WPCNR WHITE PLAINS VARIETY. By John F. Bailey. July 22, 2003: Tony Stimac, Executive Director of the Helen Hayes Theatre Company in Nyack, and his co-producer Jeffrey Rosenstock of Queens Theatre In the Park are about to undertake the challenge of their careers. The duo must produce a fall schedule for the White Plains Performing Arts Center in 70 days with as of Tuesday, July 22, no stage, no lights, no seats, no nothing in place at the big empty space where the theatre is supposed to be created at City Center.

What “S & R Productions” do have is a just-released repertoire of what WPCNR sees as attractive programming scheduled for their own respective theatres, Helen Hayes in Nyack and QTIP in Flushing. Using those schedules as a base, S & R may just pull off a show business “Miracle on Main Street,” should they move some of these productions to the City Center’s WPPAC.

Stimac’s programming lineup at Helen Hayes is classic entertainment with a creative twist, beginning with Jackie Mason’s pre-Broadway premier of Laughing Room Only from September 19 to October 5. Mr. Mason’s show is described on the HHTC website as “a new musical comedy revue.” Could Mr. Mason’s show be eventually performed at the City Center? Mr. Mason’s new vehicle is scheduled for a September 19 to October 5 run at the Helen Hayes in Nyack.  

Stimac follows up Mr. Mason’s entry with The Mancini Project from October 18 to November 2, and it ballyhooed as a “haunting new musical based on the timeless music of Henry Mancini.”

The Music Man,  a revival of the 1950s musical, is the Helen Hayes big holiday show running from November 29 to December 28.

Across the Whitestone Bridge in Flushing, Jeffrey Rosenstock’s Queens Theatre In the Park, after being dark for two months, begins what appears to be an eclectic and intriguing mix of programs, their Latino Cultural Programming Schedule July 30. Mr. Rosenstock presents 15 different performances in two weeks, with a Latino accent, showcasing singers, dance troups, poetry reading in night after night of festive summer fare. QTIP’s website has a spectacular rundown of all 15 performers scheduled.

Rosenstock has scheduled a diverse mix of dance programs: Ailey II, on October 11, DeLunares Danza in November, a flamenco and Spanish dance troup, and in the spring, American Ballet Theatre Studio Ballet is scheduled to perform as well as Dance Brazil, specialists in Afro-Brazil dance with live music.

Mr. R. has programmed  four theatre productions for QTIP: My Cousin’s Wedding, from October 24 to November 2,  a premier of a comedy based on a misdirected wedding invitation; Meshugga-Nuns, from December 5 to 14, a musical revue; a mystery play, Agatha Christie’s A Murder is Announced, and a revival of the 1970s musical hit, I Love My Wife.

These two lineups offer Rosenstock and Stimac intriguing options for the first six months of White Plains Performing Arts Center program. Could they lure Mr. Mason into one last tune-up before he heads to Broadway in October? Could they schedule performances of any of their productions  either before or after they appear at their own respective theatres? The possibilities are there.

Meanwhile, it is up to Mr. Cappelli’s construction company G. H. Fuller to put up the inside “guts” of the theatre, as designed and "spec'd" by National Amusiments and their architect in 70 days for an October opening as planned.

For more on the productions at Mr. Stimac’s Helen Hayes Theatre Company and Mr. Rosenstock’s Queens Theatre In the Park, go to their websites, www.hhtco.org and www.queenstheatre.org.