Oak Hill Middle School presents
Little Women: The Musical Journey Of Jo March
Not even a COVID could prevent the talented cast and creative team from Oak Hill Middle School from their performance. Congratulations to everyone for presenting the first ever Zoom-Production of the show.
Review of ENTANGLED New England Premiere by Boston’s Sheila Barth
Recently presented at:
Theatre Row - The Clurman Theatre @ 410 West 42nd Street
An escape from Hitler’s Germany and arrival to America promises A Brand New World in this coming of age tale about an immigrant girl, her family and her new friends, but still must face the realities of World War II raging on in the background.
A Brand New World is an original musical, set in 1941 New York as the Balbier family is just arriving in America, having escaped Hitler on the last train out of Nuremberg, Germany. The family moves into 1795 Riverside Drive with Uncle Eddie & Aunt Mary, who care for Stephanie like their own daughter, while helping her parents settle in to their new American life. As the backdrop of war rages on, we see her at age 15 making her way in a new school, with a new language, and new friendships to make that are about to change her world forever. Over the course of the next 4 years of the war, we see three best friends come of age and enter the workforce as they send their young men off to war. By 1945, everything has changed, nothing will ever be the same again…who knows what the future holds?!?
Three Act Theatre is a professional company of artists seeking to pass down the tradition of live theatre to generations of emerging talent through education & performance opportunity. Three Act Theatre is dedicated to the development of new works, the new exploration of treasured classics, and the kind of storytelling in each that challenges us to imagine and create a world in which we wish to live.
Paul Thomas Ryan*, Minda Larsen, Paul Lutvak*, Deb Radloff*, Carolynn Seiff*, Robert Cueva, Arianna Zayas, Jason Patrick Shaffer, Athena Woodfin, Meredith Heller, Emma McNulty, Malia McLellan, Emma Spencer, Sadé Warren, Victoria Johnson, Gianna Chiriborga, Kiara Mazariegos, Milan Castro, Jack Hopkins, James Borrelli, Daniel Graf, Oliver Tam, Aidan Zusin, Theo Massie-Vereker, Oscar Salvaggio, Jordan McKenzie, Joshua Boyce
*Appearing courtesy of Actor’s Equity Association
Author: Eric Mark Olson & Leah A. Miles
Music: Andrew David Sotomayor
Lyrics: Eric Mark Olson & Leah A. Miles
Director: Eric Mark Olson
Choreographer: Jasmine Domfort
Producer: Three Act Theatre Company
A Brand New World / Three Act Theatre Company Official Website
Three Act Theatre Company on Facebook
Three Act Theatre Company on Twitter
Written by Sarah Rebell- Illustrations by Desiree Nasim
September 28th, 2017
Excerpt from http://theintervalny.com/features/2017/09/theatre-without-borders-teaching-artists-in-2017/ - Read more here.
The arts can have a powerful effect on students of all types, including those with special needs. It can be an opportunity to help bring those who are not typically considered as communicative or empathic into the broader community. Leah Miles, a musical theatre writer who spent more than half a decade working with the Metropolitan Opera Guild, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and ArtsConnection (an arts nonprofit specializing in comprehensive research and curriculum development for NYC public school students) believes that “the most powerful work” she ever did as a teaching artist was through ArtsConnection’s STAARS, which she describes as “a program that exposes children on the autism spectrum to the performing and creative arts.” The participants ranged from high functioning children on the autism spectrum to children who were non-verbal, with seemingly limited cognitive abilities. But all of the students appeared to “respond so fully and wholeheartedly” to the musical activities in the STAARS curriculum. “There’s a joy that radiates from them when they’re performing,” said Leah. “I learned a lot about what it means to be human in the presence of these kids. It was an amazing community to belong to.”
Leah Miles has won the Broadway World Boston Award for BEST CONCEPT FOR A PLAY!
by Susanna Baird
Attending a performance in a black-box style space such as Salem Theatre Company's new location at Shetland Park, audience members sit right along the edges of the action. In STC's current piece, the psychological thriller "Entangled," which runs through October 1, director and set designer Nate Bertone takes the concept a step further, inviting the audience onto the set to explore before the play begins.
Walking across the theatre's lovely, aged, wooden floorboards from the set's dining room, where a bottle of champagne sits chilling, into the living room with its ship captain lamp and comfortable couch, then to the kitchen where the fridge bears souvenirs from New England tourist spots, the audience starts guessing at the play's narrative before the play even begins. The kitchen magnets and the Maine license plate on the mantelpiece … New England, for sure. Sailboat on the headboard in the bedroom, seashells in a jar on the bookshelf … must be near the water. Vintage board games scattered everywhere … summer vacation home? But there's snow by the door, has to be winter. And why the champagne?
By the time the lights go down, the audience is already engaged. By the time the actors walk on, they are positioned not only to watch, but also to question, to try to piece together the details gathered from the set with those delivered by three excellent interpretations of playwright Leah Miles' well-constructed characters. "Entangled" centers on newlyweds Ian and Hillary, played by actors John Manning and Caroline Keeler in their STC debuts. Ian and Hillary have retreated to Maine for a New Year's Eve honeymoon. As they begin to share details from their pasts, they grapple with the early-marriage questions many new couples confront: Should we start a family? Where should we live? Ian's childhood friend Scott, played by Lee Holmes, arrives uninvited. As the weather outside moves from snowfall into blizzard, the characters inside start unraveling secrets, and their feelings intensify.
The three actors inhabit their characters and beautifully traverse, each in his or her own fashion, the emotional ramp up which the narrative travels. Keeler's character is a therapist, and we watch her try to remain measured and sane as the situation veers toward crazy. Ian is forced to confront several demons, and Manning moves his character along a believable emotional path from happy honeymooner to ... something else. Lee Holmes's portrayal of Scott hits just the right degree of unstable, never crossing the line into cliché. His expert handling of the character is all the more impressive when considering he's been off stage for eight years, working locally as a web designer and developer.
The play centers upon the meeting of past and present, and that theme holds true behind the scenes as well. Brooklyn-based playwright Miles attended Lynn English and Salem State, and served many years as music teacher at Collins Middle School. More than a decade ago, she taught an 11-year-old Nate Bertone. She noticed his gift for stagecraft and encouraged him to focus on set design. "She was by far the most inspiring teacher I had," Bertone said, speaking on set after the Saturday night performance of "Entangled." Bertone seized upon her advice, working his way up from usher at North Shore Music Theater to its youngest-ever set designer, a status he achieved while still attending Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama. He stayed in touch with his middle-school mentor as she moved from Salem to New York and grew her career. When she sent him the script for "Entangled," he immediately wanted to produce it. STC had mounted a production of Bertone's own play, "Letters from War," during the 2015 season and Bertone welcomed the chance to work in the company's new space.
In the fashion of his own mentor, Miles, Bertone used the play as an opportunity to further the budding career of another young local talent, Marblehead's Kathleen Alexandrou. The high school junior helped out with "Letters from War," and Bertone gave her a chance to shine as lighting designer on "Entangled." "So many people have done this for me," Bertone said. "I now want to do for her what they did."
Entangled plays Thursday-Saturday, September 29-October 1, at 8 p.m. and Saturday, October 1 and 3 p.m. at Salem Theatre Company, 35 Congress Street (Shetland Park), Third Floor. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.salemtheatre.com. For more information on Leah Miles, visit www.leahamiles.com. For more information on Nate Bertone, visit www.natebertone.com.)
September 16, 2016
From left, Catherine Bertrand, artistic director; Nate Bertone, director and set design; and Catherine Majeski, hair and make-up, on the set of the new play they’re working on, “Entangled.” Item Photo by Owen O’Rourke
By Bill Brotherton
SALEM — Nate Bertone was visiting London a couple of years ago. To relax, he started reading “Entangled,” a play by Lynn native Leah Miles, his former teacher at Collins Middle School in Salem. It left him terrified and unable to sleep.
“The piece of writing was so haunting, so riveting and so psychologically thrilling … I was determined to produce the play in America,” said Bertone.
That happens starting Wednesday, Sept. 21, when Bertone and the Salem Theatre Company present the U.S. premiere of “Entangled.”
Miles, who grew up on Marianna Street in Lynn, said it’s “pretty cool” that Bertone is the one directing her play. “I first met Nate when he was 11 years old, a sixth grader. He was not only my student during the day; he joined my after-school theater program at Collins School. Even then I could tell he had a hunger for theater,” said Miles, chatting on the phone from her New York City home. “Now we are working as peers. That’s how it is in the theater community. … I owe so much of where I am now to Mary Ann Flanagan and Larry Lowe, my teachers at Lynn English High School, and Dirk Hillyer, my music professor at Salem State. We are all still close and they have come to New York to see some of my works.
“In theater, you make lasting, lifelong relationships. After I graduated in 1990, I did two or three shows with Larry Lowe at English High as his peer. It’s so funny for me now to be in the position to be like Mary Ann and Larry were to me,” Miles added.
Bertone, who holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University, lives in New York City these days. He’s enjoying his time in his hometown, even if every waking hour is spent readying this production. Last year he worked on “Shrek” and “Sister Act” at North Shore Music Theatre and his own “Letters From War” at Salem Theatre Company.
“In sixth grade, Leah gave me the opportunity to move scenery around the stage and sing at the same time in ‘Into the Woods,’” said Bertone. “I was hooked.”
Bertone is standing in the center of the Salem Theatre Company space, which has been transformed into the interior of a Maine cabin. He’s jazzed about “Entangled,” and is excitedly talking about the play. He is joined byCatherine Bertrand, the theater’s executive director, and Catherine Majeski, who’s in charge of hair and makeup design for the production and — surprise — is another Collins Middle School grad who benefited from Miles’ tutelage.
Majeski said Miles was “so much more than a teacher, she was a huge, huge influence to me in my middle-school years. Losing her after middle school was so, so hard.”
“Catherine (Majeski) and I built a little model of ‘Pirates of Penzance’ when we were 12,” said Bertone, smiling. “For me, it was a lightbulb moment. Leah taught us that acting isn’t the only option … it was finding what works best for you.”
In “Entangled,” two best friends, Ian (John Manning) and Scott (Lee Holmes), along with Hillary (Caroline Keeler), the woman Ian loves and a woman Scott dislikes, find themselves trapped together on a snowy New Year’s Eve on secluded Peaks Island in Maine. Bad things happen.
Miles majored in psychology at Salem State, which might explain her unexpected switch from musical theater, her forte, into the psychological thriller genre.
“The genesis of ‘Entangled’ came out of my reaction to the school shootings that are plaguing our existence. The Sandy Hook shootings really got to me. From 9 to 7 every day I teach children, and Sandy Hook was a dagger to the heart,” she said.
“I started thinking about what would drive somebody to do this. I started thinking about kids who fall through the cracks. … The first character I thought about was Scott, who was bright and full of potential as a kid but not guided in a way to help him succeed. The play came together rather quickly. It’s a story that really needed to be told.”
“I’m excited,” continued Miles. “I met the cast at the first rehearsal. Then I went back to New York. My play is in great hands. I completely trust Nate, the cast and crew.”
Bertrand, too, is enthusiastic about “Entangled” and the future of the Salem Theatre Company. The Lynn native and English High grad, an award-winning director herself, has been active with the company for many years, as artistic director from 2005-08 and as a longtime board member. She said the company’s move from 90 Lafayette St. to its current home on the third floor of 35 Congress St. in the Shetland office park has worked out great.
“This is a bigger space. We can do more. Shetland wanted us here. There are many artists in the building, and the owners want Shetland Park to be a destination for theater and the arts. And there is space for us to expand as needed.”
She got hooked on theater as an eighth-grader, when she and a friend saw a production of “How to Succeed in Business” at English High. “At the time, I thought ‘I love animals. I want to be a vet.’ But at that musical, an energy happened that I never experienced before.” She joined the drama club at English her freshman year. Like Bertone, Miles and Majeski, acting has never appealed to Bertrand. “I am most definitely not an actor. At Salem State, at a third audition, I tripped up the stage and dropped my resume. … I want to tell stories and work with people.”
“Entangled,” at Salem Theatre Company, Shetland Park, 35 Congress St., third floor, Sept. 21 to Oct. 1. Tickets: $20; www.salemtheatre.org. The playwright, Leah Miles, will be present at the Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 shows.
Nate Bertone and Salem Theatre Company present
The New England Premiere of
ENTANGLED
A Play by Leah Miles
AT SALEM THEATRE COMPANY
September 21, 2016 – October 1, 2016
Salem, MA – Nate Bertone and Salem Theatre Company will produce the New England premiere of Leah Miles’ play ENTANGLED. Following the success of last season’s Letters From War, Nate Bertone will return to direct the production. ENTANGLED starts performances on Wednesday, September 21, 2016 and plays thru Sunday, October 1, 2016 at Salem Theatre Company, located at Shetland Park, 35 Congress Street, 3rd Floor, Salem MA.
“Over the past two years, I have been itching to produce ENTANGLED with Leah Miles,” said Producer/Director Nate Bertone. “I vividly remember reading Entangled for the first time one evening in London, England. This piece of writing was so haunting, so riveting, and so psychologically thrilling, that I couldn’t sleep that evening. I needed to begin work bringing this play to America. I will not stop until audiences experience the sheer power of Leah’s words.”
In ENTANGLED, as in life, our darkest secrets always find their way to the light. Sometimes this light disarms them, diffusing their potency. And sometimes the light catches the cracks and the dirty corners, breathing life back into those dormant memories. And no matter how much we try to rewrite history, the truth always finds a way to muscle through the lies. Two best friends, Ian and Scott along with Hillary, the woman Ian loves, find themselves trapped in an impossible predicament: un-knowing what they know. And so, on a stormy new year’s eve on the secluded Peaks Island in Maine, our characters find themselves trapped by the snow and the avalanche of horrible realities they’ve been trying to hide from one another over the years. Everyone’s secrets are revealed. No one is safe from blame. And someone will not make it off the island alive.
Leah Miles is a playwright, composer, and Teaching Artist based out of Brooklyn, New York. She holds a BA in Psychology from Salem State University and an MFA from the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at New York University’s Tisch School Of The Arts. She is a member of ASCAP, Dramatists Guild Of America, The Directory of Contemporary Musical Theatre Writers, NOMTI (Boston, MA), and Three Act Theatre Company. Ms. Miles' produced works include Entangled (workshopped at Three Act Theatre, NY), Sunday Roaster Chicken (Ugly Rhino Productions, NY), Bronx Zoo (MuSE, NY), andProvidence: A Musical Comedy (Write Act Eastside, NY). Her most recent work, Touching Loss (in collaboration with Clare Cook Dance Theater and composer Paul Castles), premiered in April of 2016 at the Acadiana Center For The Arts in Louisiana. As a Teaching Artist, Leah has worked for multiple years with ArtsConnection, The Metropolitan Opera Guild and The Brooklyn Youth Chorus. She is the 2016 recipient of ArtsConnection Linda LeRoy Janklow Teaching Artist Award for her ongoing work with ArtsConnection's Spectrum Musical Theater Program at P94M Spectrum Schools for Autism in New York. www.leahamiles.com
Nate Bertone hails from Salem, Massachusetts and holds a BFA in Drama from Carnegie Mellon University. Nate lives in New York City where he works as a director, playwright, and designer. In the last year, his work has been seen on the North Shore with his play Letters From War last season (BWW Best Drama), Shrek: The Musical, and Sister Act at North Shore Music Theatre. www.natebertone.com
The production team and casting will be announced soon.
Tickets for ENTANGLED are priced from $15 - $22. Performances are September 21, 2016- October 1, 2016. The show previews on Wednesday September 21st at 8pm with an official opening on Thursday, September 22nd at 8pm. Thursday – Saturday at 8pm. Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3pm. Visit www.salemtheatre.org, for advanced tickets. Salem Theatre Company is located at Shetland Park, 35 Congress Street, 3rd Floor, Salem MA.