
“…staged with panache and acted with brio”
–Southampton Press
The original script has been adapted specifically for the Bay Street Theater stage from the classic novel by Scott Eck and Joe Minutillo. In 2014, Eck performed the role of Atticus Finch in the Literature Live! production of To Kill A Mockingbird. Mr. Minutillo will be directing the production and has previously directed the Literature Live! productions of The Diary of Anne Frank, To Kill A Mockingbird, and last year’s production of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men.
Few stories have the distinction of titles so memorable and descriptive that they enter the vernacular as everyday expressions. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter is deservedly one such.
Set in the 1600s in a Puritan village, The Scarlet Letter is an account of the life of Hester Prynne, a married woman who becomes a social outcast, when after an adulterous affair she conceives a daughter during her husband’s long absence. She is required to wear the letter “A” for adultery on the breast of her gown. Refusing to name the father, Hester is forced to live a life set apart from nearly everyone she knows. Thanks to the intervention of the Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester and her daughter Pearl are permitted to stay together. When Hester’s missing husband, posing as a doctor, secretly returns as Roger Chillingworth, the stage is set for a story of sin, tragedy, and redemption. This show explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt.
East End resident Felix Bird will compose original music specifically for this production. Bird has composed music for over 300 television episodes over the past 10 years, his music has been heard on shows such as How I Met Your Mother, The Bachelor, America’s Got Talent among others. In addition, he has composed music for independent films, documentaries, cable channels, kids animation and commercials.
The production team includes Gary Hygom (Set Designer), Mike Billings (Lighting Designer), Kate D’Arcy (Costume Designer), Meg Sexton (Sound Design), Bunnii Buglione (Prop Design), John Sullivan (Production Stage Manager), and Michelle Tewksbury (Assistant Stage Manager).
Cast Announced:
Preston Truman Boyd (Broadway: Bullets Over Broadway, Big Fish, She Loves Me) as Beadle/ Man 3
Kathleen Mary Carthy has performed in numerous regional theatres including La Jolla Playhouse, Colony Theatre and the Geffen Playhouse. She has Guest Starred, Recurred and Co-Starred in dozens of episodics including House of Cards, Broad City, VEEP, Divorce, Sunny in Philadelphia, Grey's Anatomy (Amish Mom), and Castle. She has recently begun the creative journey of audio book narration.
For her work in 'The Wreck of the Unfathomable' at Theatre of Note in Hollywood, Kathleen received an Ovation Award Nomination for Best Featured Actress.
Training: UCSD - MFA in Acting
Website: kathleenmarycarthy.com
Chloë is delighted to be back at Bay Street! She has appeared here in To Kill a Mockingbird, Conviction (understudy/performed), Diary of Anne Frank, The Crucible, and in the staged reading of The Orchard Play as part of the New Works Festival. In March, she co-produced and co-starred in This Wide Night at the John Drew Theatre at Guild Hall. Also at JDT: the recent Dear Elizabeth, the star-studded The Poets of Amityville, In a Roundabout Way, Eastern Standard, Night with Guests, Sharpies, Tongues Will Wag, Night with Oscar, Biloxi Blues, Crimes of the Heart, and created and directed The April Fools’ Show as part of the JDTLab. Chloë performed with the Neo-Political Cowgirls Voyeur in Berlin. Locally, she starred in the world premiere of Kurt Vonnegut’s Galápagos at the Parrish Art Museum. Chloë works as a dialect coach as well, most recently for The Night Alive, (dir. Stephen Hamilton), and the upcoming Greencard Wedding which will be produced in the Keys and in NYC next year. Chloë began her theatre career in her native Toronto. Selected Canadian credits: Mary’s Wedding (Lighthouse Festival Theatre), Blithe Spirit (Theatre Aquarius/Theatre at the Centre), Original Workshop cast of Evil Dead: The Musical, Noises Off (Stage West/ Theatre Aquarius), Steel Magnolias (Waterloo Stage Company), Romeo & Juliet (Alumnae Theatre).
Chloë completed Circle in the Square Theatre School’s 2 year Professional Actors’ Workshop program on Broadway and holds a BA in English Literature and Linguistics from the University of Toronto.
Carolann Di Pirro (Goodwife Doolittle/Woman 2): Born and raised in Westhampton Beach, Carolann spent 8 years in NYC and 15 years in LA before returning home to the East End, unfortunately just in time for winter. After her first role - Anne in The Diary of Anne Frank at the Hampton Theater Company’s inaugural production over 30 years ago -Carolann performed in the then brand-new Bay Street Theater’s first staged reading of Irwin Shaw’s Bury the Dead. Working as a professional actor since, she recently performed with Stony Brook Southampton’s MFA candidates at The Avram, playing Wanda in The Baby Dance, the Woman in Night, and Phyllis in Body Awareness, as well as participating as a guest actor in each summer’s Southampton Writer’s Conference.
Select credits include: TV: Saturday Night Live (Seasons 19-25), American Dreams (NBC) and The Sopranos (HBO). Film: The Confession and The Last Shot with fellow Islander Alec Baldwin, LA Film Festival’s Reason Thirteen, and numerous shorts including Lucky with Instant Films LA, the Project Greenlight Finalist Midnight. and most recently Transient (in post-production). Theatre: Numerous productions in NY (EST, NYTW, St. James and LaMama), LA (Malibu Stage, the Celebration, and the Actor’s Lab), London (the RSC Almeida), and Regional theaters across the country, including Shelby in Steel Magnolias (Theatre Three), Broad Comedy tours at Caroline’s Comedy Club (NY), The Acme Theatre (LA), The Assembly Rooms (Edinburgh, Scotland), The Emerson Center (Bozeman, MT) and The Stuart Street Playhouse (Boston). Carolann shares her love of learning through her company, Di Pirro Tutoring & Test Prep, with her wonderful students on both coasts, and is proud to direct regularly for YAWP (the Young Artists and Writers Program) where she shares her faith in the power of theatre with East End middle school students. Her favorite roles by far are those of wife to Joe and mother to Charley. She’d like to dedicate this performance with gratitude to her mother, her first and best supporter, whom she dearly, dearly misses.
Nick Gregory (Bay Street Theater’s Mainstage production of Alone At The Beach, The Night Listener, All My Children) as Roger Chillingworth
Daren Kelly (Gov Bellingham) portrayed Mr Van Dann in Baystreet's first Literature Live presentation of Anne Frank in the fall of 2009. His 40-year career as a professional actor has included featured roles on Broadway: Deathtrap, Woman of the Year, Crazy for You' and South Pacific (NYCO). Television: MASH, True Blood, the entire Law & Order franchise, All My Children and As the World Turns. He just completed the role of Dean Cain's legendary father in Hallmark's Love in the Newsroom. Film appearances include Kingdom Coming, Love Hurts with Jeff Daniels, and The Monkey Juggler. He played the Chorus to Al Pacino's Oedipus in The Oedipus Project. He toured the nation as Julian Marsh in the First National revival of 42 nd Street, and as Rev Moore in Broadway's Footloose. A native Californian, Daren made his professional debut at the Tony-winning South Coast Repertory Theatre, performing Shakespeare under the direction of Daniel Sullivan. Regional appearances include DC's Arena Stage, Yale Rep, Long Wharf , Shakespeare NJ, Hampton Theatre Co, Alliance Theatre, A solo, Marin Shakespeare Fest, and Alaska Rep. Special thanks to his friend and colleague, Ms. Amanda Griemsmann.
Jessica is thrilled to be back on the Bay Street stage in another Literature Live Production. She was previously seen as Mayella Ewell in To Kill a Mockingbird, and Anne in The Diary of Anne Frank. This past spring, Jessica co-produced and starred in the two hander, This Wide Night, at Guild Hall in East Hampton. The play follows two women who are recently released from prison and was written by British Playwright Chloe Moss after her three month residency at the Cockham Wood women's prison. Jessica has also performed on the East End in several staged readings as part of Guild Hall's JDT Lab including Biloxi Blues, Eastern Standard, and Crimes of the Heart (which she also directed), and in the performance art adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's Galapagos at the Parrish Art Museum. Other acting credits include: Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (Gateway Playhouse), Debbie in The Real Thing (Syracuse Stage), Mercedes in Count of Monte Cristo (Bleecker Street Theater), Love Slap (June Havoc Theater). She is a BFA graduate in Acting from Syracuse University.
Dakota Riley Quackenbush is thrilled to be a part of this classic tale. She is in the 5th grade at John Marshall Elementary School in East Hampton. She has appeared in a number of local productions including Jane Darling in OFVS's production of Neverlanded, "Annie" in the JMMES production of Annie Jr., and Lee Bouvier in "Grey Gardens" directed by Michael Schwartz here at Baystreet theater. Dakota dreams of becoming a famous actor and singer. When she's not on stage or auditioning in NYC you can find her reading, tap dancing or baking.
Off-Broadway: The Persians (National Actor’s Theatre), Vieux Carre (The Pearl), Romeo & Juliet, Julius Caesar (Aquila/Lincoln Center). Regional: Orlando Shakespeare, Playhouse on Park, Red House, Great River Shakespeare Festival, Bristol Valley Theatre, Sierra Rep, Ivoryton Playhouse. TV/Film: TURN: Washington’s Spies, Dark Places, Gone Away, Gray Matters, How We Built the Bomb, Saturday Night Live. As a writer, Raver's adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray was produced by Sonnet Repertory Theatre at the Signature Theatre Center in 2012, and a reading of his pre-WWII adaptation of Chekhov's The Seagull was presented by the Pearl Theatre Company. His play, Fire on Babylon, was nominated for The Robert Chesley/Victor Bumbalo Foundation Award for Playwriting, as well as being named a semifinalist for The O'Neill Conference in 2015. His short play, Evening, was a finalist for Red Bull's New Play Festival. He is also a judge for the Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBT Fiction and regularly contributes cultural arts journalism for Classical TV, as well as pieces for NYC Monthly, Hamptons Monthly, Playbill, Dance Magazine, Cool Hunting and The Huffington Post.
This is Luke's first production with the Bay Street Theater. He is coming to A Scarlet Letter after playing Blake in We Were Children (Hudson Guild).
Previously He has performed as Trent Summers in Skin in The Game (Sheen Center) He originally hails from the Emerald Isle but has found a new home in NYC. He can recently be seen in Rebel In The Rye alongside Kevin Spacey and Nicholas Hoult. Luke would like to thank his Parents, his girlfriend Rachel and his friends and family for being incredibly supportive through every creative process.
What is Literature Live?
LITERATURE LIVE! brings the power of the word from the page to the stage. Using curriculum-based literature, Bay Street Theater creates a unique learning experience by bringing professional theater artists together to present first class productions. The possibilities for insight and understanding of the subject matter are only increased when students can witness the characters from a great play or novel living and breathing and telling their stories right before their eyes.
Why is it appropriate for schools?
Bay Street Theater will select standards-based literature, and this program will be supported with teacher-developed lesson plans and reference materials. In addition, we will provide a "Q&A" session with the cast.
Who should attend?
LITERATURE LIVE! is designed specifically with middle and high school age students, their teachers and administrators in mind. In addition, Bay Street Theater will present the play on weekends for family audiences, and other types of groups (such as seniors, churches, and temples) who may wish to attend.
How can you book your group or school?
You can bring a group of any size from 1 - 299! Call the Education Department at 631-725-0818 today!
Quotes from Teachers and Students
The Literature Live! program consistently showcases superb productions of often-taught classic works; it dovetails beautifully with high school English Language Arts curricula, allowing students to experience a work read in class in a different medium, to analyze and compare directorial and authorial choices, and to think critically about genre, point of view, character motivation, and how a work changes from page to stage. The talk-backs with cast and director following student performances are an extra, enlightening treat. Literature Live! is a highlight of the year for students and faculty alike; we’re so lucky to have Bay Street Theatre close by and generously committed to supporting the education of local students.
Tom House, English Teacher, Bridgehampton School
I cannot say enough great things about this performance. The play was offered at an affordable price to students. It was wonderful to be able to utilize Bay Street for this student-friendly type performance...Having a play that connected to literature was valuable as a teaching tool…My students were so enthralled with the entire performance.
Jenn Fonocchiaro, Tuckahoe School
I would recommend this program because plays bring the book to life so the audience can experience what the character went through. It’s like you’re right in the middle of everything that’s going on and you can understand the character’s feelings better.
Student, Wyandanch Middle School
I loved the way we could tie it in to current issues and middle school life – bullying, victims, when good people do nothing, etc.
Teacher, Westhampton Beach Middle School
The response from the students who witnessed the production was unanimous in their praise for the quality of the theatrical experience and amazement that this story could come to life so powerfully in such an intimate setting. They truly felt a part of the experience and gained a greater understanding of the characters and the impact of literature on their lives. I hope this is a program that will continue for years to come and you can certainly count on our support and belief in its value to the students of the East End.
Debbie Mansir, East Hampton High School
It was an amazing theatrical experience for our students and they didn’t stop talking about the performance for days afterward. The work you do is inspiring and Pierson looks forward to future field trips to Bay Street.
Barbara Bekeimus, Pierson Middle & High School, Sag Harbor
The play was wonderful, actually I think it was probably one of the best performances I have seen.
Teacher, Pierson Middle School, Sag Harbor
Dear Bay Street, I thought the play was truly amazing. I thought the actors were spectacular.
Student, Bridgehampton Middle School
Excellent Overall!
Teacher, Upper Room Christian School, Dix Hills
I really enjoyed watching the program you put together of “The Diary of Anne Frank”. The actors were great, I really got the message and the feeling of the Holocaust because the play was very realistic and astonishing. What I liked the most in the play is that it was very realistic; it made me feel very connected to the actors and the play itself.
Student
Sponsored in part by Dan's Papers and Long Island Parent
*13 and up
Run Time: Approx. 90 minutes
