Hamptons 2014 Fall Preview: Sag Harbor's Bay Street Theater
Bay Street Theater and Sag Harbor Center for the Arts has been a Sag Harbor institution for more than 20 years, with year-round programming. The 300-seat theater is a social and cultural gathering place, an educational resource and a home for a community of artists. As autumn begins, Bay Street will host a number of entertaining events, from comedy festivals to musical performances.
The Sag Harbor American Music Festival takes place throughout Sag Harbor Village on September 26 and 27 and Bay Street will provide an unforgettable finale. The Sag Harbor American Musical Festival After-Party with Mamalee Rose and Friends takes place on Saturday, September 27, at 8 p.m. Local performers will include Lee Lawler, A. Rose Lawler, Peter “Bosco” Michne, Josh Brussell, Jimmy Lawler and Michael Cain.
Columbus Day Weekend will see a trifecta of distinctive acts in Sag Harbor. First, Grammy-nominated jazz pianist and vocalist Judy Carmichael presents her act “I Love Being Here With You” on Friday, October 10. The next day, Judy Gold brings her unmatched brand of stand-up to the stage in 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother. Finally, Betty Buckley will perform her all-new show Vixens of Broadway on October 12.
On October 18, Bay Street Theater will host guitarist G.E. Smith (former lead guitarist of Hall & Oates) in an event called “Masters of the Telecaster.” Smith will rock the house with his inimitable playing style.
For some family-friendly Halloween fun, check out Stages Workshop’s Frankenstein Follies. The popular production, which incorporates kids ages 8–18, is returning for its 20th year on October 26, 27 and 28. For more information, go to stagesworkshop.org.
On Sunday, November 9 at 2 p.m. Bay Street hosts a free performance of Living Out Loud: Writers Riff on Love, Sweat & Fears. The traveling group of established writers have appeared at the DUMBO Arts Festival, the Nassau County Museum of Art, Cornelia St. Café, Lit Crawl Manhattan and even the nation’s oldest library in Newport, Rhode Island. Join them for a Sunday afternoon reading of personal, humorous, slice-of-life essays. Writers include Bill German, Paula Ganzi Licata, Claudia Gryvatz Copquin, Barry Dougherty, Iyna Bort Caruso, Robin Eileen Bernstein and feature special guest reader and Hamptonite Roger Rosenblatt.
Rosenblatt’s essays for Time and PBS have won two George Polk Awards, the Peabody and the Emmy. He is the author of six off-Broadway plays and 16 books, including the national bestsellers Kayak Morning, Unless It Moves the Human Heart, Making Toast, Rules for Aging and Children of War, which won the Robert F. Kennedy Book Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Lapham Rising, his first novel, was also a national bestseller.
Rosenblatt is a Distinguished Professor of English and Writing at Stony Brook University. He lives with his family in Quogue.
Bay Street Theater and Sag Harbor Center for the Arts, 1 Bay Street, Sag Harbor. 631-725-9500, baystreet.org.