Theater Buffs

"Albany Distilling Co. Bar and Bottle Shop
75 Livingston Avenue
Albany NY 12207
518-949-2472

No charge to attend the event.

If you would like to read a selection, you need to register for a reading slot."

https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/10C0C45A4AD2FA3FBC16-64742927-public?useFullSite=false

"Sign up to read a passage from the novel and be part of this unique tribute to William Kennedy's storytelling.

The event is free and open to the public.

No registration is necessary to attend, but readers are asked to sign up for a reading slot by Friday, November 6.

Please choose one slot per person for now. Additional slots may become available if we still need readers.

Join us for a celebration of Roscoe, William Kennedy's landmark novel of Albany politics, circa 1945, in all its crooked splendor: the backroom dealings and no-bid contracts, the patronage and no-show jobs, the vote buying and bags of cash, the kickbacks, bribes and assorted inducements, not to mention the city-sanctioned gambling halls and prostitution rings!

Bring your favorite ward heeler, crooked judge, or any friend or relative looking for a place on the payroll!

In previous seasons, we've hosted marathon readings of Kennedy's novels, Ironweed in 2023, Billy Phelan's Greatest Game in 2024, and Legs in 2025.

Our cosponsor, Albany Distilling Co., maker of Ironweed whiskey, is located in the North Albany neighborhood where William Kennedy grew up, and where some of the fictional scenes in the Depression-era narrative take place.

About the book:

“Thick with crime, passion, and backroom banter” (The New Yorker), Roscoe is an odyssey of great scope and linguistic verve, a deadly, comic masterpiece from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ironweed.

It's V-J Day, the war is over, and Roscoe Conway, after twenty-six years as the second in command of Albany's notorious political machine, decides to quit politics forever. But there's no way out, and only his Machiavellian imagination can help him cope with the erupting disasters.

Every step leads back to the past—to the early loss of his true love, the takeover of city hall, the machine's fight with FDR and Al Smith to elect a governor, and the methodical assassination of gangster Jack "Legs" Diamond.

Donations will be collected at the door to benefit the food pantry and free meal outreach at Sacred Heart Church, 33 Walter St. in Albany, which was Kennedy’s childhood parish."

The above description is taken from the NY State Writers Institute's website:

https://www.nyswritersinstitute.org/roscoe

"November 18-22, 2026 - Studio Theatre
A Doll’s House
by Henrik Ibsen
A New Version by Amy Herzog
Directed by Kea Trevett

Almost 150 years after Ibsen’s play first shocked audiences and brought in a new era of theater with its “door slam heard round the world,” playwright Amy Herzog’s sharp new English adaptation reawakens the story of Nora Helmer and brings the essential truths of this classic drama into relief for a contemporary audience. Directed by Visiting Assistant Professor of Acting Kea Trevett, A Doll’s House follows the psychological journey of the perfect 19th-century banker’s wife who throws it all away when her life comes apart at the seams and the true structure of her world reveals itself.

Advance tickets: $20 general public/$15 students, seniors, & UAlbany faculty-staff
Day-of-show tickets: $25 general public/$20 students, seniors, & UAlbany faculty-staff."

The above description is taken from the UAlbany Theatre Productions website:

https://www.albany.edu/musicandtheatre/theatre-productions

Penned by the celebrated team that also brought us Once in a Lifetime and The Man Who Came to Dinner, this classic comedy won the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was adapted into an Academy Award-winning Best Picture the following year.

The story centers on Alice, the only relatively normal member of the wildly eccentric Sycamore family, who falls in love with Tony Kirby. Unfortunately, the match faces fierce opposition from Tony’s snobbish mother and wealthy banker father, culminating in a chaotic dinner party where the two distinctly different families meet.

suggested donation $20

early dinner after the show

https://maps.app.goo.gl/3Zn6JgwryDarwp3e6