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With mere days until Cupid shoots his arrow, it's only natural that love is in the air in even the most unlikely places -- including Harvester Avenue. "Love Lines," an original Batavia Players' production written and directed by Patrick Burk, will honor St. Valentine through a series of monologues about romantic correspondence before cell phones. 

Although love is a familiar theme for a show, the venue is anything but old.  "Love Lines" will mark the debut of the Batavia Players' new black box theater on Harvester Avenue.  Burk says that the actors have found the small, intimate setting to be very comfortable: 

"It's been wonderful. It's great having our own theater space, and having all of our costumes right here. People are getting very excited. It feels like home."

Rather than having a plot, the show is made up of monologues by 15 different characters. Most of the monologues -- with the exception of one, which is about love through modern technology -- consist of, you guessed it, love lines.

A few classic love songs are mixed in throughout the show, as well as ongoing piano accompaniment by Jeffrey Fischer (pictured above). The show doesn't need a plot to convey its message, which is that love can take on many different forms, and can affect everyone.

Burk gives the example of a friend's parents who shared their first names with Ronald and Nancy Reagan. Like the presidential couple, the other Ronald and Nancy had a relationship in which letters played a role.

"It shows the juxtaposition of how an unknown subway conductor and the most powerful man in the world can experience the same thing," he says.

Although all of the monologues are about love, not all of them center around traditional infatuation. The objects of affection featured range from Jane Austen to the aforementioned Reagans to the novel "Wuthering Heights."

A large part of the show is autobiographical: Burk's parents only met twice before marrying, resulting in over 150 love letters exchanged throughout their six-month engagement. These letters were the inspiration for the show, which Burk has been piecing together over the past several years. 

The actual rehearsals took no time, compared to the effort of putting the material together. The actors first saw their scripts less than three weeks ago. They rehearsed through a workshop-style format, a style that Burk says he would like to try again.

"It's been an interesting experience," he says. "I've enjoyed it immensely."

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 11 and 12 at the Harvester 56 Theater on Harvester Avenue. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students and seniors, and can be purchased at the door or at www.showtix4u.com.

This weekend, the Western New York Arts Society will return with a bang from a one-year hiatus with the enormously popular and acclaimed rock opera, "RENT." It's the society's first show since  "The Producers" in 2009, and one that most certainly will prove worth the wait.

"'The Producers' was just a gigantic show," said Jason Juliano, the head of the group and the producer of "RENT." It had a huge budget and a two-week run in both Batavia and Buffalo.

"We definitely needed a break after that was all done. This has a much lower budget, but that doesn't mean it's of a lower quality."

Director Ashley Bateman says the decision to do "RENT" was an easy one.

"It's always been my favorite show," she says. "And it's never done around here, so it's offering something new to the community."

The WNYAS has something of a history of producing "new" shows. "RENT" will join the ranks of the other successful, nontraditional productions that the company has performed, which include "Urinetown," "The Producers," and "Songs for a New World."

If the WNYAS name does not sound familiar, that's because the group has recently undergone a change in moniker. It was previously known as the Batavia Musical Society, but because of increasing participation from actors in the Buffalo and Rochester areas and performances in venues not in Batavia, the group felt the renaming would give them a greater opportunity to expand.

"RENT" is a modern-day version of the opera "La Boheme" set in New York City. It follows the lives of the young starving artists who live there as they struggle with HIV/AIDS. The show has won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for Best Musical, and enjoyed a 12-year run on Broadway.  

Mark, one of the aforementioned starving artists and the show's narrator, is portrayed by Jake Bortle of Le Roy.

"He's really, really, poor," Bortle says of his character. "He's extremely pathetic."

But regardless of the "pathetic"ness of Mark, Bortle says it is a role he has always wanted to play. Bortle, 17, is a senior at Le Roy High School and an active participant in the Genesee County theater community. He plans on attending Park Point University after graduation to study musical theater and hopes to someday work as a professional actor.  

Despite the fact that Bateman describes the show as "definitely PG-13," Bortle is not the only high school student involved. The cast of 16 is comprised mainly of teenagers and college students, with only a smattering of adults.

Although some of the themes may be inappropriate for children, Juliano says the show contains an "amazing message of tolerance and acceptance. Do not take anything for granted, and live every day as if it's your last because you never know when your last day will come. Live life to the fullest."

Performances of "RENT" are 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, all at the Ross Street Performing Arts Center in the Batavia Middle School, located at 96 Ross St.

Reserved-seating tickets are $15 and can be puchased online at www.wnyas.com or by calling 585-201-3750. Tickets are also available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday and from 9 a.m. to 1 pm. Friday at the Juliano Allstate Insurance Co. (located at 590 E. Main St., across from Aldi). At-the-door tickets will be available in the lobby at 6:30 p.m., and the house will open at 7. The theater is handicap accessible.

Two years ago onstage at the annual Batavia Players holiday show, Malloryann Burk accepted the marriage proposal of her now-husband, Peter Flanagan. In this year's show, titled "A Traditional Christmas," Peter is still a central theme in her performance.

The first show is tonight at 7:30 at St. James Episcopal Church, 405 E. Main St., Batavia. Tickets are $10 and will be sold at the door. The other show is the same time Saturday.

But in the new production, Malloryann's focus will be on her husband's  absence rather than his presence.

She will be singing "Sending you a Little Christmas" to Peter, who has been in Afghanistan since September and will most likely be there until May. The song is one of four that are dedicated to Flanagan, a Marine corporal and the father of their 5-month-old son, Gabriel.

"When we were planning the show, we knew we wanted to do something for the troops overseas, and that we wanted to send that message of love and support for them," director Pat Burk, father of Malloryann, explains.  "So much of our family is in the show, and once we started rehearsing it hit us that we're sort the poster family for the cause."

There are a total of 21 songs in the show, most of which are traditional Christmas tunes.  The selections were made by Burk and Mary Brenner in an effort to create a mix of "traditional carols, religious, and well-known songs."

"When we sat down to decide on the songs, there were some that we knew right away had to be in it," says Burk. "Then there were some others, newer songs that aren't as well known but fit well in the expressed area of tradition."

Scattered between some of the songs is Yuletide-themed narration written by Mary Brenner, which discusses everything from the original Christmas story to modern-day Santa Claus. 

In addition to directing, Burk will also lend his voice to the show, performing such songs as a duet of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." He sings the Bing Crosby part of "Peace on Earth/The Little Drummer Boy" -- along with Paul Spiotta's David Bowie. The musical director and piano accompianist is Kathy White.

Half of this year's show's profit will go toward the St. James Restoration Fund.  

"They've been very good to us in the past, allowing us to perform here, and this is such a beautiful church," Burk explains. "It fits a more traditional type of show."

Although tonight is the opening night for the Batavia Rotary's 62nd annual musical production, Director Patrick Burk is no stranger to this year's beloved selection.

"I was in 'Oliver' when I was very young, and I've directed it before," Burk says. "It's great for families and it's a classic story by Charles Dickens. A lot of people with young families will be able to connect to it, and that's the audience that we want to appeal to."

Burk, who lives in Batavia, is also accustomed to working with children, as he annually directs the GoArt! Summer Youth Theater productions, which have had as many as 80-plus children in their casts. However, this show is unique in its mix of young and old actors alike.

"Working with a combination of young kids and older adults is amazing," he says. "The way that the older people pick things up from the younger people, and vice versa, is very interesting to me."

One of the younger people is Jordan McNees, who has the title role of Oliver Twist. The 11-year-old from Brockport, who has previously appeared as Ralphie in Geva Theatre's production of "A Christmas Story," says that he has enjoyed working with the other kids.

"It's a lot of fun. They're all really nice, and they're all great influences on me," he says. "They give me tips and advice."

One thing that he needed no advice on was his British accent, which he picked up with little difficulty.

"I watched a lot of British movies, so it was actually pretty easy to get it," he says.

Burk says that vocal director Deanna Spiotta played a large role in helping the cast master their accents.

"Deanna is very good with accents and vocals," he says. "A lot of people ended up learning relatively quickly. The accents were especially important because the show has a lot of strong characters that call for strong vocalization."

Paul Spiotta, who has the role of Fagan, agrees that his daughter has done an impressive job.

"If I'm going to be completely honest, with all due respect to all the past vocal directors for Rotary shows I've been in, she's the best so far," he says. "She's really done a thorough job in preparing everyone."

The elder Spiotta says he has enjoyed getting into his villainous role.

"There are a couple of scenes where I have to be really mean, and I try to get better at those every night," he said.

The combination of young and old does not end on stage; there is a wide range of ages working behind the scenes as well. Jonathan Adams, who is around the age of many of the children in the show, is working as a stagehand while his brother and sister portray orphans.

"I basically help out and get props ready and make sure the actors aren't missing anything, and lift boxes and stuff," he explains. "I like helping so the actors won't have to do as much work, since they're already working a lot on stage. And so that Mr. Burk won't have to do as much."

No matter what age, everyone interviewed agrees that they are ready for opening night.

"I think it's going to be great," says McNees. "The cast has put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into the show, and there's so many fun and exciting parts. It'll make you laugh and cry."

Performances are tonight, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Batavia High School auditorium. Tickets are $16 and can be purchased in advance at www.bataviarotary.com or at the door.

Early Saturday morning, Alexis Aratari surprised herself by killing her first buck -- and then surprised herself further when she discovered that it was a 10-point deer.

"It was really shocking," she says. "My heart was going about a mile a minute."

The feat, which is impressive for anyone of any age, was even more incredible in Alexis's case due to the fact that she has only been hunting for two years.

"It's really rare to have girl hunters, especially teenagers, get that big of a buck," the 16-year-old explains. "So it was really lucky that my first buck was a 10-pointer. It was beginner's luck."

Alexis, who goes out hunting every day during the season, says that she spotted the buck at around 8:30 Saturday morning. When she shot at it with her bow, it dropped right away. Her father, Mike Aratari, who was in a tree on the other side of the field, had seen the buck earlier and hoped that she would get it.

"We both thought it was just a six- or eight-pointer," Alexis said. "When he heard the shot, he yelled for me to stay up in the tree and he looked at it and told me it was a 10-pointer. I couldn't believe it."

"Now he says he has to try to top it," she laughs. "He's been hunting for 20 years, and he's only gotten two 10-pointers."

Hunting is clearly in Alexis's blood. Along with her father, her uncle and aunt also enjoy the pastime.

"All my family is really proud," she says. "We sent them all pictures, and my uncle in Florida has been telling everyone about it."

So what exactly will become of the massive buck?

"We're sending it to get mounted, and we're going to put it up on the wall next to my dad's 10-pointer," she says with a grin.

Tonight and Sunday afternoon, Norm Argulski will perform the role of a lifetime -- for the second time in five months.

He portrays esteemed professor Morrie Schwartz, the title character in the two-man show "Tuesdays with Morrie," based on the book of the same name. The play, which will be performed at St. James Episcopal Church in Batavia, tells the true story of Mitch Albom, a sports reporter who decides to contact a favorite former college professor after seeing him on television.

Despite the fact that the professor, Morrie, is dying of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, a close friendship blossoms between the two as he teaches Mitch many valuable lessons about life and love.

"I think it was a mixture of guilt and a sense of duty [that brought Mitch back to see Morrie]," says Jesse Conklin, who plays Mitch. "He had lost touch with him, after promising to keep in touch, and he felt it would be inhuman not to visit him when he heard that he was dying.

"Like Mitch says in the show, he thought going back to see him that first time would just be a one-shot deal. I think it's ambiguous in the play, what his original reasons were."

Although tonight will be the first performance in months, it is not the true opening night in this area. The Wyoming County Bicentennial Singers' cast made its debut in May at the Warsaw Grange.

This time, though, the profits will be going toward the St. James Restoration Fund. And with luck, Sunday's matinee will not be the last performance: the show was adjudicated in May for the Theater Association of New York State (TANYS) and, if selected, will be performed again in November at the TANYS festival at Genesee Community College.

Director Kathy Dodge says that the three weeks' worth of rehearsals prior to this weekend have been spent mostly just polishing the show, as both actors remembered their parts well. The only differences between the performances in May and the performances this weekend, Dodge says, will be technical.

"I actually remembered most of my lines," says Conklin. "The parts I'm shaky on now are the same parts that I was shaky on before. I would say the hardest thing is getting emotionally back into it. I have to really focus to not go on autopilot this time."

The emotional transition back into the role was smoother for Argulski, who says that the rehearsals for the reprise "seemed like what we had always been doing. What's funny is that the more we do this, the more I talk to Mitch, the less I find myself feeling like Norm."

"I have played so many wonderful roles that I enjoyed, but I just had to play this one," Argulski says. "It's truly the role of a lifetime. Morrie is one of the most interesting characters that you will ever see on stage. You'll like him from the first time that you see him. And even at the end, even though you know he's dying, you still feel good about him."

It seems only natural that Argulski should have the role of Morrie because of the similarities between the two.

"The way that we both think about life and view other people is very close," he explains. "So many of his values are my values."

Argulski is also a retired schoolteacher, something that influenced him greatly in understanding the character.

"Being a teacher was probably the biggest plus that I brought to being Morrie because I know how he felt," he says. "I had so many wonderful students, and I'm still in touch with many of them."

Dodge says she initially chose the show because of the book:

"I read the book years ago, multiple times actually. It's one of my favorites, so I was interested in the play. I really love that it's a true story."

Conklin, on the other hand, had never heard of the show or book before auditioning.

"I heard the name and was like, 'Tuesdays with what? Is it a musical?'" he laughs.

"It is such a unique situation, because in most dramatic works there is a villain, or at least an unsavory person of some sort," Argulski said. "However, this is a story about two wonderful characters, and seeing this is seeing two wonderful men in what they do as their relationship grows."

Is there a message in the show? Director Dodge thinks so: "To make sure you say what you want to people that you love, because you never know when you won't be able to say it to them. Make time for people. The show also brings ALS and hospice front and forward."

Argulski says that the characters have deepened his appreciation of life: "At one point in the show Morrie says, 'I wish I had been aware of death every day of my life.' Of course no one wants to be aware of death every day, but that was really the turning point in his life. I've never known anyone who celebrated death, or who looked at death as it really is. I would really like to talk to him about that."

Tonight's performance is at 7:30 and tomorrow it's at 2 p.m. The ticket price of $15 includes dessert and coffee with the actors after the show. The church is located at 405 E. Main St. in Batavia. For more information or to purchase tickets, please call 343-6802.

 

The last in our series of Muckdogs player interviews. 

 

Sorry about the poor audio quality in the last two questions. The rest of the interview had to be cut out because of it. 

 

The reason it's so short is that the second half of the interview had to be left out because of poor sound quality. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the overture began and the curtains opened, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I had seen the 1954 film "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" years and years ago but didn’t remember it at all.

(My mother reminded me that it was the movie with the extremely agile male dancers; surprisingly, that didn’t help.)

The show takes place in an Oregon fur-trapping town circa 1850, and tells the story of the seven Pontipee brothers, who all live together without parents or wives.

Because they have no women around to do the housework, the oldest brother, Adam, goes into town -- where the Pontipees are not welcome due to their rowdy behavior-- and quickly proposes to Milly, a waitress.

The two get married and Milly takes on the seemingly impossible task of training Adam’s brothers to be gentlemen. But when the brothers fall in love with girls from the town, they abandon all they’ve learned from their sister-in-law and mayhem ensues.

It’s a cute, fun story with a happy ending and upbeat songs and the actors all seemed to be enjoying themselves while telling it.

Retired schoolteacher Carol Smith said she came because she likes to follow some of her former students in the cast.

“I think it’s amazing,” she said at intermission. “I’m really enjoying it. The leads especially are doing amazing.”

I agreed. Brittany Mruczek and Justin Soble were outstanding as Milly and Adam; both of them were believable as their characters and they have fantastic singing voices. The rest of the ensemble provided solid backing.

Nicholas Dunn, Kraig Marsh, Casimir Mruczek, Adam Secor, Matthew Smith and Eric Waples were audience favorites as the other six brothers, entertaining the crowd with their boisterous antics and impressive harmonizing.

Their brides -- played by Melzie Case, Rachel Fischer, Erin Kruppner, Kaitlin Logsdon, Maryssa Peirick, and Katelyn Rogers -- were equally entertaining as they giggled and flitted around the stage, becoming more and more bold as the show went on.

Even many of the smaller characters who only had a few lines, such as James Barcomb and Alyssa Buckley as Mr. and Mrs. Perkins and Charles Smith as the Preacher, were memorable.

And of course everyone knows that a cluster of dancing 5-year-olds in 19th Century attire just cannot be beaten.

Sixteen-year-old Rosalie Mortellaro is a veteran of the Summer Youth Theatre program but was unable to participate this year because of family plans this weekend (a wedding, coincidentally). However, that didn’t stop her from coming to support her friends from shows past.

"It’s excellent,” Rosalie declared. “I’m surprised to see some new faces and it’s nice to see old faces.”

The show at Batavia High School seemed to go off without a hitch, earning a standing ovation early into the bows.

As I walked out, people all around me were raving about the performance, using words like “incredible” and “phenomenal.”

All in all, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” is great entertainment for the whole family. (The only glitch was the venue's ridiculously long line spilling out of the ladies' room at intermission.)

Editor's Note: Video submitted by Penguin Multimedia.

This Saturday, the First Presbyterian Church of Elba will be hosting its first 5K run/walk.

Race-day registration will be from 8-8:45 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial Park (located on Main Street in Elba) and is $18 a person ($15 for participants under the age of 18).

The 3.1-mile race will begin at 9 a.m. on Maple Avenue and will go down West Avenue -- with drinking water at the turn-around point at Weatherwax Road -- and end at the park. 

Post-race festivities in the Veterans Memorial Park will include the awarding of prizes and giveaways for the participants, refreshments, a bake sale, 50-50 raffle and live music from The Thunderbirds. All proceeds will be used toward the mission and ministry of the First Presbyterian Church of Elba.

"This is an exciting first effort for our congregation," says Reverend Barbara Tipton. "The pre-registration response has far exceeded our expectations. The cooperation of the community officials in helping us organize our run/walk has been extraordinary.

"Our goal is to raise funding not only for important projects in our church, but to enable us to support those community agencies that address needs on all of our behalf."

For more information go to http://www.elba5k.com or contact Dave Bateman by e-mailing him at racedirector@elba5k.com or calling him at (716) 374-4741.