Accordionist, Mary Tokarski, will perform with the Theatre Fairfield, Fairfield University’s resident production company when they close the 2017-2018 season with Fred Alley and James Valcq’s musical, “The Spitfire Grill,” based on the film by Lee David Zlotoff.
The musical will be performed in the Wien Black Box Theatre at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, Wednesday, Apr. 11 through Saturday, Apr. 14 at 8:00 p.m., with 2:PM. matinees on Saturday, Apr. 14 and Sunday, Apr. 15., 2018 Tickets are now on sale at the Quick Center Box Office and cost $15 general admission, $5 for all students and $6 for seniors. Call the Box Office at (203)-254-4010) or buy tickets online at http://quickcenter.fairfield.edu/.
The musical follows the story of a woman, Percy, who has recently been released from prison. She decides to move to middle-of-nowhere Gilead, Wisconsin because of an ad she found in a travel book containing a beautiful picture of the fall trees’ “colors of paradise.” She begins to work at the Spitfire Grill, the only restaurant in town, where she meets the other characters in the show, including the strong-willed and wise restaurant owner, Hannah; the town gossip, Effy; and Percy’s parole officer, Joe, who cannot seem to understand why Percy chose to come to Gilead.
At the heart of this musical is a story about discovering the unique beauty of small-town life, the heart-warming quirkiness of the people that make the town what it is, and how, although it comes with its ups and downs, home truly is where the heart is. Director Tom Schwans, an unabashed lover of “The Spitfire Grill,” believes: “We often don’t see the beauty of the things right in front of us. We take it for granted and reject its worth. Until, one day, something reminds us how fortunate we are.” “The New York Times” described “Spitfire” as “a soul satisfying…work of theatrical resourcefulness. A compelling story that flows with grace and carries the rush of anticipation. The story moves, the characters have many dimensions and their transformations are plausible and moving. The musical is freeing. It is penetrated by honesty and it glows.”
Concert accordionist, Mary Tokarski performs both nationally and internationally as a soloist, with Symphony Orchestras and String Quartets. Orchestras include Prince George’s Philharmonic in Largo, Maryland; the Moravian Philharmonic (Czech Republic), the Auckland Symphony (New Zealand), The Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra (Massachusetts), the Waterbury Symphony (Connecticut), the Bronxville Pops Orchestra (New York), and The Hamden Symphony Orchestra (Connecticut). She’s toured mainland China with the Mantovani Orchestra, performing both in the orchestra and as a soloist, performed with the Wolf Trap Performing Arts Center Orchestra in the full sound track for “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King”, complete with the film, appeared with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) in Gertrude Stein & Virgil Thomson’s Opera, “Four Saints In Three Acts” at Jordan Hall on the New England Conservatory campus in Boston, MA, at the Westport Country Playhouse (CT) production of “Sing For Your Shakespeare”, in the Community Theater of Woodbury show “The Spitfire Grill”, and in April of 2018, appearing as a featured instrumentalist for “The Spitfire Grill” at the Wien Black Box Theatre at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts on the Fairfield University campus.
Mary has released three solo CDs, “Music with Mary . . . with my friends!” – “Music with Mary . . . for my friends!” – “Have Yourself A Mary Merry Christmas” – all have received international acclaim.
In collaboration with Karen Malan-Uribe and Joan Geller Grauman, Mary narrates and performs the music for the book “An Accordion! What Is That?” The recently re-released book was written as an early childhood reader, with many text features not often found in books for children of this age . . . as well as introducing the accordion to the “next generation” of musicians!
Mary has performed internationally in Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Scotland and Switzerland — as well as extensively here in the United States.
For 35 years Mary served as Director of Music Education at Tokarski Music Center in North Haven, Connecticut, where she taught piano and accordion, as well as conducted the choral & ensemble programs, and supervised the pre-school programs. Along with teaching piano and accordion at her home in Northford, Connecticut, Mary travels extensively presenting Workshops and Master Classes on musical excellence, coaching privately, and as a sought-after adjudicator for national and international juries.
She also served for many years as a Music Educator in the North Haven Department of Education’s Early Childhood Development Program at Green Acres Elementary School. Currently, Mary serves as President of The American Accordionists Association (AAA) and is a member of the Accordionists and Teachers Guild, International (ATG). Both organizations are members of the Confederation Internationale des Accordeonistes, as well as IMC-UNESCO.
For further information:
www.accordions.com/mary
mary.tokarski@comcast.net
203-484-5095
