The Evening News
July 3, 1970
‘How to Succeed’ Now At Cornwall Playhouse
By JANE MILLER
CORNWALL ON HUDSON — “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” at the Playhouse of the Four Seasons, Cornwall-on-Hudson, kicked off the advanced portion of the summer effort to a vibrant Pierpont Finch in launching his career to a merry chase while satirizing all facets of business life.
Director Matthew Roberts’ pacing lagged somewhat in his production numbers, sparing due also to the efforts of choreographer Carlos Cereceda. Unfortunately, Myrna Laryea’s piano style lacks musical conviction with any degree of flexible know in the technical area, she is most noise.
The set, designed and built imaginatively by Chris Coltrain, worked well, serving as an expressive backdrop for office shenanigans.
Wendell C. Putney was an endearing Finch, albeit a bit stiff in his stage movements, and Joyce Flora played a charming Rosemary. Her voice as well as that of Cathy Fritz, who plays Smitty, another secretary, are welcome additions to the Playhouse roster.
A surprise in itself, Paul Curtin’s change from staff bartender to actor yielded an amusing Mr. Twimble in the guise of W. C. Fields. Mr. Curtin steals the show in his short scene, with Finch in the mailroom.
Prudence Cereceda stands out as a mobile and expressive Miss Peterson, while Patricia Irmen cleverly cavorts as Miss Jones, the dumpy spinster.
Local radio celebrity Bill Beal lends a touch of glamour to the show as Mr. Bigley, the boss whom Finch wins over, and Valerie West aptly portrays the brainless hussy, Hedy LaRue.
This reviewer was glad to see an old Playhouse tradition revived — that of marching through the aisles. The cast involved the audience in rousing choruses of “Brotherhood of Man” and puts the cap on a delightful evening.
Dinner is served at 7:30 and the show begins at 8:45 Wednesday through Saturday nights. Reservations are requested.
The Cornwall Local
November 19, 1970
Playhouse Changes Name
On Dec. 9, 1970 at 8:15 P.M. the Playhouse of the Four Seasons, Cornwall-on-Hudson, officially becomes The Hudson Valley Dinner Theatre. Directing the new enterprise will be Michael Harvey, a young stage and screen actor who has turned producer. Mr. Harvey believes that dinner theatre entertainment is an untapped resource in the theatrical world. He hopes that the Hudson Valley Dinner Theatre will be the first in a chain of dinner theatres throughout the northeastern United States. The Hudson Valley Dinner Theatre will be presenting widely varied professional entertainment right in the heart of the Hudson Highlands eliminating long distance driving problems for its audiences.
The first production, “You Know I Can’t Hear When The Water’s Running” will be directed by Mr. Harvey and will open for a four week run Dec. 9. Not wanting to compete with home cooking over the holidays there will be no meals served until after the New Year.
“You Know I Can’t Hear You When The Water’s Running” is written by Robert Anderson (the author of “Tea and Sympathy”) and ran for over 17 months on Broadway. It is a series of four comic one-act plays described by its Variety reviewer as, “an entertaining show with something for just about everyone.”
Tickets for “You Know I Can’t Hear You When The Water’s Running” can be purchased or reserved by calling The Hudson Valley Dinner Theatre at 914-561-5600. Curtain time is 8:15 P.M. Wednesday through Saturday evenings beginning Wed. Dec. 9. Mail orders should be sent to Box 424, Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y. 12520.
The Evening News
December 8, 1970
Playhouse
To Reopen
Tomorrow
The Hudson Valley Dinner Theatre opens its premiere bill on Wednesday with “You Know I Can’t Hear You When the Water’s Running.”
This offering is actually four separate short plays by Robert Anderson who wrote “Tea and Sympathy.”
The first playlet in the comedic quartet is the title play involving the problem, or lack thereof, of finding an actor willing to take a nude part in a play.
The second play involves the conflicting attitudes of a long married couple over the comparative desirability of double to twin bbd[s].
The third offering covers the question of the advisability of clinical candor in the sex education of a couple’s adolescent offspring.
The fourth playlet displays a senile couple’s memories of their youthful flirtations.
Included in the casts are Michael Thompson, Stacy Scott, Rod Britt, Greg Spicer and Anne Merrick.
Mike Harvey is the director and Ted Martell designed the scenery.
The Evening News
January 18, 1971
Actor-Producer Takes Over Cornwall Playhouse
CORNWALL-ON-HUDSON — Michael Harvey, 25, a stage and screen actor who has turned producer with productions in New York City and Long Island to his credit, has launched a new venture with last Friday's production at the Playhouse of the Four Seasons.
The Playhouse, which has had a stormy past of successes and failures under various owners, will go to dinner theater under Harvey’s direction.
The dinner theater is a particularly popular entertainment medium in the South.
“Where you once went out to dinner and then to a cocktail lounge and then to a show,” Harvey explained, “the highlight becomes the entertainment — as it should be. A dinner theater is the perfect vehicle.”
Mr. Harvey, of Long Island and New York City, came up with the idea while at the Rocking Horse Ranch, New Paltz, where he spent the Labor Day weekend. He was thinking about the possibility of a dinner theater in one of the dining rooms at the ranch when he learned the Playhouse, also known as the Hudson Valley Dinner Theater, was available.
The Friday production is The Fantasticks which will play every Friday and Saturday evening through Feb. 20. Reservations may be made at the theater in the Cornwall village square through Miss Mary Small. Other shows planned for the near future are I Do, I Do, Dames at Sea, You Know I Can’t Hear You When the Water’s Running, The Public Ear and Public Eye, and Hello Dolly.
The young producer is assuming the responsibility for each show: he will do the directing, manage the show and auditions and would like to set up a chain of similar theaters throughout the Northeast. Prior operations of the Cornwall Playhouse failed, he feels, because they did not overcome the defects by poor publicity. He’s attempting to correct that, with groups and organizations who might be interested in attending.
Scott MacNeill, who directed and was the previous manager at the Playhouse, now manages the box office and assists Harvey with bookings and publicity.
Harvey is trying to bring Broadway to the Hudson Valley. “We’re attempting to give people the opportunity to have the trip to New York and the expense,” he said.
Source: The Cornwall Local
Date: Wednesday, November 17, 1971
Village Theater to Show ‘Greats’
Cornwall’s only theater is open again, this time as the King Cinema and under new management, with a wide range of film offerings scheduled in the coming months. Formerly the Playhouse, the old theater on Hudson Street has been used for various purposes and managed by numerous individuals through the years.
Most recently used for the showing of X-rated films, the theater was felt deserving of wider community use. New owner Talbott Love. Under the current management, movie “greats”, art films, quality children’s films and early silents and talkies will be offered. “We are booking shows and making plans in conjunction with other plans proposed for village development,” said theater spokesman Larry Barbieri. “We hope for support of townspeople in this project,” he added.
Conceived as a four-part program to be in full operation by February of 1972, film offerings have begun with the showing of a series of movie “greats” such as “Gone With The Wind”, “My Fair Lady” and “Lawrence of Arabia.” Shows begin at 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, with 2:00 p.m. matinees on Saturday and Sunday.
An art film series will be added in the near future and shown in conjunction with the existing series.
Films for children will be scheduled for Saturday and Sunday matinees. A special feature of the children’s program will be a rejuvenation of the old adventure series such as Flash Gordon and Hopalong Cassidy. Final addition to the film program will be a showing of early talkies and silent films.
The Cinema Cafe, expected to be in operation soon, will offer theater-goers a variety of twenty teas and coffees and a selection of sandwiches and pastries.
The theater is $1.00 for adults, 75 cents for students with ID cards and 50 cents for children; adequate personnel are on duty at all times to ensure smooth operation and an orderly atmosphere.
Also scheduled for opening within the next few weeks is “The Cross - Country Store”, a shop offering all equipment and clothing needed for cross-country skiing. Differing from alpine or slope skiing, cross-country skiing makes use of a long slender ski, half as wide as that used in slope skiing, and takes the outdoor sportsman into the wide open spaces of woods, meadows and hills. A Cross-Country Skiing and Snow Shoe Club will be organized through the store, with at least two outings scheduled per week for members.
In the spring emphasis will shift to hiking and camping gear and equipment, with a full range of boots, backpacks, tents, sleeping bags and other camping equipment available; a Hiking and Camping Club is also projected.
The Cornwall Local
March 8, 1972
Cinema Reopens Under New Management
OPEN AGAIN: The Storm King Cinema, which has opened and shut many times in the past few years, is open again under new management. Ed Mattson and Dave Hammond, who own the business, told The LOCAL they have spent hours cleaning the interior of the building and trying to make it more attractive than it was when they took over. Although they have encountered some technical problems with the projection equipment, they hope to overcome them, give the interior a new coat of paint and keep the cinema a going business with good films.
(Photo by Siegler)
THE LINEUP: Waiting on line last Sunday for a showing of “My Fair Lady” at the Storm King Cinema are Kathy DeFreest, Kathy Beck, Susan Mazzocca, Kathy Lesko, Dottie Bloom and Kathy Ryskye. The Lower Village theatre, which reopened on February 2nd under new management, is featuring “Love Story” and “Gimme Shelter” this week, with “A Boy Named Charlie Brown” as a special matinee.
(Photo by Bennett)
The Cornwall Local
October 10, 1973
Storm King Cinema building to be sold to auctioneer
Newburgh auctioneer and appraiser M. Robert Shuster has confirmed for The LOCAL that he signed a contract for the purchase of the old Storm King Cinema building in Cornwall-on-Hudson.
The Storm King Cinema, which has seen hard times in recent years after numerous ventures in live and movie entertainment failed, may now get a new lease on life. Mr. Shuster, who calls the spot an “ideal place and an ideal location,” says he will run an antique auction in the building once or twice a month. He also plans to renovate and paint the inside and outside so that the building is in condition to house meetings, concerts and exhibitions. Mr. Shuster says he hopes to attract customers from as far away as Boston, New Jersey and Connecticut.
The building and the large parking lot across the street are presently owned by Talbot Love of Tuxedo Park. Three storefronts in the theatre building are currently rented, one to the Idlewild Tavern, one to Rona’s Beauty Salon and one to a Printmakers’ Workshop that will be open in the future to sell fine prints, cards, and other handmade items. Mr. Shuster said the three businesses would not be affected by the transfer of ownership.
Source: The Cornwall Local
Date: Thursday, January 3, 1974
Shuster hopes Village will become antique center
by Martha W. Schiff
There’s no more hopeful sight than that of a distinguished, memory-filled, vacant old building about to come to life again. The old Storm King Theatre is now undergoing an exciting facelift as it prepares to open its doors in January as the Robert Shuster Galleries in the Village of Cornwall.
Surrounded by the sounds of hammers, saws, speed drills and moving ladders, Robert Shuster talked about his hopes for the future.
“We want to keep the building going continuously as a kind of cultural center for antique enthusiasts,” said Mr. Shuster, “We hope to schedule a series of lectures on antiques, exhibitions from various museums, and films of interest to the antique collector.”
On a regular basis the Robert Shuster Galleries will run auctions. “On Mondays we will have a general auction where anything from refrigerators to books, to used furniture will be auctioned. Fridays we’ll have auctions of better quality things like antique glass, china, and furniture. Once or twice a month we’ll plan an auction of fine antiques for the trade — porcelains, paintings, silver, and more,” said Shuster.
Hoping to have a complete auction service including retail and semi-retail sales, Mr. Shuster plans to have an appraisal service. “I’ve been doing appraisals for the past two years for State, tax, and insurance purposes,” he said. “I’m thinking of having one day a month for the general public when they could come in here and get any article appraised for their own benefit for a nominal charge, like one dollar, to cover my costs.”
Mr. Shuster lives in New Windsor at 77 Walsh Avenue with his wife Relle and daughter Rhonda, and is the former owner of Newburgh Galleries in Newburgh. “My wife always liked the antique business, so we started going to auctions several years ago,” explained Shuster lighting his cigar, “We found we were buying about 20 pieces of used furniture a month, so we started having our own auctions. This year we’ve held auctions twice a month at the Holiday Inn in Newburgh, selling fine antique pieces on consignment from big estates.”
In the past few years the Storm King Theatre building has been the site for several ill-fated business ventures. But Robert Shuster is not a superstitious man, as he proudly views the new dark panelling on the walls, and demonstrates the ingenious turntable, designed by Bob Murphy of Murlyn Builders, which will be used to display articles during an auction. The turntable is built into a wall which extends across the theater stage, and while on one side displays an article on auction, the other side can be set up with the next item. “This will enable us to provide the most efficient set up for items to be auctioned,” smiled Mr. Shuster, “I mean, if you’ve got a fine antique chair you don’t want to just carry it in on stage: this turntable idea will help us to present fine items in a setting worthy of their value.”
Mr. Shuster thinks the existence of the Storm King Auction Pavillion and Butter Hill Shop Antiques in the village will have a positive effect on his business, “The Village could become the “antique center of this area,” he said confidently. “My wife and I have built up a certain clientele over the years, and antique collectors are a special breed of people — they’ll go anywhere in search of antiques. The quaintness of the Village complements the antique business — it’s a perfect spot for an antique center,” Shuster said enthusiastically.
The M. Robert Shuster Galleries will open its doors on January 5th and thereafter will be open from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. daily, including Saturday, for individual sales.
“I think this building is great!” said its new owner smiling broadly. If buildings could talk, the Old Storm King Theatre would surely agree.
The Cornwall Local
September 15, 1976
New gallery in old Storm King Theatre
A Cornwall-on-Hudson landmark—the old Storm King Theatre—has changed hands and will re-open in October as the Hudson Valley Galleries under the direction of Mrs. Joanne Grant.
Mrs. Grant and her husband, Dr. Martin Grant, purchased the theatre in building in May from M. Robert Shuster, who has been holding antique auctions there for several years.
Mrs. Grant said she remembered attending movies at the Storm King on Saturdays as a child and admits having “quite a nostalgic feeling about the building.”
The Grant will operate only the theatre portion of the building; the other three businesses housed in the landmark, Humphrey’s, Kessler’s Antique Gallery and Rona’s Beauty Salon, will not be affected by the change.
Unofficially, the new gallery will open the evening of October 8, with a benefit auction for the Orange County Association for Retarded Children. From noon to 6 p.m. that day there will be a panel of appraisers there to appraise antiques for the public, the $1 or $2 charge also going to the ARC.
Mrs. Grant said the first major sale of the season would take place October 30, and will feature American, English and French period furniture, Tiffany lamps and glass, and American and European paintings.
The gallery will sell both consignment items and items owned by the gallery. Mrs. Grant said the antiques they already owned were “purchased wisely” and she said she hoped they would bring their fair price at auction, but that they would be sold. Items will be passed if bids aren’t high enough.
The gallery will mark the program with a “MGH” next to listings owned by the gallery to let bidders know which items are gallery owned and which are on consignment.
Decorative items can be purchased by anyone, the only consideration being how much they cost and how much you want it. But for the more expensive “serious” works of art, “you have to be expert at what you are buying,” Mrs. Grant said. “When you wander into areas of fine art, you’ve got to go to inspections with a black light and whatever else is required to authenticate a piece. I go in and walk around the sale, make notes on what I might bid on, and come back and research the items, so I’ll have a better idea of what is valuable and what isn’t.”
She said she was cautious about rarities of the art world, things by Monet or Modigliani for example, because she said they didn’t come on the market often.
In addition to the auction gallery, MHG will have special exhibits throughout the year of collections from the area, “so people can come and see what antiques are.”
There will also be appraisal days, when people can bring items in and receive a free verbal appraisal of their worth. Mrs. Grant said she had been in the business for seven years, and working with her at MHG would be Walter Meccia, with 15 years in the business, who will be there full time to accept consignments and answer questions, and Joseph Becker, with 14 years of experience, as purchasing agent.
Mrs. Grant said her husband was “terribly interested in the gallery,” but said his medical practice would occupy most of his time.
She said she hopes eventually to have people giving instruction in various aspects of the antique world to educate people about antiques. “Many people have valuable pieces and aren’t aware of them,” she said.
An antique store-school-gallery housed in a building which is something of an antique itself would seem surely to be the best combination of process and content. And if Joanne Grant’s hopes for the gallery become reality, Cornwall-on-Hudson will only be the better for it.
The Cornwall Local
November 30, 1977
A journey into the 1920’s Sunday with movie of old Cornwall at Town Hall
More than a hundred Cornwall residents crowded into the basement of the Town Hall Sunday afternoon. But they weren’t there for a meeting or a public hearing.
They were there for a movie made more than fifty years ago in Cornwall.
“It was up in our attic for years,” said Janet Dempsey, whose mother, Mrs. Laura Todd Dempsey, filmed the movie. Miss Dempsey explained that the film was made after the American Legion pledged to fund the first ambulance for the Cornwall Hospital.
Somebody — it’s not clear who — came up with the idea of making a movie about Cornwall, and featuring Cornwall personalities, to be shown at the old Storm King Playhouse in the village. The money could be raised by charging an admission.
So Mrs. Dempsey, wife of Dr. George Dempsey, who owned her own movie camera, was asked to make a movie — and what a movie it was.
“I remember when they first showed it,” said Miss Justine Todd, sister of Mrs. Dempsey, who was there at the Sunday showing. Miss Todd said that her sister corralled her into driving her around “the lower village, and Canterbury,” as Miss Todd put it, while Mrs. Dempsey filmed various characters in Cornwall.
“When they first showed it, everybody came out to see themselves,” Miss Todd remembered. “The American Legion made a real night out of it. First the Storm King School presented a one-act play, then the New York Military Academy Band played. The Cornwall High School and the Cornwall-on-Hudson High School had special presentations — then came the movie.”
That was in the 1920’s. As Cornwall Library Director Leslie Weirman ran the filmstrip Sunday afternoon, anyone who recognized a face was asked to say the name out loud. A tape recorder was placed in front of the room. Miss Weirman explained later that, as part of the library’s goal to create a room just for Cornwall history, the library would be preparing a commentary to go with the film.
The crowd, which jammed the basement of the Town Hall all the way to the back room, sat thrilled and enchanted through two showings of the 25 minute film. At different parts of the room there were “Oohs” and “There’s so-and-so” as characters from early 20th century Cornwall appeared on the screen.
“Oh, there’s Appleby Robinson, the singer, who used to live where Dr. Edward Kearney lives,” said one voice.
“And there’s Ezra Thompson,” said another elderly voice. “He used to own a newspaper shop and bowling alley.”
It was a warm sight, to see all these characters from Cornwall waving, smiling on the movie screen. They were faces from another time and place, worlds away from present day Cornwall. Many of the people there Sunday recognized old relatives and friends, including Mrs. Edwin Wersebe, who saw a smiling picture of her late husband, and John Shearer, who for the afternoon relived memories of his old friends Bill Burke and Leo Fanning.
By far the person who had the best memory for most of the faces was Judge William B. Cocks. “There’s Joseph Gibson, banker and member of the Board of Education for years. There’s Mary Julia Apperson, former teacher beloved by her pupils,” he said. Others he remembered included James Aspinall, Lee Mailler, Professor Herman Woodard, Harry Hankin, former Postmaster Frank Walsh, and Luke Lancaster, a Civil War veteran.
The entire audience sighed when none other than Dan Little, in his younger days, appeared on the screen, smiling, in front of the Cornwall-on-Hudson School. “He was everybody’s friend,” someone said.
And they all laughed when the Stoddard twins Bob and Tom, appeared — in a baby carriage!
There were frames taken outside the former C.E. Cocks Grocery Store, and the Mead and Taft building. Then there were shots of the old St. Thomas Church, the Storm King School, and General Davis and Captain Tully from the New York Military Academy.
“He taught me how to dance,” remembered one senior citizen as the youthful face of Bill Burke flashed on the screen.
**** This article is referencing the 1941 film “Cornwall is on Parade”- information about this film can be found under the 40’s on this website. The title of the article incorrectly states it was a movie from the 20’s. The Theater didn’t exist until 1935****