It was such an honor for the team to be nominated for ten AUDELCO awards, for The Three Musketeers at The Classical Theatre of Harlem (CTH) — and we swept the design awards! #All4Harlem #CTH3M #Theatre4All From The Amsterdam News:
“The Three Musketeers” from the Classical Theatre of Harlem has nine nominations. It is nominated for dramatic production of the year; director/dramatic production—Jenny Bennett; choreography—Tiffany Rea-Fisher; lead actress—Miriam Hyman; supporting actor—R.J. Foster; sound design—Luqman Brown; costume design—Rachel Dozier-Ezell; set design—Christopher and Justin Swader; and lighting design—Kate Bashore.
New York Times Review: The Three Musketeers, 7/14/17
Jenny Bennett’s staging, working from Catherine Bush’s adaptation, squarely emphasizes the book’s more extroverted and humorous side: The biff-bang-pow production is to the novel as Adam West’s Batman was to the grim Dark Knight…
Ms. Bennett’s production moves cartoon-fast and hits all the essential plot points, including our heroes’ skirmishes with the eye-patched Rochefort (R. J. Foster). By the end, you may find yourself longing for Classical Theater of Harlem to tackle Dumas’s two sequels next.
Stagebuddy.com Review, The Three Musketeers7/17/17
Directed by Jenny Bennett for The Classical Theatre of Harlem (at Marcus Garvey Park), this newest production of The Three Musketeers stays refreshingly true to Dumas’ story without sacrificing dramatic integrity…
With a clever script, good actors, and a flamboyant staging, the only thing that could make this fast-paced production more fun would be free admission. And mon dieu! It has that, too! So saddle your steed and get ready to shout “All for one!” etc. ad nauseam.
Zeal.nyc Review: The Three Musketeers, 7/12/17
I had the pleasure of being reintroduced to the story of Portos, Athos, Aramis, and D’Artagnan recently in The Classic Theatre of Harlem’s production of The Three Musketeers, directed by Jenny Bennett. Not only did this production give a nod to Harlem, it relates perfectly to many of the political overtones that we are currently experiencing globally… The Three Musketeers should not be missed.
The Fall of King Henry (Henry VI, pt 3) at the American Shakespeare Center (ASC). Opened September 9, 2017 and played through Thanksgiving in repertory with Peter & the Starcatcher, Love’s Labour’s Lost, and Much Ado About Nothing (also directed by jb). #ASCFallofKingHenry #ASCHenry Here’s a blog post on the show.
The production, under the direction of Jenny Bennett, who also did the adaptation, is distinguished by its hip, fresh vibe… At last Friday night’s opening, the spectators, including many children, filled the intimate space with laughter nearly from start to finish.
(Photos by Michael Pauley)
The Winter’s Tale, ASC 2015
Meandering Mary
In staging William Shakespeare’s genre-defying play The Winter’s Tale, companies face three main obstacles: the bear, the time, and the statue. If the production successfully addresses those problems with a coherent and committed cast, the production flourishes. Luckily for audiences at the American Shakespeare Center, guest director Jenny Bennett crafted a heartwarming and heartbreaking fairy-tale, that barely flinched at the imposing challenges.
Shakespeareances, Eric Minton
Typical of Shakespeare’s other late romances, The Winter’s Tale is a roller coaster of comic heights suddenly rushing into tragic valleys. Bennett smooths out the ride, presenting it as a progression to great joy with unbearable, unnecessary heartache along the way. She nevertheless maintains Shakespeare’s ballsy juxtapositions.
Full review here.
Ask A Director
A short film I was in, ‘Next Life‘ by Casimir Nozkowski, got a nice feature on Boing Boing.
‘Next Life,’ a life-affirming dramatic short film with a sci-fi twist
Ami Brabson, Reg E Cathey, Suzzanne Douglas Set for Madwoman of Chaillot Reading
By Dan Bacalzo • Jan 30, 2012 • New York
Reg E CatheyClassical Theatre of Harlem will present Ami Brabson, Reg E Cathey, and Suzzanne Douglas in Jean Giraudoux’s Madwoman of Chaillot, adapted by Maurice Valency. Jenny Bennett will direct the reading at The Malcolm X & Dr Betty Shabazz Memorial & Educational Center, on Monday, February 6 at 7pm.
The Village Voice Review of Henry V
[I]n a thoughtful production marked by a string of nontraditional elements and brave choices, director Jenny Bennett mines Henry V for disaffection rather than chest-thumping loyalty to king and country, bringing to the surface the more sardonic aspects of Shakespeare’s ambivalent historical epic.
Backstage Review of Henry V.
Director Jenny Bennett helms the proceedings with bold theatrical savvy. Her stylized depictions of the battles of Harfleur and Agincourt are models of well-conceived economic staging. She uses the wide-open playing space, bordered on three sides by the audience, almost like a gymnasium, which her actors inhabit with athletic prowess. Most of them take on multiple roles, switching characterizations without missing a beat, giving both language and action their due.
Here’s an excerpt from an interview I did for Works by Women, ramping up to the HENRY V I directed Off-Broadway at the Classical Theatre of Harlem. I talk about being a 4th-generation theatre woman: this picture is my great-grandmother, touring a vaudeville circuit.
WBW: What gives you hope for American theater women?
JB: That there are so many American theatre women. The way to get more work is to make more work ourselves! Nobody’s gonna say ‘Oh, hello stranger: have this opportunity.’ I know so many American theatre women who are putting it together, a project at a time, getting their voices heard, telling an infinite variety of stories – that’s how hope becomes reality – by doing. And we’re doing it, ladies!
NYC Onstage, March 8, 2009. The Expatriates, The Beggars Group
“… top honors go to the sensational Jenny Bennett as literary pundit and fellow alcoholic Dorothy Parker. She nails both Parker’s devastating wit and intense loneliness in a single scene when she and Fitzgerald have sex on a lark (”penny for your thoughts”). That she is equally delicious in two other cameos as Isadora Duncan and Gertrude Stein is icing on the cake.” – NYC Onstage, March 8, 2009.
Stagebuzz, March 2009
Excellent work is done all around, especially by … Jenny Bennett, who shows excellent range as Dorothy Parker, Gertrude Stein, and Isadora Duncan. – Byrne Harrison, Stagebuzz.
Jenny Bennett 