Poughkeepsie Journal from Poughkeepsie, New York • Page 2

2 Fpughteepsie Joumol Fridoy.Moy2.1W0! County Players mounts ambitious musical By Jeffrey Borak Journal art writer WAPPINGERS FALLS An evil waiir, a wife with a roving eye. a struggling poet who takes on the guise of a beggar king with magic powers, his lovely daughter and a caliph in search of true love; toss in some music based on the exotic melodies of Borodin's "Prince Igor" and you have "Kismet," an Arabian Nights kind of musical opening tonight at 1:30 at the County Players Falls Theatre, IS W. Main St. Directed by Peter Edman. the County Players production features Paul as a not too well off poet who discovers begging is a more lucrative profession and passes himself off as Ha, king of the beggars who is reported to' have magical powers; Elissa Bowen as his lovely daughter Marsinah, who catches the eye of the Caliph of Bagdad (Tim Zitz) who is looking for the wife of wives; James Klostyas the scheming Wazir and Dianne Spinski as his roving wife La lume, whom he uses to further his own political ends.

Technically and musically it 'is County Players' most ambitious undertaking since the opening of its new theater a year and a half ago. The musical calls for 14 different scenes; its large cast has been reduced to 40 people which still will leave the compact stage filled with "wall to wall people," Edman said prior to the start of a recent rehearsal. Offstage storage space is virtually non existent and the music is, Edman says, "beautiful, lyrical and quite complex." Part of the space problem on the stage has Craftsmen form artisan's guild for Hudson Valley By Jeffrey Borak Journal arts writer Being an artist is running a busi ness, says Carol Bluestein, director of the Community Cultural Center in Hopewell Junction. The pitfalls are the same. It is a fact of life which artists, and particularly craftsmen, are only just beginning to comprehend.

In order to help craftsmen survive, particularly in what many interpret as the coming bad times for artists, the Community Cultural Center has helped initiate the formation of the Hudson Valley Artisan's Guild, a forum in which craftsmen can discuss problems of mutual concern, particularly as they relate to the business of making and selling crafts. The impetus for the guild, Mrs. Bluestein says, came directly from the craftsmen. "The Community Cultural Center," she explained, "is serving only as an administrative consultant; to establish an administrative back up for the craftsmen so the administrative pressures will be taken off them and they can be free to run their own organization." Craftsmen are not, by nature, joiners of organizations. They meet at craft fairs and major markets, such as the Northeast Regional Craft Fair; and informally jp about their work and pressures of making a living.

There has been one previous attempt at bringing them together more formally but it was unsuccessful. "Too many organizations like this have been formed more for the purpose of the prompter or the organization. What the craftsmen are looking for," Mrs. Bluestein said, "is greater See craftsmen page 1 been alleviated with the completion of the second of two "mini stages," one on each side and slightly above the main stage, both of which provide for more flexible staging. The sets, which have been designed by Vinnie Ca pozzi.

have been constructed with special rigging and hinges to allow for the multiplicity of scene changes. "We at least will be able to give audiences the illusion of different locales," Edman said while music director Margaret Clapp began taking the large cast through its vocal warm ups prior to the start of the long rehearsal. "It's been one heU of a Job," Edman said, adding praise for Theresa Knight who has designed and built the lavish costumes for this production. "The real problem has been the continuity of rehearsals and working out a rehearsal schedule around the personal commitments of the cast members. But this has been a wonderful cast to work with," he said.

"They all have worked very hard." "It is one of the most challenging musicals I've ever worked on," said Mrs. Clapp after the warm ups. "The score is very demanding vocally and musically. "It is so challenging, in fact, that It seemed almost impossible at first. We had the leads after auditions but we really had to recruit for the chorus." MeetDrs4he musical challenges of the show was primarily a matter of listening, recruiting singers and, Mrs.

Clapp said, "making the best possible use of the rehearsal time. "We've also reduced the orchestrations to 18 instruments. The music is so lush I felt this was one musical we really couldn't do with simply piano, bass and drums." "This is a very lovely show," said Edman. "It is a family show. It has a fair share of humor, an Interesting flow of comedic tou Chcs.

"For the audience, it is an extremely colorful and I think it's one which has appeal for everyone. It has a fairy tale whimsy; it's the rags to riches tale of an underdog who makes it with a little bit of scheming." Performances will be tonight, Saturday and May 9 and 10 at 8:30 p.m. 'It is one of the most challenging musicals I've ever worked score is vera demanding vocally and Margaret Clapp. music director I Slfc WxlaBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBKaBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBH Sw')KSlyLiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHIHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHi' raiTt J3BBB99BBBBBBBBBaaBBBBBBBV9aW'9ijajajaHHHHHHHHHHHHBHM llwslSHHBHRSBHI Journal photos by Bob Krlttotlk Paul Ventura and Dianne Spinski Hajj and Lalume in 'Kismet' IEM liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMPrPHI laBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBP JaBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBPl LbBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBbH iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHMKiHwJlaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiKaiiHttL JillHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiH fi TnaifiaMaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa 'W ZJaaaa' aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat WlsC V' Mim JOB usioy, iir, ana Ventura are Trfarir.ff th pigyrft 'nrnjtnrtUm Af Kimnit'.