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The Play’s The Thing: Trip to Rockaways uncovers undersung gem of a theater

By Ronald B. Hellman

On this Veterans Day, some non-theater thoughts: Don’t let this day pass as just another holiday “more honored in the breach than the observance,” but take it very seriously. Lip service to “support our troops” and displaying the flag is not enough — we have two wars going on, not that we hear much about them — and where are they taking us, and for what? And as you reflect on the past election, wonder if we really get what we deserve, and where the leaders are to set us straight.

Now, as you miss all those recent electronic calls and the piles of mail, let me turn your attention to the finer things in life as I highlight some of my recent encounters with the performing arts.

For the second time this year I ventured out to the Rockaways, this time to Beach 116th Street in Rockaway Park, in the company of the larger-than-life QPTV personality and Springfield Gardens denizen Ina Jay Hayle. There we met up with John Joe Baxter, originally from Ireland’s County Cavan, but a longtime resident at the beach, where he has a hotel and a theater.

Baxter is an actor — aren’t we all? — and has recently published a memoir, “From the Mountains of Munlough” (Infinity Publishing). His theater holds a cozy 70 or so, has great acoustics and is a short walk from the ocean and the last stop on the A train. It’s been unused for a while and he’s looking for action.

There’s action aplenty in Manhattan, where I took in a performance of “Kimberly Akimbo,” another imaginative play by David Lindsay-Abaire. (My company produced his “Fuddy Meers” a few years ago, and his more recent “Rabbit Hole” got a lot of attention and a Pulitzer Prize.) This Equity showcase was presented in a 50-seat space on the fifth floor of a building on West 38th Street, home of the sentimentally named Nicu’s Spoon. The elevator was out of order the night I showed up, but my weekend tennis and twice-weekly gym made the stairs no problem, and the actors were well worth the climb.

Back in Queens, the Douglaston Community Theatre, 60 years and counting as the borough’s longest-running theater company, produced Moss Hart’s mid-1940’s comedy “Light Up the Sky,” about a playwright’s travails with such temperamental types as actors, directors and producers. Happy to report, the playwright won.

At Queens Theatre in the Park, soon to be under new leadership, I had the good fortune to see the fabulous Tsidii in her workshop presentation of “To The Rising Sun,” based on the music of Miriam Makeba, Nina Simone and Odetta. “TD” has great charm and stage presence, and the beauty, power and clarity of her voice is something to behold.

On another evening at QTP I attended the debut of “One Ride,” a music and dance show about rodeo cowboys inspired by the late country music singer and songwriter Chris LeDoux. Robert Royston, its creator, and an author of “Swango,” the biggest hit in QTP’s history, apparently thought that the great diversity of Queens was the perfect place for a Wild West production. An extra added attraction at QTP: house manager Willy Mosquera’s latest hairstyle.

Lots of theater to choose from this fall — check our listings, and pay particular attention to the Astoria Performing Arts Center’s 10th anniversary season’s production, “MilkMilkLemonade,” the always reliable Phoenix Players performing “The Lion in Winter” and the autumn concerts at the dynamic Thalia Spanish Theatre.

Contact Ron Hellman at RBH24@Columbia.edu.