Merryall Center to kick off season May 17

NEW MILFORD, Conn. — In a matter of days, an iconic arts center in town will open with a reinvigorated energy.

Patrons of Merryall Center will find the traditional offerings of musical performances but will also discover expanded offerings.

“I’m very excited,” said board member Paul Rajeckas. “Everyone is on board to make things work and that’s exciting.”

The season, which kicks off May 17, will include singer/songwriter programs and musical performances and, new this year, storytelling events and two one-person plays. 

These events will be presented using new, updated technology and equipment, courtesy of grants, according to Dean Gray, vice president of the center’s board of directors.

“We want a consistent level of quality with the sound and stage,” said Gray, who is a playwright and stage manager who has produced plays in New York City.

The addition of storytelling-based events stems from board members’ discussions and the presentation of a program by The Moth, a storytelling organization, introduced last year at the center by Rajeckas.

“This storytelling has an audience,” Rajeckas said, referring to the success of The Moth and a poet-performer Kane Smego last year.

“We hope it’s a big hit,” he said of his and fellow board members’ outlook for this season.

In addition to bringing in more storytelling-based events, board member Alice Schuette is excited to bring another new event to the center, “Expressing Motherhood: Stories of Motherhood Shared on Stage,” this fall.

“Expressing Motherhood” is a stage show highlighting local voices and stories that explore the journey of motherhood. Five-minute submissions of spoken word, monologue, skit, or song are being accepted for the October showcase.

Expressing Motherhood was founded in 2008 in Los Angeles and  debuted there, followed by off-off-Broadway, and other cities around the country. 

Schuette participated in an Exploring Motherhood event in Ridgefield several years ago and, after joining the board, suggested the center bring it to Merryall.

“Immediately I thought, ‘Let’s bring this [here] because it’s the perfect venue,” she said. “I thought it’d be so cool to do.”

The arts center aims to offer performances that normally wouldn’t be offered in this area; events that most would have to go NYC to experience.  

Schuette said it’s wonderful to have opportunities to perform at venues in the Tri-State area, but to have a unique venue like Merryall so close to home. 

This year the board is also looking to expand its reach in the community.

Rajeckas said the education committee, which he chairs, is exploring enrichment programs and a potential in-school program to inspire and teach youth about creative expression through theater and storytelling. 

UPCOMING

The season will open May 17 with a storytelling event, “Not Your Father’s Storytelling,” which will include seven storytellers from New York City and the Northeast.

Neil Intraub will serve as host for the program with Moth Grand Slam/Story Slam winners who have been spotlighted on PBS’ “Stories from the Stage.”

Storytellers are Intraub, Gastor Alamonte, Hamden Azhar, Erin Barker, Dave Fromm, Tracey Starin, and Jay Wong.

Other storytelling events will include Bill Bowers’ one-person play, “It Goes Without Saying,” June 7; Rajeckas’ one-man play, “Notes to the Motherland,” Sept. 13; and “Expressing Motherhood: Stories of Motherhood Shared on Stage,” Oct. 4.

The season’s musical events will open with gala and performance with Frank Brocklehurst and His Merry All-Star Band May 31. Frank Brocklehurst will head things up on bass, with Lanny Ball on piano, John Keilty on guitar, and Avery Collins on drums.

The quartet of musicians will add their jazz chops to the music performed by Felicia Michael, Nick Petrone, Violet Willows (Brianne Chasanoff and Mary Gardner), Missy Alexander and Bill Petkanas.

Other performers this season will include Lisa Stephen Friday; Joe Crookston; Deni Bonet and Chris Flynn; Rob Brereton, Nick Patrone, Noelle Chave, Emily DeMasi, Missy Alexander, Bill Petkanas, George Mallas, and Susanna Marker, who will perform “A Journey through Laurel Canyon;” The Rough & Tumble; Seat of Our Pants; Red Dirt Girls; Caravan of Thieves; Laurie McCallister of Red Molly; Michael Ford; Violet Willows and Laura Schuler; and a double bill of music Aspetuck Frame Drummers and Hiroya Tsukamoto.

In addition, the center will be the venue for three Sherman Chamber Ensemble performances this year, “Celestial Sounds” July 11, “Sounds for a Summer Evening” Aug. 1, and “Bartok’s World” Aug. 29. 

Open mic nights will be offered June 10, July 8, and Aug. 12. Patrons are invited to sign up to perform two songs, a story, a handful of poems, or eight minutes of standup comedy beginning at 6:30 p.m. each open mic night. 

Workshops will include a two-day Merryall Tales workshop led with Intraub, who will help participants craft and perform a five-minute personal narrative June 21-22 and a singing workshop, “The Authentic, Believable Singer,” with Laurie MacAllister of Red Molly.

A screening of the locally filmed “Candlewood” will round out the season. 

The house seats 75 and has a spacious deck that overlooks the  West Aspetuck River. The center is handicapped accessible. For more information, visit https://www.merryallcenter.org.

Courtesy of Merryall Center for the Arts/A gala event with bassist Frank Brocklehurst and friends will kick off the 2025 season May 17.

Deborah Rose/The Merryall Arts Center is located on Chapel Hill Road in New Milford.

Deborah Rose/A sign inside the lobby of the arts center celebrates the center's founders.

Deborah Rose/A spacious deck offers views of the West Aspetuck River.

Courtesy of Merryall Center/Laurie MacAllister co-founded the beloved Americana trio Red Molly, which released seven acclaimed albums and toured both the U.S. and internationally. In 2018, she launched a solo career. She will perform at the center this season.