Help us celebrate! SEND US YOUR STORY about your 50 year-plus Marriage and be our GUESTS to see the show!!  Call: 914-592-2268 X804, Facebook: Westchester Broadway theatre group. or e-mail: Piahaas@cloud9.net.

I DO! I DO! Opening on February 10th is a remarkably intimate, romantic piece. We are invited into the bedroom of newlyweds Michael & Agnes who anticipate a wonderful blissful life…"Together Forever" as one of the early musical selections would have us believe. As we all know, reality sets in as the young couple struggle to maintain their happiness, passion, devotion and yes even a sense of humor, through all the joys, pains, trials and tribulations that they share in their 50 years of marriage.  The best way to describe this story is through the titles of the songs. "I Love My Wife", Something Has Happened", Love Isn’t Everything", "Flaming Agnes", The Honeymoon Is Over", "My Cup Runneth Over", "When the Kids Get Married ", What Is A Woman?", "Some One Needs Me", "Roll Up the Ribbons" and "This House".

 LIANNE MARIE DOBBS who is wowing audiences as the new LUCY in Jekyll & Hyde has a bit of a Tri-drama going on!  READ ON!

    

   I was blessed with a very supportive and musical family- and grew up listening to records (yes records) of Itzhak Perlman, Toscanini conducting the NY Philharmonic, Joan Sutherland at the Met, Tchaikovsky ballet suites, and Abbey Road. (Can’t forget Abbey Road!) And on weekends after my ballet class and my little brother’s little league game, my brother and I would usually "unwind" watching black & white films, usually comedies like Abbott & Costello or Jerry Lewis & Dean Martin, but sometimes I would convince him to give a Gene Kelly film a try – and if Esther Williams was in a swim suit for half the film he usually didn’t squawk! 

I will confidently say that all those years of 30 or more hours of ballet a week helps me in my life every day: nothing teaches self-discipline and perseverance like ballet. Ballet is soooo hard! But for me, ballet class wasn’t just about the height of my jumps or precision of my turns- it was about breathing with the music and strengthening my body so that it could reflect the music’s melody and rhythms through movement as accurately as possible. And finally I realized that my definition of ballet was ACTING not just dancing. I wanted to act out the story of the music… and I wanted to sing with my whole being. So here we are. And I can actually eat FOOD now too! 

My biggest influence in my life is my grandfather- Rocco DiStasio – who was an accomplished symphony trumpet player and conductor. He was also a revered high school music teacher in San Jose, California for many years and was very vocal about his love for GOOD music and fine musicianship. I sang in the church choir from the age of 8, and making Papa proud with the way I sang a solo was a wonderful accomplishment!  My enthusiasm, passion for music, and confidence comes from him and I carry the memory of him with me always. 

This is my first time performing Jekyll & Hyde – and I already hope I play Lucy again! I owned recordings of the show, but actually haven’t seen a production before!  I love portraying Lucy, and I understand her, in my own way.  We are both strong-minded romantics who take risks in order to survive.  My risks certainly haven’t cost me my life, but some of the crazy survival jobs I have done sure don’t help my mom sleep easy at night!  It’s a wonderful blessing to play opposite Xander Chauncey – who is a dear friend of mine. The story of Lucy and Jekyll & Hyde requires us both to be vulnerable on stage, and sharing that experience with someone you trust and admire is a cherished gift for an actor.

So far my favorite theater experience has been originating the role of Emma in the new musical version of Jane Austen’s Emma – from it’s conception, I journeyed from reading the first draft in the composer’s backyard, to recording the demo, to doing workshops in CA and NY and then three full productions… an actor’s dream come true!  I played Emma opposite the fabulous Timothy Gulan – who previously portrayed Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar at WBT.  I would love to originate another role – it’s such a delicious challenge. Hmmm…. maybe Nora Charles in a musical version of The Thin Man – anybody want to write it for me?  

My favorite hobbies are swing dancing, singing good ol’ standards at jazz clubs, getting a single standing room ticket to the Metropolitan Opera and weeping shamelessly, and cooking a big meal and watching friends eat!  Favorite outdoor hobbies that I am ashamed that I don’t do enough are bicycling down the Tuscany hillsides with a backpack full of wine, kayaking in the Russian River, skiing in Tahoe, and motorcycling along the Pacific Coastline – but maybe someday they will all be repeated!

Gift Certificates to Dinner & Show!  A Complete Night out!  Will surely melt the heart of every Scrooge!

Valid Now thru December 19th!
 It’s the gift that’s never returned. In order to save money this year, friends, relatives, and business associates may not be splurging on themselves. Give them something they haven’t been giving themselves…a complete night out!  This special sale allows you to buy several gift certificates, so don’t forget anyone on your list! Come by, order by phone 914.592.2222, or online at www.broadwaytheatre.com. Also visit our Mall Kiosks at Jefferson Valley Mall, Danbury Fair Mall, The Westchester, Palisades Center, and Poughkeepsie Galleria.

 A Gala celebration is in store for revelers here at WBT on the Eve of the New Year! A culinary feast, An Astounding Musical, Dancing into the night…and at the stroke of midnight, raise a glass of bubbly to the new year, full of  new dreams and unexplored possibilities!

 Open bar for the entire evening. Lavish Hot and Cold Hor D’ouvres Buffet. Sumptuous served dinner featuring your choice from a variety of entrees. See the ASTOUNDING Musical, JEKYLL & HYDE, Dancing into the night with The "Tuxedo Parc Orchestra". And champagne and noisemakers At Midnight. All for only $350.00 per couple. Tax, gratuity and parking included. Friday, December 31st from 6pm to 2 am.

In the past 100 years,  the "ball dropping" on top of One Times Square in New York City, broadcast to all of America (and rebroadcast in many other countries), is a major component of the New Year celebration. The 1,070-pound, 6-foot-diameter Waterford crystal ball located high above Times Square is lowered, starting at 11:59:00pm and reaching the bottom of its tower 60 seconds later, at the stroke of midnight. This is repeated for all four time zones in the continental US. It is sometimes referred to as "the big apple" like the city itself; the custom derives from the time signal that used to be given at noon in harbors. From 1981 to 1988, New York City dropped an enlarged apple in recognition of its nickname.. The song Auld Lang Syne has become a popular song to sing at midnight on New Year’s Eve.

If your head really hurts on New Year’s Day, you could point your finger at the Babylonians who started this new year revelry nonsense. Though the ancient Romans added the idea of alcoholic excess, or at least perfected it. Julius Caesar fixed the start of the year on Jan. 1 by letting the previous year run to 445 days rather than the traditional 365.

The western world celebrates the new year on Jan. 1. For some thousands of years before the Romans, the new year was celebrated with the first edible crops of the season or the first new moon. The new year celebration is an observance of the earth’s ability to renew itself and sustain us for another year. In agrarian societies— foods were the most potent of all new year’s symbols.

Ancient Egyptian and Greek societies paraded a baby around to symbolize the new year, at the end of winter when the crops sprouted, not the beginning when we do it. Baby New remains a popular symbol and turns up at celebrations even today. Father Time, who symbolizes the passage of time and the death of the old year, is a kindly looking old fellow, sometimes depicted holding Baby New Year.

At the stroke of Midnight, as the old year passes into the new, only one tradition is left: the kiss. The Romans loved kissing and incorporated it into their Solstice and Saturnalia celebrations. Thus kissing as a New Year’s Eve tradition persists today throughout the new world. The kiss is meant to set the tone for the new year, so be careful who you are standing near when the clock strikes 12. Pick a loved one. Awkward is not the tone you want to set for a whole year.  (excerpts from an article by  Randy Shore of the Vancouver Sun)  

 I grew up in the New York City area, in the city & the burbs. I started performing as a child, so, I was always in the city. I sang at NYC Opera when I was eleven and was one of the kids in the Broadway musical "The Rothschilds".

 Scrooge is a great role, one of the most remembered characters in literature and there are always more things to discover and mine from it.  This is my fourth time playing the role at WBT. They were all different takes on the story, the first was A Country Christmas Carol…Scrooge with a southern accent, set in contemporary times with an original country music score, although, one of my songs was a kind of rap number! The second was set in  traditional Dickens’ England with an original musical comedy score by George Puello. Last year as part of The Christmas Voyager, we did a 20 minute tab version with me narrating as Dickens/Scrooge, and now Sleepy Hollow Scrooge meets Washington Irving.

DAVID EDWARDS as Mr. Scrooge…….

A Sleepy Hollow Christmas Carol Dec 1-26 2010!