Shakespeare on the Hudson

Annamaria on Monday

On this past Thursday, Hudson Valley Shakespeare cut the ribbon on its new home: The Samuel H. Scripps Theatre Center.

HVS has been a blessing on my life, since my involvement from its inception in 1986, first as a fan and for the past 20+ years, as a member of its board of trustees.

Over those decades, there have, of course, been times when things were not going well. After all, no adventure worthy of the name is always fun when you're going though it.  There were a few times when HVS got very close to the edge of a cliff.

In terms was its home, it began in a gorgeous place: on the banks of the Hudson River, fifty miles north of Times Square.  A place where the hills are still green thanks to the determination and spectacular generosity of environmentalists. HVS literally pitched its tent on on the east side of the river, on the grounds of Boscobel House and Gardens, without which HVS would never have gotten off the ground (so to speak). 

Over time, thanks to its artistic excellence, HVS outgrew that home.  

But the company had no where else to go.  And no spare funds to buy itself a new place to live. 

What followed was an act of this play replete with a brilliant, but perhaps impossible solution, hard work, a great deal of nail biting, determination, spectacular generosity, more good luck, good will among groups of people, more nail biting, some seemingly miraculous luck, and even more unbelievable generosity by hundreds of people, absolutely brilliant architects, and ultra capable builders.  The company now has this gorgeous theatre on 98 acres overlooking the majestic Hudson.

I highly recommend a visit, not just to see the beauty of its location, but to enjoy (with the accent on JOY) a wonderful performance of a play.  This summer, here are the choices:

I'll be seeing all of them.  At least once.

You can tell.  Right now I am doing the happy dance!