We Still Have Spaces Available!
Just contact us to find out what else is available.
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Andy's at Children in the Arts
May 17th
Peterborough NH
Mariposa Museum -- 2:45 - 3:15
Check out "Dinosaur Bob", adapted by Dan Hurlin and directed by Nadia Taalbi and DJ Potter
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Andy's Summer Playhouse announces new administrative appointments
The Board of Directors of Andy's Summer Playhouse in Wilton, New Hampshire is pleased to announce the appointments of James
(Jim) Murphy of Jaffrey, NH as Executive Director and DJ Potter of Wilton, NH and Jersey
City, NJ as Interim Artistic Director.
Jim comes to Andy's with an extensive background in the arts, not-for-profit management and facilities
management. Most recently he was the music teacher at St. Joseph Regional School in Keene, NH. He also has experience in college facilities
management and not-for-profit administration. Jim has been a professional musician most of his adult life and holds a B.A. in Music
Theory and Composition from Keene State College. "I'm excited to be the new Executive Director of Andy's," says Jim. "Andy's
presents a unique opportunity for its children to experience the art of the theater as they work side by side with theater professionals
who mentor, encourage and listen to their ideas as they collaborate to bring original plays to the stage. I don't know of any other
children's theater group that does this. Not only do the kids learn theater from the ground up, they have fun and develop lifelong
friendships. I'm looking forward to the board's challenge to grow Andy's, both as an avenue for theater arts and expression and as
an active participant in the region's artistic community."
DJ Potter is a theater artist working in New York City. He earned a
B.A. in Acting and Directing from Keene State College, and for the past 7 years has been working as a freelance light designer and
technician. Currently he is the Associate Production Manager for the theater department at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. DJ got
his start in theater at Andy's in 1991. "I still consider myself
an Andy's kid", says DJ, who is now 30. "I started when I was 14 and I've never left. When I got too old to be an actor or
an apprentice, Andy's invented the position of Assistant Light Designer so I could stick around as a staff member. Later they hired me
as a writer/director, and now the board has invited me to be the Interim Artistic Director, I couldn't be happier. I owe Andy's a lot
for the success of my career in theater. It gave me the skills, self confidence, and contacts an artist needs to make a living out there.
I'm really looking forward to making theater with all the amazing kids that come through Andy's, and hope to give them everything Andy's
has given me".
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Andy’s Featured in July issue of New Hampshire Magazine!
New Hampshire Magazine Online
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Clean-up June 2nd and 3rd
We're looking for helpers of all sorts, Saturday and Sunday, June 2-3, to get the Playhouse ready for the summer---inside and out.
Trucks and cordless drills are useful but not necessary. Drop a note if you can stop by, or just stop by, we'll find something for you
to do.
...Saturday, June 2 10am-4pm
...Sunday, June 3 noon-4pm
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Easy Magazine Subscription Fundraiser
If you are about to renew a favorite magazine or buy a new one, please consider doing so online through QSP.com.
This company donates 40% of the price of the subscription directly to the Playhouse. Don't be fooled by the home page, they have some
pretty decent magazines. Simply go to the website, and click on "Just Shopping". Enter the number 425033114 into the school/organization
#. Then choose the items you wish to buy and you are done!
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May, 2007– Congratualations to David Lindsay-Abaire
David Lindsay-Abaire has won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his new play, Rabbit Hole, produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club.
Our deepest congratulations.. David was commissioned by Andy's to write: The UnMasking of Zorro (1994), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1995),
Tom Swift and the Cybertravelers of Nickelodea (1995, co-wrote) and Snow Angel (1998).
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May 19, 2007 – Andy's at Peterborough's Children and the Arts Day
Saturday, May 19th, Putnam Park (downtown Peterborough), 11-11:30am
New and old songs performed by Andy's kids and alums, with Bob Lawson. Come hear a little of this season's new musical The Strange Case
of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde!
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May
19, 2007– Mystery Dinner Theater
Team Andy’s, in conjunction with Elisha’s Restaurant of Milford, has staged a performance of Murder at the Flaming Feet,
on Saturday, May 19th.
Team Andy's is comprised of older Andy's "kids" who perform during the off-season to hone their theater skills and help raise
funds for the Playhouse
. Murder at the Flaming Feet stars Erik Fong of Wilton, Maggie Gelbwaks of Mont Vernon, Julia Reimers
of Brookline, Molly Skerry of Hancock, Karissa Vincent of Greenfield and Brendan Wile of Mason, with direction by Julie Whitcomb.
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January Newsletter!
Click
here...
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July 20, 2006 – Hippo Press reviews The Goldberg Variations
Variations on a theme
Goldberg Variations has layers
..... By Heidi Masek, The Hippo
One might walk away from Goldberg Variations at Andy’s Summer Playhouse with a feeling that one needs to see this three more times
and read a biography or two, but then, it’s nice to have one’s mind challenged rather than spoonfed every now and then. Read
more...
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July, 2006–Andy’s Named Best of New Hampshire
New Hampshire Magazine's Best of 2006
Best "Avant-Garde Theatre: The great off-Broadway theatre companies that have really pushed the envelope
are few and famous. Think the Living Theatre, the Open Theater and Bread and Puppet Theater. Now think Andy’s Summer Playhouse
in Wilton. Seriously. This rural meetinghouse has hosted some of the most cerebral and experimental original
plays in the Northeast, and the cast largely consists of youth and children from Northern Mass. and Southern N.H. Artistic Director Robert
Lawson is a guiding light, but the theatre draws unexpected depth and height from each member of the cast and crew. A must see."
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July, 2006 – Bob Lawson Published by Playscripts, Inc.
Playscripts, Inc. is publishing two scripts that Bob Lawson wrote for Andy's--"Kid Sniff and the Ticking Clock" (2002) and "Byline:
Amanda Danger" (produced in 1997 as "Brenda Starr")
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July 13, 2006 – The Goldberg Variations Opens
30 Ways of Looking at a Goldberg
..... The Monadnock Ledger, by Jane Eklund
Say your nose itches, and so you pull a chain that activates a small fan that’s attached to the collar of your shirt, and the fan blows a breeze
on a mouse that’s sitting in a little cage atop your hat, so he starts running on his exercise wheel to get warm, and the wheel connects to a
clockworks that triggers a mechanical hand to drop down from the brim of your hat to scratch your nose…
Read more...
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July, 2006 – Order Comes to the Playhouse
Staff and volunteers have cleaned up, re-organized AND built a brand new staircase to the attic (thanks to MEJ Construction) for prop and costume storage.
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Summer,
2006 –
Andy's Window at Steele's
Check out the window of Steele's Stationers in Peterborough. The changing display will be in place all summer to promote Andy's performances.
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June 22 , 2006 –
The Hippo Covers Andy’s
http://www.hippopress.com/060622/theater.html
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May 30, 2006 – Mystery Dinner Benefit
The Doctor Is Out by Elizabeth Kent, will be presented by Team Andy’s in conjunction with Elisha’s
Restaurant in Milford.
 |
| Adam Lubitz, Katie Rolph, Tyler Strickland, Ethan Selby and Brendan Wile (on floor) rehearsing The Doctor Is Out. |
Performance dates:
Saturday, June 3 -- 6pm
Sunday, June 4 -- 5pm
Reservations for the roast beef dinner
plus theater can be made by calling 249-9353.
Tickets are $25
This original comedy, set at a police captain's retirement party, will be performed by veteran Andy's actors from several area towns including Sarah
Humphreys (Brookline), Adam Lubitz (Milford), Laura Millar (Mont Vernon), Katie Rolph (Francestown), Ethan Selby (Peterborough), Tyler Strickland
(Peterborough), Brendan Wile (Mason), and Elise Williams (Hancock).
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May 20, 2006 – Andy’s at Children and the Arts Day
Andy’s will have an unusual presence in Peterborough for the popular Children and the Arts Day, Saturday, May 20th. Bob Lawson and collaborators
will create a multimedia installation to be viewed in the Rymes Garage (an unused gas station in the middle of downtown). Special thanks to Rymes
Heating Oil for donating the use of the garage.
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May 16, 2006 – Granite State Ambassadors Visit Andy’s
As part of the Souhegan Valley Chamber of Commerce’s town tours, Andy’s will host a busload of ambassadors (volunteers who staff tourist
information centers around the state) for a brief presentation on the history and current life of Andy’s (the organization and the building). Richard
Mori, of Mori Books in Amherst arranged the tour of Wilton’s best, also including nearby Frye’s Measure Mill.
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April 15, 2006 - Funding from Meet the Composer
For the second time in three years, the New England Foundation for the Arts has granted commissioning money for the composer of the season musical. This
year, it is earmarked for Artistic Director, Robert Lawson, as the composer of “Leonardo’s Tank” for which he has promised to follow
the story line of the play and “create an entirely new type of music”.
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April 1 2006 – “Viewpoints” Comes to Andy’s
In changing the structure of the summer, we’ve substituted a two-week process and performance for what was originally planned as a mainstage
show. Karen Smith-Vastola’s script of Useless, Inc. will be developed by the director, Johanna Gruenhut on a group of older teen/young adult
actors. The following is quoted from Jon Jory’s introduction to Anne Bogart: Viewpoints:
“In a theater where we’ve wrung every drop from Naturalism, [Viewpoints] takes us into new territory. Objects and furniture find new
use, space becomes a character, and cliché a methodology for revelation. It’s rife with visual composition. It’s dance done by
actors in the service of dramaturgy. It’s funny and tragic at the same time… It reclaims the theater from the media…[Viewpoints
puts actors] back in charge of their own process and instantly defines them as collaborators. They find themselves more creative, less frightened
and still served well by the traditional craft…”
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March 2, 2006 - Andy's Auditions Announced
Auditions for the 2006 Season of Invention will be held March 25 & 26 at Temple Elementary School.
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February 14, 2006 - Toyota Prius Raffle Winner!
Both Andy's and a wonderful supporter from Peterborough made out well from this fundraiser. Andy's raised over $13,000 to support our programs,
hundreds of people took a chance on winning that red car, and our lucky winner will be driving it around. Doris "Granny D" Haddock
did us the honor of drawing the winning ticket on Valentine's Day at Andy's favorite after-show hangout place, Santos Dumont in Milford, with
Drew Lucas' band providing entertainment. Our sincerest thanks to all who purchased tickets.
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Janury 28, 2006 - Tabula Rasa in NYC
Last summer's production, written by Henry Akona and Bob Lawson, was restaged by Henry Akona as part of NEUROfest, produced by High
Fidelity and
Untitled Theater Company #61. Andy's regulars Nadia Taalbi, Erik White and Sadie Rose Zavgren were part of the show with performances Jan 6-28. Here
are the reviews:
NY Theater.com
Backstage
Village Voice
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Ongoing Magazine Purchase Fundraiser
If you are about to renew a favorite magazine or buy a new one, please consider doing so online through QSP.com. This
company donates 40% of the price of the subscription directly to the Playhouse. In addition to magazines, QSP has music and books to offer for
sale. Simply go to the website, and click on “Just Shopping”. Enter the number
425033114 into the school/organization#. Then
choose the items you wish to buy and you are done!
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January 21, 2006 - Another Successful Mystery Dinner
Andy's kids donated their time and talent to two successful evenings of "Murder at the Golden Gates Theater", raising close to $2,000.
Written by Laura Millar, performed at and supported by Elisha's Restaurant in Milford, the show filled the house. The actors were Abby Hart,
Christy Emmond, and Maggie Gelbwaks from Souhegan High School, Ryan Fotter from ConVal High School, Brendan Wile from Mascenic High, Matt Frost from
High Mowing, Jordan Lowry from the Well School, and Maggie Zavgren from her home school in Wilton. If you are an Andy's veteran actor and have an
interest in being involved in the next mystery dinner theater production, please email board member Julie Whitcomb at jmae59@yahoo.com
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December 7, 2005 - New Administrative Director
Known for years around the Playhouse as Bob’s wife, and Finley and August’s mom, Sally Bomer has taken the newly named position (formerly Managing
Director).
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August 15, 2005 - Autism in Three Acts on NHPR
Visit NHPR to listen with Windows Media Player or MP3
A new children's production from Andy's Summer Playhouse takes on autism and other
complicated issues, like self-identity and the human desire to "civilize" those who are different from us. We'll meet the play's creators,
Writer Robert Lawson and Director Henry Akona, and they'll explain the complex structure of their multifaceted production. Reported by Shay
Zeller.
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February 4, 2005 - Andy's Receives Best Youth Theater Award
At the NH Theatre Awards on February 4, 2005, Andy's Summer Playhouse received the Best Youth Theater Award. The criteria for the youth theater
award was "the vitality, imagination, and community-building power" of our program. Andy's won because the judges were absolutely amazed
at the level of activity at the Playhouse last summer.
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February 15, 2005 - David Lindsay-Abaire
An article appeared in this past New York Sunday Times on David Lindsay-Abaire - a former Andy's writer (Snow Angel 1998, Tom Swift 1995...). It
is a very engaging article and well worth a read. Be sure to click on all five pages once you follow this link to the New York Times.
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November 20, 2004 - Andy's Coffeehouse at Santos
Spend a few hours at Santos this Saturday, November 27th from 7:30 to 9:30 PM hanging out with your Andy's friends as we present the Semi
Annual Coffeehouse Benifit for the Renovation Fund. The following Team Andy's kids will be performing: Ethan Selby, Carter Hammond, Jess
d'Arbonne, Em Smith, Meg Johnson, Jen Perkins, Nate (The Kid) Durand and Jill Barry. Several special guests may make an appearance, so
don't miss this!
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August 11, 2004 - Bob on NHPR
For your listening pleasure, Bob Lawson is going to be on the NHPR show The Front Porch. Catch it on 89.1 FM on August 11th (6:30 PM)
or online anytime at www.nhpr.org/view_content/6999/. Bob will be talking about a wide range of things from Andy's Summer Playhouse to
Safety Glass to the Museum of the 5 Senses.
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March 15, 2004 - Camera Obscura
The Camera Obscura installation that I devised has been living happily in 3 rooms of the Historical Society in Peterborough for the last
year and a half. During that time, we've had nearly 8,000 visitors - yes, even Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. But the (generous) extended
funding period is coming to a close, and the exhibit will be coming down in early May.
So if you're interested in science or art or simply spending some time in what I think is a marvelously contemplative space, stop by.
The exhibit is open M-F approx. 10-4, and we'll be having Saturday hours starting in the next couple weeks. If any artists are interested
in utilizing the space for a project, let me know. And I'm planning on having some kind of send off party later in April -- news at 11:
Directions to the Historical Society and a (modest) link can be found at http://www.peterboroughhistory.org
-- or call me.
Be well... Bob Lawson.
