Skan-E-Antics ready to hit the stage
Skan-E-Antics is set to take the stage again Saturday for the first time in more than 30 years.
The hilarious and entertaining variety show brought the community together for a magical weekend of performances every other year from 1965 to 1987. This
weekend, the Skaneateles Education Foundation (SEF) brings the antics back to Skaneateles with an all-local cast and crew performing a hilarious live variety
show and musical revue.
Cast member Gail van der Linde is excited to be part of the Skan-E-Antics revival.
“Almost 40 years ago, I sang ‘Skaneateles, My Kind of Town,’ to the tune of Chicago,” she said. “It was my Skan-E-Antics debut. I had so much fun and
made so many friends, I continued to sing and dance in every annual show until it ended. Now as a retired adoption counselor, proud mother of five adult children and six grandchildren with legs that still kick, I am beyond delighted over the revival of Skan-E-Antics to benefit our school system and celebrate our kind of town and people too.”
Show times are at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, April 14 at Skaneateles High School Auditorium. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors.
SEF decided to bring the show back after Executive Director Heather Carroll learned about it from the Years Ago column in the Skaneateles Press earlier this
year. Carroll brought the concept to SEF’s board.
“We were amazed by how this one event brought so many people in our community together,” Carroll said. “Since we made the decision to bring it back,
we have been overwhelmed at the love and support we have received.”
The production features singing and dancing with spectacular costumes on a complete set built by community volunteers under the direction of Joy LoPiccolo. It was written and directed by Bradley Benjamin Stone, a 2001 Skaneateles High School alumna who is bringing her professional musical theater performer choreographer experience from Broadway and beyond to the Skaneateles Stage. Assisting Benjamin Stone are
Skaneateles theater veterans Mary Jo Clary and Anna Egert, along with Heather Carroll.
The show is a community-wide effort with a cast of 16 students, six men and 18 women along with a crew of eight students and more than 20 volunteers.
The revival doesn’t end on stage. SEF is also bringing back the After-Show Celebration at the Skaneateles Country Club. Following the last performance, the community is invited to join the cast and crew for The Cabaret, a tradition from the 1970s and 1980s featuring dessert, a cash bar and DJ entertainment.
Proceeds from the show and the After Show Celebration benefit Skaneateles Education, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that raises funds to enhance the quality of education by strengthening curriculum and expanding resources available to students and faculty. To date, SEF has awarded more than $400,000.00 in grants to benefit students in Skaneateles schools.
For more information visit skanedfoundation.org.
