DAVID ARROW STARS IN HIS OWN WORK ON ROBERT F. KENNEDY

 

 

AFTER ACTOR AND WRITER DAVID ARROW WAS INVITED TO PLAY ROBERT KENNEDY IN A PLAY “RFK “ BY JACK HOLMES, HE DID EXTENSIVE RESEARCH, READING AT LEAST FORTY BOOKS ON THE SUBJECT.  HE DECIDED TO PEN HIS OWN VERSION OF THE POLITICIAN, FOCUSING ON THE PIVOTAL YEAR 1968

WHEN HE RAN FOR PRESIDENT.  THE RESULT IS “KENNEDY:  BOBBY’S LAST CRUSADE” SHOWCASED AND STREAMED BY WEST HARTFORD’S PLAYHOUSE ON PARK RECENTLY. 

 

THIS ONE MAN SHOW THAT DAVID ARRROW TACKLES BRILLIANTLY IS BASED ON THE LAST THREE MONTHS OF RFK’S LIFE, BEFORE HE IS TRAGICALLY ASSASSINATED MOMENTS AFTER VICTORIOUSLY WINNING THE CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY AGAINST EUGENE MCCARTY AT THE AMBASSADOR HOTAL IN LOS ANGELES.

 

DAVID ARROW BEARS A STRIKING RESEMBLANCE TO THIS “FOLK HERO” IN PERSONA AND VOICE, WITH A STRONG BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS ACCENT.  HE PORTRAYS JOHN F. KENNEDY’S YOUNGER BROTHER, SO OFTEN IN JFK’S SHADOW, HERE HE ASSERTS HIMSELF AS A CHAMPION OF THE PEOPLE, THE POOR AND DISENFRANCISED,  AN OPPONENT OF THE VIETNAM WAR AND A LEADER AGAINST DIVISION AND VIOLENCE.  HE QUESTIONED WHETHER HE WAS THE MAN TO DEFEAT LYNDON JOHNSON AND GENE MCCARTHY AND IF HE HAD ENTERED THE RACE TOO LATE?

 

RFK BELIEVED THE COUNTRY WAS ON THE WRONG COURSE AND HE WANTED TO USE HIS CAREER AS A LAWYER AND AS ATTORNEY GENERAL TO MAKE MUCH NEEDED CHANGES. THOUGH HE HATED MAKING SPEECHES, HE IS BUSY CROSSING THE COUNTRY TO PLEAD HIS CASE TO BUILD AMERICA FOR THE FUTURE, VISITING 12 STATES IN 2 WEEKS.  THEN TWO EVENTS GALVANIZE HIM:  LBJ DECLARES HE WILL NOT RUN FOR REELECTION AND MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. IS KILLED BY AN ASSASSIN IN MEMPHIS.

 

RFK KNEW THERE WOULD BE GUNS BETWEEN HIM AND THE WHITE HOUSE.   HE FELT THE MILITARY COULD NOT SAVE AMERICA.  ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL, HE FELT PEOPLE NEEDED TO SEE AND HEAR HIM AND KNOW HE WAS GENUINE.  AT THAT MOMENT IN TIME, HAVING WON THE CALIFORNIA PRIMARY, HE KNEW THE PEOPLE WERE THERE FOR HIM, WANTING HIM TO RIGHT THE COUNTRY’S WRONGS.  WE WILL NEVER KNOW IF HE COULD HAVE SUCCEEDED IN THAT IMPOSSIBLE QUEST.

 

RFK WAS A SYMBOL OF “MODERN AMERICAN LIBERALISM” WHO ADVOCATED FOR CIVIL RIGHTS AND USED HIS IMPERFECTIONS TO CRAFT A CAMPAIGN FOR A BETTER AMERICA.  ERIC NIGHTINGALE DIRECTS THIS SLICE OF REALISM WITH A STRONG HAND. THE PLAY CAN BE STEAMED UNTIL OCTOBER 4 FOR $20 BY CALLING PLAYHOUSE ON PARK AT 860-523-5900 EXT.10. THE PLAY WILL BE SCREENED AT DUNKIN’ DONUTS PARK ON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 AND AT

INGERSOL POP-UP DRIVE-IN ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4.  FUTURE PLAYS WILL BE “ALL IS CALM” SET IN 1914 AT CHRISTMAS AND  “CHILDREN OF PARADISE” SET IN HEAVEN.  THE THEME FOR THE PLAYHOUSE’S TWELTH SEASON IS, APPROPRIATELY, HOPE.

THIS SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11, FROM 3-4 P.M. PLAYHOUSE ON PARK WILL HOST A PANEL DISCUSSION ON ZOOM WITH CHUCK COURSEY, FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER AS MODERATOR, AND  PANELISTS  PLAYWRIGHT AND ACTOR DAVID ARROW, MICHAEL DEVORKIN ATTORNEY, BURKE DOAR ATTORNEY AND JUDGE BARRY STEVENS, SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE. You must register in advance in order to watch the live Zoom Webinar. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rXJp2Mr2Sp-SmRLdWOf8Bg After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. This conversation will be recorded and uploaded to the WHCi YouTube channel for future viewings. Can’t join us live? Visit the WHCi YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzpHKCsl6ag

RESERVE YOUR SEAT BEFORE EVERY ONE IS “FULLY COMMITTED”

 

If ever there were a person who could effectively use the eight arms of an octopus, it would be Sam the out- of- work actor who takes the tedious job of reservation agent at a trendy Manhattan restaurant. It’s the Christmas season and everyone and anyone wants a coveted table for themselves to see and be seen. Sam, played effectively and convincingly by the talented Matt Densky, has the dubious honor of fielding the requests as to who is worthy of a chair and table.

This is a one man show where the lead actor plays somewhere between thirty and forty roles, all delightfully, from the bombastic chef to the numerous actors, V.I.P.s, tourists, even Mafia dons who call incessantly wanting to dine. A hearty welcome back to Music Theater of Connecticut of Norwalk for being one of the first locations to offer live theater during the pandemic. Hallelujah!

You have the unique and pleasurable opportunity to witness this event first hand in Becky Mode’s challenging comedy “Fully Committed.” 

Of course, the smaller the portions the bigger the price tag and the more unusual the offerings created daily by the Chef, who is temperamental to the extreme, the more desirable they seem. Sam has to be a master juggler to answer the multiple phones and confess the eatery is booked at least three months in advance, hence the comment about being “fully committed.”

Playwright Becky Mode has nailed with pinpoint accuracy the craziness and caginess of the customers who seek a reserved table at the current hot spot. Densky plays them all, insiders like the egotistical chef and snide maitre ‘d and outsiders like Gwyneth Paltrow’s fawning assistant and demanding Mafia men who are willing to pay extravagantly to get a table. Densky assumes all the mannerisms and accents as he balances family, friends, acting competitors and wannabe customers of the chichi global fusion cuisine his restaurant specializes in serving.

Sam fields phone calls like a pro, handles messy emergencies without breaking too much of a sweat and ends up satisfying most of his contacts as the jolly Christmas spirit adds a little more urgency to his multi-tasking. Kevin Connors directs this behind the scenes romp into restaurant ramekins and rigors, on a detailed restaurant basement set designed by Jessie Lizotte, while Jim Schilling serves as stage manager.

For tickets ($35-65), call Music Theater of CT, 509 Westport Avenue, Route 1, Norwalk at 203-454-3883. Performances are weekends until September 27, Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. in a safe socially distanced environment. If you prefer, you can watch the performance from your home by streaming, for $25. Now is the time to plan to see a dramatic play about Robert Kennedy, the years 1964-68, “RFK,” October 23-November 8 and, just in time for the holidays, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” December 11-20.

Reserve a V. I. P. seat for this hectic holiday hilarity as Sam the man tries to fill requests from the sublime to the ridiculous.

      

THE HILL-STEAD MUSEUM SHINES ITS THEATRICAL LIGHTS THIS SUMMER

As the sun sets on a warm summer afternoon, when you want to celebrate the season and settle outdoors for an evening of entertainment, when you want to forget the state of the world during the time of Covid, what better place to head

than the lovely pastoral setting at the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington.  On such a recent evening, I took my chair, my mask and a friend and we sat on the lawn, on one of the museum’s 152 lush green acres, to enjoy an evening of

Cabaret songs courtesy of the singing group The Falsetti Four.  Under the auspices of West Hartford’s intimate Playhouse on Park, with the generous support of the Hill-Stead Museum, the entire summer has been dotted with many

sparkling opportunities to bring a treasured moment of music or theater to life. This was just such an evening.

Safe in our little pod, with food to nibble and drinks to imbibe, we watched the sun go down as the Falsetti Four gloriously sang show tunes. With a following from their Friday Night performances at BlueBack Square in West Hartford, the troupe included 

Rick Fountain, Amanda Forker, Carolyn Burke, Hillary Ekwall and young, talented high schooler Stephanie Reuning-Scherer whose dad Jonathan was there flashing the keyboards to every number.  Tunes ranged from show biz favorites like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” to

cute numbers about the mistake of dying your hair blue only to have it turn green to a one woman birthday party celebration.  Whether sentimental or sassy, the performances were Broadway level enjoyable.

The Hill-Stead is also entertaining benefit dinners on the lawn,”Theodate & Tyler,” as farm-to-table experiences into September  Other events include a Playhouse on Park Dance Party with Darlene Zoller on Wednesday, September 16 and a

 Playwrights Reading Series on Wednesday, September 23.  Other entertainment performances are the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Hartford Stage, a Concert Among the Acres, a Painting Class run by the Museum and the Sonia Plumb Dance Company

in September and in October the Hartford Stage and the Farmington Land Trust Raptor Program.  Visit https://www.hillstead.org/ for dates, times and prices.

  The Museum is now open for guided tours from Thursday to Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm. Treat yourself to an evening outdoors as the sunshine turns to star shine and you get to remember why you love theater.