Hamptons.com Mail
The Arts
| Performing Arts
| Live Music
| Art News
| In the Galleries
| Bookshelf
| On The Screen
| Museums
| HIFF
INTERVIEW: Marcia Milgrom Dodge On Bay Street's "Backstage With MMD: Random Notes & Anecdotes From Productions"
T.J. Clemente
Print Article |
James Alexander, Q. Smith, Aurelia Williams, Monica Patton, and Jim Weaver in the 2008 production of Ain't Misbehavin', directed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge. (Courtesy Photo) |
Bay Street Theater and Sag Harbor Center for the Arts is presenting an eight-part online interview series entitled, Backstage with MMD: Random Notes & Anecdotes From Productions. The show will provide a personal and intimate forum in which award-winning director Marcia Milgrom Dodge and her guests share insightful and entertaining stories from some of their most beloved stage productions. The series takes place Mondays from 7 to 8 p.m. via Zoom as part of Bay Street's online programming platform Bay Street To-Go. Backstage with MMD: Random Notes & Anecdotes From Productions will air through August 31 and will feature guests such as Dame Julie Andrews, Tony Award-winner Randy Graff, Q. Smith and Emmy Award-winner Peter Scolari, along with other special and surprise guests.
Milgrom Dodge shared some thoughts about the new show, her life and her long career. When asked about the genesis of the new show, she said, "Once we went into lockdown, like all theater folks, I started to panic. Then I realized I could generate some entertainment perhaps through a trip down memory lane. So I started putting together this idea called 'Backstage at Bay Street' and ran it by Tracy Mitchell at Bay Street. I told her I would love to get involved to do something for Bay Street because I have a great love for that theater. Between 1999 and 2013 I did eight different productions at Bay Street. I thought it would be fun to do some mini-reunions with a couple of people from each of those shows."
"I am hoping that many from the Bay Street audiences who saw some of these productions will join us and maybe ask questions or let us know what they thought of the show," she relayed.
About her previous Bay Street work, she recalled, "Some of the shows were strangely timely for the time we were living in. Like we did Hair, closing four days before 9/11 and then the world changed. Now I am coming back to Bay Street in this strange new world and hoping to kindle that relationship and also remind people how important theater is. That there really is no substitute for it."
Milgrom Dodge explained the process of a girl born in Detroit, Michigan ending up doing regional theater all over the country, eventually landing on Broadway. She said, "I took dancing and music lesson starting at three-years-old." She went on to discuss the big break that launched her career. "For the first ten years, I was running around the country choreographing musicals for summer stock, in Missouri, in Naples, Florida. I would read Backstage Magazine, and if it said choreographer needed, I would call that theater and send my resume. I am very tenacious. I am the daughter of a V.P. of Sales, so I know how to sell a little."
My biggest break was perhaps getting the rights to Little Shop of Horrors for The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Even though it was still running off-Broadway, I got to choreograph my own version in the mid-eighties. Once I hit the regionals as a choreographer, I was very busy because the mid-eighties was when regional theaters realized musicals were a very viable product for their theaters."
Registration is $20 per episode, or $100 for all eight.
For more information, visit www.baystreet.org.
Milgrom Dodge shared some thoughts about the new show, her life and her long career. When asked about the genesis of the new show, she said, "Once we went into lockdown, like all theater folks, I started to panic. Then I realized I could generate some entertainment perhaps through a trip down memory lane. So I started putting together this idea called 'Backstage at Bay Street' and ran it by Tracy Mitchell at Bay Street. I told her I would love to get involved to do something for Bay Street because I have a great love for that theater. Between 1999 and 2013 I did eight different productions at Bay Street. I thought it would be fun to do some mini-reunions with a couple of people from each of those shows."
"I am hoping that many from the Bay Street audiences who saw some of these productions will join us and maybe ask questions or let us know what they thought of the show," she relayed.
About her previous Bay Street work, she recalled, "Some of the shows were strangely timely for the time we were living in. Like we did Hair, closing four days before 9/11 and then the world changed. Now I am coming back to Bay Street in this strange new world and hoping to kindle that relationship and also remind people how important theater is. That there really is no substitute for it."
Milgrom Dodge explained the process of a girl born in Detroit, Michigan ending up doing regional theater all over the country, eventually landing on Broadway. She said, "I took dancing and music lesson starting at three-years-old." She went on to discuss the big break that launched her career. "For the first ten years, I was running around the country choreographing musicals for summer stock, in Missouri, in Naples, Florida. I would read Backstage Magazine, and if it said choreographer needed, I would call that theater and send my resume. I am very tenacious. I am the daughter of a V.P. of Sales, so I know how to sell a little."
My biggest break was perhaps getting the rights to Little Shop of Horrors for The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Even though it was still running off-Broadway, I got to choreograph my own version in the mid-eighties. Once I hit the regionals as a choreographer, I was very busy because the mid-eighties was when regional theaters realized musicals were a very viable product for their theaters."
Registration is $20 per episode, or $100 for all eight.
For more information, visit www.baystreet.org.
Related Articles:
Comments
Be the first to comment on this article. (Just fill out the form below)
Submit Your Comment
Please note, you are not currently logged in. Your comment will be submitted as a guest.
To submit your comment as a member, please click here.
To submit your comment as a member, please click here.
SEARCH
Hamptons Carpet One Floor & Home
We pay less,and so do you.With over 1,000 stores in our buying group, we can get the lowest prices
from the best flooring manufacturers — and pass the savings on to you.Visit our other locations: Hamptons Carpet One Floor & Home, 675 North Sea Road,Southampton, NY 11968
Southrifty Drug 54 Jagger Lane, Southampton Village
Southrifty Drug is a small, neighborhood pharmacy with limited shelf space, and we have to be very selective about which over-the-counter items we carry. As a result you'll find a no nonsense concentration of very effective, high quality and useful products on our shelves. In this new section, we feature a number of these products that we feel are especially worthy of your consideration.
Burner Law Group, P.C.
Burner Law Group, P.C. are full service elder law attorneys concentrating in the areas of Estate Planning, Trust and Estate Administration and Litigation, Special Needs Planning, Guardianship and Elder Law. Offices in East Setauket‚ NY, Westhampton Beach, NY, and New York, NY.
Suburban Propane in Bridgehampton, New York has been serving proudly supporting our community for 90 years.
Suburban Propane has been serving the energy needs for home owners and business in the Hampton’s for decades. We offer friendly service by local professionals you know and trust, plus the peace of mind that comes from knowing we are among the leaders in the industry for safety.
