HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Welcome to the second half of our season and to STEEL MAGNOLIAS.
While planning the season, I always try to find a balance between new and old, comedy and drama, musical etc..
STEEL MAGNOLIAS is one that fits many categories. In terms of theatre, it's almost still considered contemporary, and while there are some very dramatic and somber moments, the humor cuts through the show like the scissors our hair stylists use on stage.
Many are familiar with the successful film version of the play - but the play did come first. And while the film is universally hailed as fabulous, I've always felt that the stage play, being confined to the story of these six women in that one space, was warmer, funnier and overall, more enjoyable. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Among the NEW things, January has two more events that we hope you'll join us for:
next Friday night, Broadway star of LES MIZ and SIX - Brennyn Lark - comes home to Curtain Call for a one - night only concert in The Kweskin Theatre. (Maybe you saw her here when she was 13 as Dorothy in THE WIZ?)
And at the end of the month, the new musical adaptation of the hit Julia Roberts film MYSTIC PIZZA opens on the 31st.
THANKS FOR BEING HERE...enjoy the show!
Lou Ursone
Executive Director
STEEL MAGNOLIAS
Written by Robert Harling
Directed by Karen Randazzo
CAST
Cathy Cordaro – M’Lynn
Angela Mantero – Truvy
Tracey Marble – Ouiser
Alexandria Palazzo – Annelle
Eleni Rosenboom – Shelby
Gail Yudain – Clairee
PRODUCTION TEAM
Producer - Lou Ursone
Director - Karen Randazzo
Set Design - Peter Barbieri, Jr.
Lighting Design - Jamie LaJoie
Costume Design - Helen Adams
Production Stage Manager - Samantha Frattallone
Technical Director - Wayne Yeager
Running Crew - Martha Dombroski, Cara Kramer, Tiara Starks
Production Assistant - Meghan Connolly
Production Coordinator - Jan Ursone
TIME: 1987
Place: Chinquapin, Louisiana
ACT 1
Scene 1: April
Scene 2: December
There will be a 15-minute intermission.
ACT 2
Scene 1: June, 18 months later
Scene 2: November
Cathy Cordaro (M’Lynn Eatenton) Cathy is tickled pink to be performing in Steel Magnolias at Curtain Call. Past favorite roles include Ruth in Calendar Girls, Marta in I Remember Mama, Mrs Paroo in The Music Man, Elinor Glyn in The Cat’s Meow and Beatrice in A View From the Bridge. Heartfelt gratitude to Karen, Lou, Jan, and Sam for this wonderful opportunity and to the extraordinary women that I am privileged to share the stage with. Many thanks for the love and support from Vinnie, Joe, Bene and Pip.
Tracey Marble (Ouiser Boudreaux) Tracey is thrilled to be back at Lou’s Place! You may have seen her as Rosie in Mamma Mia, one of The Angel City 4 in City of Angels, Sally in Follies, Sheree in The Dixie Swim Club, Meryl in Top of the Heap or Mary in Jesus Christ Superstar. Tracey is on the Voice Faculty in the Theatre Division of The Hartt School. In addition, she teaches at Music Theatre of Connecticut and is the Music Director at First Congregational Church of Stamford. Love and gratitude to Lou, Jan, Karen, Mom, Mike, Nicky, Amber, Ellie, Noah and Derek. https://traceymarble.hearnow.com/
Angela Mantero (Truvy Jones) Raised in Georgia, she’s overJOYed to bring her Southern roots to a character who embodies her own philosophy to “focus on the JOY of the situation!” She is deeply grateful for the steel magnolias in her life -- and for her wonderful, beautiful, JOYful family. (Romans 11:36) www.findyourlight.us
Alexandria Palazzo (Annelle Dupuy-Desoto) Alexandria is ecstatic to be making her Curtain Call debut with one of her favorite plays! Previous credits include The Crucible (Abigail Williams), Pet Peeves (Midnight), The Game’s Afoot (Aggie), and Urinetown (Barrel). You can see her this upcoming February in Diamond Theatre Company’s production of North Shore Fish (Marlena).
Eleni Rosenboom (Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie) Eleni is thrilled to be a part of the Curtain Call family yet again since her DRT debut as Miss Casewell in Mousetrap last year. Eleni received her MFA in Acting at Brooklyn College in 2020. Some of her favorite college credits include: Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Jesse in Sweat, Marcia in Our Lady of 121st Street, Mary Swanson in Middletown, and Olivia in Twelfth Night. She would like to thank her mom and sister Justina for making this possible!
Gail Yudain (Clairee Belcher ) Curtain Call: Arsenic & Old Lace, Fiddler on The Roof, A Merry Mulberry Street Musical, The Gin Game, Damn Yankees, Beauty & The Beast, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Hostage, Mary Poppins; Follies. Town Players of New Canaan: On Golden Pond, The Outgoing Tide. Regional credits: Amateur Comedy Club, NY: The Ramshackle Inn; White Plains Performing Arts Center, NY: The Secret Garden; STONC: Big River; Carousel, My Fair Lady. Herb Strauss Theatre, Sanibel, FL: It Runs In The Family; Theatre By The Sea, RI: A Funny…Forum. Other favorite roles: Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest, Marmee in Little Women, The Musical; Joanne in Company, Aldonza in Man of LaMancha. Diane Keaton Stand-In: And So It Goes; Dorothy Peters on Madame Secretary. Commercials: Cine-Med, Monte Cedro, Starz Channel, Farmington Bank, Windstream, The National Women’s Law Center. Love to TY.
Helen Adams (Costume Design) Helen has been costuming shows for Curtain Call for over 20 years, including recent productions of Young Frankenstein, The Sound of Music, The Diary of Anne Frank, and 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Also an actor, Helen most recently appeared in Uncle Vanya with Goshen Players. and in The Memory Box at Phoenix Stage Company.
Samantha Frattallone (Stage Manager) Samantha is so excited to be pursuing her first stage management position at Curtain Call! Previously she has stage managed multiple productions at Crystal Theater, including the most recent, George Washington Slept Here. Usually Samantha can be found on the stage, most recently as Giovanna in Mulberry Street. Other Curtain Call roles include Eve in Wisdom of Eve, Toni in Cactus Flower, and Nina in Mulberry Street. Some other favorite roles include Babette in Beauty and the Beast, Emma Goldman in Tintypes, and Gertrude in Seussical the Musical. She would also like to thank her family and husband, Anthony, for their continued support and for holding down the fort with her four-year-old, future theater kid, Logan, so she can continue to pursue her theatrical adventures.
Karen Randazzo (Director) Karen is happy to be back at Curtain Call where she has directed a variety of plays and musicals. Karen was the artistic director for the American Theater Banquet Co. where she wrote, produced and directed 5 original shows each year, including The Christmas Show. She was selected to produce and direct Side By Side for the Sondheim Composer’s Festival at the University of Bridgeport, where she received her B.A. in Theater. The following year she was invited back, for Leonard Bernstein’s visit, and wrote and directed an original review of his work, entitled Bernstein On Broadway. Karen produced Hasbro’s Mr. Potato Head Live for Hasbro and wrote and staged HBO’S “SureThing” National Campaign, and Reebok’s live UBU tour. Karen has enjoyed directing at WCSU, Danny’s Skylight room, and her musical Another Day in Paradise was presented at the Triad, Zipper theater, and Laurie Beecham Theater in Manhattan as well as at the Downtown Cabaret. Karen and her husband Peter have run a musical theater camp for 24 years in Trumbull, where they live. She currently directs for Notre Dame High School in Fairfield.
Jan Ursone (Assistant Stage Manager) Over the past several years, Jan has stage managed Young Frankenstein, Fiddler On The Roof, Sound of Music, Beautiful, It’s A Wonderful Life, The Tempest, Assassins, Wizard of Oz, She Loves Me, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Measure For Measure, Disaster, Grand Night For Singing, Into The Woods, Cinderella, 1776, The Gin Game, Romeo & Juliet, Something Rotten, A Christmas Story, Grease, Much Ado About Nothing, Big River, Shakespeare in Love, Mamma Mia and Hamlet. Special thanks to Karen and Samantha – we make a great team!! Thank you to Louie for letting me have so much fun.
Jamie LaJoie (Lighting Design) Jamie started working in theatre in 2006 as a sound designer for The Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope PA. After working with numerous different regional and equity theatres he was able to expand his skill sets to include master carpenter and lighting designer. Some of his favorite sound designs are Miss Saigon, Sweeny Todd, Tommy and Jekyll and Hyde (which he received a nomination for best Sound Designer for a musical). Some of his favorite lighting designs are Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Suessical the Musical, Jekyll and Hyde (Which he received a NEPTA award for best lighting design for a musical) All this knowledge has allowed him to be the Technical Director here at Curtain Call. Jamie is now the Technical Director for King School and teaches Technical Theatre classes there as well. As always a special thank you to my wife Meghan and my beautiful little girl Savannah. Daddy loves you.
Peter Barbieri, Jr. (Set Design) Peter has been a theatre professional since 1979. He is our Associate Artistic Director and was the founding director of our outdoor, summer Shakespeare on the Green. Peter’s work has been seen both here and abroad. Broadway credits include technical direction of the Tony Award-winning revivals of Cabaret and A View From The Bridge. Overseas, his work was seen as far as Shanghai, China and he designed the sets for the Danish production of Cats. Peter directed our productions of Titanic, Twelve Angry Men, To Kill A Mockingbird, Macbeth, The Producers, A View From The Bridge and Romeo & Juliet. For many years, he was a member of Rehabilitation Through the Arts, a non-profit organization that works in the prison system of the State of NY. He directed their productions of Macbeth, Twelve Angry Men and their first musical, West Side Story in Sing Sing Prison. Peter and his wife, Julia, live in Fairfield with their son, Peter III and daughter, Miranda.
