Next show open to the public is Richard III, June 7-16, 2019
Abridged Julius Caesar
Abridged Julius Caesar is a paid one hour version of the show that will tour all five of the SCSD high schools in April scheduled 4/1-4/12/19. Directed by SSITP executive director Ronnie Bell. Rehearsals begin February 18, 2019, 2x per week thru opening day. All shows during the day.
Abridged Julius Caesar
by William Shakespeare
Edited for the SCSD High School Tour by Francois James
Directed by Ronnie Bell
Syracuse Shakespeare-In-The-Park/SCSD
High School Tour- April 1-12,2019
Cast of Characters (in appearance order, with doubling)
Actors & Roles
Actor 1-Chorus-Onstage character representing the rebels;
Cicero-Senator of Rome; Artemidorus-Doctor of rhetoric;
Titinius-Friend of Brutus & Cassius. (Bella Calabria)
Actor 2-Caesar-Roman general who wants unlimited power as emperor;
Caesar’s Ghost-Spirit of Caesar/Brutus’ apparition. (Tom Minion)
Actor 3- Brutus-A Roman patrician. (Bob Reid)
Actor 4- Calpurnia-Caesar’s wife; First Citizen-Leader of the people;
Volumnius- Friend of Brutus & Cassius. (Anne Childress)
Actor 5-Antony-Joint ruler of Rome after Caesar’s death. (Ethan Washburn)
Actor 6-Cassius-Conspirator to kill Caesar. (Joseph Scott)
Actor 7-Soothsayer-Predictor of the future;
Octavius-Adopted son of Caesar. (Tony Bersani)
Actor 8-Lucius-Servant to Brutus; Portia-Brutus’ wife;
Second Citizen-Leader of the people. (Lynn Barbato King)
Actor 9- Decius-Conspirator to kill Caesar; Lucillus-Friend of Brutus & Cassius; Citizen; Pindarus-Cassius’s servant. (Rebekah Tadros)
Actor 10-Metellus-Conspirator to kill Caesar; Citizen;
Messala-Friend of Brutus & Cassius. (Laura Bernas)
Richard III starring Justin Polly
(Shhh... our 17th season starts with this show but it won't be officially announced
until Shakespeare's birthday.)
Richard the Third, in period costume, runs from June 7-16, 2019, 6 shows, on the grass at Thornden Park's beautiful Amphitheatre.
The director is Michael King, ably AD'd by his beautiful wife, Lynn Barbato King.
Rehearsals begin April 28, 2019 and run 2-4 times per week until we open.
Richard III
Directed by Mike King
Cast List
Richard.................................................Justin Polly
Buckingham.........................................Tom Minion
Duchess of York...............................Maggie Ariotti LadyAnne................................Lynn Barbato King
QueenElizabeth................................Laura Bernas
Queen Margaret....................................Mary Price
Edward IV..................................Stephen Shepherd
Clarence............................................Simon Moody
Murderer 1.........................................Christa Wirth
Murderer 2......................................Jennifer Cutter
Catesby...................................................Basil Allen
Mayor of London..............................Marisa Chism
Bishop of Ely/Blunt......................David Hitchcock
Ratcliff/Tyrell....................................Ian Dougherty
Princess Elizabeth...............................Jessica Lisi
Lady Rivers..................................Nancy Chapellier
Lord Grey..............................................Cory Simon
The Tempest
The crown jewel of our outdoor season is our period version of The Tempest, fun for the whole family. It runs from August 2-11, 2019, 6 shows, in the Thornden Park Amphitheatre.
Last produced by SSITP in 2009, director Anne Childress has announced the following cast:
Tempest Cast List
ALONSO, King of Naples – Michael A. Bolio
SEBASTIAN, his Brother – Mark Braiman
PROSPERO, the right Duke of Milan – Jack Sherman
ANTONIO, his Brother, the usurping Duke of Milan – David Hitchcock
MIRANDA, Daughter to Prospero – Bella Calabria
ARIEL, an airy Spirit – Rebekah Tadros
CALIBAN, a savage and deformed Slave - Jason Lucier
FERDINAND, Son to the King of Naples – Chris Lupia
GONZALO, an honest old Counsellor – Sam Tamburo
TRINCULO, a Jester – Aaron Alexander
STEFANO, a drunken Butler – Stephen Sheppard
Master of a Ship – John Brackett
Boatswain - Sarah Liebowitz
IRIS – Laura Bernas
CERES - Mary Price
JUNO – Jessica Lisi
Questions or Concerns?
E Mail: ronnie@ssitp.org
Call: 315-476-1835
Call: 315-395-0691
In memoriam to Brian Pringle (R)
who played Bardolph for SSITP in Henry IV, Part 1
Brian Pringle Memorial Gathering
Sunday, March 24th, 2019
Open House 1pm to 5pm with a Service at 3pm.
William Michael Center for the Arts
4 Harold Drive
Fulton, NY 13069
315-593-7595
Falstaff (L) was portrayed by Simon Moody in this picture as seen in Henry IV, Part 1
Meet the Cast & Crew!
Meet the Cast & Crew!
Anne Childress (Calpurnia, 1st Citizen, Citizen, Volumnius) was the Narrator in SSITP's Scrooge Meets Shakespeare's Ghosts in Dec. 2017, and Audrey in SSITP's As You Like It in August 2017. Anne is a member of our Production Board and was the Narrator in the 2017 and 2018 SSITP-SCSD high school tour of Abridged Romeo and Juliet.
In memoriam-Brian Pringle: A starring member of our company
Brian as Falstaff- #1
Brian was our first Falstaff in Merry Wives of Windsor in August 2007
Brian as Falstaff- #2
L>R, Cathy English & Nora O'Dea as the Merry Wives along with Brian...
Brian as Falstaff- #3
Clockwise from L, Nora, Brian and Cathy get their heads together on the grass at Thornden Park's Amphitheatre
Brian as Falstaff #4
Top to bottom, Nora, Brian and Cathy
frolic in the Park... for the first of our Merry Wives of Windsor shows in August 2007.
Brian as Alexas
Antony and Cleopatra was produced by SSITP & directed by Jamie Bruno in February 2011 at the Empire Theatre, NYS Fairgrounds.
Brian came to auditions in February 2012 at Sedgwick Heights Community Room
So far, this is the last pic I have of Brian although I know he was in at least one more show with SSITP...
RIP Brian Pringle, a tremendously talented community actor!
RIP Brian Pringle: help a friend today...
Additional Information
The Talking Stick
Posted on December 28, 2018 by Gary Izzo
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I lost someone recently, someone I tried in my way to support, to help, to convince. I believe that his life tells us something about how we exclude ourselves. I want to share some of his life with you. I want you to know that his life had meaning.
I met Brian in college. He was a theatre major like me. A peer, and a friend.
He had a deep rolling velvet voice, resonant and strong. He had that strange dichotomy you sometimes find in the theater, an individual with great talent and presence on stage, but quiet, depressive and shy everywhere else.
Brian saw himself as a beggar at the gates of life. There is a boy, face pressed against a huge iron gate wrapped in chains, held with a giant padlock. This boy was Brian. To the sorrow and frustration of everyone around him, he never stepped back far enough to notice that the lock was open. The way in was waiting for him.
I directed a lot in school and I found a way of casting Brian, as often as I could. Thereafter I would cast him at the Sterling Renaissance Festival where I am Artistic Director whenever he asked, and even when he didn’t. I’ve done so since 1980. In short, he was brilliant. His characters were funny and quaint, open-hearted, and paradoxically very inclusive.
He would come early to the site, before the company arrived for rehearsals, and clean the actors’ kitchen. He would do it every year. I long thought it was because he was a kind person and a helper. I later realized it was his way of offering something in return for what he felt he didn’t deserve.
Not everyone in the company understood him, but those who did had a great admiration for his talent, his compassion, humility, and kindness. Some cast members, confused by his outward shows of self-deprecation called him Eeyore, from Whinny the Poo fame. It was an insensitive moniker, but apt. It wasn’t uncommon during Festival rehearsals to turn and notice Brian lying flat as a plank, face down, nose in the gravel aside the stage. We would just turn back and continue our work. “Mental note: Brian is feeling down today, must have a talk with him.”
In the late 80’s I gave Brian the first book on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The next season he was in excellent spirits and told me that the book had changed his life. It did, for a while. But the demons returned.
Brian was a true kinesthetic personality. This means that his main modality of perception was feeling. Kinesthetics generally speak very slowly, because they feel each word as it passes through their mind and lips. Brian was a very very slow talker. He spoke as if another voice inside him was always trying to talk him out of saying anything at all. It was slow, distracted, stuttering, and convoluted. At times it required enormous patience to hear him out. So most people did not, further feeding his sense of being an unworthy outsider. Those who did hear him out were rewarded by the most creative and insightful things, beautiful thoughts, and grand ideas.
He was a very funny man when he wanted to be, the rest of the time he was mostly solitary and sad. He would effortlessly waive off all compliments and encouragements as if they were intended for someone else, or that the giver mistook him for another more worthy recipient.
After a girl he was sweet on in college turned him down as gently as she could, I watched him calmly buy a can of soda from a machine by the theatre door, pop the tab and quietly pour the entire contents over his head and walk away. It was the last time to my knowledge that he ever asked a girl out.
But so many women adored him!
One in particular was Barbara “Baj” Burinski. Baj was an actress who portrayed Queen Elizabeth I at the Festival for many years, and was a dear friend of mine. Baj was arguably the most compassionate human being on the planet. Those who knew her would not argue the point. Baj was also a huge believer in Brian. On her death bed she asked me specifically, and made me promise, to “look after Brian.”
Numerous times over the years Brian would pull me aside at the end of a festival run and say that I didn’t have to worry about having him back to Sterling, that he was done with it and didn’t want me to feel obligated to hire him. Then a few years would go by and he’d be back. He surprised me one time by saying, “I know you promised Baj that you would look after me. I want to let you know that you don’t have to do that anymore. I want to release you from that promise.” I said, “She never had to ask me Brian, I’ve had your back since college and I don’t intend to stop now, but as for that promise, consider it released.”
In those days we had a wonderful habit as a company to go to the shore of Lake Ontario, and in a hidden cove enjoy a campfire and beers. We also had a habit of conducting a sort of witnessing ritual mirroring an ancient American Indian practice of passing a Talking Stick.
Whoever holds the talking stick has within their hands the sacred power of words—only the one who holds the stick may speak, but must speak the truth about personal understanding and experience.
Brian was the self-proclaimed keeper of the Talking Stick. It was always him who would suggest it. Always him to bring out the stick and explain the tradition. Perhaps nothing better illustrates the contradictions of Brian than this, that a man who could barely speak and constantly counted himself out in life, would be the one to willingly stand before his peers and bare his soul, then pass it on for others.
Whether it was by nature, circumstance, choice, or something he brought here with him, he could never completely get over the strange burden he carried. Brian carried this burden his whole life. It would crush him to the ground, but he’d get up again, his entire life he did that. He’d just get up again. He had such value, but he could never accept that. The hardest people to reach are the ones who don’t believe they deserve love. Self-exclusion is the very worst poison.
The note that Brian left asked of his mother not to have a public service, and that there be no public announcement of his death. His mother is respecting his wishes. It’s fitting I guess, and so unfair, that he chooses to leave so unacknowledged. But what an intelligent, kind, compassionate, silly, entertaining, and endearing mystery he was.
Brian was a lost soul. No one should be lost. Everyone deserves to belong…somewhere. I did what I could, offered what I had, since we were 19. The truth is, some never find their way. And now we’re supposed to let him just back away into the darkness and be forgotten? I am sorry my friend, I don‘t know if I can do that. Final request or not.
My friend Brian Pringle has passed on from this world. He was an amazing man! I and those who really knew him will miss him terribly.
The last time I saw Brian, I was walking through the festival site with my daughter, before this past season began. We encountered him raking leaves along the path, helping the pre-season volunteers. He looked old and beaten. I asked him how he was, told him how glad I was to see him, and hoped I would see him visit this summer. As we parted my daughter asked, “Who is that guy?” I told her, that he was an old actor at the faire, and long time friend of mine.
“Oh,” she said.
Then I turned to her and said, “He is also the bravest man I ever met.”
RIP Brian Pringle
KIDS 2018 Had 13 Amazing KIDS
Syracuse Shakespeare-In-The-Park 's, “Kids Doing Shakespeare,” (KIDS) was a ton of fun and learning for 13 students in grades 5 thru 12.
Rookies and returning students were taught together in Thornden Park’s Carriage House in cooperation with the Syracuse Parks, Recreation & Youth Programs Dept. and the John Ben Snow Foundation.
This exciting programming mix of speaking skills, stage techniques, costume design, set painting, Renaissance music & dance and English country dance had our best sets ever thanks to an extremely talented group and the magical genius of Dr. Weeks art teacher Steve Orlando.
All students participated in one of the two chosen scenes, as a culminating activity for family, friends & the public, on the last Friday of our intensive (but fun) theatre week.
The scenes included the one where Falstaff hides in a laundry basket to escape detection by Mistress Ford's husband, selected from our 2018 main stage SSITP production of The Merry Wives of Windsor, Aug. 3-12th, in Thornden Park's beautiful Amphitheatre, and the scene where he is "pinched" with burning tapers by fairies in the local Park's forest.
Here are the fabulous audience comments on "Merry Wives of Windsor"
• Such a wonderful community event. Thank you for keeping it going. • Wonderful performance. Love it, especially the audience participation. My friend had sprung for the $20 seats for both of us. It was more than worth the money. Next year I’ll gladly get the $20 seats with food and ice cream. I’ll find out from Facebook. Will definitely be back next year. • The show was very well done! The mics worked well and was easy to hear. Great Job! Great Guitar!! • So Good! • 1st time attending, thanks for this opportunity, Ice cream a wonderful touch! Very well organized. Thank you. • Great production season! • Thank you! • Getting better every year! • Absolutely wonderful. Well organized w/ intermission. Fun and family friendly. Appreciate very much!! • Fun afternoon. • The show was wonderful, keep it up. • So helpful to have the synopsis for the teens and adults. Great show. • I enjoyed myself and was looking forward to the show. Loved it very much. Next time I will bring money, thank you. • We appreciate your performers. • Great show. Sound system has greatly improved over the years. So many laughs. Acting wonderful. • Loved it, great outdoor acting. Love Shakespeare in the park, one of my favorite parks too! • Actors are very talented and enjoyed the show. • Great job, really enjoyed the show, looking forward to next season. (first time attending). • Everyone did such an amazing job. Can’t wait for the next show. • It was great! I forgot to bring cash though ☹. • I enjoyed it very much. Very entertaining. Phenomenal job. • Great show! • Was a great time, very well done. • Excellent show and acting!! Great venue and activities! • Great show! • Great show! • So delightful. Premium tickets a great value and service. • Delightful! • Great fun and fantastic venue. Keep it coming please. • Well done, I liked the acting. Continue doing well. Break a leg. • This was a beautiful and funny play. I thoroughly enjoyed everything especially the friendliness of the players. • It was amazing funny and quite comical. • I appreciate the efforts of the members in keeping Shakespeare alive in Syracuse. • Very fun and lovely production. • This was a truly wonderful performance. Some of the best work that I have seen you do. Thank you! • Fantastic evening of theatre. Haven’t been to a Shakespeare in the park in a number of years. Thank you for the fantastic sound system. Acting, story, direction have always been great. It was really perfect today. • Terrific job! Great sound! • Excellent. • Lovely evening out. Thank you! • Excellent transitions
and good sound system. • What a treat and a warm up. Tomorrow we are heading to Stratford ON to see Julius Caesar. Thank you. • I always love coming to your shows, and I’m now bringing friends to share the joy. This show was my most favorite yet! • Thank you for a wonderful performance! What a treat!! • I was transfixed! • Excellent! • Great job! Many years of satisfaction. • Sound and music was excellent, dancing was great. Grande finale! • Mistress Paige was excellent. • Well don’t, you all broke a leg tonight. • Loved the costumed. The ballet dancers and their costumes were an extra treat. • Fantastic in every way. • Very enjoyable! • Wonderful cast. Wonderful setting. Thank you!! • It was great how the audience was incorporated. • Wonderful show! I had a great time. Everyone did such an amazing job, especially in the heat. • Wonderful production! Maggie and Chelsea were outstanding in the leads. Jason as Falstaff was super, and Jack’s performance stole the show. • It was a great show. My favorite characters were the wives. They were amazing. • Good Job! 😊 • Excellent staging, pacing and delivery, Bravo! • Great show, enjoyment the merriment and fun of it. Thank you. • Seriously a wonderful production. Wow! Thank you so much! Great job! More Chelsea! • These shows are amazing. We love how engaged with the audience and the passion for the theatre comes through with the cast. • Bringing the story to and interacting with the audience kept the momentum special. Great show. • Excellent Falstaff. • I loved the pre-show music. • What a great performance! Thank you. • Master Ford was hilarious, he was my favorite. I appreciate the synopsis of each scene, it helps me understand better. The guitar player set a good vibe and atmosphere. I also like how the scenes made use of the grounds other than the stage. Like acting in the round. This is my first time here. I didn’t know this amphitheater existed. This is a great venue/setting. I like the trees and grass and it reminds me of the grounds at the Renaissance Festival. It feels private and secluded. The sound system/microphones were excellent. They helped me hear the enunciation of the old English. • Loved it! The use of the amphitheater was very good. Tight acting! Loved the fairy scene in the forest. Actors were excellent. Perhaps the best SSITP to date. • So good! The acting was on par with any professional troupe, so well done. I loved the interaction with the audience. Just so well acted!! • Nice production! Thank you for an entertaining evening. • Valuable part of our community. • A fun romp on a summer evening. The actors were having great fun with their roles. • We thoroughly enjoyed the play, especially the scene with the fairies. Very funny! • Very well done! Loved the
ballet addition. • Great presentation! • Great job, especially enjoyed interaction with audience. • Great way to spend a summer evening, was great. • This was bright and sparkly, well done! • Very nicely done! • Great show! • Thank you, ice cream was a nice touch. Wonderful setting. • Very much enjoyed. • Please add to email list, love the outside venue. • The show was really funny and really great. Also enjoyable to watch. • So glad local government supports this important local art. • Great show! • Nicely done! • Enjoyable. • A delightful evening. • Great show and talent. • So well done, entertaining. The cast seems to enjoy being their roles. Lots of positive energy. Actors were awesome! All of them! • Very entertaining. • Great fun! • Fantastic! Wow! The sound was good. Well done! Huzzah. • Incredible staging. • Chelsea Lembo was great – so expressive and her physical movement was superb. • Well done, very good cast. • Liked how you integrated the whole amphitheater in the show. • Outdoor theater is always special. Nice setting and talented cast. Hard work and practice pays off. Continue the effort! • I have seen all of your shows over the past 4 or 5 years. Always a good show. Love the audience participation! Always a great summer event! Thanks you for providing this to our community. • Delighted. Atmosphere was wonderous. Can’t wait till the next event. • Wonderful work. • Thank you. • very enjoyable. Looking forward to future performances. • Very entertaining. • Great fun! Great acting! The setting is nice too. • Great job by cast! Especially Falstaff and Master Ford. • Great! • Wonderful show and the front row deal was well worth it 😊 • Delightful! • Love the music. • Thank you! • The show was done very well. • Wonderful evening. Talented performers. Love Shakespeare. Will return for future performances. Great show! Loved it. It was good to have a synopsis to help follow the plot. Enjoyed it all. • My favorite Shakespeare play. Falstaff did a great job as did all the actors, well done! • Brought our granddaughter to SU and saw your lawn sign, so we attended, Very nice and friendly. • Really well done! Great dancers. • Wonderful. Very clear. Good sound. Good energy. • Lots of fun! Thanks for organizing and keeping it going. • I’m just visiting Syracuse for the weekend and this play was a great activity to spend a Saturday afternoon. • Very entertaining and great to have the program so that it was easier to follow the play. Always a joy! • Lovely show. I really enjoyed the production. Compliments to everyone involved. • Well done! • Every show is more professional. Sound really worked well. Staging great. • Loved the show and setting. Snacks good. • Enjoyable fun show. • It was good to be welcomed at the
entrance. Thank you, Tom. • Great fun! • Great job! Very funny and enjoyable! The ladies were stupendous! Loved the woman’s eye and vision. Go Girls! • It was amazing. I loved the audience interactions 😊 • I enjoyed the show and thought some of the main characters did a great job. Thanks for the synopsis, that helped to understand the play. • Great. • Well done, good job with synopsis, easy to follow. Thank you! • Very enjoyable show! I’ll be back with more family next week! • We loved the audience participation moments and the friendliness toward children attending. • Very well done. • Wonderful! Dr. Caius was great – as was everyone else – enjoyed the ballet. As always, well done! • Wonderful – loved having the synopsis to follow along. • This was such a fun show, loved all of it. • Very well done! • The children area with free bubbles and beach balls – wow! Great! Couldn’t ask for a better family friendly afternoon. • Great show. • very well done and entertaining. • Fun family friendly venue. • Good job! I loved the girls in pink and blue. A like coming back after a long time without seeing one. What a great experience. Beautiful day – very extraordinary. • Great performance. • Thoroughly enjoyed – wonderful way to spend an afternoon. • Very pleasant. Well done. • Glad this happens every year. • I am not a fan of Shakespeare but it was an enjoyable event. It is very apparent that you all love Shakespeare and put love and effort into the production. Keep up the good work. I will come again. • Great performance! Will be back. •
Share the BIG news
Merry Wives of Windsor attracted more than 1,100 people to come see the show. It was our first truly interactive show that began with 10 minutes of characters improv-ing with the audience and continued with as many immersive features as our director, Kassy Melendez-Ramirez, could fit into the Amphitheatre including selecting two audience members to appear as the fake Anne Page to fool Slender and Dr. Caius.
SSITP's "ARJ" played 5 SCSD high schools in April 2018
Mission of Syracuse Shakespeare-in-the-Park
Just like the Bard; outdoors in summer, indoors at other times: authentic Shakespeare all the time
The mission of the Syracuse Shakespeare Festival Corp., now doing business as Syracuse Shakespeare-In-The-Park, is to bring the beauty, poetry and language of Shakespeare to everyone in Central New York especially school-aged children. We also strive to attract visitors from outside the region to supplement and support the health of the CNY economy.
SSITP is producing all of its Shakespeare plays in period costume only! When you want to see great Shakespeare set and costumed as closely as possible to how the Bard did, come see one of our Shakespeare shows
We will achieve these goals by presenting high quality productions of Shakespeare plays in period costumes for our two outdoor shows in the Thornden Park Amphitheater in June and August each year. The public is invited to attend the shows for free and encouraged to make donations to ensure the high quality of future productions.
We will achieve these goals by reaching out to CNY school-aged students through classes, workshops, in-school performances and field trips to Thornden Park based on current curricular needs. We will collaborate with as many community groups and funders as possible to widen and strengthen our productions.
The cast of "Merry Wives of Windsor" takes a bow after a rousing Saturday show in August 2018...