#Saratoga Shakespeare Company

[larryland]

THE TEMPEST (co-sponsored by SPAC and Radial Arts) on the SPAC grounds

(Top, R-L) Louis Butelli*, Tracy Liz Miller*, Kent Burnham*, Maya Bhagwat Bassuk*, Dennis Schebetta*

(Bottom, R-L) Oliver Wadsworth*, LeeAnne Hutchison*, Grant Neale*, Chris Naughton, Marcus Dean Fuller* (Director)

*The Actor appears through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Building on last year’s successful collaboration, Saratoga Shakespeare begins the season joining forces with SPAC and Radial Arts to present *Poetry in the Pines*, bringing a new, innovative and music-filled production of *THE TEMPEST* on the SPAC grounds. Performances will take place at the Reflecting Pool on Friday, July 19th at 2:00pm and 5:00pm and on Saturday, July 20th at 11:00am. The production will be directed by Marcus Dean Fuller, a writer, director and producer with twenty years of experience working in film, television and stage. Marcus is the President of Compass Entertainment. He currently teaches and directs at Union College. In addition, he serves on the Board of Directors of Yale School of Drama, the Nantucket Theater Institute, and Saratoga Shakespeare.

Admission always free of charge for *THE TEMPEST* and the SPAC grounds are entirely accessible. Both young and old, as well as family groups, are strongly encouraged to attend – with or without picnics – for what has become a beloved summer tradition in Saratoga.

Louis Butelli and Maya Bhagwat Bassuk. Photo By Eric Jenks

Louis Butelli and Maya Bhagwat Bassuk. Photo By Eric Jenks

Louis Butelli and Maya Bhagwat Bassuk. Photo By Eric Jenks

As Saratoga’s longest running professional theatre company, *THE TEMPEST* will feature several experienced members of Actors’ Equity Association, the stage actors’ professional union. These actors have extensive New York City and national stage, film and television credits. In addition, a talented group of non-union professional actors and members of Saratoga Shakespeare?s Young Theatre Professional Company will round out the cast.

Since 2000, the productions of Saratoga’s longest running professional theatre company have become a beloved Saratoga tradition, and many regional children have grown up watching Saratoga Shakespeare every summer. The Company takes pride in presenting Shakespeare?s work with great clarity and continues to develop a visually arresting and audience immersive aesthetic.

The Saratoga Shakespeare Company is grateful to Skidmore College for their generosity, as well as continued support from Skidmore’s Office of Special Programs and the Department of Theater. The Company was the recipient of a 2019 Community Arts Grant from Saratoga Arts.

Saratoga Shakespeare Company Opens 19th season with “The Tempest” THE TEMPEST (co-sponsored by SPAC and Radial Arts) on the SPAC grounds (Top, R-L) Louis Butelli*, Tracy Liz Miller*, Kent Burnham*, Maya Bhagwat Bassuk*, Dennis Schebetta*

[kneipho]

Via: Bay Area Plays   

Full List as of 8/31/18: San Francisco - Peninsula - North Bay -East Bay - South Bay

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SAN FRANCISCO

42nd Street Moon – “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” – Oct. 3rd – 21st

African-American Shakespeare Company – “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf” – Sept. 15th – 29th

American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) – “Sweat” – Sept. 26th – Oct. 21st “Men on Boats” – Oct. 17th – Dec. 16th

Awesome Theatre – “Terror-Rama III: Dead the Whole Time” – Oct. 12th – 27th

Bay Area Musicals –

Beach Blanket Babylon (OPEN-ENDED)

Bindlestiff Studio – “Stories High XViii” – Through Aug. 25th

Brava Theater Center –

Crescent Moon Theater –

Crowded Fire Theater – “Church” – Sept. 13th – Oct. 6th

Curran –

Custom Made Theatre Company – “The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?” – Sept. 20th – Oct. 20th

The Department of Badassery

Exit Theatre – “San Francisco Fringe Festival” – Sept. 6th – 15th

Faultline Theater Company –

Ferocious Lotus –

foolsFury –

Golden Thread Productions – “Kiss” (presented at Shotgun Players in Berkeley)- Aug. 23rd – Sept. 23rd

Killing My Lobster – “North by North Lobster” – Oct. 18th – 27th

Lamplighters – “The Pirates of Penzance” – Aug. 4th – 26th

Landmark Musical Theatre –

Lorraine Hansberry Theatre –

The Magic Theatre  – “The Resting Place” – Oct. 10th – Nov. 4th

The Marsh – “The Clyde Always Show” – Through Aug. 29th “Keeping Up With the Jorgensons” – Through Aug. 25th “Bravo 25: Your A.I. Therapist Will See You Now” – Sept. 20th – Oct. 27th “The Waiting Period” – Through Oct. 28th “Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name” – Oct. 25th – Dec. 8th “Acid Test: The Many Incarnations of Ram Dass” – Sept. 21st – Nov. 4th

New Conservatory Theatre Center – “Red Scare on Sunset” – Sept. 21st – Oct. 21st “Cardboard Piano” – Oct. 26th – Dec. 2nd

The Playwright’s Center of San Francisco –

Playwrights Foundation – “Bay Area Playwright’s Festival” – July 20th – 29th

Ray of Light Theatre – “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” – Sept. 14th – Oct. 6th

The Refuge – “Cabaret” – July 6th – 15th

San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company –

San Francisco Mime Troupe – “Seeing Red: A Time-Traveling Musical – Begins July 4th (various locations)

San Francisco Playhouse  – “You Mean to Do Me Harm” – Sept. 18th – Nov. 3rd “Sunday in the Park with George” – Through Sept. 8th

Shelton Theater – “Baby Doll” – Sept. 13th – Nov. 3rd

SHNSF – “Les Miserables” – Through Aug. 26th “The Phantom of the Opera” – Sept. 5th – 30th “On Your Feet! The Emilio and Gloria Estefan Broadway Musical” – Sept. 11th – Oct. 7th

Theatre Rhinoceros –

Thrillpeddlers

Troupe Theatre – “The Future is in Eggs” – Aug. 25th – 26th

Virago Theatre Company

Z Space – “#GetGandhi” – Aug. 10th – 26th

PENINSULA

Broadway by the Bay, Redwood City – “Saturday Night Fever” – Aug. 10th – 26th

Coastal Repertory Theatre, Half Moon Bay – “Avenue Q” – July 27th – Aug. 26th “Death of a Salesman” – Sept. 28th – Oct. 28th

Dragon Theatre, Redwood City – “The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence” – Sept. 14th – Oct. 7th

Fuse Theatre, Redwood City –

Hillbarn Theatre, Foster City – “West Side Story“ – Aug. 30th – Sept. 16th “Noises Off!” – Oct. 11th – 28th

Pacifica Spindrift Players – “My Fair Lady” – Aug. 10th – Sept. 2nd “It Can’t Happen Here” – Oct. 19th – Nov. 4th

Palo Alto Players – “Tarzan” – Sept. 8th – 23rd

The Pear Theatre, Palo Alto – “Northanger Abbey” – Aug. 31st – Sept. 23rd “Hedda Gabler” – Oct. 12th – 28th Stanford Repertory Theatre, Palo Alto –

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Palo Alto/Mountain View – “Native Gardens” – Aug. 22nd – Sept. 16th “Fun Home” – Oct. 3rd – 28th  

NORTH BAY

6th Street Playhouse, Santa Rosa – “Comedy of Errors” – Through Sept. 2nd “Guys and Dolls” – Sept. 14th – Oct. 7th

Bay Area Stage Productions, Vallejo – “I Ought To Be in Pictures” – Through June 10th Lucky Penny Productions, Napa – “Into the Woods” – Sept. 7th – 23rd “Blithe Spirit” – Oct. 19th – Nov. 4th

Marin Shakespeare Company –

Marin Theatre Company, Mill Valley – “Oslo” – Sept. 27th – Oct. 21st

Novato Theater Company – “A Chorus Line” – Sept. 7th – 30th “God of Carnage” – Oct. 26th – Nov. 11th

Ross Valley Players – “Twelfth Night” – Sept. 28th – Oct. 21st

Sonoma Arts Live – “Hello, Dolly!” – Oct. 5th – 21st

Spreckels Theatre Company

– “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time”  – Sept. 7th – 30th“Addams Family Musical” – Oct. 12th – 28th

EAST BAY

Actor’s Ensemble of Berkeley – “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged” – Through Sept. 3rd

Altarena Playhouse, Alameda – “Clybourne Park” – Oct. 5th – Nov. 11th “One Man, Two Guvnors” – Through Sept. 9th

Anton’s Well Theater Company – “Dirty Butterfly” – Sept. 21st – Oct. 7th

Aurora Theatre Company, Berkeley – “Detroit, ’67” – Aug. 31st – Sept. 30th

Bay Area Children’s Theatre, Berkeley – “The Cat in the Hat – El Gato Ensombrerado” Sept. 15th – Nov. 4th

Berkeley Playhouse – “Dreamgirls” – Sept. 21st – Oct. 21st

Berkeley Repertory Theatre – “A Doll’s House, Part 2” – Sept. 6th – Oct. 21st “Fairview” – Oct. 4th – Nov. 4th

Center REPertory Theatre, Walnut Creek – “Mamma Mia” – Aug. 31st – Oct. 7th “Dancing Lessons” – Oct. 19th – Nov. 7th

Central Works, the New Play Theater, Berkeley – “Chekhov’s Ward 6” – Oct. 13th – Nov. 11th

Chanticleers Theatre, Castro Valley – “Don’t Dress For Dinner” – Oct. 19th – Nov. 11th

Contra Costa Civic Theatre – “Allegiance” – Sept. 21st – Oct. 21st

Douglas Morrisson Theatre, Hayward – “Once Upon a Mattress” – Sept. 13th – 30th

The Marsh, Berkeley – “Each and Every Thing” – Through Sept. 29th “One Life Stand” – Through Sept. 29th “Can You Dig It” – Through Sept. 9th “Latin Standards” – Oct. 5th – Nov. 17th

Masquers Playhouse, Point Richmond –

Piedmont Center Theatre, Piedmont –

Pittsburg Community Theatre – “Spamalot” – Sept. 28th – Oct. 7th

Ragged Wing Ensemble, Oakland –

Shotgun Players, Berkeley – “Women Laughing Alone With Salad” – Oct 12th – Nov. 11th “Kiss” – Through Sept. 23rd

Stage 1 Theatre, Newark –

Those Women Productions, Berkeley – “Woman on Fire” – Through Sept. 9th

Town Hall Theatre, Lafayette – “The Revolutionists” – Sept. 29th – Oct. 20th

Tri-Valley Rep, Livermore –

Ubuntu Theater Project – “Pool of Unknown Wonders” – Aug. 31st – Sept. 23rd

UC Berkeley TDPS –

Woodminster Amphitheater, Oakland – “In the Heights” – Aug. 31st – Sept. 9th

SOUTH BAY

Broadway San Jose – “On Your Feet” – Oct. 9th – 14th

Center Stage Performing Arts, Milpitas –

Children’s Musical Theater San Jose – City Lights Theatre Company, San Jose – “In the Heights” – Through Aug. 25th “God of Carnage” – Sept. 13th – Oct. 14th

Foothill Music Theatre, Los Altos Hills –

Lyric Theater, San Jose – “The Wizard of Oz” – Oct. 13th – 28th

Naatak Indian Theater – “Mahabharat” – Sept. 2nd – 23rd

Norcal Academy of Performing Arts –

Northside Theatre Company, San Jose –

Pintello Comedy Theater, Gilroy –

San Jose Stage Company – “The Lieutenant of Inishmore – Sept. 26th – Oct. 21st

San Jose Theaters

San Jose Youth Shakespeare –

Santa Clara Players – “Exit the Body” – Oct. 26th – Nov. 17th

Silicon Valley Shakespeare, San Jose – “Much Ado About Nothing” – Through Sept. 2nd

South Bay Musical Theatre, Saratoga – “Mame” – Sept. 22nd – Oct. 13th

Sunnyvale Community Players – “Grease” – Sept. 15th – Oct. 7th

Tabard Theatre Company – “Another Roll of the Dice” – Sept. 14th – Oct. 7th

Teatro Vision, San Jose – “Departera” – Oct. 11th – 21st

OPEN-ENDED RUNS/IMPROVISATION

Bay Area Theatre Sports (BATS), San Francisco

Comedysportz San Jose

Made Up Theatre, Fremont

Synergy Theater, Walnut Creek

Un-Scripted Theater Company, San Francisco

OPERA

Bay Area Opera Collaborative

Island City Opera, Alameda

Opera San Jose

[gmastrion]

The Tempest, Saratoga Shakespeare Company from Guy Mastrion on Vimeo.

In the pre-Covid summer of 2019, Saratoga Shakespeare Company staged a wonderful rendition of Shaespeare's Tempest in the SPA Park in Saratoga Springs NY. SSC used the reflecting pools in a clever act of staging to lend the performance a context in keeping with the story.

[djvalrock]

The Tempest performed by the Saratoga Shakespeare Company 🎭 #spac #shakespeare #thetempest #supportlocal #100happydays

[3dayspriordigiturgy]

Hi All! 

I’m Katie Jacobsen and I’m the dramaturg for 3DaysPrior’s premiere production Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. I created this blog as a way to make all mediums of dramaturgical information easily accessible to 3DP audience members and cast members alike. 

A little bit about me - I’m a Pennsylvania based dramaturg, actor, and academic. I’ve previously served as the dramaturg for Skidmore College’s production of Julius Caesar, as well as the assistant dramaturg for You Must Wear a Hat at The Kennedy Center’s MFA Playwrights’ Workshop. As an actor, I have mostly worked within the Shakespearean canon. I’ve trained at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA and have served as an intern at the Saratoga Shakespeare Company. I received a BA in English and Theater from Skidmore College and will begin studying for my MA in Humanities (English and Theatre and Performance Studies) at the University of Chicago in September. 

[blackkudos]

Canada Lee

Canada Lee (born Leonard Lionel Cornelius Canegata, March 3, 1907 – May 9, 1952) was an American actor who pioneered roles for African Americans. After careers as a jockey, boxer and musician, he became an actor in the Federal Theatre Project, most notably in a 1936 production of Macbeth adapted and directed by Orson Welles. Lee later starred in Welles's original Broadway production of Native Son (1941). A champion of civil rights in the 1930s and 1940s, Lee was blacklisted and died shortly before he was scheduled to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He furthered the African-American tradition in theatre pioneered by such actors as Paul Robeson. Lee was the father of actor Carl Lee.

Biography

Canada Lee was born Leonard Lionel Cornelius Canegata on March 3, 1907, in the San Juan Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. His father, James Cornelius Lionel Canegata, was born on the Caribbean island of St. Croix, and as a youth had migrated to New York, where he married Lydia Whaley Gasden. Raised by his parents in Harlem, Lee had an aptitude for music, and at age seven he began studying violin and piano with J. Rosamond Johnson at the Music School Settlement for Colored People. He made his concert debut at age 11, performing a student recital at Aeolian Hall. But after seven years of music studies, without explanation, he put away his violin and ran away from home. In 1921, aged 14, Lee went to Saratoga Springs, New York, and began a two-year career as a jockey.

Lee returned to his parents' home in Harlem in 1923 with no idea what he was going to do next. He considered returning to music, but an old school friend suggested that he try boxing. At one amateur match, fight announcer Joe Humphries saw the name "Canagata, Lee" on the card he was using. He tossed the card aside and instead announced "Canada Lee"—a name that Lee liked and adopted. In the amateur ring he won 90 out of 100 bouts and the national amateur lightweight title.

Lee turned pro at age 19, in October 1926, and became a favorite with audiences. At 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) and about 144 pounds (65 kg), he fought as a welterweight. His boxing statistics vary due to incomplete coverage and record keeping for the sport in the 1920s and 1930s. Boxing historian Donald R. Koss documents Lee having 60 bouts 1927–31, the majority of them taking place 1927–28. The New York Times reported that Lee had some 200 professional matches and lost only about 25.

During his victorious 10-round bout with Andy Divodi at Madison Square Garden on December 12, 1929, Lee was dealt a blow over his right ear that detached his retina. With treatment his vision could have been saved, but Lee feared losing his successful career and masked his injury. In time he lost all sight in his right eye. He quit professional boxing in 1933. Despite having made an estimated $90,000 during his boxing career (roughly equivalent to $1,572,160 today), Lee was broke. "Just threw it away," Lee later said. Lee eventually lobbied for insurance, health care, financial consultation and retirement homes for fighters. "The average boxer possesses little education," he said in 1946. "If he winds up broke, he has no trade, no education and nobody to turn to."

As Lee's fighting career began to wind down, he put together a small dance band that played at obscure clubs. When an old friend, sportswriter Ed Sullivan, plugged him in his new entertainment column, Lee and his group began landing better engagements. His career as a bandleader peaked in 1933 when his group played at the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem. The following year he opened his own small club, The Jitterbug, which he managed to operate for six months. When it closed he had no prospects, and his mother convinced him to simply get a job.

Acting

All my life I've been on the verge of something. I'm almost becoming a concert violinist and I run away to the races. I'm almost a good jockey and I go overweight. I'm almost a champion prizefighter and my eyes go bad. Now I've got it, now I've got what I'm going to be.

Lee discovered a love for Broadway theatre during his years as a prizefighter. He remembered Show Boat as the first stage production he ever saw: "A big, tough fighter, all muscle, just sobbing," he recalled.

His acting career began by accident in 1934. While at a YMCA to apply for a job as a laborer, Lee stumbled upon an audition in progress and was recognized by playwright Augustus Smith. Lee was invited to try out, and won a supporting role in Brother Mose, directed by Frank H. Wilson. Sponsored by New York's Civil Works Administration, the show toured the boroughs, playing at community centers and city parks into the fall of the year. In October 1934 Lee succeeded Rex Ingram in the Theatre Union's revival of Stevedore, which toured to Chicago, Detroit and other U.S. cities after its run on Broadway. It was his first professional role.

Lee then was cast in his first major role, that of Banquo, in the legendary Federal Theatre Project production of Macbeth (1936), adapted and directed by Orson Welles.

"I never would have amounted to anything in the theatre if it hadn't been for Orson Welles," Lee recalled. "The way I looked at acting, it was interesting and it was certainly better than going hungry. But I didn't have a serious approach to it until … I bumped into Orson Welles. He was putting on a Federal Theatre production of Macbeth with Negro players and, somehow, I won the part of Banquo. He rehearsed us for six solid months, but when the play finally went on before an audience, it was right—and it was a wonderful sensation, knowing it was right. Suddenly, the theatre became important to me. I had a respect for it, for what it could say. I had the ambition—I caught it from Orson Welles—to work like mad and be a convincing actor."

Macbeth was sold out for ten weeks at the Lafayette Theatre. After an additional two weeks on Broadway it toured the nation, including performances at the Texas Centennial Exposition in Dallas.

After five months in a supporting role, Lee succeeded Rex Ingram as the lead in the stage production Haiti (1938), portraying Haitian slave turned emperor Henri Christophe. One of the Federal Theatre Project's most popular productions, Haiti was seen by some 90,000 people at the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem and at Boston's Copley Theatre.

In January 1939, with the end of the Federal Theatre Project, Lee won a role in Mamba's Daughters , a Broadway success that toured North America and returned to Broadway for another brief run in 1940. Lee took a break from the road tour to make his motion picture debut in Keep Punching (1939), a film about boxing. He made his radio debut as narrator of the weekly CBS jazz series,��Flow Gently, Sweet Rhythm (1940–41). As that regular series came to an end, he opened a restaurant at 102 West 136th Street, Canada Lee's Chicken Coop, which offered authentic South Carolina cuisine, jazz and blues. Lee kept it going despite chronic financial difficulties.

Lee played the lead role in the 1940 revival of Theodore Ward's Big White Fog. A 1938 Federal Theatre Project production, the play was remounted by the newly created Negro Playwrights Company, founded in New York by Ward, Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, Theodore Browne, Richard Wright and Alain Locke.

Lee became a star overnight in his ultimate stage success, Native Son (1941), an adaptation of Richard Wright's novel staged on Broadway by Orson Welles. The show was a spectacular hit for both Welles and Lee, who starred in the initial New York run, a 19-month national tour, and a second run on Broadway with accessible ticket prices. "Mr. Lee's performance is superb," wrote Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times, who called him "certainly the best Negro actor of his time, as well as one of the best actors in this country." Wright also applauded the performance, noting the contrast between Lee's affable personality and his intensity as Bigger Thomas. The sympathetic portrayal of a black man driven to murder by racial hatred brought much criticism however, especially from the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and the Legion of Decency, and the ensuing pressure forced the play to close.

During World War II, Lee continued to act in plays and in films. In 1942, he played in two comedies by William Saroyan; Lee earned approving reviews despite the generally negative response to these plays. In 1943, he took a lead role in a production of the race-themed drama South Pacific, directed by Lee Strasberg, concerning a cynical African-American soldier who had racially based reservations about fighting the Japanese.

Perhaps Lee's most famous film role was in Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944), in which he played the steward of a glamorous journalist (Tallulah Bankhead). Lee insisted on changing his dialogue to round out his character, which used a semi-comical dialect. He was praised for his performance.

Lee's successful radio career continued with New World A-Comin', which made its debut in March 1944. He narrated the first two seasons of the groundbreaking WMCA radio series that presented Negro history and culture to mainstream American audiences.

He became the first African American to play Caliban, in Margaret Webster’s 1945 Broadway rendition of The Tempest. Lee had admired Shakespeare since his turn in Macbeth; indeed, at the time of his death he was preparing to play Othello on film.

In 1946, Lee played a principal role in On Whitman Avenue, a drama about racial prejudice directed by Margo Jones. Lee produced the play, making him the first African-American producer on Broadway. The play spoke directly to the need for interracial housing following World War II and won the praise of former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who wrote weekly columns encouraging readers to see it.

In the autumn of 1946 Lee made American theatre history when he portrayed the villain Daniel de Bosola in John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi. Presented in Boston and on Broadway, the production marked the first time a black actor had played a white role on the stage. Lee wore a special white paste that had been used medically, to cover burns and marks, but had never before been used in the theatre.

In 1947, he had a supporting role in Robert Rossen's Body and Soul, another boxing picture.

In 1948 Lee played his last stage role, that of a devoted slave in Set My People Free, Dorothy Heyward's drama based on the aborted 1822 slave revolt led by Denmark Vesey.

In 1949, he took another supporting role in Lost Boundaries, a drama about passing. Lee's last film role was in Cry, the Beloved Country (1951).

Civil rights activism

As an actor, Lee came into contact with many of the leading progressive figures in the country. Langston Hughes, for instance, wrote two brief plays for Lee; these were submitted to the Theater Project, but their criticism of racism in America was deemed too controversial, and neither was staged. Lee spoke to schools, sponsored various humanitarian events, and began speaking directly against the existing segregation in America's armed forces, while simultaneously acknowledging the need to win World War II. To this latter end, he appeared at numerous USO events; he won an award from the United States Recruiting Office and another from the Treasury Department for his help in selling war bonds. These sentiments would carry on throughout his life, culminating in his early firsthand account of apartheid in South Africa.

Lee was an early influence on physician and human rights activist H. Jack Geiger. They met in 1940 when Geiger, a 14-year-old middle-class Jewish runaway, was backstage at a Broadway production of Native Son. Lee agreed to take Geiger in when he showed up at his door in Harlem asking for a place to stay. With the consent of his parents, Geiger stayed with Lee for over a year. Lee took on the role of surrogate father and introduced Geiger to Langston Hughes, Billy Strayhorn, Richard Wright, and Adam Clayton Powell. Geiger eventually became a journalist, then a doctor who co-founded the first community health center in the United States, Columbia Point Health Center in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He became a founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility and Physicians for Human Rights, and established community health centers in Mississippi and South Africa. Geiger says he would never have moved so deeply in these worlds so quickly if not for his experiences with Canada Lee.

By the late 1940s, the rising tide of anti-communism had made many of his earlier contacts politically dangerous. In 1949, the trade journal Variety stated that under no circumstance was Lee to be used in American Tobacco’s televised production of a radio play he had recently starred in because he was "too controversial".

The same year, the FBI offered to clear Lee’s name if he would publicly call Paul Robeson a communist. Lee refused and responded by saying, "All you’re trying to do is split my race." According to newspaper columnist Walter Winchell, Lee stated that he intended to come out and "publicly blast Paul Robeson." However, the fact that the friendship between the two actors remained until Lee's death suggests that Robeson put no faith in Winchell's claim.

At the height of the Hollywood blacklist, Lee managed to find work in 1950 as the star of a British film Cry, The Beloved Country, for which both he and Sidney Poitier were smuggled into South Africa as indentured servants in order to play their roles as African ministers. During filming, Lee had his first heart attack, and he never fully recovered his health. The film’s message of universal brotherhood stands as Lee's final work towards this aim.

Being on the Hollywood blacklist prevented him from getting further work. Scheduled to appear in Italy to begin production on a filmed version of Othello, he was repeatedly notified that his passport "remained under review". Lee was reportedly to star as Bigger Thomas in the Argentine version of Native Son but was replaced in the role by Richard Wright, author of the novel, when Lee had to withdraw.

Family life

In December 1925, Lee married Juanita Eugenia Waller. On November 22, 1926, they had a son, Carl Vincent Canegata, who became actor Carl Lee. The couple separated while their son was young, and they were amicably divorced in 1942.

In 1934, Lee began a love affair with publisher and peace activist Caresse Crosby, despite the threat of miscegenation laws. They often had lunch in uptown New York in Harlem at the then-new restaurant "Franks", where they could maintain their secret relationship. When Lee was performing in Washington, D.C., during the 1940s, the only restaurant in the city where they could eat together was an African restaurant named the Bugazi. Crosby and Lee's intimate relationship continued into the mid-1940s.

In March 1951, Lee married Frances Pollack. They remained together until he died just over a year later.

Death

Lee died of a heart attack at the age of 45 on May 9, 1952, in New York City.

Wikipedia

[brothermarc7theatre]

Season Announcement Wednesday...errr...Thursday

Hello and welcome to this (delayed) Season Announcement Wednesday. This week's highlighted company is brought to us by a love for the Bard and the good ol' outdoors. I saw my first show at this company a few summers ago and had an absolute blast. Since then I've seen a few more of their shows, and have even had the pleasure of treading their boards for a summer. Let's grab our picnic baskets and hike over to the park to see what Silicon Valley Shakes has in story for South Bay audiences in 2019!

Shows/Dates: 48-Hour Play Festival: Shakespeare Magic (January); Greatest Hits from the 48-Hour Play Festival (April); A Midsummer Night's Dream (June 7th - 23rd); Macbeth (July 26th - August 30th); The White Snake (August 2nd - September 1st)

Venues/Address: Sanborn Park @ 16055 Sanborn Road, Saratoga 95070

                               Willow Street Park @ 1320 Willow Street, San Jose 95125

Website: www.svshakespeare.org

Facebook: "Like" them at- Silicon Valley Shakespeare

Twitter: "Follow" them at- @SVShakes

Description: Silicon Valley Shakespeare just wrapped up their 20th season, and are showing no signs of stopping! Located in some of the most enjoyable, theatrically scenic-appropriate parks in the South Bay, they bring some of Shakespeare's most notable and lesser-done works to the outdoors. In addition, they are continuing their excellent 48-Hour Play Festival for the frantically inclined artists out there, and a Mary Zimmerman play to boot! I have had the pleasure of seeing their productions of Romeo and Juliet, The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged), Shakespeare in Hollywood, and Hamlet, among others. A few summers ago I had the extreme pleasure of playing Aramis in their production of Ken Ludwig's The Three Musketeers. Look at your calendar and be sure to carve out some evenings to head to the park for some Shakespeare next summer. Go see a show!

[elyssaphillips]

Because before I did sketch, I did Shakespeare. #neverforget #tbt . . #asyoulikeit #saratogashakespeare #shakespeareinthepark #saratogasprings #phoebe #actorslife #throwbackthursday (at Saratoga Shakespeare Company)

[larryland]

Saratoga Shakespeare Company’s Professional Training Program Accepting Applicants 

Saratoga Shakespeare Company, celebrating 20 years and under new leadership, is accepting applications for their Summer 2020 Professional Training Program. 

Dates: June 25-August 5, 2020 in residence at Skidmore College and Saratoga Performing Arts Center in beautiful Saratoga Springs, New York. 

Accepting emerging theatre-makers enrolled in undergraduate institutions as well as post-grad and…

[larryland]

Saratoga Shakespeare Company Presents "King Lear"

Saratoga Shakespeare Company Presents “King Lear”

The Saratoga Shakespeare Company of Saratoga Springs, NY, is continuing 19th season with presenting its second production, Shakespeare’s KING LEAR, directed by Wesley Broulik. Broulik’s production highlights themes of stormy family relationships, human frailty, revenge, and redemption grounded in a timely and all-too familiar world. The company is thrilled to celebrate its nineteenth summer…

[larryland]

Saratoga Shakespeare Company Announces 2019 Season of Redemption

Saratoga Shakespeare Company Announces 2019 Season of Redemption

This summer, Saratoga Shakespeare Company will celebrate its 19th season with two of Shakespeare’s greatest works in two different venues:

KING LEAR in Historic Congress Park *

and THE TEMPEST (co-sponsored by SPAC and Radial Arts) on the SPAC grounds.

The Saratoga Shakespeare Company of Saratoga Springs, NY, is once again presenting two summer productions with professional actors: Shakespeare’s

[larryland]

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY, July 25, 2017 – The Saratoga Shakespeare Company continues its celebration of romance and magic with The Winter’s Tale, opening on Tuesday, August 1st and running through Saturday, August 5th. All performances will be in Congress Park, Saratoga Springs, on the Alfred Z. Solomon Stage, at 6 pm. Admission is always free of charge, and Congress Park is entirely accessible. Both young and old, as well as family groups, are strongly encouraged to attend – with or without picnics – for what has become a beloved summer tradition in Saratoga. As Saratoga’s longest running professional theatre company, our two main-stage productions feature several members of Actors’ Equity Association, the stage actors’ professional union. As we prepare to open The Winter’s Tale, A Midsummer Night’s Dream with continue through July 29th.

Last season the Company presented two productions in Congress Park for the first time and our audience responded with record attendance. This year’s second production of The Winter’s Tale is helmed by the talented Liz Carlson-Guerin. Liz is a director and dramaturge who specializes in New Play Development, Classic Theatre for Contemporary Audiences, Physical & Devised Theatre and Community Engagement. She served for eight years as an associate director and company member for West Philadelphia’s renowned Curio Theatre Company, and her 2016 Philadelphia premiere of The Birds by Conor MacPherson for Curio was Barrymore Recommended.

One of the last plays written by Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale is a timeless and enchanting tale of love, loss, jealousy and redemption. A masterful blend of tragedy and comedy with a most surprising ending, the play features the theatre’s most intriguing stage direction – “Exit, pursued by bear.”

Additionally, the Saratoga Shakespeare Young Theatre Professional Company will offer our Community Outreach production of Twelfth Night, directed by company member Douglas Seldin. Seldin serves as Assistant Director of Education and Training for the company. Performances will take place during the first week of August in multiple locations, including Congress Park and Skidmore College’s Suzanne Corbet Thomas Amphitheater. These college-aged aspiring theatre artists have trained extensively and are also performing alongside our professional actors in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Twelfth Night will be presented in three Saratoga locations: Wednesday, August 2nd at 10AM at the Skidmore College-Amphitheatre (rain performance in JKB Theatre), Friday, August 4th at 11:30am in the Saratoga EOC @ Jefferson Terrace and Saturday, August 5th at 1pm in Historic Congress Park.

The Saratoga Shakespeare Company is grateful to Skidmore College for their generosity, as well as continued support from Skidmore’s Office of Special Programs and the Department of Theater. The Company is thrilled to be the recipient of a Community Arts Grant from Saratoga Arts as well as an Alfred Z Solomon Grant.

Since 2000, our productions have become a beloved Saratoga tradition, and many regional children have grown up watching Saratoga Shakespeare every summer. The Company has always taken great pride in presenting Shakespeare’s work with great clarity and continues to develop a visually arresting and audience immersive aesthetic. This year will be no different.

Saratoga Shakespeare Opens “The Winter’s Tale” and “Twelfth Night” SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY, July 25, 2017 – The Saratoga Shakespeare Company continues its celebration of romance and magic with 

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Saratoga Shakespeare Company Announces Casting for 2017 Season

Saratoga Shakespeare Company Announces Casting for 2017 Season

Free Productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Winter’s Tale Run July 18th through August 5th  SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY, March 13, 2017 – The Saratoga Shakespeare Company is pleased to announce its professional cast for their 2017 Season of Magic. Local stalwarts Brenny Rabine (Hermione, TWT) and John Romeo (Quince, MSND) lead the way. We’re also excited to announce that SSC veterans Tim Dugan…

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Saratoga Shakespeare Announces a Season of Magic for 2017

Saratoga Shakespeare Announces a Season of Magic for 2017

    SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY, March 13, 2017 –– The Saratoga Shakespeare Company will celebrate the romance and magic of both summer and winter with two of Shakespeare’s most exciting works this summer. A Midsummer Night’s Dream opens on Tuesday, July 18th and runs through Saturday, July 29th. The Winter’s Tale opens on Tuesday, August 1st and runs through Saturday, August 5th. All performances will…

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The Tempest, Saratoga Shakespeare Company from Guy Mastrion on Vimeo.

In the pre-Covid summer of 2019, Saratoga Shakespeare Company staged a wonderful rendition of Shaespeare's Tempest in the SPA Park in Saratoga Springs NY. SSC used the reflecting pools in a clever act of staging to lend the performance a context in keeping with the story.

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Season Announcement Wednesday

Before you all stuff your faces with turkey and drown yourselves in gravy, there's a new season to highlight! This company has become one of my summertime favorites to see theatre at. Outdoors, Shakespeare, and just an all-around lovely time taking in the art form we cherish the most. So, without much more ado, here's the 2018 season for Silicon Valley Shakespeare!

Shows/Dates: 48-hour Play Festival: ShakesSports (January 7th); Shakespeare's Most Wanted (April); As You Like It (June 8th - 24th); The Hood of Sherwood (July 27th - August 31st); Much Ado About Nothing (August 3rd - September 2nd)

Venues/Addresses: Lohman Theater @ Foothill College, 12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos Hills 94022

                                   Willow Street Park @ 1320 Willow Street, San Jose 95125

                                   Sanborn Park @ 16055 Sanborn Road, Saratoga 95070

Website: www.svshakespeare.org

Facebook: "Like" them at- Silicon Valley Shakespeare

Twitter: "Follow" them at- @SVShakes

Description: Silicon Valley Shakespeare presents a fun-filled season with some classics and a few premieres. I had the pleasure of seeing their productions of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare in Hollywood, and Hamlet, among others. Two summers ago I had the thrill of performing with them in their production of Ken Ludwig's The Three Musketeers. This upcoming season promises to be another entertaining one; hope to see you at the park!