THE SUBJECT WAS ROSES Comes to Bridge Street Theatre

By: Oct. 16, 2019
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THE SUBJECT WAS ROSES Comes to Bridge Street Theatre

For the final production in its 2019 Subscription Season, Catskill's Bridge Street Theatre presents a genuine American classic - Frank D. Gilroy's heartwarming 1965 Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy/drama THE SUBJECT WAS ROSES, coming to the theatre's Mainstage for eight performances only, October 17-27.

When 20-year-old Timmy Cleary returns from service in WWII, he finds himself in the middle of another war at home. Trapped in a troubled marriage, his mother and father each try to enlist him in their on-going battle against one another. Small acts of kindness and cruelty take on huge implications in this quietly devastating comedy-drama of familial conflict - and love. Bridge Street Theatre's production will be directed by Flo Hayle, and features actors Lora Lee Ecobelli as Nettie Cleary, Ron Komora as her husband John, and Caleb John Cushing as their son, Timmy, with sets and lighting designed by Bridge Street Artistic Director John Sowle, costumes by Michelle Rogers, and sound by Carmen Borgia. Production Stage Manager is Joshua Martin.

"At first glance, THE SUBJECT WAS ROSES looks like a pretty conventional choice for our admittedly adventurous theatre," says BST Associate Director Steven Patterson. "On the surface, it appears to be heir to a long line of naturalistic classics, complete with a dysfunctional family at its center and a kitchen sink. It got the Pulitzer, the Tony, and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play back in 1965. But several factors led to our desire to present it as part of our season this year. Number one, although incredibly popular in the first decade after its original Broadway production - hey, I played Timmy in college back in 1971 - it's a play that's more-or-less fallen off the radar recently and, despite its worth, is seldom produced these days. Number two, while it seems to travel a well-worn path initially, toward the end of the first act, there's a slightly surreal scene where the family returns from a night on the town, and the inebriated son suddenly breaks the fourth wall and begins addressing the audience directly, launching into a paean to his love of vaudeville. Then he and his father begin to drunkenly re-create several famous routines and you realize, "Wait a second! From the git-go, Gilroy has been using the classic rhythms and routines of vaudeville to shape and comment on the routines that trap this tragi-comic American family. And number three, like another American classic everyone thinks they know - Thornton Wilder's OUR TOWN - it's a play that sneaks up on you. You think it's simple and sentimental (and maybe even a bit corny), and then a tiny gesture or a small act of kindness or cruelty happens and - wham - the bottom drops out and suddenly this simple family drama takes on deep, universal implications. I think it's a story anyone who's ever been part of a family can relate to. And, of course, with its post-WWII setting, it's a natural for director Flo Hayle. She knows whereof she speaks."

THE SUBJECT WAS ROSES plays Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 2:00pm from October 17 - 27, 2019 on the Bridge Street Theatre Mainstage, located at 44 West Bridge Street, in Catskill, NY, just a block and a half west of Main Street across the Uncle Sam Bridge, which spans Catskill Creek. Eight performances only. General Admission is $25, Students 21 and under are only $10. Discounted advance tickets are available at subject.brownpapertickets.com or by calling 800-838-3006. Tickets will also be sold at the door one half hour prior to each performance on a space available basis. "Pay What You Will" performances will be held on Thursday evening October 17 and Sunday afternoon October 20 ("Pay What You Will" tickets are available only at the door one half hour prior to those performances). For more information, visit the theatre online at bridgest.org/the-subject-was-roses/. Don't pass up the chance to experience this rarely-produced jewel in the American dramatic canon.

Events at Bridge Street Theatre are supported in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and by Public Funds from the Greene County Legislature through the Cultural Fund administered in Greene County by the Greene County Council on the Arts.



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