Current News
4th Wall Theatre Appoints New Artistic Director
February 15, 2010
BLOOMFIELD—4TH Wall Theatre-- Gwen Ricks-Spencer, Executive Director of 4th Wall Theatre, a non-equity, professional theatre company in residence at Bloomfield College in Bloomfield, announces a change in artistic leadership beginning in the 2010-2011 season, with the appointment of Kate Swan as the new Artistic Director. Swan succeeds Gregory Allen, who is stepping down to concentrate on other creative endeavors, after leading the organization artistically for six seasons.
“Kate has a passion for the kind of work we do” says Ricks-Spencer. “The Board is very excited she accepted the challenge. We believe that Kate’s extensive theatre knowledge and experience working artistically with organizations across the country will help us move to the next level. Although she does not formally join us until the fall, Kate has been working on selecting next season’s shows and working with Gregory Allen to ensure a smooth transition”, concludes Ricks-Spencer.
REVIEW: "One Hundred Years'-A New Musical at 4th Wall
by Sherri Rase
Friday, February 5, 2010
Ridgefield, Queens is far from Italy, but "One Hundred Years Into the Heart" is close, very close. Times change, but somehow people continue to strut and fret their hour on the stage no matter when that hour occurs. You'll be hooked from the very beginning, when Carmine first begins his story.
This production is the latest installment in 4th Wall Theatre's Musicals in Development where new works are produced in workshop format, where lighting separates spaces and set pieces and props are minimal. Often the authors are hearing the work performed for the very first time. Curtain times for this show are 7:30 p.m. for all three evenings to accommodate a talk back after each performance, where the cast and crew will take audience questions. The discussions will solicit audience commentary, which provides the writers, actors and production crew with ways to refine further these auspicious beginnings.
Our interlocutor for the trip backward and forward in time is Carmine, played by Richard Colonna. Carmine is a pastiche of both the book's author Richard Vetere and his uncle and is the perfect narrator for this story, the nugget of which has a very personal history. Vetere's cousin Sal has an early experience that sets the stage when the fictional Sal's life crosses with a very nuclear family.
New musical to premiere at 4th Wall Theatre
Thursday, February 4, 2010
4th Wall Theatre, a non-union professional theatre in Bloomfield, is presenting a new original musical, "One Hundred Years into the Heart," as part of the company's M.I.D (Musicals-in-Development) Stage Series.
With music by Jeffrey Lodin, lyrics by William Squier and a book by Pulitzer Prize nominee Richard Vetere, "One Hundred Years into the Heart" is based in part on a true story from the late 1970s of an infant that fell from the fourth floor window of a Queens, NY apartment building. A young boy passing though the alleyway below caught the child and saved his life. The baby was the cousin of book writer Richard Vetere — and the incident served as the inspiration for this musical drama. The musical imagines an extended Italian-American "familia," some 25 years later, whose lives intertwine and heal one another, all while protecting the secrets that hold them together. Their story is told by Carmine Sorrento, an Italian-American restaurant owner whose one secret could change everything.
4th Wall Theatre Presents ONE HUNDRED YEARS INTO THE HEART
Friday, January 29, 2010
4th Wall Theatre, a non union professional theatre in Bloomfield, New Jersey is presenting an original musical by Pulitzer Nominee Richard Vetere. Based on a real incident in Vetere's life, when his young cousin fell from an apartment window in New York City and was miraculously caught by a young boy, passing underneath the window at that exact moment; the incident serves as the starting point for Vetere's imagination to take flight and create a story about the dynamics of an Italian family with secrets they are afraid to share. Vetere teamed up with music writer, Jeffrey Lodin and lyricist William Squier for this project.
The story of One Hundred Years into the Heart is set in Queens, NY and narrated by Carmine Sorrento, an Italian-American restaurant owner, who serves as the "father figure" in this musical tale. The show centers around an extended Italian American "famiglia," some 25 years later, whose lives intertwine. Through the musical we meet the young man who fell, the one who caught him and the people who intersect in their lives. It was the story that drew Artistic Director Gregory Allen to the piece when choosing this season's M.I.D. (Musicals-in-Development) Stage Series selection as well as the powerful music that propels the story along.
The M.I.D. Stage Series at 4th Wall started out as a bare-bones workshop, but has been anything but that, under the careful eye of Executive Director Gwen Ricks-Spencer who has directed the M.I.D Stage show each season. "We always wanted to showcase the text and the music by keeping sets and costumes to a bare minimum, but each cast I've worked with has loved delving into the lives of characters they have not seen, and music they cannot go out and purchase the CD for - that they end up memorizing the show and giving a performance that far exceeds a typical workshop."
