Guild Prepares for Centennial Follies Launch Party

This past Saturday the talented directing, musical, and acting talent of the 2011 Palm Beach Centennial Follies came together to rehearse for the Launch Party which will take place Sunday December 19, aboard the Mariner III yacht.


Pictured are writer Pat Crowley, director Barrie Ingham, and actor Scott Hammond.


What is the Follies?
The Palm Beach Follies is a unique tradition in Palm Beach since 1928. The Follies generally occur every five or six years and make it their goal to benefit local charities. The most recent productions occurred in 2005 and 1989 and benefited the Four Arts’ Hulitar Garden and the Palm Beach recreation center respectively. Besides the Palm Beach Theater Guild, other local charities have been asked to share in the net proceeds of the 2011 Centennial Follies. The event is a-political. It intends to bring the community together in celebration of the Town’s 100th Anniversary through our shared pride, humor and history.

The Story
The Centennial Follies is a book musical that follows a younger couple on their second marriage who visit Palm Beach to celebrate the Centennial. Staying in plush accommodations at a historic local hotel called “The Crashers”, the couple explores the glamorous Island life. They investigate real estate, shop for schools for their children, shop on Worth Avenue, go to a gala, take in a town council meeting, pick and join a club, etc. The drama is whether they will stay and make Palm Beach their new home or not?

Meanwhile, we present a good-natured spoof of our town with the humorous participation of the “ghosts” of Palm Beach’s illustrious history-- including Henry Flagler, Marjorie Merriweather Post, Colonel E.R. Bradley, and Addison Mizner-- not to mention some yet to be announced celebrities, living and dead.

Who’s doing the production?
The Centennial Follies is primarily an amateur production with a sprinkling of professional actors, directors, stars, and celebrities. This year we are blessed with Broadway veteran and Royal Shakespeare Company member Barrie Ingham, who will direct. Barrie, co-produced Hans Christian Andersen (with Harold Fielding) at the London Palladium and directed the international tour of Gypsy. Barrie also recently starred in Jekyll and Hyde on Broadway and has played countless musical theater roles opposite talented luminaries such as Angela Lansbury and Sarah Brightman.

The book for the musical or libretto, which will spoof Palm Beach, was written by Palm Beach Post columnist Frank Cerabino, Palm Beach Post cartoonist Pat Crowley, Palm Beach Daily News columnist Paulette Cooper Noble, Paul Noble (former television producer), Barrie Ingham, Patrick Henry Flynn, and Mia Matthews.

We will be casting primarily Palm Beach actors. Our second audition will be Saturday January 15 from 10:30a-5p at Bethesda by The Sea Church in Palm Beach. If--and likely when-- we need to cast the net broader (especially for the people who are not here until after Christmas) we will hold a second round of auditions in January (same times) on January 21 & 22. We will have six weeks of rehearsal beginning in mid-February.

The Centennial Follies is a remarkable community enterprise. We really need you to participate. We look forward to working with you on this production and laughing and learning about our town.

Palm Beach Theater Guild shows its casual side

By Shannon Donnelly
Daily News Society Editor

NANTUCKET — Paula and Bob Butler’s summer home on the Nantucket bluffs was the setting for a casual cocktail buffet honoring the Palm Beach Theater Guild.

A ‘casual’ cocktail buffet?

This is Nantucket. What other kind is there?

The event, co-chosted by Patrick Henry Flynn, Peter Karlson and Danielle deBenedictis, Stephania Conrad, Phil Byrne, Chris and Jane Deering, Sheila Palandjian and Patrick Warner Flynn, took place July 29.

The reception welcomed members of the Theater Guild who were visting Nantucket, and also celebrated the publication of Memories for the Future: A History of Palm Beach’s Royal Poinciana Playhouse.

Guests included Franklyn DeMarco and Betsy Frye, Bob Crowe, J and Nancy Parker, Phil Byrne, Susanne MacDonald, Betsy and Bill Delphos, Jean and Bill Koeppell, Charles Revson and his wife, and Orty and Maureen Woodward.

Interview with Christopher Plummer

A SALON IN PALM BEACH

Photos by: Tom Tracy

It was a different Palm Beach crowd at Veronica Atkins-Mersentes and her husband Alexis’ spectacular penthouse, overlooking Palm Beach and the Royal Poinciana Playhouse. Unlike the usual rubber chicken sit-down benefits or cocktail parties in the winter playground, the Mersentes party was more of a salon for partisans who want to preserve their historic theater in Palm Beach.

Christopher Plummer and his wife, Elaine


Ogunquit Playhouse Director Brad Kenney, Joe Day and Lindsay Turner

Christopher Plummer and his wife, Elaine, were guests of honor with the small committee that included Palm Beach Theater Guild President, Patrick Henry Flynn, Winston and Helen Guest, Car Magnate, Chuck Schumacher and his wife Amanda, Philadelphian Dr. Elizabeth Bowden, Bostonian Dyanne Tosi, Broadway producer Ralph Guild, and Newporters Richard and Suebelle Robbins.

Gloria McCarthy, Pianist David Crohan, and Rena Damone

Plummer signed books in the library. David Crohan, the piano virtuosos, from Café Europe in Palm Beach and Martha’s Vineyard, tickled the ivories in the main salon. He was spelled by concert pianist, Marina Arsenvich, who played and was joined by the host Veronica Atkins Mersentes. She sang, “Dark Eyes”, a Russian Folk song that has a lilting gypsy melody.

During the salon, Patrick Henry Flynn lived up to his names and gave a brief oration about saving the beleaguered Royal Poinciana Playhouse and changing its use from a touring or booking house to a regional subscription theater. We expected “Give me the Royal Poinciana Playhouse or Give me Death,” But later, Bostonian and Palm Beacher, Flynn said that, “The historic, landmarked theater is fifty-one years old. In South Florida that is the equivalent of saying in Boston, Paul Revere slept here.”

Listening to Flynn was Broadway theater owner, Jimmy Nederlander and his wife, Charlene who jetted back to Palm Beach from St. Croix from an anniversary celebration. Nederlander’s partner, Terry Allen Kramer, threw an intimate dinner party for thirty-two last week, to save the landmarked playhouse. But Nederlander and his son James and Margo Nederlander had to miss the dinner because they were in the islands.

Larry Leamer and Alexis Mersentes

Best Selling author Larry Leamer whose recently published “Madness under the Royal Palms” is being talked about by everybody in Palm Beach, shared some witticisms with Christopher Plummer who finished the book that day, and commented that it read like a novel.

Kathy Craft, Patrick Henry Flynn and Mary Coviello

Others there included Bradford Kenney and Artistic advisor to the Palm Beach Theater Guild who runs the historic Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine, Harland and Ann Riker, Cathy and John Lively, Art Critic Gary Schwan and New Orleans travel maven, Pamela Pipes.

Amanda Schumacher and friends.


Suebelle Robbins, Nancy Parker and Ashley Copeland.

The Palm Beach Theater Guild is a non-profit advocacy group that has been engaged in a four year court battle to save the historic theater by renting it and changing it from a commercial booking venue to a regional subscription based Playhouse featuring significant American plays and musicals with stars.

by: Lenna Warner

Town Council gave Royal Poinciana Playhouse second chance at splendor

Letter to the Editor, Palm Beach Daily News
Saturday, December 06, 2008

As a nonresident of Palm Beach and a theater enthusiast, I was especially pleased to have participated in the informational network supporting the landmarking of the (Royal Poinciana) plaza and the entire Playhouse.

Renowned architect John L. Volk gave as much attention to the design of its interior as to its exterior Regency-style architecture.

He paid particular attention to the functionality of the Playhouse as a venue for live performances by designing a two-plane acoustical curve across the stage proscenium, creating the best acoustics for a theater of its size in the country.

Attending performances at the Playhouse was always a memorable occasion. Its graceful and spacious stadium-style seating and unmarred sight line from every seat in the auditorium were always noted and valued. The colonnade of Regency-style arches, and a splash of red created a glamorous setting of excitement in anticipation of what was about to take place on stage.

Having worked until recently for the State of Florida in the field of historic preservation, I am thankful to the Palm Beach Town Council for allowing the cultural community this opportunity to resurrect the Royal Poinciana Playhouse, with its quality materials, elegant design and functionality, to its former dignity and splendor.

The will and the need are there for bringing a valued and truly missed Playhouse back to serve as a cultural venue for the residents of Palm Beach and the Palm Beach region.

Bonnie Dearborn

Boca Raton

Royal Poinciana Plaza Landmarked

NOVEMBER 12, 2008
PALM BEACH, FLORIDA

The Palm Beach Town Council today voted three to two in favor of landmarking the Royal Poinciana Plaza.

“We are so grateful for the support of council members David Rosow, Susan Markin and Gail Coniglio,” said Patrick Henry Flynn, President of the Palm Beach Theater Guild which has lead the three year campaign for landmarking.

“In a year of political surprises, this was the biggest one,” Flynn continued. “We hope to work with the developers to create a new plan for the complex.”

_______________________________________________

Patrick,

From Niagara-on-the-Lake, Congratulations! This is wonderful news! And, it’s about time!

Jim Bratton

Arthur Oldham II

November 9, 2008

Palm Beach Town Council
360 South County Road
Palm Beach, FL 33480

Dear Council Members,

I urge you to think of Palm Beach as a unique haven, rather than just another Florida community where condos rule the roost. If the Playhouse goes, why not the Flagler Museum? Surely there is a developer who can find a way to shrink Flagler for the right to install residential units.

The Playhouse, like Palm Beach, is a gem. I grew up in New York City and worked there for some years, so I have attended almost every theatre there. I also lived in London for a year and visited a majority of those theatres. But our Playhouse stands at the top of the list when you consider its many outstanding features, which include sighting, acoustics, seating comfort, and appropriate size for so many of our best plays that were not written for stadium-size settings.

I have one actor friend, James Karen*, who began his career on Broadway and has played in our Playhouse twice. He tells me his heart would be broken to hear the Playhouse was lost.

Mine too.

Sincerely yours,

Art Oldham II
Palm Beach, Florida

*His films include Wall Street, Jagged Edge, and The Pursuit of Happiness.