On Stage: ‘Treading The Boards’ benefit for Candlelight

“Treading the boards” has been going on for decades at the Candlelight Theater. This weekend, it is the title of a presentation by the venue.

The Candlelight Theatre (2208 Millers Road, Arden, Delaware, www.candlelighttheatredelaware.org) is presenting a very special event on November 2 – “Treading the Boards – A Revitalize Candlelight Benefit.”

Proceeds will benefit the Candlelight Capital Campaign. Renovations are set to begin in fall 2024 with completion by spring 2025. Work will be done to level and replace portions of the theater floor, update the public restrooms, and replace the aging fire escapes.

“A Revitalize Candlelight Benefit” is an evening of cocktails, hors d’oeurvres, and songs benefiting the Capital Campaign.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with live entertainment starting at 7:30 p.m.

Dessert and coffee will be served after the performance. The offerings will feature heavy hors d’oeuvres, coffee and dessert station.

Also featured will be wine and beer, bourbon tasting and a silent auction. Additionally, a cash bar for cocktails will be available.

The highlight of the evening will be the live entertainment provided by Julia Kershetsky, Anthony Connell and Tori Healy – a trio of Candlelight veterans who have been “treading the boards” for years.

“Tread the boards” means “act on the stage,” as in “Her main ambition was to tread the boards in a big city.”

This idiom uses “boards” in the sense of “a theatrical stage,” a usage dating from the mid-1700s. It dates from the mid-1800s but was preceded by the idiom “tread the stage” — first recorded in 1691.

Healy, Kershetsky, and Connell have appeared together in many shows at the Candlelight. In the venue’s most recent show “9 to 5 The Musical” which closed last weekend, Healy played the role of Violet, Connell was Dwayne and Kershetsky was the Music Director.

Some of Healy’s favorite roles from the long list of her performances at the dinner theater are Fanny Brice (“Funny Girl”), Baker’s Wife (“Into the Woods”), Sister Mary Lazarus (“Sister Act”), and Frau Blucher (“Frankenstein”).

Healy, who received her BFA from New York University’s Tisch School, has an impressive “day job.” She is the Chair of the Theater Department at Tower Hill School in Delaware.

Kershetsky played the roles of Alice Nutting and Edwin Drood in “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” the show that preceded “9 to 5 the Musical.”

Unfortunately for Candlelight audiences, it will be her final show at Candlelight.

“I turned Equity over the summer so now I can’t perform at Candlelight anymore because it’s Non-Equity,” said Kershetsky during a phone interview Thursday afternoon. “The only time you can do something that is Non-Equity is if the show is a benefit.

“So, ‘Drood’ was my last show at Candlelight. I’ll definitely miss performing there but I keep connected. I was the Music Director for “9 to 5 the Musical” and my husband (Max Redman) has been the Production Stage Manager for many, many Candlelight shows, including ‘Drood.’”

Kershetsky graduated from Boyertown High School, where she was involved in theater productions as well as playing varsity field hockey and lacrosse. She then got a degree in classical vocal performance at Penn State University.

Kershetsy, who is one of the most talented performers from Berks County on a list featuring Taylor Swift, followed with a graduate degree from New York University in musical theater and vocal pedagogy.

She is currently a professor at Molloy University’s CAP 21 in New York.

“Candlelight is very excited about ‘Treading the Boards,’ said Kershetsky. “They reached out to me about the show a couple months ago.

“Now, they have Tori Healy, Anthony Connell and me. I feel honored to be performing with these Candlelight favorites.

“We were free to make our own set lists. Tori and I will be doing songs from the upcoming season including one of my favorites ‘’Back to Before’ from ‘Ragtime the Musical.’”

Connell, who had been performing at Candlelight for more than a dozen years, might hold the record for most shows. And lately he has added the role of Props Master when he hasn’t been in the cast and even when he has a role in the show.

“I enjoy being the props master,” said Connell, a sculptor, miniaturist and painter whose painting “Opening Night at the Candlelight” hangs in the theater’s lobby.

“I have posters hung in Victorian style around the dining area. Some are authentic show posters from the era, and some are parodies like ‘Rats’ instead of ‘Cats.’”

Connell is a true Candlelight veteran. He has performed in more than 50 shows at the comfortable dinner theater in Arden.

“This is my 14th year doing shows at Candlelight,” said Connell, from his home in Chichester.

Connell has returned to live in his childhood neighborhood – partly because of its proximity to the Candlelight Theater (five miles) and partly because it’s his home turf.

He attended grade school at Holy Saviour in Marcus Hook (which closed in 2015) and high school at Cardinal O’Hara in Springfield.

He attended DeSales University where he earned a BA in Acting, Directing and Musical Theatre.

Now, Connell has, for years, had a second home at the comfortable dinner theater in Arden.

“My first show at Candlelight was ‘Miss Saigon’ in 2012,” said Connell. “My favorites are ‘Young Frankenstein’ and ‘The Producers.’ ‘Into the Woods’ is another big favorite of mine.”

The event on Saturday night at the Candlelight Theater will start at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $65.

The Candlelight’s next production will be Irving Berlin’s “Holiday Inn.”

The show will open on November 16 and run through December 22.

On November 21, it will be time for the latest edition of Candlelight Comedy Club will present Mike Yard.

Yard is a stand-up comedian and a contributor to Comedy Central’s The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore.  He is also the host of podcast Yard Talk with Mike Yard.  Yard was previously the winner of Comedy Central’s Get Up, Stand Up comedy competition.

It’s not unusual for people to boycott a product because the company’s policies differ from their own beliefs or for major firms to pull sponsorship because a client such as a pro basketball player made inflammatory statements.

Artist Mark Rothko took it to a whole other level in 1958 with a series of murals he had contracted to do for the Four Seasons restaurant in New York.

There is a play opening in Philadelphia this weekend that looks at Rothko and his decision to opt out of the deal.

South Philadelphia’s premiere destination for arts & culture, Theatre Exile (1340 South 13th Street, Philadelphia, www.theatreexile.org), kicks off its 28th season with John Logan’s Tony Award-winning play “RED” starring six-time Barrymore Award-winner Scott Greer as iconic artist Mark Rothko and Zach Valdez as his young, challenging assistant.

Opening on Friday, November 1, the production promises a captivating dive into the world of art, ambition, and the struggle to be heard by emerging generations of creators.

“RED” captures a volatile mentorship between the aging Rothko and his ambitious assistant, Ken, set against the backdrop of Rothko’s largest commission, a series of murals for the Four Seasons restaurant. With themes that mirror generational and cultural shifts, the play is a powerful commentary on the cost of remaining relevant in a rapidly evolving world.

Scott Greer’s commanding portrayal of Rothko, and the chemistry between him and Valdez creates an intense onstage dynamic that makes this production a gripping must-see experience for art lovers and theatergoers alike.

Mark Rothko (Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz until 1940). who lived from September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970) was an American abstract painter. He is best known for his color field paintings that depicted irregular and painterly rectangular regions of color, which he produced from 1949-1970. Although Rothko did not personally subscribe to any one school, he is associated with the American abstract expressionism movement of modern art.

Born in Daugavpils, Latvia, then under the rule of the Russian Empire, Rothko and his family emigrated to the United States, arriving at Ellis Island in late 1913 and originally settling in Portland, Oregon. He moved to New York City in 1923 where his youthful period of artistic production dealt primarily with urban scenery.

In response to World War II, Rothko’s art entered a transitional phase during the 1940s, where he experimented with mythological themes and Surrealism to express tragedy.

Toward the end of the decade, Rothko painted canvases with regions of pure color which he further abstracted into rectangular color forms, the idiom he would use for the rest of his life.

In his later career, Rothko executed several canvases for three different mural projects. The Seagram murals were to have decorated the Four Seasons Restaurant in the Seagram Building, but Rothko eventually grew disgusted with the idea that his paintings would be decorative objects for wealthy diners and refunded the lucrative commission, donating the paintings to museums including the Tate Gallery.

“I absolutely knew about Mark Rathko prior to this show,” said Green. “He was an amazing abstract impressionist. I saw his works in New York at MOMA (Museum of Modern Art).

“And I saw the Seagram’s murals. They are extraordinary – really profound and inspiring. And they are very large.”

In 1958, Rothko was awarded the first of two major mural commissions, which proved both rewarding and frustrating. The beverage company Joseph Seagram and Sons had recently completed the new Seagram Building skyscraper on Park Avenue. Rothko agreed to provide paintings for the building’s new luxury restaurant, the Four Seasons.

For Rothko, this Seagram murals commission presented a new challenge, since it was the first time he was required not only to design a coordinated series of paintings but to produce an artwork space concept for a large, specific interior.

Over the following three months, Rothko completed 40 paintings, comprising three full series in dark red and brown. He altered his horizontal format to vertical, to complement the restaurant’s vertical features: columns, walls, doors, and windows.

The following June, Rothko and his family again traveled to Europe. While on the SS Independence he disclosed to journalist John Fischer, who was publisher of Harper’s Magazine, that his true intention for the Seagram murals was to paint “something that will ruin the appetite of every son-of-a-bitch who ever eats in that room.”

He hoped, he told Fischer, that his painting would make the restaurant’s patrons “feel that they are trapped in a room where all the doors and windows are bricked up, so that all they can do is butt their heads forever against the wall.”

Green, an Atlanta native who has lived in Philadelphia the last 30 years, said, “You just can’t look at them and move on.”

Back in New York, Rothko and his wife Mell visited the nearly completed Four Seasons restaurant. Upset with the restaurant’s dining atmosphere, which he considered pretentious and inappropriate for the display of his works, Rothko refused to continue the project and returned his cash advance to the Seagram and Sons Company.

Rothko kept the commissioned paintings in storage until 1968. Given that Rothko had known in advance about the luxury decor of the restaurant, and the social class of its future patrons, the motives for his abrupt repudiation remain mysterious.

“We started working on ‘RED’ in the first week of October,” said Green.

“We’ve been at it a month. We had our first preview last Thursday and we open this Friday. The show runs 85-90 minutes with no intermission.”

The play reveals a lot about Rothko but never answers the question “why?” – but that’s not unusual.

A temperamental personality, Rothko never fully explained his conflicted emotions over the incident.

Although Rothko lived modestly for much of his life, the resale value of his paintings grew tremendously in the decades following his suicide in 1970. His painting No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red) sold in 2014 for $186 million.

“RED” is running now through November 10 at Theatre Exile.

Ticket prices start at $40.

On November 1, Kennett Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295, http://www.kennettflash.org) is presenting

“A Night of Rock” with Silver Sonic, Impolite Society, World of Chaos.

On November 3, the Flash will be feeling’ the funk when it hosts the New Phunk Odyssey Tour with Melody Trucks and featuring The Fitzkee Brothers with Gordon Sterling & The People.

If the name “Trucks” sounds familiar, it should – especially to anyone familiar with Southern Rock.

For decades, the nucleus of Southern Rock has been the Allman Brothers clan. With three generations of top-flight musicians, the ABB family has produced stellar guitarists, drummers, keyboardists and vocalists.

This Sunday, the Flash will host one of the family members – Melody Trucks.

Melody Trucks, a talented percussionist and vocalist, has performed in front of thousands at major music festivals such as The Peach Music Festival, Suwannee Rising, and Hulaween.

As the daughter of the late Allman Brothers Band drummer Butch Trucks, Melody has continued her family’s legacy in the world of Southern rock and jam band music.

Her skillful percussion work and dynamic stage presence have earned her a devoted following among music fans.

Video link for Melody Trucks — https://youtu.be/P7mkamAzwew.

Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center (226 North High Street, West Chester, www.uptownwestchester.org) is presenting “Yellow Brick Road – Tribute to Elton John” on November 1, “Greg Hawkes with Eddie Japan playing the music of the Cars” on November 2, and “Off Page Film Festival” on November 3.

Jamey’s House of Music (32 South Lansdowne Avenue, Lansdowne, 215-477-9985,www.jameyshouseofmusic.com) will have Stew Cutler & Friends with special guest Jesse Loewy on November 1 and The Empty Belly Blues Band featuring Alabama Sam on November 2.