In the Riverdale Children’s Theatre’s spring production of “Seussical Junior!” Tony Award winners Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (“Once on This Island”; “Ragtime”) and a cast of 7- to 12-year-olds have lovingly brought to life all of our favorite Dr. Seuss characters, including Horton the Elephant, the Cat in the Hat, Gertrude McFuzz, lazy Mayzie and a little boy with a big imagination—Jojo. “Oh, the Thinks You Can Think” captures the show’s spirit of imagination as the colorful characters transport us from the Jungle of Nool to the Circus McGurkus to the invisible world of the Whos. There are two remaining shows this Sunday, May 20, at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Performances are at the RKA auditorium, 660 West 237th Street off Independence Avenue. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students. Stars of the show are Ava Ulloa, Ali Grossman, Anna Meo, Barak FellnerDublin, Basia Fellner-Dublin, Bianca Urbina, Bridget Quinn, Dafna Horowitz, Emma Kelly, Ethan Homan, Hannah Winter, Haylee Brown, Helena McHugh, Julia Cappell, Juliana Moriera, Kara McCourt, Karen Coughlan, Kiki Manuguerra, Lara Belton, Maya Bradley, Molly Egan, Nadja Diaz, Naveah Diaz, Perla Aquino, Raz Benyamin, Ruthi Wasserman, Ryan Staunton, Samantha Khitrov, Samantha Rosen, Sara Rose Greenburg, Sarah Egan, Sarah Laverty, Sebi Gonzalez, Sophia Moore, Sophie Black, Tristan Rodriguez and Tyler Rodriguez. Tickets are available online at riverdaletheatre.org.
May 20 park cleanup on West 232nd Street
The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation will devote part of Sunday, May 20, to clearing additional brush and debris from the wooded area along the south side of Seton Park along West 232nd Street between Independence and Palisade avenues. At the initial cleanup event on February 26, volunteers from all parts of Riverdale collaborated with the parks department in an impressive effort toward making the area cleaner and safer. The volunteers have formed an ad hoc group to continue the work, and we welcome others to join in this community project. The parks department will supply rakes and wheelbarrows for clearing light debris and spreading wood chips to create a simple, scenic path. Without the path-and with no sidewalkthose who take West 232nd Street along Seton Park to walk or bike along Riverdale Park must compete with vehicular traffic on a limited-visibility road. The scheduled timeframe for the cleanup is 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Please come dressed for outdoor work and bring sturdy gloves! For more information, call Sura at 718-543-6527.
BAE to present chamber music concert
The Bronx Arts Ensemble’s 3 pm chamber music concert on Sunday, May 20 at the home of George and Katrin Phocas at 5020 Goodridge Avenue in the Bronx features Broadway guitarist Scott Kuney
and BAE clarinetist Mitchell Kriegler. Concert program includes Robert Baksa’s “Nonet”, Luigi Boccherini’s “Quintet for Guitar and Strings in D, G.448 (‘Fandango’)”, and Johannes Brahms’s “Quintet for Clarinet and Strings”. Tickets to the May 20 concert are $25 and include an intermission reception to meet the artists. http://bronxartsensemble.org or 718.601.7399. Broadway musician SCOTT KUNEY is a prolific live and recording performer. His recent Broadway credits include “How to Succeed in Business With-
out Really Trying”, “Bye Bye Birdie”, “Spamalot”, “Assassins”, “42nd Street” and albums credits include “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”, “Strike Up The Band”, “Sing Your Song”, “Sounds of Brazil” and “Passage of Time”.New York City born ROBERT BAKSA is one of America’s most prolific composers. Mr. Baksa grew up in Tucson, Arizona and eventually earned a BA in Composition at the University of Arizona. He returned to live in New York City in the early 60s. He has written more than 500 pieces
7 The RIVERDALE REVIEW • Thursday, May 17, 2012
Riv. Children’s Theatre to present ‘Seussical Junior’
of music since his first efforts as a teenager. Since his earliest New York reviews critics have noted his melodic gifts, the structural clarity and harmonious nature of his music. His first pieces, short piano pieces written in the early 1950s, which he later arranged for wind trio, are still being performed around the world. His numerous choral pieces have been performed in many countries and his art songs have been featured in two recent studies on the subject of American Art Song. For the past three decades chamber music has been a major focus and he has written over 70 works for a wide variety of combinations as well as sonatas for most of the major instruments. Mr. Baksa serves as New Music Coordinator and Composer in Residence for the Pleshakov Music Center.