Hudson Warehouse Kicks Off  15th Season With ROMEO AND JULIET

Hudson Warehouse Kicks off their 15th Anniversary Season with the most famous love story of all time, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, starring company members Patrick Harman and Patrina Caruana, directed by Nicholas Martin-Smith. Mr. Martin-Smith sets the story in modern day Boston where Juliet Capulet and her family come from an old, established Italian "Family," led by Don Capulet, played by Joseph Hamel. They feud with the rough and tumble Irish family, The Montagues. It's to this family that the boxer and poet Romeo belongs.

Director Nicholas Martin-Smith says of his adaptation, "This is our 15th Anniversary, a real milestone season, so I wanted to give our audience what they wanted, a big, classical story, and honestly, Romeo and Juliet is probably the most famous story in the world. This is, at its heart, a love story - until, in a split second, it turns into something so dark, so tragic, from which no one can recover.

Hudson Warehouse has been working closely with the New York City Department of Corrections. They have been invited to take this riveting production of Romeo and Juliet into the jails of the DOC, at the Manhattan and Bronx jails. They rehearsed scenes with the inmates in the Manhattan jails recently. So far, The Warehouse has brought their productions in the Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Bronx jails and look forward to bringing this story for those inmates for whom the arts are inaccessible.

On May 6th, 2018, Council Member Helen Rosenthal presented Hudson Warehouse a Proclamation from the City of New York for bringing arts to the community for the past fifteen years. Executive Director, Susane Lee says, "This honor and recognition from the city has been incredibly thrilling for all of us at Hudson Warehouse. This Proclamation truly supports all the hard work of doing outdoor theater and we thank everyone who has been a part of our theater family for helping us get recognized by the city, by our community."

Director Martin-Smith has created the stage with Romeo's mother, played by Jane Seaman, as a bar owner of an Irish pub. Romeo spends his time in the local YMCA, where the Coach, Friar Laurence (Paul Singleton) does drug counseling and advises the young people who come to the gym. Romeo is joined by his cousin Benvolio (Jamie Flanagan) and his extended Irish family: Abraham (Travis James), and Balthazar (Linda Elizabeth). The gym is also a favorite hangout of the Capulets, led by Tybalt (Caleb Carlson), Samantha (Mae Cutrona) and Gregory (Fabricio Santos). Mercutio (Vince Phillip), a close friend of Romeo's, is neither Montague nor Capulet, so can mingle with both families and observes the escalating tensions due to the brutal gang mentality of the two families.

In the eye of the hurricane, a love story blossoms as Lady Capulet's (Sabrina Seidner) daughter, Juliet, falls in love with the son of their enemy, Romeo. Juliet finds a protector in her Nurse (Roxann Kramer) and her assistant, Peter (Roger Stude), as her family pressures her to accept the hand of a suitable gentleman, Paris (George Redner). The Prince (Peter Sullivan) is played as a Boston cop who struggles to maintain a simmering standoff between the two rival families that finally explodes into violence and tragic death.

Fight director for this production is Patrick Harman, who plays Romeo, and Costumer is resident Costume Designer, Emily Parman, who has been nominated for The New York Innovative Theater Awards for two Warehouse Productions: She Stoops to Conquer and Much Ado About Nothing.

Director Nicholas Martin-Smith

Producer Susane Lee

Stage Manager David Tocci

Cast:
Juliet Patrina Caruana

Romeo Patrick Harman

Capulet Joseph Hamel*

Lady Capulet Sabrina Seidner*

Lady Montague Jane Seaman*

Friar Laurence Paul Singleton*

Mercutio Vince Phillip*

Peter Roger Stude

Tybalt Caleb Carlson*

Nurse Roxann Kraemer*

Benvolio Jamie Flanagan

Prince Peter Sullivan

Paris George Redner

Balthazar Linda Elizabeth

Abraham Travis James

Gregory Fabricio Santos

Samantha Mae Cutrona

Costumer Emily Parman

Fight Director Patrick Harman

Assistant Stage Managers Grace Terdoslavich, Danielle Boss

ROMEO AND JULIET previews on June 7th and opens on June 8th. Performances are June 7th - July 1st, Thursdays - Sundays at 6:30pm at The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument on West 89th and Riverside Drive. Outdoor performances are on the north patio. All performances are "Pay What You Can," with a basket being passed at the end of each show. There are no tickets; just show up and grab a seat on the benches or steps of the monument. It is strongly suggested that you arrive no later than 6:15pm. Running time: 2 hours.

Take the Number 1 Subway to West 86th Street, walk to Riverside Drive, walk north 3 blocks to West 89th Street. Walk into Riverside Park and at the monument, take the path that winds behind the monument to the north patio. Or Take the Express 2 or 3, or the Local 1 to West 96th Street. Walk west towards Riverside drive. At West 91st street, walk into Riverside Park, taking the path towards the Monument until you find the north patio. We are wheelchair accessible. Please email us at hudsonwarehouse89@gmail.com to reserve a wheelchair space on the night you wish to attend.

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