[ShareTompkins] interested in posting a message on Share Tompkins

Sat Nov 19 16:43:30 UTC 2011

Hello!

I am new to ShareTompkins. I sent in my request to subscribe to
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Below is a message that I would like to post on the site. Attached is a
photograph to go with the message.

Please let me know if this is acceptable to you.

Many thanks!

Anne Marie Cummings

Readers' Theatre Brings Audiences Suspenseful Duologue with A Steady Rain

The Readers' Theatre is very pleased to bring to Ithaca audiences A STEADY
RAIN, by playwright Keith Huff, the gripping noir tale of two Chicago police
officers and the complexities of a lifelong bond tainted by the rough
streets of Chicago. The intricate play packed the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre
on Broadway with full houses in 2009 with Daniel Craig (James Bond) and Hugh
Jackman (Wolverine) playing the lead roles. 

The Readers' Theatre's performance readings match two local actors, Junito
Cubero (as Denny), and Tim Perry (as Joey, also Associate Artistic Director
of The Readers' Theatre), as these two Chicago cops, who, at the start of
the play, find themselves on different sides of the law, in love with the
same woman, and their friendship direly tested.

The 90-minute duologue is directed by Anne Marie Cummings, Artistic Director
of The Readers' Theatre, and will run Friday, December 2nd and Saturday,
December 3rd at 8pm, and on Sunday, December 4th at 6:30pm. Performance
readings will take place in the intimate setting of THE SPACE, 700 West
Buffalo Street (at the corner of Court and Fulton near the M/V Columbia
Dock) - the same location where The Readers' Theatre performed FROZEN, the
first play of their second season. A STEADY RAIN is being sponsored by three
local organizations, pleased to support The Readers' Theatre: Alternatives
Federal Credit Union, The Nines, and Barnes & Noble. 

Pete Panek, local blues musician and a native of Chicago, who grew up in the
neighborhood the two characters recount in the play, will enhance the
performance readings LIVE by playing electric guitar underneath the dialogue
and in between scenes. Besides playing extensively in and around the area,
Pete hosts the long-running Blue Monday Jam at The Nines, as well as the
"Blues Progressions" radio show on WICB 91.7 FM every Wednesday, 10am to
noon. Panek has shared the stage with blues greats such as Buddy Guy, Junior
Wells, Koko Taylor, Bo Diddley, and dozens more. 

Following all three performance readings of A STEADY RAIN, Cornell history
professor, Richard Polenberg, now the Marie Underhill Noll Professor of
History and a specialist in twentieth century America and constitutional
history, will give a 20-minute lecture entitled, "Keith Huff: The Playwright
as Historian." He will discuss the issue of affirmative action, a theme
throughout the play, along with the story of the Chicago police department's
attempt to conform to affirmative action requirements which began following
the 1978 Bakke case. Polenberg will also speak about some of the real-life
events Huff dramatizes in the play. Polenberg has served as Chair of the
History Department and has received two teaching awards from Cornell
University.

At the center of A STEADY RAIN is the changing relationship between two men:
Denny is a blustering family guy with skewed notions of domestic and
professional honor, and Joey is a more inhibited, slightly priggish
bachelor. Under interrogation lamps, the two deliver alternating accounts of
the high voltage chain of events that jeopardized their friendship and
careers. The result is a difficult journey into a moral gray area where
trust and loyalty struggle for survival. 

Barbara Vitello of the Daily Herald said of the Broadway production of A
STEADY RAIN, "It's a thoroughly engrossing examination of the toll the job
takes on those sworn to serve and protect, and how amorphous the line
between criminal and cop can be." Baz Bamigboye of Daily Mail said, "Huff
elevates to tragic dimensions the life of policemen the way Arthur Miller
molded Willy Loman in Death of a Salesmen," and David Sheward of Back Stage
said, "A Steady Rain offers one of the most powerful theatrical experiences
in many seasons.Huff's script is full of pungent dialogue and razor-sharp
suspense."

All tickets are $12 with a reservation and $15 without a reservation.
Reservations are highly recommended since seating is limited. They can be
made by calling 607.217.6272.  The Readers' Theatre's 2011-2012 season also
includes ART by Yasmina Reza, February 10-12 (live music: John Bunge on
banjo); and UNCLE VANYA, April 27-April 29 (live music: Hank Roberts on
cello). For more details visit www.thereaderstheatre.com.

The Readers' Theatre of Ithaca is an ensemble-based group which focuses on
performance readings of current, contemporary, and classic plays. Part of
their mission is to bring theatre to audiences at a low cost so that those
who may not be able to manage the high price of the average theatre ticket,
can experience quality theatre affordably. The actors focus on the written
word and perform their characters to the fullest while reading from their
scripts. They utilize music stand and stools, yet omit sets and props. They
interact with one another in a black box setting illuminated with theatrical
lights. 

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