Staten Island summer theater rises again for first time since COVID: ‘Emotional tie for all of us'
The borough's summer theater is operating again for the first time since COVID swept through the city half a decade ago — and the stars of the show are celebrating the return like a family reunion.
Ten families and countless friend connections make up the cast of this year's 'Fiddler on the Roof' production — relying on their close-knit links to bring the little Russian town of Anatevka to life on the CUNY College of Staten Island stage.
11 Lee Tennenbaum and BJ High rehearsing for their roles as Golde and Tevye in a production of 'Fiddler on the Roof' at the College of Staten Island on July 24, 2025.
N.Y.Post/Chad Rachman
11 High performing in a scene with Claire Scala (Fiddler) at rehearsal.
N.Y.Post/Chad Rachman
'It was really important for me to bring the connections that I had growing up so that it felt like an emotional tie for all of us,' said Bronwyn Fugate, the show's director and choreographer, to The Post.
'Myself and many of the cast members are community theater kids that grew up with our families doing theater,' Fugate said. 'We were the generation that would sit and watch our parents create lighting design or be the directors or be on the stage.
'It was a no-brainer that these were the people that I wanted to be the inhabitants of Anatevka because that is kind of the heartbeat, the pulse of Anatevka.'
More than 90 people auditioned for the inaugural community theater production show, with 46 people and an orchestra of 10 musicians making the final cut.
11 'Fiddler on the Roof' is the College of Staten Island's first summer theater production since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
N.Y.Post/Chad Rachman
11 The cast of 'Fiddler' rehearsing choreography for the show.
N.Y.Post/Chad Rachman
The cast and crew have been in intense rehearsals five days a week since the end of May — and have their eyes set on a July 31 opening night.
As grueling as the process has been, the players said they treat the experience like a homecoming and an excuse to spend time with one another — especially those who are sharing the stage with their own families.
BJ High, 46, said he is honored to play the leading man, the impoverished milkman Tevye, with his wife and son at his side.
11 BJ High, a retired NYPD officer, is performing alongside his wife Christie and son Liam.
N.Y.Post/Chad Rachman
11 The cast of 'Fiddler on the Roof' listening to notes from director Bronwyn Fugate during a rehearsal.
N.Y.Post/Chad Rachman
'We run lines at homes, in the kitchen, wherever we are, in the pool, in bed, and the basement, any room, we can,' said High, a retired NYPD officer, adding that he met wife, Christie, on stage during a 1998 performance of 'The Most Happy Fella.'
'If the kids aren't bothering us too much, I grab a script,' he said.
'We took a trip recently, and while I was driving, I'd have the two of them acting out scenes with me. It was great.'
11 High singing a song as Tevye with Amelia Gordon (Tzietel), left, and Adam Simancas (Motel the tailor).
N.Y.Post/Chad Rachman
The experience has been made even more special because of the message behind the play — which explores clinging to tradition during a time of political and social upheaval.
' 'The Fiddler' is about family, it's about tradition, and it's the perfect show for this cast with these people in this space, because it basically goes back to the ideas of the show,' said Peter Ascolese, 41, the play's costume designer.
'It's tradition, it's generations, it's being all together to do something special,' he said. 'Once I saw the cast list, I was like, how do I get involved?'
11 Katie Callahan, center poses with her daughter Claire, and father Ed during a rehearsal.
N.Y.Post/Chad Rachman
11 High in a scene with Katie Micha (Chava).
N.Y.Post/Chad Rachman
This year's show is dedicated to the memory of Jennifer Straniere, who ran the performing arts program at the College of Staten Island for 18 years before passing away in June 2021.
'Fiddler on the Roof' was chosen as this year's performance because Straniere fondly referred to it as her favorite — and one she, her husband and newborn daughter performed in together in 1984.
The father-daughter pair are back this summer to carry on Straniere's legacy on the stage, and this time with Strainiere's granddaughter in tow.
11 Judge Philip Staniere (Rabbi), left, poses with his daughter Amanda (Village Mama) and granddaughter Abby Hart (Bielke) during a rehearsal.
N.Y.Post/Chad Rachman
11 Katie Micha, right, poses with her aunt Lee Tennenbaum, second left, and cousins, Lucy Schnall, left, and Molly Schnall, second right, at a rehearsal for 'Fiddler on the Roof.'
N.Y.Post/Chad Rachman
Katie Micha, 30, who plays Chava, the youngest daughter of Tevye, also is taking the stage this year with her aunt and two cousins, a mission they call a 'family affair.'
'It's one of my favorite musicals ever. Besides the music being fabulous … it's just a really fabulous show, and I am so excited to be doing this,' Micha said.
'It's really cool to see the whole Staten Island theater community come together. It's very special. We all have known each other forever. All of our families know each other.'
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Buzz Feed
5 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
Park Rangers Reveal Strangest Stories On The Job
Park rangers are essential to keeping our national parks safe, beautiful, and running smoothly. But when your "office" is deep in the woods or out in the desert, you're bound to see some things. On a late-night scroll, I wound up on a couple of threads from rangers and park employees sharing the wild things they've seen on the job — and the stories were just too good not to share. From hilarious moments to life-or-death rescues to the completely unexplainable, here's everything they shared: "Someone came into the visitor center wearing one of those realistic wolf head masks instead of a COVID-19 mask. Like the kind where the jaw moves when they talk. I looked up and saw this dude coming in and legit wondered if I was about to get robbed, but he just got a map and asked about birds and then left and took the mask off." "Another time, somebody once dumped a bunch of live chickens in the woods, and my coworkers and I had to try to catch them. Lots of people were driving by, and they would see the park police car off to the side of the road with the lights flashing, and they'd slow down, all worried, and then they'd see us sprinting after chickens and start cracking up."—BoldlyGone1 "Warning, this is a bit long, but it is true. In the late '70s, I worked as a park ranger for a summer job while going to university in the fall and winter semesters. As long as there was no forest fire ban, we allowed campers to have campfires on their campsites. One wet Sunday morning, after a very rainy night, I was coming off the midnight to 8 a.m. shift. I was alone on duty in a park with over 200 campsites, something that wouldn't happen now. Around 7 a.m., I heard this god-awful screeching coming from the camping area." "I ran over to find a guy rolling around in the dirt, with his friend trying to douse fire on his pants. They had not made kindling for their fire before the rain had started the night before. Instead, they had gotten drunk. Now, in the wet, cold morning, they wanted to start a fire to warm up and probably cook. They were probably still drunk. Drunk or sober, they were stupid. It was so wet that it was impossible to set fire to round chunks of firewood. So, one of these guys was spraying barbecue lighter fluid on the wet firewood when the other guy struck a match. Some of the lighter fluid had spilled down his nylon rain suit. When it caught fire, the plastic had melted into the guy's legs." (Cont'd) "Anyhow, the guy's legs were burned pretty badly. The park is 50 km from the city, where the hospital is. I got the guy in the cab of the old 4x4 truck we used to haul picnic tables and outhouses around, and I beat it for the city. The truck was an old beater with no overhead lights to flash and no siren. I had the window down, no air conditioning, and the thing rattled like a bucket of nails. Keep in mind that there were no cell phones then, and we only had spotty VHF radio coverage in the park. There was no way and no time to call for an ambulance. It was down to me and the old truck." "When I got to the city, I was going about 130 km/hr. I hasten to add that this was a summer Sunday morning, and there was zero for a cop. I blew past him and did not slow. He turned around and chased me, lights flashing and a siren screaming. He chased me right to the emergency entrance of the hospital like that. He was at my door as I was getting out, and he was yelling at me, losing his mind. Until the smell hit him. The smell of the burnt skin and melted plastic was not something you wanted to smell again." (Cont'd) "The camper guy had gone into shock and was pretty well unresponsive. I told the cop to hold on, I would be out to talk to him in a few minutes. I put the camper on my shoulder and carried him into the hospital emergency unit like he was a side of beef. (Hey, it was over 40 years ago, and I was in great shape back then.) The nurses got the doctor, and they started to work on the guy." "A bunch of guys came running into the ranger station carrying their buddy with his pants partially pulled down, and he was bleeding. His buddies had dared him to sit on a barrel cactus, and of course, he had about 10-15 needles in his butt. We were 25 minutes from the nearest town and about two hours from the nearest hospital. The town had a rotating doctor at an urgent care center, but it was not really equipped to handle something like this. So we had to call in a medevac helicopter to pick him up. His buddies were freaking out." —beachbear4life "I wasn't a ranger, but I did work in Yellowstone for a summer. I once saw a woman egg her toddler on to pet a baby elk with the mother nearby. Pulled over and had to explain to her that Yellowstone wasn't a petting zoo, the animals are wild, and a mama elk is very protective and very capable of killing both you and your child if you get too close. She scoffed at me. People are insane." "I was a facility officer in a backcountry park. This park is super isolated, we worked alone for 8-day shifts, and I would go days without seeing anyone during my days-long shifts at the start of the season. It's now much busier, but at the time, I'd actually ration my visits to the lighthouse to once per shift since they'd be my only human interaction and I didn't want to burn them out on me. Lol. From the cabin, I had binoculars that allowed me to scan the beach in case campers arrived, and I'd go check their camping tags. One evening, I was scanning the beach and I had to do a double-take." "It wasn't the normal wolves/sea lions/elk/deer. Nope. It was a large group of nudists. I felt like a weird voyeur, so I put down the binoculars and hoped that if I gave them an hour or two, they'd want to put on clothes due to the ridiculous swarms of mosquitoes. NOPE. That was fun checking their camping tags." (Cont'd) "I also had campers come report a dead (murdered) body that had washed up on shore on one of the other beaches in the park. It was really awful for those poor campers. I had to organize the police to come out and retrieve the body. It had been at sea for some time." "My dad found a dead body in a suitcase when he was a ranger." —TheReformedSanic "One of my best buds from college became a ranger in the Southeast US. A few years back, he told me about an old married couple he had recently helped out. He had seen them come to the park several days in a row, and found out they were visiting from out west, and they had gotten engaged there decades prior. They had been searching for a spot they'd taken pics of where he popped the question, but were having trouble." "After looking at the pictures and figuring out roughly where they were trying to get to, he escorted them in his vehicle, then hiked with them to where he thought it would be. They found it, and he left them there and went back to his station at the entrance. He said he got a weird feeling once he got back and felt like he needed to wait to see them whenever they left. Well, once it came time to lock up at night, he still hadn't seen them leave, so he reported it, left his assistant to wait at the shack at the entrance, and went back to where he left them." (Cont'd) "He found both of them lying down, spooning along the bank of the river. Neither were alive. He called the cops. He went through the whole nine yards and then went home. The police were able to disclose to him their identities, but weren't sure of anything else initially." "My cousin is with the forest service in the Montana/Wyoming area, and I decided to go up there with her to literally test the waters. She does hydrology and has to ride out to the middle of nowhere to test streams and snow runoff to ensure no contaminants. I thought that sounded fun and wanted to do a bit of a tour with her. We were going to have to camp out there for two nights, so we packed up all our gear in saddlebags or saddlebundles and started out." "The first day and night were amazing. Beautiful scenery and amazing air quality. It really is so peaceful out there. Anyway, we started out on the second day, and my cousin said, 'You want to see something weird?' Of course, I said yes, so she led me on a bit of a side journey into this tiny little ravine." (Cont'd) "We ended up traveling about two hours away from our actual path we had laid out. At the very end of this fold in the land, she dismounts and tells me to get off my horse, too. We tie them up in this gorgeous little clearing, and she tells me to follow this tiny wildlife path and bring our little rechargeable radio." (Cont'd) "My cousin trails behind me as I do, and this wire, after coming straight up from the ground, is strung across limbs of trees, then back to the ground, then it snakes around rocks and finally deadends into an outlet. That outlet is mounted on the side of a desk. It looks like a schoolteacher's desk from when I was growing up, with a metal base and a pseudo wood/plastic top thing. No chair, building, nothing, just this outlet and desk." "I am staring confused as all hell at this desk in the middle of a forest when my cousin takes the radio, pulls out the cord, and plugs it into the outlet. That fucker then lit up and started blaring static. The wire was being fed from somewhere. Now, the place where we were had no road access, no buildings for many miles, and no other people around. And yet, there was a live outlet. Weird as shit. No spooky jump scares or bodies, just one lone powered desk in the middle of the woods. I wish I had taken a picture of it."—Sand_Dargon "Park ranger here. I work at a park just outside a metro area, 5,000 acres and a 1,500-acre lake. Super busy park, but we have some areas off the beaten path. Once, I stumbled on some creepy ass animal sacrifice stuff because I happened to follow the crows. You rarely have to worry about animals; it's the people we share this world with..." "Not me, but my dad, who was a ranger. He said once he was out in the forest with one other ranger, and they had to camp overnight halfway to their destination. Well, that night they heard footsteps, many of them, outside their tent. Then, they heard at least 20 people scream, 'Get out!' Needless to say, they got the fuck out and radioed it in. The next morning, the cops went out and searched and found four skinned animals pinned to the trees around their campsite." "I'm a ranger and work at a pretty remote desert park. This happened before I got there, but the other rangers I work with were there. They went to do a patrol during summer (our off-season) at one of our seldom-used campgrounds. On a patrol, our maintenance ranger found a burnt-out car in one of the sites. The desert is a weird place, so he just calls the sheriff and waits. Sheriff arrives, and it turns out there's a body in the driver's seat. With no arms and no legs. Just a torso and head. Burnt. Sheriffs just marked it as a suicide and removed the vehicle. We are close to Mexico and get a lot of illegal drug traffic, so I guess they don't even bother trying to solve those. Super sketchy." —BeerAndOxytocin "Ex-ranger here. We had a group of frat boys making way too much noise. We came by twice, and at the second stop, I told them, 'This is your last warning.' Not only is it rude for other campers to be so loud, but it's exceptionally dangerous. Everyone knows that the local mountain lions are attracted to loud noises at night, and these 'ghost cats,' as they are called, can creep right up on you without you hearing or seeing them. Whatever you do, you don't leave your tent tonight, and if you hear anything, don't make a sound. So, we went back to the station, grabbed a Lion pelt and the night vision goggles." "Once they were all in their tents, we crept into the campsite and made fake lion tracks everywhere. We set up the lion pelt propped up over some sticks. The other ranger got out the PA and, from a distance, started doing fake lion calls, slowly getting closer. I pulled the Jeep forward like we were arriving on scene and got out. Turned on my mag light and illuminated the silhouette of the lion pelt. Because I was moving quickly, the shadow of the lion appeared as if it were moving." (Cont'd) "At this point, the frat boys were losing it. The other ranger shouted, 'Stay in your tents!' followed shortly by 'She's coming around at us,' and then, 'There's another one!' and finally, 'Let's get the fuck out of here.' At that point, we turned off the flashlights, grabbed the lion pelt in the darkness, jumped in the Jeep, and sped off." "I was the lone recreation ranger in a small district in southern Idaho. The nearest town from the guard station was about 1.5 hours away by car. After moving into the guard station, the solar power was not working, and I couldn't sleep for about a month due to various factors like bats in the cabin and something walking on the deck at night. The woods there always had an eerie feeling to them, unlike the Southwest Ponderosa forest that I was used to." "About two months into the seasonal job, I started to hear something walking and scratching on the deck at even on the door. Now, this district was known for its badgers and beavers, so I didn't think much of it. But when leaving the cabin at night, I always had an eerie feeling like I was being watched. One night, I was returning from my weekly grocery run, and I had a bad feeling. At the time, I did not have my shotgun in the vehicle." (Cont'd) "After stepping out of the vehicle, I looked to the right of the cabin, about 50 feet from my front door. All I could see were two eyes about 3.5-4 ft in the air. To say I freaked out was an understatement. I started yelling, 'Get the fuck out of here,' but the eyes only crouched down and inched closer. At this point, I could tell it was a large animal of some kind, definitely not a coyote. I tossed a piece of firewood in the general area, and the creature leaped back a bit but did not make a sound. " (Cont'd) "That night, I drank about four IPAs and slept with my shotgun. In the morning, the trail crew came up. We found mountain lion tracks all over the porch, rocking bench, and compound leading back to the creek." "After that event, I always heard the rocking chair move and someone or something walking on the porch, but never found any tracks after that point. Considering that it was always muddy up there, it was weird not to find any tracks. I've been stalked by mountain lions before and never had that eerie feeling like I did in those woods."—CloudGod13 "So my dad is a forestry technician, and this happened to one of his coworkers. They were up doing some sort of job in the very northernmost part of Ontario. Anyways, it was in the middle of the night, and she was half asleep and vaguely heard something outside her tent. Then she felt something push against her tent, and the zipper slowly opened. She opened her eyes and saw the head of a polar bear in her tent. Polar bears are far from the cuddly toys that you see, and they are known to be super aggressive and will hunt and eat people. She lay there paralyzed with fear, thinking that it was the end, and then slowly the bear retracted its head and left." And lastly: "I have so many of these, but I'll share my favorite. I have been a ranger in the USFS for almost fifteen years, but this took place about three years after I joined. We were getting calls about a lone wolf with a collar on hanging around a campsite — weird, since wolves aren't known to be in the area, but when you work in the field long enough, you start to realize anything is possible. No calls had mentioned violent behavior from the animal, though, thank god." "I departed from the station around noon to check out the places where it'd been sighted. I wandered around for about three hours (no further calls during that time) until I took a break for water. I sat down, had a snack, drank some water, and got ready to go again when the thing was about 20 feet out, trotting near the treeline. It seemed friendly and had a collar, so I whistled to it, and it came over to me. Getting a closer look, I could see it wasn't a wolf. It was huge, but it was dark and didn't have the right body structure, though I could see why it'd be confusing from a distance." (Cont'd) "I radioed in and reported that I had a dog with me. But as soon as I said I'd bring it in, the dog fucking took off. I went after it, and I swear it was a game of chase for at least five minutes as we steadily ran through the forest. (Also, please don't go running through the woods unless you know the area like the back of your hand.) The dog FINALLY slowed down near a rock bed/creek area and started pacing around a spot. I drew closer and didn't see anything off at first, then I noticed it — the overgrowth had almost disguised what appeared to be bones." (Cont'd) "The bones were identified as a teenage male who died by suicide. He'd been reported missing in the area long before I became a ranger, and there'd been pretty much no hope of finding him. I spoke to his mom on the phone (she called to thank me personally), and she asked how I found her son. I mentioned the black dog. I thought I said something wrong since there was a pause on her side of the line." "After I gave a couple of details about the dog, she quietly explained that her son, who struggled with making connections, sank into a deep depression after the death of his best very dog that'd led me to him. I think I spent the rest of the day stunned. I continue to be in disbelief, in a way. But I know what happened."—throwaway8242930 What's your wildest, creepiest, or strangest story while deep in the backcountry, woods, or desert? Let us know in the comments or in this anonymous form. Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity. Dial 988 in the United States to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The 988 Lifeline is available 24/7/365. Your conversations are free and confidential. Other international suicide helplines can be found at The Trevor Project, which provides help and suicide-prevention resources for LGBTQ youth, is 1-866-488-7386.
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Yahoo
After a bout with COVID, Josh Gad says he'll perform Sunday in 'Jesus Christ Superstar'
It felt like 2022 all over again when Josh Gad took to Instagram to express his heartbreak about contracting a "virus known as COVID" and announce his decision to pull out of playing King Herod in the highly anticipated production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" at the Hollywood Bowl, which staged its first night of a three-night run Friday. Gad hinted that maybe — if he tested negative — the situation might change. The following day, however, John Stamos announced on social media that his weekend "just got biblical" and that he was stepping in for Gad in the show. On Friday, things got extra dramatic when Gad said that he had tested negative. Fans on his social media clamored to know what that might mean, but he stayed mum until Saturday when he posted a photo of himself in an elaborate gold lamé costume with the words, "See you all Sunday night." A rep for the Los Angeles Philharmonic said that final confirmation that Gad will step onto stage won't come until noon Sunday. Stamos appeared onstage as Herod on Friday night, bringing some comic relief to an electric, deeply emotional show. After one of star Cynthia Erivo's solos, the audience clapped so loud, long and reverently, that tears came to the singer's eyes — which only caused the crowd to cheer harder. The moment of symbiotic love lasted for at least 3 minutes, maybe more. The Bowl was packed with marquee names, including former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Jim Carrey and Ted Neely (who played Jesus in the 1973 film adaptation of the musical). Erivo brought composer Andrew Lloyd Webber onto the stage as a special guest during curtain call. Still, Gad fans were many — you could tell because they held Olaf dolls and wore Olaf jewelry — and they could be heard expressing their sorrow at the absence of Gad in the crush of the crowd after the show. Gad's addition to the cast, which included Erivo as Jesus, Adam Lambert as Judas and Phillipa Soo as Mary Magdalene, was hailed by fans; and in an interview with The Times during rehearsal, Gad spoke about being beyond excited to perform at the Bowl for the very first time with a stellar cast that he called the Avengers of musical theater. "I've wanted to play the Hollywood Bowl forever," said Gad. "But I never thought I was good enough to play the Hollywood Bowl," he added with a self-deprecating smile Even though the role of King Herod entails a single song — a kind of comic interlude that Gad likened to the part of King George in "Hamilton" — Gad showed up at as many rehearsals as possible before he came down with COVID. He just liked sitting on the sidelines, soaking up the scene and the incredible talent on display, he said. At a Saturday rehearsal before the show, he filmed numbers on phones for various cast members and cheered his heart out. His sense of excitement was palpable. Now he'll get one night to give "King Herod's Song" his all. Get notified when the biggest stories in Hollywood, culture and entertainment go live. Sign up for L.A. Times entertainment alerts. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Solve the daily Crossword
Los Angeles Times
21 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
After a bout with COVID, Josh Gad, says he'll perform Sunday in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar'
It felt like 2022 all over again, when Josh Gad took to Instagram to express his heartbreak about contracting a 'virus known as COVID,' and his decision to pull out of playing King Herod in the highly anticipated production of 'Jesus Christ Superstar' at the Hollywood Bowl, which staged its first night of a three-night run, Friday. Gad hinted that maybe — if he tested negative — the situation might change. The following day, however, John Stamos announced on social media that his weekend 'just got biblical' and that he was stepping in for Gad in the show. On Friday, things got extra dramatic when Gad announced that he had tested negative. Fans on his social media clamored to know what that might mean, but he stayed mum until Saturday when he posted a photo of himself in an elaborate gold lame costume with the words, 'See you all Sunday night.' A rep for the Los Angeles Philharmonic said that final confirmation that Gad will step onto stage won't come until noon, Sunday. Stamos appeared onstage as Herod on Friday night, bringing some comic relief to an electric, deeply emotional show. After one of star Cynthia Erivo's solos, the audience clapped so loud, long and reverently, that tears came to the singer's eyes — which only caused the crowd to cheer harder. The moment of symbiotic love lasted for at least 3 minutes, maybe more. The Bowl was packed with marquee names, including former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Jim Carrey and Ted Neely (who played Jesus in the 1973 film adaptation of the musical). Erivo brought composer Andrew Lloyd Webber onto the stage as a special guest during curtain call. Still, Gad fans were many — you could tell because they held Olaf dolls and wore Olaf jewelry — and they could be heard expressing their sorrow at the absence of Gad in the crush of the crowd after the show. Gad's addition to the cast, which included Cynthia Erivo as Jesus, Adam Lambert as Judas and Phillipa Soo as Mary Magdalene, was hailed by fans; and in an interview with The Times during rehearsal, Gad spoke about being beyond excited to perform at the Bowl for the very first time with a stellar cast that he called The Avengers of musical theater. 'I've wanted to play the Hollywood Bowl forever,' said Gad. 'But I never thought I was good enough to play the Hollywood Bowl,' he added with a self-deprecating smile Even though the role of King Herod entails a single song — a kind of comic interlude that Gad likened to the part of King George in 'Hamilton' — Gad showed up at as many rehearsals as possible before he came down with COVID. He just liked sitting on the sidelines soaking up the scene and the incredible talent on display, he said. At a Saturday rehearsal before the show, he filmed numbers on phones for various cast members and cheered his heart out. His sense of excitement was infectious. Now he'll get one night to give 'King Herod's Song' his all.
