"Nine the Musical," Based on Fellini's Film "8-1/2," Opens at Irvington Town Hall Theater on Saturday

Nine the Musical opens at the Irvington Town Hall Theater on Saturday, March 17, 2012. The play, presented by Clocktower Players, is a revival of a Broadway production based on the Federico Fellini 1962 film "8-1/2." It will run for five performances and close on March 25. Clocktower Players has been the resident theater company for Irvington Town Hall Theater for the past 34 years.

The musical opened on Broadway in 1982 at the 46th Street Theatre and went on to win five Tony Awards including Best Musical. A revival in 2003 earned two more Tony's. (Music by Maury Yeston and book by Arthur Kopit.)

The play is about Guido Contini, an acclaimed, middle-aged Italian movie director in crisis—his marriage is in trouble, writer’s block has set in and a deadline looms for his next picture. In his search for a solution, imagination becomes his strength—he recalls the women he has loved and himself as a nine-year-old.

Westchester County contributes heavily to the cast and crew.

Producer/director Cagle McDonald is a native of Hastings-on-Hudson and a graduate of the Theater Department of Indiana University. She ran the Cagle & Company Arts Warehouse in Dobbs Ferry before joining up with Clocktower Players in 2006. McDonald has produced and directed more than two hundred shows and also started Rivertowns Teen Summer Stock, a theater program in which hundreds of area teens and college students have participated.

The play's central character Guido Contini is played by Keith Gilroy who grew up in Ossining and acted at this theater 30 years ago. He was the founding artistic director of BareBones Productions and in addition to acting has produced shows off-Broadway and overseas.

Production designer David Lovett is from Irvington and production manager John McDonald is a resident of Hastings-on-Hudson. The music is directed by George Croom, a Pelham Manor resident.

Fifteen of the 22 cast members are from Westchester County:

• Guido Contini (Keith Gilroy, Ossining)
• Luisi Contini (Jennie Berkson, Hartsdale)
• Claudia Nardi (Laura Donaldson, Tuckahoe)
• Liliane La Fleur (Nellie O’ Brien, Yorktown Heights)
• Lina Darling (Rene O’Neal, White Plains)
• Stephanie Necrophorus (Elise Godfrey, Ossining)
• Our Lady of the Spa (Elaine Healy, Irvington)
• Mama Maddelena (Liz DiMeo, Larchmont)
• Young Guido (Jack Finegan, Pelham Manor)
• Italian woman (Alicia Fine, Hastings-on-Hudson)
• Italian woman (Katy Wood, Sleepy Hollow)
• Italian woman (Helen Berman, Somers)
• German woman (Kathy Wolf, Hastings-on-Hudson)
• German woman (Libby Whitely, Croton on Hudson)
• German woman (Evelyn Milman, White Plains)

The cast also includes:

• Carla Albanese (Mary Elisabeth Kimbark, Garnerville, NY)
• Guido’s mother (Margaret Young, Southfields, NY)
• Italian woman (Jennifer Jonas, Goshen, NY)
• Italian woman (Carrie Silvernail, Poughkeepsie, NY)
• German woman (Debbie Mengert, Peekskill, NY)
• Sarraghina (Lauren Gulliver, Stamford, CT)
• German woman (Melissa Delancey, Manhattan)

The staff and crew include chorographer Josue Jasmin, stage manager Doug Shearer, sound engineer Jack Kennedy, master carpenter Dan Riola and front-of-house manager Barbara Wright.

The 432-seat Irvington Town Hall Theater was built in 1902 and restored in 1977. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Tickets are priced at $20 and $30. The curtain rises at 7:30 p.m. on March 17, 23 and 24. The performances on March 18 and 25 begin at 2 p.m. The Irvington Town Hall Theater is located at 85 Main St., Irvington, NY. The box office phone number is 914-591-6602. www.irvingtontheater.com