Arts for All

The Maia String Quartet will perform the final concert of the Westchester Chamber Music Society's 2008-2009 season, Sunday, April 19, at 8 p.m. at Congregation Emanu-El of Westchester. On the program are quartets by Beethoven, Prokofiev, and Brahms. The Maia String Quartet is in residence at the University of Iowa and has been praised for its "pinpoint precision and elegance".

Congregation Emanu-El of Westchester is located on the south side of Westchester Avenue, just east of the Hutchinson River Parkway. Tickets are $65, free for students. For further information, call 723-6192 or 967-7399.
The Rye Arts Center presents the Proscenium Players in a reading of Terrence McNally’s “It’s Only a Play” Thursday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m. In this uproarious 1982 comedy, the scene is the Manhattan townhouse of a big Broadway producer who is hosting the opening night party for his show. Everyone who’s anyone is there, awaiting the newspaper reviews, which are expected to be raves.

Come to the Arts Center for a wonderful play reading, directed by Alan Marks. The cast includes Keith DiBuono, Andrea Garmun, Meghan McGrath, Barbara Marks, Larry Reina, John Thompson, Anthony Valbiro and Peter Wood. This is the RAC’s first collaboration with the Proscenium Players, a theater group founded by Alan and Barbara Marks to bring edgy and exciting theater to Westchester.

A reception will be held at intermission. Admission is $5 for members, $7 non-members. Seating is limited. Reservations are recommended. Call 967-0700, ext. 33, or email artscoordinator@ryeartscenter.org.

“Doubt”, the riveting morality play by John Patrick Shanley, will be presented at Rye Presbyterian Church Wednesday, April 29, at 7:30 p.m.

Winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize, as well as the Tony, New York Drama Critics and Outer Circle Critics Awards, "Doubt" is also a 2008 Academy Award-nominated movie, starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

The drama takes place in a 1960s Catholic school. At the center of “Doubt” is the mystery of whether or not a priest is guilty of taking advantage of a young African-American student, who is also an altar boy. The popular priest is hounded by Sister Aloysius, the stern and willful principal of the play's setting. “Doubt” is a timely, gripping and provocative drama about uncertainty, truth, innocence and honor. As Shanley writes, "Doubt can be a bond as strong as fear."

The 75-minute play, presented by M&M Productions Acting Company, will be followed by a cast/audience discussion. Admission is $10 per person, $5 for students. For more information, contact Nancy or Bob Steed at 328-9658.