WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR STAGE DOOR. From Piaa Haas, Westchester Broadway Theatre. November 9, 2008:

It’s a Wonderful Life, Frank Capra’s classic film has been brought to vibrant theatrical life through the remarkable collaboration of Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning librettist & lyricist,  Sheldon Harnick and Grammy and Emmy Award winning Composer, Joe Raposo.  The delightful Musical, A Wonderful Life, faithfully follows the plot of the beloved 1946 film which starred Jimmy Stewart. The film was, in turn, based on a 1938 short story by Philip Van Doren Stern called “The Greatest Gift.”  It opens at Westchester Broadway Theatre November 20 running through February 8.

Frank Capra’s classic film has been brought to vibrant theatrical life through the remarkable collaboration of Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning librettist & lyricist,  Sheldon Harnick and Grammy and Emmy Award winning Composer, Joe Raposo.  The delightful Musical, A Wonderful Life, faithfully follows the plot of the beloved 1946 film which starred Jimmy Stewart. The film was, in turn, based on a 1938 short story by Philip Van Doren Stern called “The Greatest Gift.”

Set in 1945, the musical tells the tale of George Bailey, an average Joe, who spends a lifetime sacrificing his own ambitions for the sake of others and continually setting aside his own dreams in order to keep his late father’s building and loan business afloat.  When the greedy banker, Mr. Potter, manufactures a scandal that threatens to send him to jail, George contemplates suicide, and it’s up to a wingless angel named Clarence, coming down from Heaven by order of St. Matthew, to convince him of his own worth. 

A WONDERFUL LIFE was performed for the first time at the University of Michigan in 1986 and had a successful run at Washington, DC’s Arena Stage in 1991. The show continues to be a favorite of regional theatres across the country.

Our production stars Duke Lafoon as George Bailey and Darin DePaul as Angel-wanting-wings, Clarence. Arch nemesis, Mr Potter is played by William McCauley. Juli Robbins will be seen as George’s model wife, Mary Bailey. Featured are Ann-Ngaire Martin (of Chappaqua) as Ma Bailey,  Ryan Foy (of the Vaudeville Foys!) as Harry Bailey, Bob Stoeckle as Tom Bailey,  Jack Hallett as Uncle Billy, PJ Baccari as Ernie, Darrel Blackburn as Bert, Julie Cardia as Mrs Martini & Mrs Hatch, Brian Cooper as Sam Wainwright, and Tara Geisler as Violet Bick.   The ensemble includes; Kendall Kelly, Peter Marinos, Ronnie Nelson, Michael Scibillia, Katie Sina, and Shannon Lea Smith.

The Bailey Children will be played by Sofia Hantzaridis of Tarrytown, Sarah Heinzmann Of Ridgefield, Ct., Sharon Rosenthal of Armonk, Sofia Singer of North Salem and Cosmo Zappoli of Dover Plains      

Richard Stafford, who directed our critically acclaimed BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, GYPSY, THE FULL MONTY and CATS, is the Director and Choreographer, with Jonathan Stahl as Associate Director and Stephen Purdy is the Musical Director.  The winning production team includes Steve Loftus (Set Designer), Andrew Gmoser (Lighting Designer), Jon Hatton (Sound Designer), Gail Baldoni (Costumes) and Victor Lukas (Production Stage Manager).

DUKE LAFOON (George Bailey) is reprising this wonderful role at WBT. He was last seen here in Are We There Yet?  Duke last appeared as Edward in the new musical Ace at Signature Theatre. New York credits include I Love My Wife (Queens Theatre), The Drama Desk nominated production The Audience (Transport Group) and as a singing Bill Clinton in Monica the Musical at MTC. Some favorite regional credits include Father Flynn in Doubt at Barksdale Theatre, Clifford in Sideman with Company of Fools and Ace at The Old Globe. TV/Film: Iron Clads for TNT and as Jack Epps in the CBS miniseries Sally Hemings starring Sam Neill

DARIN DEPAUL (Clarence) Broadway: “Dr Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas”. National Tours: “Little Shop of Horrors”, “Fiddler on the Roof”, “Guys & Dolls”, “Funny Girl”.  Off Broadway: Classical Theatre of Harlem, NYMF.  Regional: Paper Mill Playhouse, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, California Music Circus, Stages St. Louis, Barter Theatre.  Film: “Julie & Julia”, featured voice in “Ice Age”, “Robots” and the short “No Time For Nuts”.  Television:  “Law & Order”, “Miami Vice”, “USA Up All Night”, Nickelodeon’s “Welcome Freshmen.

RICHARD STAFFORD (Director/Choreographer) On Broadway, Mr. Stafford was the choreographer for In My Life (Music Box Theatre), the associate choreographer for Aspects Of Love (Broadhurst Theatre), and dance supervisor for CATS (Winter Garden Theatre) Off-Broadway he was the associate director for Summer’69 (John Houseman Theatre) and associate choreographer for The Middle Of  Nowhere (Astor Place Theatre) National Tours include CATS (director/ choreographer), My Fair Lady (choreographer), Joseph/Dreamcoat (choreographer, starring Debbie Gibson and Patrick Cassidy)-Troika Entertainment.  Mr. Stafford also has extensive Regional credits, including Dreamgirls (North CarolinaTheatre), Director and Choreographer for Singin’ In The Rain, Crazy For You,  Fame,  Swing,  Cats (North Shore Music Theatre), Disney’s Beauty And The Beast (Walnut Street Theatre and Ogunquit Playhouse), The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas (Ogunquit Playhouse starring Sally Struthers),  Grossinger’s (premier, starring Gavin Macleod) and Dodsworth (premier, starring Hal Linden) both at Pittsburgh CLO.  Mr. Stafford won the Barrymore Award for outstanding choreography for La Cage Aux Folles at the Walnut Street Theatre.  He is happy to return to WBT, where he previously directed Gypsy starring Karen Mason, The Full Monty, and CATS.

 TICKETS & INFORMATION

BOX OFF. RESERVATIONS          Call (914)-592-2222. Open every day at 10am.                   

                                                             Closing times vary, depending on show sched­ules.

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WPCNR CITY HALL CIRCUIT. From the Mayor’s Office. November 9, 2008:  Mayor Joseph M. Delfino and the White Plains Veterans Committee announce details of the Veterans Day Ceremony to be held Tuesday, November 11, 2008 at the Soldier’s and Sailor’s Monument in the Rural Cemetery on North Broadway.  Beginning at 10:30 a.m., the event will feature the recollections and insights of speaker Dom Blum, survivor of the worst naval disaster in our nation’s history.

Mr. Blum was among the crew of 1,196 on board the USS Indianapolis on July 30, 1945, when it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Philippine Sea and sank within twelve minutes.  Those sailors who did not go down with the ship were left floating in shark-infested waters with no lifeboats and little food or water until they were spotted by accident four days later.  Mr. Blum was one of the 316 men still alive.

Mayor Delfino thanks the Jewish War Vets Post  #191 for hosting the event and invites all residents and visitors.  “It’s important for all of us to take time out to pay tribute to those who have sacrificed so greatly in the name of freedom and liberty,” he said.           

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WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. By John F. Bailey. November 5, 2008: Governor David Patterson appeared at a Budget Town Meeting tonight  in White Plains, before a pre-selected audience of 200 prominent officials and key persons at the County Center where he took questions on the state economy and the financial sector revenue crisis. The Governor promised significant pain ahead as the legislature convenes November 18 to address more revenue cuts.

Governor David L. Patterson taping a PBS TV Town Meeting in White Plains Wednesday Night.

The governor said his mandatory 4% Property Tax Cap was still in play, that he had met with the School Superintendents Association and the New York State Teachers, and that they had suggested ways that the property tax cap could work, and that the two groups could see the property tax cap working. The Governor did not elaborate, and in the 15-minute press conference afterwards, there was no question was asked to go into detail on that development.

The governor made clear that if districts were hurt by a 4% property tax cap to the point where their performce would suffer, the governor allowed that the state could help out with more financial aid. He said the purpose of the cap was to force school districts to moderate their spending. He said that districts could choose to submit  budgets taking property taxes  beyond cap limits, that they were not limited to it if voters approved it. He said a Circuit Breaker tax relief program (favored by the Assembly earlier this year,  limiting the amount of property tax based on income, did not address the problem of encouraging school districts to throttle back spending. He said he regretted the state senate had passed a property tax cap because it pressured the Assembly prematurely and inhibited discussion.

In the question and answer session that was videotaped by WNET Channel 13, the governer said he was going to establish an office to respond to inquiries from foreign investors as a way to spur investment in the New York State economy.

In an effort to trim state medical  expenses, he said he and state health organizations were going to work with the federal government to get an increase the reimbursement for Medicare that New York gets from the federal government, currently at 50%. Governor Patterson noted that other states receive as much as 80% reimbursement from the federal government. He reported that New York State contributed some $88 Billion dollars to Washington, and that if the state received just 10% of that in aid, it would eliminate this year’s projected  current budget deficit($2 Billion), and take care of the projected 2009-2010 deficit to boot. 

The governer said that in his address to Washington last week, (he  made a plea for  federal aid for the state due to the dramatic downturn in Wall Street revenue), that considering how much New York State contributed to the federal government, the request was not so much a bailout, as a “handback.”

He said the state had some 300 infrastructure projects “ready to go” across the state, which could be begun with federal help, and hoped that an economic stimulus package would be coming from Washington to be able to start the state on some of those projects under the new Obama administration.

In response to several questions from health and social service organizations concerned about “balancing the budget on the backs of those most in need,” the governor said it was his job to make equitable and fair cuts across the board, and that  he felt terrible about having to do tha  “your conscience bothers you even though you know you’re doing the right thing.”

The government said health care programs at small businesses would be aided by possibly cutting taxes on small businesses. This policy, WPCNR notes, might indicate that property tax reform via means of a establishing a separate tax rate for commercial properties in Westchester County, might certainly be off the table in the governor’s thinking, but WPCNR did not get the opportunity to ask this question of the governor or the bill’s sponsor, Adam Bradley. 

The governor said he hoped to resuscitate the New York economy by attracting more research into more green energy technology at the state’s research campuses.

In a question asked by White Plains attorney Mark Weingarten, asking how the state might spur development in the state, Governor Patterson said that the state has not responded well to foreign inquiries about moving to New York State. He said he would change this by establishing an office to handle and entice foreign investment into the state. He said he was inclined to offer large tax incentives to businesses seeking to relocate in New York given the present shortfall in revenues. He also said he did not want to increase taxes on businesses due to the flight of businesses from the state when this was done in the past.

On the matter of the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement, the Governor said the financing of that project ($16 Billion) was under study, but he would not sell the bridge project to a private entity. He said a committee had been formed to study financing options (a public-private partnership) that would report in January.  He ruled out selling state assets such as highways and bridges.

The governor said he had met with four legislature leaders Wednesday morning at their request to discuss the upcoming November 18 budget trimming session, and he was gratified they had reached out to him to address the current year $1.5 Billion deficit, which the governor felt would end up at $2 Billion. He did not elaborate on the substance of the discussion.

Paul Schwarz of White Plains asked about affordable housing funds availability in the present crisis. The Governor said he has asked state agencies to look into how they can streamline the redtape process of arranging the funding for these projects (municipal and closely held bonds), which has long delayed the start of these projects. (The Kenisco Terrace project in White Plains, and the Horton’s Mill project on Silver Lake were delayed some five years, awaiting finalization of such funding.)

The governor closed the meeting saying that his purpose was to get the state to spend within its revenues to avoid this happening in the future. He said the state could not depend on Wall Street revenue coming back as strongly as in the past (constituting 20% of state revenues).

This was was not a spontaneous meeting. It was initiated by the governor based on a request by Channel 13 WNET in New York for a phone-in program. The Governor’s office suggested a televised town meeting format. Attendees were invited by invitation. Questions were submitted just prior to the taping, written and submitted upon arrival by invited participants to the television show.

 Channel 13 hosts and producers selected from the questions submitted; arranged the order, and called upon the writers of the questions to answer them. Persons coming in off the street in hopes of speaking, were allowed in the conference room when producers found they had enough room.

 The audience included many legislative and local dignataries, including Assemblypersons Adam Bradley, Amy Paulin, Richard Brodsky, Sandra Galef. WPCNR did not notice any representatives from White Plains city government.  The audience was not exclusively Westchester County, either. A similar town meeting format would be held upstate in the near future.

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WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2008. November 5, 2008:  Senator Barack Obama of Illinois defeated Senator John McCain in Tuesday’s Presidential Election with a plurality of 4-1/2 Million votes, taking Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and piling up the  electoral votes for a 334 to 155 electoral margin. When Mr. Obama was declared the winner in California at 11 P.M. the victory touched off spontaneous outrpourings of citizens in celebrations in Washington, D.C., Manhattan and cities across the land. In Ann Arbor, Michigan, students poured out into University of Michigan  quad filling the famous square, then marched through the streets chanting the President-Elect’s name.

An historic Front Page.

The Moment of Victory: 11 P.M.: CNN Calls California.

Multitudes await the President Elect at Grant Park in Chicago as Dr. Martin Luther King’s  Dream Comes True. Hundreds were crying at the emotion of the moment. One of the enduring images was seeing the Reverend Jessie Jackson, tears streaming down his cheeks.

The President Elect Addresses the Multitudes.

President Obama in a short, eloquent acceptance speech adopted a conciliatory demeanor, reaching out to voters who did not vote for him, saying “I am going to need your help,” and “I will be your President, too.” He said America would “rise and fall as one nation as one people.” He urged the public to a higher aspiration, to rise above “partisan pettiness,” that he would “heal the divide that has held back our progress.” He said, “out of many we are one.” He said what distinguishes America is “the enduring power of our ideas: democracy,liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope” ” is the true genius of America.” He ended his speech with his theme, “Yes, we can:”

To read the complete text of President-Elect Obama’s speech, go to http://news.aol.com/elections/article/obamas-victory-speech-in-chicago/238195?icid=200100397x1212337596x1200821344

Democrats Seize Slim Margin in New York State Senate

In Tuesday local state elections,  New York State Democrats  won a 32-30 majority in the State Senate. Locally State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer won reelection to represent the 37th Senate District Tuesday, defeating challenger Liz Feld  by 62% fo 38% of the vote (66,656 to 40,569). Assemblyperson Amy Paulin defeated White Plains Anthony Pilla for another term in the 88th Assembly District, 69% to 31% (30,690 votes to 14,088). Assemblyman Adam Bradley, running unopposed in the 89th Assembly District  has been returned to a fourth term in the Assembly.

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WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey. November 3, 2008: The Common Council asked to approve the appointment of David Birdsall, a man described by the mayor as having twenty years of budgeting and planning financial experience in the business world, and the best person available, declined the appointment by a vote of 5-2, with Councilpersons Dennis Power, Milagros Lecouna, Thomas Roach, Rita Malmud and Benjamin Boykin voting to deny the appointment and the Mayor and Councilman Glen Hockley voting to approve.

The primary objection was what the council perceived to be a lack of experience in municipal finance.  Councilperson Malmud also criticised the Mayor for not informing the council of the decision to hire him. The Mayor introduced Mr. Birdsall around City Hall before the council was informed of the decision to hire him, and this particularly seemed to irk Ms. Malmud.

Betty Wallace, the city Personnel Director, said they had advertised extensively in the business press in August.

The Mayor said he was shocked that the council had not informed him they were going to vote the appointment down.