Staged Reading Warmly Received

The cast of WCT’s production of Ghost-Writer performed a staged reading of the play at the historic Hodge Library in Roxbury on Sunday afternoon, February 4, at the invitation of the Minor Memorial Library, which owns the space. The temperature outside was minus 9 degrees, but that did not deter the enthusiastic crowd that turned out and filled the hall. The free reading was by reservation only, with a waiting list. Staff added to the warmth of the occasion by lighting a fire in the hearth. Surrounded by books, Michael Hollinger’s brilliant, funny, and moving play about a devoted secretary who continues to take dictation from a Henry James-like novelist after his death was perfectly suited to the library setting and audience.

The cast included Ann Kinner (Myra Babbage), Rob Pawlikowski (Franklin Woolsey) and Deborah Carlson (Vivian Woolsey), with Alexander Kulcsar directing.

Ann Kinner has performed in NYC and around the state in regional theatres, including Square One Theatre in Stratford, where she received two Square One Subscriber’s awards, including Outstanding Actress. Other appearances at WCT include A Picasso, Turn of the Screw, Private Lives, and many staged readings, including Edward Albee’s The Goat. Her television credits include a six-year recurring role as the Roadside Bar waitress on All My Children. Film credits include the lead role in the independent film Doing Agatha, and small roles in feature films including Camp Hell, All Good Things, Across the Universe, and Revolutionary Road.

Rob Pawlikowski made his professional debut at Hartford Stage in Thornton Wilder’s Our Town; he also performed in Horton Foote’s adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird at Hartford Stage. At WCT his recent roles include Thomas Edison in Camping with Henry and Tom. He has appeared at the Little Theatre in Newtown in many roles, including Falstaff in Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor, David Bliss in Noel Coward’s Hay Fever, and Edward in William Nicholson’s The Retreat from Moscow; at TheatreWorks, New Milford as the Padre in Man of La Mancha; and Jack Gable/Stephanie in Ken Ludwig’s Leading Ladies. Rob lives in Roxbury.

Deborah Carlson* has performed On and Off Broadway, in national tours, regional theater and television and film for over 40 years. She recently appeared in Doors by Serena Noor at the SPF NYC 2022, and played Eleanor in The Lion In Winter (Wilton Playshop), The Chorus in Antigone (Carriage House Arts Center), and Helen in The Road To Mecca (Westport Community Theatre). Film and TV appearances include The Departed, Kate & Leopold, Without a Trace, Nashville, Law & Order and over 25 national commercials.  (*Deborah Carlson appeared courtesy of Actors Equity Association.)

WCT Receives $12,000 in Federal Aid

A special event was held at Shakespeare on the Sound in Norwalk on August 18 to celebrate the theatre’s 25th anniversary and its receipt of federal emergency funds from the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, a lifeline to theatres that have been closed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Westport Community Theatre, closed since March, 2020, because of the pandemic, is the recipient of a $12,000 grant from the program.

Speakers at the event included Senator Richard Blumenthal, who was instrumental in getting the legislation enacted, and Catherine Marx, District Director of the Small Business Administration Office of Disaster Assistance, which distributes the money.

Originally named Save Our Stages, SVOG was established by the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act last spring, which included more than $16 billion in aid to shuttered cultural institutions that have lost at least 90% of their revenue. More than 12,000 theatres, museums, movie houses, and performing arts venues around the country have been beneficiaries of the money, without which some of them might have closed forever.

Besides Shakespeare on the Sound and WCT, the many grant recipients in Connecticut, large and small, include Toad’s Place, Long Wharf Theatre, Warner Theatre, the Katherine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center.

“Theatres are places where dreams are made,” Senator Blumenthal said. They also generate revenue in their communities, and widespread, permanent closing of arts centers would have added an incalculable cultural cost to the COVID catastrophe.

Thanks to Senator Blumenthal and our Congressional delegation for saving our stages!