For
Immediate Release
Contact:
Martin
Rabkin/martinrabkinink
914-420-5739
/ mrabkin@martinrabkinink.com
Shadowland Theatre’s
Founding Cooperative Artists Group to Hold
25th
Anniversary Year Reunion in Ellenville, NY
15 Original Members Plan
to Return to Celebrate “The Little Theater that Could” at July 3 Reception Open
to the General Public
Reunion to Precede Saturday Evening
Performance of “Guest Artist” Starring John Astin
ELLENVILLE, NY, June 14, 2010 – More than 25 years after defying long
odds, harsh wintry conditions, scant supplies of food and little money to
invest, members of the Cooperative Artists, the group that established
professional theater at a then-closed 1920s Art Deco movie house in the old
Borscht Belt region of the Lower Catskill Mountains are returning for a July 4th
weekend reunion celebration at Shadowland Theatre, the Actors’ Equity theater
in downtown Ellenville, NY, 90 miles northwest of
Broadway.
Open
to the public, the reunion and reception will be held July 3 at 4:00 pm at
Shadowland. Up to 15 of the original 33 Cooperative Artists members plan
to attend, sharing memories, photos and recorded interviews from members unable
to attend. At 8:00 pm, they will attend the evening performance of “Guest
Artist,” written by stage and film star Jeff Daniels and directed by James
Glossman. “Guest Artist” stars John Astin, who played Gomez Addams in the
ABC-TV network series, “The Addams Family.” Astin, now director of theater
studies at John Hopkins University, is returning to the Shadowland stage after
an 11-year absence.
According
to Brendan Burke, artistic director at Shadowland, some of the former
Cooperative Artists members may be staying at the theater’s new housing, now
nearing completion. Shadowland acquired the downtown house in December
2009 through a $50,000 donation from Provident Bank. It is being renovated
at a cost of $100,000 to accommodate actors and crew, housed previously in
local homes and rented apartments.
Andy
Walter, a former president of Cooperative Artists and now a local resident,
said professional theatre at Shadowland started with a vision fostered by Ron
Marquette, the founding artistic director and currently coordinator of
community relations and special events at SUNY Ulster, a local college.
“Ron called in the dead of winter around Christmas, 1984 and asked me to head upstate
and give an assessment of this theatre in Ellenville, to open it up and produce
live shows with the acting company, Cooperative Artists, comprised of acting
students trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.”
Driving
up in a January 1985 snowstorm, said Walter, they found the theater in a
terrible state of disrepair, closed for more than a year after having been used
as a movie theater for over 50 years. “Soon after, 33 people from
Cooperative Artists drove up from the city and the decision was made to buy the
theater, each chipping in $1,000 to get started.”
On
April 15, 1985, Marquette, Walter and two other actors started at the front
door, worked their way in, cleaning out the building, sleeping on the stage at
night in the freezing cold theater that lacked heat and running water. In
the following weeks, joined by other actors from the group who would drive up
for a day or week to help when they could, the goal was to prepare the theater
for a grand opening gala event during the July 4th holiday
weekend. A press release was issued to the local community, not
knowing anybody or what to expect, inviting them to come and see Kit McClure
and Her All-Girl Swing Band plus the Cooperative Artists, who performed
patriotic skits, songs and dance numbers.
According
to Walter, “We were amazed that the house sold out, which at the time was over
400 seats. The excitement was palpable. Within two minutes, many in the
audience were standing, cheering, clapping.”
The
group didn’t know what to expect, he said. “To be greeted by such a
turnout was just the push we needed to prepare us for what lay ahead. The
theater needed so much work and we were so broke. But local people
would bring us plates of sandwiches and the pizza guy would bring us leftover
slices at the end of the day. It kept us alive. Sometimes we would
all chip in a dollar each and buy a large bag of potatoes…spuds. For
several days at a time, we ate them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It
was desperation, but, boy, it was fun.”
As
they picked up steam heading into their opening season, construction work
continued inside the theater. “There was always someone playing the piano
in the lobby accompanied by singing from whoever was in the room. We
built sets on in a barn on Park Street, set them on huge, wheeled dollies and
rolled them down the street in the middle of the night to the theater, so as
not to disrupt traffic.
“A
lot of people from the Town of Wawarsing and the Village of Ellenville
supported the group,” added Burke. “Businesses extended credit, often for no
other reason than they enjoyed that first evening with Kit McClure’s
band. The fact that this group rambled into town and started from scratch
was met with great support that continues today locally and throughout the
Lower Hudson Valley region.”
“It
had a feel to it,” added Walter, “similar to the Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney,
‘let’s put on a show’ concept.” From there, he said, “Creative people –
actors, singers, dancers, writers, teachers, set builders, musicians – got
involved in some way or another. But it was the original 33 and Ron
Marquette’s vision for the whole thing that brought us together for such a
wonderful, unique, exciting time in our lives.
A
quarter of a century later, the original actors have moved on with their lives,
some still in show business, some having returned to their home
countries. “But to get together again, years later,” says Walter, “and
celebrate such a unique, life-changing adventure is a time for us to stop and
smell the roses over this wonderful thing we started. Today, Shadowland,
this little theater that could, stands as a testament to the original vision
and dedication and talent of the Cooperative Artists members.”
Tickets
for the Saturday, July 3, 8:00 pm performance of “Guest Artist” are available
at the Shadowland box office at 157 Canal Street, Ellenville, by calling
845-647-5600 or visiting www.shadowlandtheatre.org.
About Shadowland Theatre
Shadowland
Theatre is the leading professional nonprofit Actors’ Equity company in the
Lower Hudson Valley/Catskill Mountain region. Located only 90 miles from
New York City in Ellenville, NY, Shadowland was named “Best of the Valley” by
Hudson Valley magazine in 2004, 2005 and 2007; “2006 Cultural Business of the
Year” by Ulster Development Corporation and Ulster County Chamber of Commerce;
“Best Theatre 2006” by the Times Herald Record; and “Best Drama of the Year” by
The Daily Record in NJ for The Good German. Founded in 1984,
Shadowland performs in a restored 1920’s Art Deco vaudeville/movie house
converted to a 148-seat theatre. For more information, visit http://www.shadowlandtheatre.org.
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Editor’s
Note: Andy Walter studied
acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan. He has
written, produced and directed children’s plays in New York City and the
Catskills. After helping found Shadowland Theater in the late 1980s, he
moved to Ellenville, working at theater on a full-time basis for four years and
served as president of the Cooperative Artists. He married, started
a family locally and eventually leaving the theater, opened a carpentry business
in the Hudson Valley area, 16 on center. He rejoined the Shadowland
effort in 2007 as a member of the board of directors. In addition to operating
his business, he teaches acting classes at Shadowland, producing children’s
theater productions each winter. He has also functioned as general
contractor for the rebuilding of a house in Ellenville, donated by Provident
Bank that will serve as housing for Shadowland’s professional actors and staff.
Martin Rabkin
martinrabkinink,
inc. for Shadowland Theatre
P.O. Box 149,
Ellenville, NY 12428-0149 USA
+1 845.647.5600
- office
+1 914.420.5739
- cell
mrabkin@martinrabkinink.com