Chathamites to Honor Late Lee Nordholm

A memorial service for the longtime resident, artist and volunteer will begin at 3 p.m in Summit.

A memorial service is being held Friday, May 20 at Calvary Episcopal Church in Summit for longtime Chatham resident Lee Nordholm, who passed away on April 14 after a short illness. Known for her tireless volunteering in many aspects of Chatham, Nordholm’s passion was the theatre. “The first thing she did when she moved to Chatham [in 1966] was to see if there was a theatre,” said Christina Nordholm, Lee’s daughter, who said Nordholm moved to Chatham from Ohio in 1966. Nordholm got involved with the Chatham Community Players right away, helping direct and produce children’s theatre productions.She was given the Dawler award for her longtime service to the Players. As a tribute to her, the Chatham Community Players will rename their annual …

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Get Out

'Beyond Therapy' Closes This Weekend

Everything you need to plan your weekend.

Welcome to the Get Out/Grab & Go column! For your convenience Patch has combined these two columns and will run them Thursdays , so you can plan your weekends with some of the many activities happening in the Chatham area. Here are this week's picks: ‘Beyond Therapy’ by the Chatham Community Players Where/When: On Friday and Saturday, at 8 p.m. at Chatham Playhouse. Why Go: Because the play is about relationships, psychology, and the unexpected effects that therapy can have on someone who is looking for romance. Pricing: $20; $18 for people younger than 18 or 65 or older Gail Chesnut Plaque Dedication Where/When: On Saturday at 8 p.m, at the Chatham High School A/B Gym. Why Go: Because Gail Chesnut taught physical education at Chatham High…

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On Stage: A Peek At The Performing Arts

There’s No Easy Answer When It Comes to 'Sniper'

Bonnie Culver’s play inspired by a 1970s high school shooting takes stage in Somerset.

On Dec. 30, 1974, Bonnie Culver got into her car in a parking lot in Olean, N.Y. and headed back to her home in Port Allegany, Pa. It was about 10 minutes into her drive when an emergency broadcasting system alert came over the radio. Shots had been fired out of Olean High School toward the parking lot from which Culver—then a recent college graduate—had just driven away. The shots were fired by Anthony Barbaro, a 17-year-old student, and the incident is generally acknowledged as the first high school shooting. It is, of course, something that stayed with Culver, who went on to become a writer and teacher. She first tried writing a play about the shooting in the 1980s, put it away and wrote about 10 other plays before going back to it. “…

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On Stage: A Peek At The Performing Arts

1980s Tale: Timeless Love, Dated Phones

Chatham Players finds laughter in romance and psychiatry with Christopher Durang's "Beyond Therapy."

The Chatham Community Players are taking audiences back to the 1980s, and they’re not using a souped-up DeLorean or a hot tub time machine to get there. Instead, the group is closing out its 2010-11 season with Christopher Durang’s Reagan-era comedy “Beyond Therapy” at the Chatham Playhouse through May 21. And while the play’s tale of two people trying to find love is timeless, other elements are steeped in the decade that gave us Huey Lewis, leg warmers and the Rubik’s Cube. Scott Tyler and Tara Cioletti star as Bruce and Prudence, two New York singles who are both in therapy, hoping that it will help them find the right someone. They meet after Bruce’s shrink suggests he place a personal ad in the newspaper. That’s right, an ad in an …

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Chatham Community Players Performance Goes Above and 'Beyond'

'Beyond Therapy' begins three-week run at Chatham Playhouse.

As Bruce, the male protagonist of “Beyond Therapy,” describes his reasons for wanting to marry uptight female protagonist Prudence, he describes himself as constantly fluctuating between traditional and normal actions and those that could be considered extreme or insane. That constant fluctuation fits the description of just about every aspect of the play, as well as the performances brought to the stage this weekend by the Chatham Community Players for the first part of the show’s three-week run. The play focuses on Bruce and Prudence—he a positive thinker who does and says exactly comes to his mind, and she an uptight woman looking to find companionship by answering—as they try to balance their unusual relationship. Complicating the …

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On Stage: A Peek At The Performing Arts

From the Keyboards of Children ... Compelling Theater

The Madison Young Playwrights Festival gives budding writers a chance to shine.

The Playwrights Theatre in Madison will soon be alive with stories about a conflict between Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, the backstage drama of an “American Idol”-like belly dancing competition, and a young girl who learns something about herself when she becomes famous. Pretty interesting and pretty diverse, right? But all of these plays have something in common—they're written by Madison students in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades. Those plays and others are part of the 25th Annual Madison Young Playwrights Festival at the Playwrights Theatre March 26. The festival will feature 21 plays written by students who started their journey to the stage with a 10-week residency program in the fall.  “We have a teaching artist who’s either…

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Chatham Players' 'Glengarry' Does Mamet Justice

Community theater presents stunning performance of Pulitzer prize-winning drama.

In a well-done production of "Glengarry Glen Ross," the tension is palpable the minute the first characters take the stage. And on the opening weekend of David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play by the Chatham Community Players, the tension hung in the air like fog from the moment the lights came up. The play depicts two days in lives of four real estate salesmen who are desperate to make sales as they compete to get their names on “the board” and win a Cadillac. The play’s title comes from the two Florida developments they are selling – Glengarry Highlands and Glen Ross Farms. Shelly Levene, played with a touching mix of strength and vulnerability by Michael King of New Providence, is the oldest of the salesmen and down on his luck. He …

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Five Things You Need To Know Today

Two Chances to Attend the Theater

All the essential information you need to get you through your Friday.

Whether you are in the mood for drama or comedy, Chatham has something for everybody Friday night! Read all about it in the Five Things You Need to Know Today column:

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On Stage: A Peek At The Performing Arts

Don't Pick a Pocket or Two—"Oliver!" Isn't That Pricey

Mark Carovale directs and stars in classic show at Brundage Park Playhouse.

Directing a show isn’t easy, and neither is acting in one. So imagine how tough it is to do both. That’s the challenge Mark Carovale faces as he not only directs “Oliver!” at theBrundage Park Playhouse in Randolph, but also stars as Fagin. Pulling double duty is something Carovale has done on occasion, usually if an actor gets sick during a run, but it’s not his preference. “It’s not something I like to do, because you then can’t watch the show during performances and correct things that may be wrong," he said. "In the case of this show, my choreographer [Frank J. Burns Jr.], who is also a close friend, watches for me and comes back with notes about the performances. It’s always good to have someone you can rely on to watch if you can’t.” …

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The Week in Review

Winter Storm Takes Out Power for 540 Chathamites, and Other News from the Week

Think you missed anything in the Chathams this week?

The weekend can be a relaxing time, especially if you plan ahead. We found a few places for you to watch Sunday’s Super Bowl game without going too far, and put up a two pairs of tickets to Cheryl Wheeler at the Presbyterian Church of Chatham Township on Saturday night. But in case you think you missed anything in the Chathams this week, here we present the Week In Review: As always, Chatham Patch brought you updates throughout the winter storm that came through this week. At one point an estimated 540 Chatham residents were without power, schools closed and sports were canceled. The new director of Public Works in Chatham Township has had his work cut out for him since taking over on Dec. 31, and Morris County is set to receive FEMA aid …

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