(Long Island, NY) Suffolk County Police Pattern Crime Unit detectives are investigating a bank robbery that occurred on Monday, November 9 in Shirley.

A man entered the Capital One, located at 800 Montauk Highway, approached a teller at approximately 5 p.m. and presented a note demanding cash. The teller complied and the man fled on foot through the parking lot in a southerly direction.

Suffolk County Police are investigating a bank robbery that occurred on Monday, November 9 in Shirley. Photo Credit: Chris Boyle.

The suspect was described as a white male, between 25 and 35-years-old, approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall to 5 feet 8 inches tall with a medium build. He was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, a baseball cap, sunglasses and jeans.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. All calls will remain confidential.

(Long Island, NY) Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman joined the Attorneys General of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington – who are leading the joint investigation by 47 states and the District of Columbia into Volkswagen’s import and sale of diesel vehicles – in issuing the following statement today:

“The cash program announced today by Volkswagen appears to be a goodwill gesture and nothing more. It in no way diminishes the seriousness of the deceptive practices and environmental harms that are the subject of the states’ investigation, or the determination of the Attorneys General of 48 jurisdictions to hold Volkswagen to account for its conduct.”

At the Ethical Humanist Society on Saturday, November 21, 2015 from 10 AM to 4 PM

(Long Island, NY) Hand-dyed silk scarves in shimmering colors, glass platters, silver bracelets with semi-precious stones and ceramic casseroles are some of the art works for sale at the Long Island Craft Guild’s third annual Fine Craft Fair on November 21. Unique gifts in all price ranges in clay, fiber, glass, paper and metal will be on display at the Ethical Humanist Society, 38 Old Country Road, from10 AM to 4 PM.

Admission and parking are free. The Ethical Humanist Society will hold a fund-raising snack sale during the fair. The EHS building, at 38 Old Country Road in Garden City, is two miles west of Meadowbrook Parkway next to the blue water tower. For more information, please visit www.licg.org or call the Long Island Craft Guild at 516-350-8984.

The Long Island Craft Guild is committed to the development of the crafts movement, and seeks to promote the exchange of information and experiences that will benefit both artists and the community. Membership in the Guild is open to all people interested in the creation and exhibition of fine craft. The LICG is an independent, non-profit educational organization. Since 1956, the Guild has provided educational and informational services, regular meetings and workshops, and a sense of community among crafts people. More information is on the Guild’s website, www.licg.org.

Ninety-four cents out of every dollar donated goes directly to programs that help 316,000 Long Islanders in need

(Long Island, NY) Island Harvest Food Bank is pleased to announce that its 22^nd Annual Taste of the Harvest Celebration raised $310,000 to help provide food assistance to more than 316,000 Long Islanders who face not having enough to eat each day. The event, which was held on Tuesday, October 20, 2015 at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, New York, was attended by approximately 480 business and community leaders, as well as friends of Island Harvest.

A combination of the efficient movement and storage of food, a resourceful staff and a corps of 5,000 dedicated volunteers, allows Island Harvest to put 94 cents out of every dollar donated directly towards programs and services, making Island Harvest one of Long Island’s best-known and most trusted nonprofit organizations.

Left to right: Ellen Sanders, co-chair, Island Harvest’s Chairman’s Council; Paul Fleishman, VP, Public Affairs, Newsday; Dave Widmer, co-chair, Island Harvest’s Chairman’s Council and Randi Shubin Dresner, president & CEO, Island Harvest. Photo Credit: Megan Miller.

This year’s Taste of the Harvest Celebration featured a sumptuous array of 36 of Long Island’s finest food establishments, which in an atypical fundraising style, treated guests to a sampling of a wide-variety of tantalizing gourmet food, desserts and local wine from some of the region’s best restaurants, catering facilities, dessert shops and vineyards. The occasion was also used to honor longtime Island Harvest supporter Newsday Charities, a McCormick Foundation Fund, for its funding of hunger-relief efforts on Long Island.

The Taste of the Harvest Celebration was co-emceed by K98.3 on-air personalities Jon Daniels and Tara Reifert.

Long Island businessmen Philip Wachtler, principal at Wachtler Knopf Equities LLC, and Gabriel Alonso, president/partner of Unitrends USA Inc., both of whom are long-standing, dedicated supporters of Island Harvest served as co-chairmen of the Taste of the Harvest Celebration. Corporate and other sponsors of the event included Unitrends USA Inc.; the Judy and Fred Wilpon Family Foundation, Inc.; the Frank J. Antun Foundation; Capital One Bank; Jill & Jay Bernstein; NIC Holding Corp.; Ellen & Harvey Sanders; Robin & Philip Wachtler; Carter, DeLuca, Farrell & Schmidt, LLP; MSC Industrial Supply Co.; Judy & Donald Rechler and Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc.

About Hunger on Long Island
Hunger is a state in which people do not get enough food to provide the nutrients for active and healthy lives. It can result from the recurrent and involuntary lack of access to food.  More than 300,000 Long Islanders face the risk of hunger every day, according to Island Harvest andFeeding America, a national hunger-relief organization. These are often hard-working adults, children, seniors and veterans who cannot always make ends meet and are often forced to go without food. Approximately 70,000 individuals seek food assistance in Nassau and Suffolk counties each week through soup kitchens, food pantries and other feeding programs served by Island Harvest.

About Island Harvest Food Bank
Island Harvest Food Bank is a leading hunger-relief organization that provides food and other resources to people in need. Always treating those it helps with dignity and respect, its goal is to end hunger and reduce poverty on Long Island through efficient food collection and distribution; enhanced hunger-awareness and nutrition-education programs; job training; and direct services targeted at children, senior citizens, veterans and others at risk. Approximately 94 cents of every dollar donated to Island Harvest goes to programs that support more than 316,000 Long Islanders. Island Harvest is a lead agency in the region’s emergency-response preparedness for food and product distribution, and is a member of Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity. More information can be found at www.islandharvest.org.

(Long Island, NY) Assemblyman Chad Lupinacci (R,C,I-South Huntington) issued the following statement regarding a recent report showing the gap elimination adjustment (GEA)  has lost taxpayers in Huntington roughly $12 million in state aid in the last six years. Babylon, a neighboring community, was reported to have lost $5.6 million in state aid.

“Our local school districts are tired of being shortchanged by Albany,” said Lupinacci. “Money was shifted more toward New York City schools than here in Suffolk County, which continues to negatively affect our students. The GEA has been a disaster for our state’s education system; cutting valuable student programs and extra-curricular activities is not the blueprint to an effective learning environment. Albany cannot continue to shortchange our young minds by taking away valuable education opportunities they deserve.”

(Queens, NY) The famous GingerBread Lane returns to Queens again this week. Its 500 square feet of sweet goodness will be in good company with classic plays, noir film, performance art, poetry, and Himalayan dumplings. Here’s the rundown.

Nov. 12, Nature of the Muse, 7:30 pm. Local poet Audrey Dimola organizes a fireside reading/live writing contest. Five authors share their work and then write live according to random prompts from the audience. LIC Bar, 45-58 Vernon Blvd., LIC, www.licbar.com.

Nov. 12, Taste of Woodside, 6 pm to 9 pm. Neighborhood restaurants offer samples of their cuisine during this fourth annual event. $30. Gulshan Terrace, 59-15 37th Ave., Woodside, www.woodsideonthemove.org.

Nov. 13, To Kill a Mockingbird, through Nov. 22. A stage adaption of the classical novel about a lawyer defending a wrongly accused African American man of rape in an Alabama town run under prejudice. (Nov. 13 at 2 pm and 8 pm; Saturdays at 2 pm and 8 pm; Sundays at 3 pm) $42/$25 for rear side seating. Queens Theatre, 14 United Nations Ave., S., Flushing Meadows Corona Park, www.queenstheatre.org.

Nov. 13, LIC Partnership’s Annual Trade Show, 9 am to 2 pm. The premier business-to-business trade show in Western Queens, featuring more than 100 exhibitors and thousands of attendees. Lunch with Senator Charles Schumer as keynote speaker. Astoria World Manor, 25-22 Astoria Blvd., Astoria, www.licpartnership.org.

Nov. 13, Rubble Kings, 7 pm. This documentary covers New York City from1968 to 1975, when hip-hop culture was born. Shan Nicholson, filmmaker, DJ, music producer, and storyteller, chronicles life during this era. Nicholson and Martha Diaz of the Hip-Hop Education Center speak after the screening. $12/$9 for seniors and students/$6 for children 3-12. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Kaufman Arts District, www.movingimage.us.

Nov. 13, New York Classical Players, 8 pm. Violinist Chee-Yun brings her flawless technique, dazzling tone and compelling artistry to a collaboration with the New York Classical Players in performances of Astor Piazzolla’s tango-inspired Four Seasons in Buenos Aires. NYCP also offers a more modern perspective on Latin music with Brazilian composer Ney Rosauro’s Marimba concerto, performed by Tomoya Aomori. Free. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd., www.flushingtownhall.org.

Nov. 13, Lonely Places: Out of the Past, 7:30 pm (and Nov. 15, 7 pm). Screened as part of a series on film noir in small towns, Out of the Past depicts a private eye who drifts from place to place, pursued by the consequences of his past mistakes. $12/$9 for seniors and students/$6 for children 3-12. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Kaufman Arts District, www.movingimage.us.

Nov. 13 & 14, Take Root, 8 pm. Erica Lessner’s choreography is an athletic juxtaposition of fluidity and high impact movements. Her newest work deals with gas lighting: a form of mental abuse in which false information is presented with the intent of making victims doubt their memory, perception, and sanity. The Gwen Rakotovao Company explores the connection between cultures and human beings with a message of hope that one day this connection will allow the gaps between generations, genders, judgments, and individuals to heal. $15. Green Space, 37-24 24th St., LIC, www.greenspacestudio.org.

Nov. 14, GingerBread Lane, through Jan. 9, 2016. Homemade gingerbread houses made entirely of edible gingerbread, royal icing, and candy. The houses are drafted, designed, baked, planned, built, and decorated by chef Jon Lovitch over an entire year. GingerBread Lane covers 500 square feet and has more than 1,050 structures. $15. New York Hall of Science, 47-01 111th St., Corona, www.nysci.org.

Nov. 14, Momo Crawl, 2 pm. This fourth annual event showcases Himalayan cuisine through its staple, the momo, which is similar to a Chinese dumpling. Meet at Diversity Plaza, 37th Road and 73rd Street, Jackson Heights, www.momocrawl.com.

Nov. 14, Percussia, 7:30 pm. Musica Reginae presents a concert comprised entirely of works written by Queens-based composers. Instrumentation includes percussion, harp, flute, and viola, and Percussia’s repertoire is an eclectic mix of contemporary chamber music, world and popular-music styles, and original arrangements. $20 adults and seniors/$10 students with ID. Children under 12 are free when accompanied by a paying adult. The Church-in-the-Gardens, 50 Ascan Ave., Forest Hills Gardens, www.musicareginae.org.

Nov. 14, Hands on History: Family Traditions, noon to 3 pm. Attendees have a chance to learn about King Family traditions, create their own family tree mobiles and silhouette portraits of loved ones, and tour the residence to witness portraits of the Kings firsthand. Free. King Manor Museum, 150-03 Jamaica Ave, Jamaica, www.kingmanor.org.

Nov. 14, A Musical Extravaganza, 7 pm. Legendary Irish crooner Donie Carroll shares the stage with pipers, step dancers, balladeers, and storytellers in this fundraiser for Mercy Centre USA, a nonprofit which supports a charity in Thailand that serves the poor, especially abandoned, abused, and trafficked children. $70. New York Irish Center, 10-40 Jackson Ave., LIC, www.newyorkirishcenter.org.

Nov. 14, Composers Collective, 7:30 pm. This concert showcases original short works written by Composers Collective members for orchestra and conducted by David Stech. The collective is a diverse group of emerging composers. $5 suggested donation. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd., www.flushingtownhall.org.

Nov. 14, The Great Dictator, 1 pm. A screening of Charlie Chaplin’s first talking film on the 75th anniversary of its release. Free. Quinn Building, 35-20 Broadway, 4th Floor, LIC, www.astorialic.org.

Nov. 14, Leaf Crunch 2015, 10 am to 1 pm. Help the NYC Compost Project rake leaves that will be composted and donated to local greening projects. Free. Forest Park’s Buddy Monument, Park Lane South at Myrtle Avenue, Richmond Hill, www.queensbotanical.org.

Nov. 14, The Reckless Moment, 2 pm; Kiss Me Deadly, 4:30 pm. Screened as part of a series on film noir in small towns, The Reckless Moment is about a blackmailer threatening a respectable housewife whose daughter accidentally killed a man. Kiss Me Deadly follows a crass private detective on a case that leaves a trail of bodies in its wake. He moves through a frighteningly dehumanized Los Angeles where absurdity, violence, and myth collide. $12/$9 for seniors and students/$6 for children 3-12. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Kaufman Arts District, www.movingimage.us.

Nov. 14 & 15, Itinerant Performance Art Festival, 2 pm to 5 pm. This event features works of local, national, and international artists. $8. Queens Museum, NYC Building, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, www.queensmuseum.org.

Nov. 15, The Doo Wop Project, 3 pm. Back by popular demand, Charl Brown, Dominic Nolfi, and their fellow Motown The Musical and Jersey Boys performers celebrate the songs of the great vocal groups of the 1950s. $40. Queensborough Performing Arts Center, 222-05 56th Ave., Bayside, www.visitqpac.org.

Nov. 15, Songs Unsung: Films by Xie Fei and Zheng Dasheng, 2 pm and 5 pm. Movies by two directors who were teacher and student at the legendary Beijing Film Academy. Their works, produced and released decades apart, share the same acute observation of Chinese society. $7. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd., www.flushingtownhall.org.

Nov. 15, Kristallnacht Service with Elizabeth Holtzman, 2 pm. Holtzman, a Brooklyn congresswoman for 42 years, presents the keynote address, “Bringing Nazi War Criminals in America to Justice,” at this annual event that includes a multicultural invocation and audiovisual and musical interludes. Queens College’s LeFrak Concert Hall, vicinity of Kissena Boulevard and Horace Harding Expressway, Flushing, www.qc.cuny.edu.

Nov. 15, An Afternoon with Harley Spiller, 2 pm. Spiller talks about his new book, Keep the Change: A Collector’s Tales of Lucky Pennies, Counterfeit C-Notes, and Other Curious Currency. $5. Voelker Orth Museum, 149-19 38th Ave., Flushing, www.vomuseum.org.

Nov. 15, Consider the Uncanny: A Panel Discussion, 3:30 pm. Related to the exhibition, the artists discuss the multifaceted concepts contained in the word “uncanny.” What does uncanny mean? How is it interpreted by the participating artists in their work? Why do these artists believe that figuration is the best way to convey the weirdness, the mystery, and the surreal of the “uncanny”? Free. Dorsky Gallery, 11-03 45th Ave., LIC, www.dorsky.org.

Nov. 15, Fertile Ground, 7 pm. This monthly new works showcase for emerging and established artists is in its tenth season. The non-curated performance features five or six choreographers and includes a post-performance discussion with wine and cheese, moderated by Artistic Director Valerie Green. $12. Green Space, 37-24 24th St., LIC, www.greenspacestudio.org.

Nov. 15, Nightmare Alley, 2 pm; The Amazing Mr. X, 4:30 pm. Screened as part of a series on film noir in small towns, Nightmare Alley traces the rise and fall of a crooked psychic. The Amazing Mr. X tells the story of a slick, fraudulent spiritualist who preys on a widow who yearns to re-connect with her husband, staging elaborate ghostly visitations. $12/$9 for seniors and students/$6 for children 3-12. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Kaufman Arts District, www.movingimage.us.

Nov. 18, Multiple Girlhoods: Growing up in Bosnia Before and During the Civil War, 12:10 pm. Jasmina Dervisevic-Cesic, a Bosnian genocide survivor, discusses her book, The River Runs Salt, Runs Sweet, which documents her experience. During the genocide, she lost her husband, two brothers, uncle, grandmother, and countless friends, as well as her right arm. Professor Amy Traver offers commentary and context based on her studies on growing up during war. Queensborough Community College, Medical Arts Building, Room 136, 222-05 56th Ave., Bayside, www.qcc.cuny.edu/khrca.

The “It’s In Queens” column is produced by the Queens Tourism Council with the hope that readers will enjoy the borough’s wonderful attractions. More info at www.itsinqueens.com.

November 16

(Long Island, NY) The International Studies Program will host Shelly Culbertson, a policy analyst at the RAND Corporation, as she delivers a lecture on the education of Syrian refugees in Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon at Adelphi University on Monday, November 16, 2015, at 1:00 p.m. in the Center for Recreation and Sports, Campbell Lounge Room 1, Garden City, NY. The free event, held in conjunction with International Education Week, is open to the public.

Ms. Culbertson holds an MA from the Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. She co-led a multi-year effort to advise the Ministry of Education of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq on improving its K-12 and vocational education systems. Prior to joining RAND, Ms. Culbertson worked as a Foreign Affairs Officer on the Turkey Desk for the U.S. Department of State. She has a book in press on trends shaping the Middle East, to be published in 2016 by St. Martin’s Press.

For more information about this and other events on campus, please visit adelphi.edu, or call the Cultural Events Hotline at (516) 877-4555.

About Adelphi University
New York’s Adelphi University is a nationally ranked, doctoral research university where students succeed by gaining the skills, knowledge and resources to thrive as professionals and active citizens in an interconnected and fast-paced global society. Today, nearly 8,000 students from 38 states and 46 countries pursue degrees in person and online through Adelphi’s eight distinguished schools and programs—the College of Arts and Sciences, the Gordon F. Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, the Honors College, the Robert B. Willumstad School of Business, the Ruth S. Ammon School of Education, University College, the College of Nursing and Public Health and the School of Social Work. Chartered in 1896, Adelphi is known for offering a personalized education—one is which students are mentored by talented and committed faculty members and readily find opportunities to initiate, innovate, explore and understand. With dynamic learning hubs on Long Island, in Manhattan and in the Hudson Valley, Adelphi serves communities, both regionally and globally, through the research and practice of its faculty, the collaborative initiatives undertaken by its centers and programs, the staging of distinguished cultural events and, most essentially, the education of future leaders and informed citizens.

‘Most Technologically Advanced Anatomy Visualization System in The World’

(Long Island, NY) It’s the most technologically advanced anatomy visualization system in the world, according to its manufacturer, and Suffolk County Community College has one of only three in the northeastern United States. Welcome to teaching and learning in the 21^stcentury.

The Anatomage virtual dissection table is being adopted at leading medical schools and institutions to allow life-like and never before available interaction and visualization of the human body and its systems.

The table – about the size of a hospital bed with a touchscreen surface — uses three-dimensional imagery from digitally scanned specimens to allow students to perform a life-size, virtual dissection via touchscreen interface. The table can render limitless views of the human body in flawless detail.

Suffolk County Community College Biology Professor Peter Smith demonstrates the Anatomage Table. Photo Credit: Victoria Pendzik, Suffolk County Community College.

Students can zoom in on or rotate different structures and virtually remove individual organs, according to Suffolk County Community College Professor of Biology Dr. Peter Smith.

“The table is a remarkable technological tool that provides students with a 360-degree view of anatomical structures and their relationship to one another,” Smith said.

“We can look at the body through three dimensional visualization, “Smith explained, “and all of the body’s structures can be annotated. This is what teaching anatomy in the 21st century is all about.”

Suffolk County Community College Biology Department Chair Dr. Rosa Gambier summed up the unique versatility of the new technology.

“The Anatomage table is a true 21st century teaching tool. It permits Biology students not only to study Human anatomy but it is a good addition to general biology classes that include animal anatomy.  It includes in its programming the possibility of virtual dissection of  cats and dogs. The table will help to reduce the use of preserved specimens, a more humane and sustainable approach to the study of vertebrate anatomy,” Gambier said.

Students using the Anatomage virtual dissection table. Photo Credit: Anatomage.

“The table,” explained Suffolk County Community College President Dr. Shaun L. McKay, “while advanced, is also a natural extension of what students are familiar with because it functions much like a tablet computer. We are extremely proud to bring this new tool to our college and to our students while fulfilling our mission of incorporating innovative teaching and learning strategies into our classrooms.”

The technology allows students to visualize skeletal tissues, muscles, organs and soft tissue and further customize the interaction by virtually slicing, layering and segmenting the anatomy. The selections can be rotated or flipped to accommodate any viewpoint.

Work with an actual cadaver requires many chemicals, there needs to be a facility to house them (Suffolk County Community College was the only community college in New York with a cadaver lab), there is a great deal of regulation in working with cadavers, and there is recurring costs associated with them.

With the Anatomage table, one table can give countless students the ability to work with a body, enlarge or rotate systems and bisect and remove parts.

According to Anatomage, the manufacturer of the table, Suffolk County Community College is one of  only 21 colleges nationally, the only college in New York State and one of only three in the northeastern United States to be teaching utilizing the virtual dissection table.

(Long Island, NY) “While it is disappointing that New York was given a ‘D-minus’ ranking for state government ethics, it is not surprising. Scandal after scandal has rocked New Yorkers’ faith in their elected representatives and no meaningful ethics reforms have been passed due to Senate Republican obstructionism. The Senate Democrats have advocated for cleaning up Albany and restoring the public’s trust in our state government but have been repeatedly stymied by the Senate Republican Majority. Maybe now Senate Republicans will be convinced that New Yorkers and the nation expect and deserve more and they will finally work with us to enact real ethics reforms.”

BACKGROUND:

• 2015 Senate Democratic Conference Release on Closing the “LLC Loophole:” http://www.scribd.com/doc/263268502/Senate-Democratic-Conference-Calls-For-Passage-Of-Critical-Ethics-Reform-To-Close-The-LLC-Loophole#scribd
• 2015 Senate Democratic Conference Ethics Reforms Release: http://www.scribd.com/doc/255205271/Senate-Democratic-Conference-Introduce-The-Clean-Up-Albany-Legislative-Package
• 2014 Senate Democratic Conference Ethics Reforms Release: http://www.scribd.com/doc/222382517/05-06-14-Ethics-Reform-Bill-Package-Release
• 2014 Leader Statement on Need to Clean Up Albany:  http://www.scribd.com/doc/250254027/12-16-14-Statement-on-Ethics-Reform-Push
• 2013 Senate Democratic Conference Ethics Reforms Release: http://www.scribd.com/doc/136063151/04-15-13-Ethics-Reform-Bill-Package-Release

Follow on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/NYSenDems

New York State Senate | DemocraticConferenceNews@nysenate.gov | 518-455-2415

November 9-28 – Public Performances Start November 13

(Long Island, NY) Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts is pleased to announce the cast of this November’s Literature Live! production of John Steinbeck’s OF MICE AND MEN, directed by Joe Minutillo. Performances will be held at the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, NY from November 9 to 28. Public performances will be presented on Friday’s and Saturday’s November 13-14, 20-21, and Thanksgiving Weekend November 27-28 at 7 pm. Matinees will be held on Sunday, November 15 at 2 pm and Thanksgiving Weekend Saturday, November 28 at 2 pm. Groups and weekday show times vary and are open to the public based on availability. Tickets on sale now at the Box Office at 631-725-9500 or online at www.baystreet.org.

The cast is made up of many local actors from Shelter Island, East Hampton, Hampton Bays and Calverton who have participated in a variety of programs at Bay Street Theater, as well as actors from New York City. The cast includes Preston Truman Boyd (Lennie), Joe Pallister (George), Terry Brockbank (Candy), Josh Gladstone (Boss), Jon Kovach (Curley), J. Stephen Brantley (Slim), Georgia Warner (Curley’s Wife), Sawyer Spielberg (Whit), Chauncy Thomas (Crooks). Many of the cast members have participated in Literature Live productions such as To Kill a Mockingbird, The Crucible, and The Diary of Anne Frank, as well as in Bay Street’s Mainstage productions. Fight direction is by Rick Sordelet.

Chauncy Thomas, Georgia Warner, Preston Truman Boyd, Joe Pallister. Photo Credit: Bay Street Theater.

Bay Street Theater is again offering the FREE Student Ticket Initiative for all students. Schools have the opportunity to bring students to the theater to get a unique understanding of the subject matter by witnessing the characters from great plays and novels living and breathing and telling their stories right before their eyes. Literature Live! has served students from Wyandanch to Montauk.

Georgia Warner. Photo Credit: Bay Street Theater.

“Since the start of this program seven years ago, we’ve brought nearly 10,000 students from 53 schools across Long Island,” says Tracy Mitchell, Bay Street Theater’s Executive Director. “In working to ensure that theater remains accessible, this year we are once again offering the Free Student Ticket Initiative. And we’ve seen a large jump in the number of students attending because of it. I hope everyone will take advantage of this opportunity.”

Joe Pallister and Preston Truman Boyd. Photo Credit: Bay Street Theater.

John Steinbeck’s classic American novel, OF MICE AND MEN is a compelling tale of friendship and survival in the time of the Great Depression. George and Lennie are two migrant farm workers who dream of one day owning their own piece of land. But when Lennie gets too close to the wife of the boss’s son, George must choose between protecting his friend and staying the course towards his version of the American Dream. Steinbeck was a proud resident of Sag Harbor.

Joe Pallister, Terry Brockbank, Preston Truman Boyd. Photo Credit: Bay Street Theater.

OF MICE AND MEN follows the themes of strength and weakness. It also plays on the idea of the American Dream and how most in the novel never get to experience the life they hoped they would live. During the time of the Great Depression, people worked toward what they saw as the American Dream in an effort to overcome poverty. The novel and play explore human nature in regards to isolation and loneliness. Steinbeck reveals through the play that oppression comes not only from the powerful and strong, but also from the meek and poor. The struggle of power and isolation is still relevant to students today. The fully-staged professional production and its supporting programming offer students the unique opportunity to explore this classic tale and its themes in a variety of ways.

Preston Truman Boyd. Photo Credit: Bay Street Theater.

“The entire experience is supported with teacher-developed Common Core-aligned lesson plans and reference materials available for use immediately upon booking,” says Ava Locks, Bay Street Theater’s Director of Education.

In addition to the performances, audience members can begin to explore a more detailed history of Steinbeck in Sag Harbor and of conditions of migrant workers on the East End during the Great Depression through post-show talkbacks and Q&A sessions. For select performances, speakers from the Long Island Parent Center, John Jermain Library, and the International Society of Steinbeck Scholars will explore topics that include Steinbeck’s writings, The Great Depression, and the acceptance of people with visible and invisible disabilities.

Preston Truman Boyd and Chauncy Thomas. Photo Credit: Bay Street Theater.

Bay Street Theater will also collaborate with local organizations and artists to additionally enhance audience members’ experience. In addition to the speakers, Bay Street Theater is partnering with The Bridgehampton Museum (The Bridgehampton Historical Society), who will provide historical artifacts that will anchor the exhibit’s themes of farming and migrant workers on the East End. In addition, The Roger Memorial Library will provide historic audio and visual files (Talking Histories) of local farm families. Images and graphs will be displayed in order to illustrate the impact of the Great Depression both locally and globally. Canio’s Books will provide an East End and Steinbeck centric presence in the lobby with merchandise for purchase.

Preston Truman Boyd and Joe Pallister. Photo Credit: Bay Street Theater.

In addition, the lobby will also include information about the theater production process by explaining the terminology and showing images and sketches from the rehearsal process through the show’s opening. The seven year history of Literature Live! will be exhibited through pictures and a map of participating local and regional schools.

All Students are FREE with a valid ID and adults $27-50. To book groups or to buy single tickets, call the Box Office at 631-725-9500 or buy online at www.baystreet.org. The Box Office is open Tuesday through Saturday 11 am to 5 pm.

Bay Street Theater is proud to announce that the Century Arts Foundation has provided a challenge grant that will match donations dollar for dollar up to $50,000 in order to continue the FREE STUDENT TICKET INITIATIVE, which allows students to attend performances for free.

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts is a year-round, not-for-profit professional theater and community cultural center which endeavors to innovate, educate, and entertain a diverse community through the practice of the performing arts. We serve as a social and cultural gathering place, an educational resource, and a home for a community of artists.