Want a superb evening of theater without all the expense and schlepping of a Broadway trip? At Shadowland Stages in the vibrant little village of Ellenville, you’ll find exactly that.
This fall they present the glorious finale of their busy 2024: “The Garbologist,” called “finely crafted” and a “must-see” by Broadway World, will be presented in the intimate black box Studio from September 13-29. The Mainstage, a vintage Vaudeville space, will host the world premiere of “The Road to Jerusalem” from October 4-20 with an all-star cast.
When the Shadowland folks promise you the stars, expect to be dazzled. The theater in the shadow of the Gunks first opened its doors in 1920, charging patrons 17 cents apiece to sink into posh leather seats for two reels of shorts, assorted live performances and a feature film. The place was an immediate success, and was still showing movies into the 1980s, when a collective of Broadway pros bought it, grew into a passionate nonprofit, and restored it to its Art Deco glory as a live performance venue.
“Somebody showed them this theater and they went back to New York and told all their friends about it, so a group of about 25 of them came upstate to Ellenville and just moved into the theater and started doing theater there, and here we are 40 years later,” muses Brendan Burke, Shadowland’s director since 2005, who’s just helped shepherd the addition of the new black box stage, pushing on through the “very scary existential time” of the pandemic.
At Shadowland Stages, you’ll find a superb evening of theater without all the expense and schlepping of a Broadway trip.
“We put the final touches on the sound, lighting, and seating during the shutdown, going ahead with the plan, and then used the rest of that timeout to do a full strategic plan and a close look at our policies, mission, and vision,” he says. “It was a productive time, and I think we reopened a little better, a little smarter, with a greater focus on our community.”
The theater in the shadow of the Gunks first opened its doors in 1920, charging patrons 17 cents apiece.
That community has taken to the nifty new Studio space in a big way. The Borscht Belt Comedy Club, a collaboration between the village’s new Borscht Belt Museum and the New York Comedy Club, has been packing the house with laughter at sold-out standup shows. And in spring 2024, something else that happens at the Studio—the Academy at Shadowlands Stages program—won the Arts in Education distinction from Arts Mid-Hudson.
“For over 15 years, the Academy at Shadowland Stages has served students aged 6 -70, using the theatrical arts to foster students’ imaginations, confidence and passions. The Academy’s spectrum of services, from free masterclasses to full-scale productions, offers accessible opportunities for artistic exploration and expression, and has served thousands in the community since 2008,” reads the official proclamation.
Burke says new Academy program director Ben Williams is presiding over yet more expansion. “We make sure the Academy is accessible to anybody who wants to take it,” he says. “We do a lot of scholarships.
The adult class is now a year-round offering. In the kids’ classes, we used to just have spring and fall semesters and we’ve added winter and summer. We do these week-long intensives that the kids take where they create their own shows, and the Monday of each week is Masterclass Monday; we offer a free masterclass in something intriguing—stage combat improvisation, stuff like that—to draw the kids in.”
“We do three weeks of a different holiday-themed show in December. Opening day is the day of the Wawarsing Wassail; we do a matinee, then there’s a really cool holiday parade, and then we have an 8 pm evening performance.” - Brendan Burke
Burke says the season will be ending on a high note. “‘Garbologists’ is a fun little piece, a brand-new play about a veteran New York City sanitation worker who gets assigned to work with this newbie who’s got a doctorate in literature, I think it is, and how they connect over exploring people’s garbage. Then ‘Road to Jerusalem’ is seven or eight short scenes, a Western, which is something we’ve never done before. It’s an exciting play—we did a developmental reading last spring with a celebrity cast, and we’re really happy to have it as this year’s world premiere. We’ve had the pleasure of working with some big names like John Cleese and Tom Hanks in our play development program—getting a really nice team invested in a story and putting it up on stage for the first time is thrilling. Last spring I was in New York City watching the Off-Broadway premiere of a show we’d had the world premiere of the previous year—that was kinda fun.”
Connect with Shadowland online to get the latest on their 2024 holiday show, still TBA at press time. “We do three weeks of a different holiday-themed show in December,” Burke explains. “Opening day is the day of the Wawarsing Wassail; we do a matinee, then there’s a really cool holiday parade, and then we have an 8 pm evening performance. It’s a really special day to be in town.”
shadowland stages
157 Canal Street, Ellenville
845-647-5511
shadowlandstages.org
