THE MISSION

"TO HOLD AS 'TWERE THE MIRROR UNTO NATURE." - HAMLET, III, II

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“Deeply compelling… The most powerful theater in Vermont.” - Jim Lowe, Times Argus

“If you missed it, you missed out. Last Wednesday Night [The Opera Spectacular] was a night to remember. The Greensboro Arts Alliance made their debut in Opera. . . here’s hoping there is more to come!” - Marina Kelly

“I particularly wish to commend Sabra Jones for her thoughtful direction of To Kill a Mockingbird… We are so lucky to have such high quality theater in Greensboro!” - Stephanie Ayers Cravedi

“The [Sowles Award] gala was a feast of talented performers.” - June Pichel Cook, Hardwick Gazette

“For an evening of pure fun, good music, and great humor, “Annie Get Your Gun” hits the bull’s eye…. The Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency’s production is a winner.” - June Pichel Cook, Hardwick Gazette

“[Sinners is] an artistic masterpiece.” - June Pichel Cook, Hardwick Gazette

“Grand Opera came to the Green in the First Annual Opera Spectacular of the Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency… We sincerely hope this kind of opera program will continue next year as part of the Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency’s summer events.” - David K. Rodgers, Hardwick Gazette

“Sleeping Beauty is an enchanting and not to be missed children’s production… charming, professional caliber performance. Enthusiasm and energy positively bubbles from the very young and practice-perfect cast.” - Helen Twiss

“From the children’s excellent performances to the outstanding seasoned adults, the audience was held captive as the play unfolded… Producing Artistic Director Sabra Jones’ bold, uncanny twists added a deeper dimension to the familiar play.” - June Pichel Cook, Hardwick Gazette

“A tour de force of of dance, music, and song was on stage at the Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency’s Kids’ Musical Theater Training Camp performance of Sleeping Beauty. The young thespians filled the Tent on the Green with the passion and professionalism of a mature troupe…. The play is performed beautifully - a great show. The music, dance, vocal and theatrical transpose the audience to a magical place.” - June Pichel Cook, Hardwick Gazette

“Absolutely delightful… Unusually successful… Great acting and singing… Choreography was effervescent and imaginative…There is nothing like a good song and dance musical, and this one was particularly good.” - Jim Lowe, Times Argus

“The Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency is creating a new arts world in Greensboro, bringing local talent together with seasoned professionals for the greater community.” - Jim Lowe, Times Argus

The Mirror Theater Ltd's GREENSBORO ARTS ALLIANCE & RESIDENCY strives to benefit the community of Greensboro by providing year-round cultural and artistic opportunities to the residents of Greensboro and its surrounding areas. Founded in 2005, GAAR operates year-round, employs Greensboro-based staff, and its events have brought together the thousands of people who come to Greensboro every year. GAAR is most proud to be spearheading the development of the Mirror Theater itself, and looks forward to serving Greensboro for years to come. Highlighted events from GAAR this year include the Fourth of July Square Dance, the Musical Theater Day Camp, and Writers' Forum.

The Mirror Theater Ltd's MIRROR REPERTORY COMPANY, originally founded in 1983 by Sabra Jones, is the spiritual successor to Harold Clurman's Group Theatre and Eva Le Gallienne’s Civic Repertory. The founding initiative was spearheaded by the legendary philanthropist, Laurance S. Rockefeller, and received additional endowments from Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, Dina Merrill, Kitty Carlisle Hart, and Paul Newman, as well as NYSCA, ATT, the Astor Foudation, The Lilah Acheson Wallace Foundation, and a host of others. The company leadership was advised not only by Mr. Clurman and Ms. Le Gallienne themselves, but also by Ellis Raab (APA Phoenix), John Gielgud, Alan Schneider and John Houseman. The Royal Shakespeare Company sponsored MRC’s first benefit, in which Geoffrey Dench— as Auctioneer — famously sold Derek Jacobi's nose (it was a prop; he was playing Cyrano de Bergerac).
MRC is proud to have produced over 100 plays both within New York (Broadway and off-Broadway) as well as in London, regionally, and on television. The Mirror has been nominated for a Tony, as well as numerous awards, including Best Overall Excellence and Best Acting Ensemble (Outer Critics), and features an award-winning Arts & Education program (Brown and Williamson Award) which has been a recipient of multi-year funding from the Department of Cultural Affairs. The original acting company starred Geraldine Page, Ellis Raab, and Elizabeth Franz as artists-in-residence, and featured F. Murray Abraham, Sabra Jones, Mason Adams, Maxwell Caulfield, Victor Slezak, Steven Weber, Anne Jackson, Eli Wallach, Anthony Hopkins, Shirley Knight, Tovah Feldshuh, and Michael Moriarty as regular company members.  MRC has always been, first and foremost, an artist’s company, and is proud to have collaborated with thousands of talented artists, from Eve Arden to Richard Burton to Nathan Lane. 

Geraldine Page, Founding Artist-in-Residence, THANKS THE MIRROR REP WHILE winning the Oscar. SHE IS WEARING HER COSTUME FROM MIRROR's PROuction of The Circle.

A true alternating repertory company is a standing company of actors who train together and work together as an ensemble. They know every style of acting and can do it with facility. They understand the mysticism of the Cothurni of the Ancient Greeks and won’t shy away from Kabuki. They are familiar with the demands of Shakespearean verse and Jacobean drama. They communicate joyfully the manifest amusements of Restoration comedies and of Moliere and Goldoni. They understand the spiritualism of Grotowski and the spare lines of the Berliner Ensemble. They are familiar with Stanislavki’s pursuit of truth and all that followed it—Adler,  Strasberg, Meisner, Lewis,  and Chekov. Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller and August Wilson are clear expressions of the twentieth century; the actors of the company embrace these authors and others, as well of those of twenty-first, passionately. At all times, the actors seek through their skills the clearest ways to express the stories and visions of the authors involved. Because of their virtuosity, the actors of a repertory company can do anything a play’s author and a director’s vision might require. They can move from one style to the next from night to night, providing the opportunity for the company itself to alternate from night to night and from one great author to the next. Thus, for the audience, they are simply the most thrilling theatre company in the world.

Imagine the joy of seeing an actor play Shylock one night and Lear the next, then Big Daddy or the Emperor Jones.  Imagine a Juliet who turns into Desdemona then into Yelena.  Imagine a company of actors who know each other so well that a playwright can write plays created just for them – a company that can train and create a Ben Kingsley, a Vanessa Redgrave,  a Derek Jacobi, or an Anthony Hopkins. Peter Hall once said:  “Every great movement in the theatre, every new discovery of writing and talent, has come from a standing company with a common ethos.” It takes hard work and commitment, and most importantly, it needs a building in which sets and costumes can be stored, and in which training, rehearsal, and performance can all take place.

SABRA JONES (Producing Artistic Director & Founder) founded the Mirror under the mentorship of Harold Clurman, Ellis Raab, Eva Le Gallienne, Alan Schneider, and John Gielgud. Under her artistic direction, Mirror's work has been nominated for a Tony, as well as numerous other awards, including Best Overall Excellence and Best Acting Ensemble (Outer Critics), as well as being recognized for an award-winning Arts & Education program (Brown and Williamson Award).  As a the daughter-in-law of the late Lee Strasberg of Actors Studio fame, she taught at the Strasberg Institute at his request,  co-wrote the Tisch School of the Arts Curricula for the Institute, and is on the roster at Pace University and Manhattanville College as well as teaching privately. As a producer, Sabra’s credits include: Broadway, television (Artistic Consultant for WNET13 Master Works), and 160 other productions in New York, London, and regionally. As an actress, credits include: numerous Broadway (“Butterflies Are Free,” “Six Degrees of Separation”) and regional performances, as well as work at The Metropolitan Opera (“La Fille du Regiment,” “Les Troyens”).   She is also an award-winning writer, receiving awards for her poetry (“Christus Neger”, University of California, First Prize) and her plays (Best New Play Award, Dramalogue). Her further writing credits include interviews with former Philippine presidents Garcia, Macapagal, and Marcos as well as features on Corrigidor’s infamous Malinta Tunnel.  A professional director, credits at G.A.A.R. include: “The Seagull,” "The Three Sisters," “You Can’t Take It With You,” “Peter Pan,” "The Fantasticks," The Miracle Worker, The Music Man,  "The Sound of Music” and HAMLET.  She is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and directed The Children's Hour in New York in 2012, as well as most of the Shakespearean canon in various NYC Arts in Education Programs.  She looks forward to directing the World Premiere of the new play by Bernard (Elephant Man) Pomerance to open the new Mirror theater in 2017.

JUSTIN JACOBS (Music Director), a native of Melbourne, Australia was appointed Director of Music at the National Theatre in 1997 and went on to conduct and musically direct several Broadway productions, among them "Fiddler on The Roof," "The Boy from Oz," and "Forbidden Broadway." Since moving to America, he has worked on the piano faculty at Music In Chappaqua, NY, where he has also been music director of the music theater department. With the GAAR, Justin was the Music Director for "The Fantasticks, "The Sound of Music," "The Music Man," and "Carousel," as well as the upcoming production of "Kiss Me Kate."

MARLA SCHAFFEL (Artist-in-Residence) is a Tony nominated actress as well as the winner of a Drama Desk Award, Drama League Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award, all for Best Actress in a Musical, for starring as "Jane Eyre" on Broadway. Marla's other Broadway credits include "Titanic" and "Les Miserable," as well as starring in the national tours of "Evita," "My Fair Lady," "White Christmas," and "The Sound of Music." Marla created the leading roles off-Broadway in "Enter Laughing," "Christina Alberta's Father," "Enter the Guardsman," "Fanny Hill," "Tall Grass," and "A Broadway Diva Christmas." Her regional credits include leading roles in world premiere musicals "Jane Eyre," "Let Me Sing," "They All Laughed," "Lucky in The Rain," "Glimmerglass," as well as in the classics like "West Side Story, A Little Night Music," and great plays like "Fool For Love," and "Top Girls," among others. Ms. Schaffel also starred in the critically acclaimed independent feature film, "I Love You, Don't Touch Me!" and created the pivotal role of Bever Woman in Tim Robbins's film "Cradle Will Rock." In TV she had a recurring role as the star's rocker ex-girlfriend on "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues" and has appeared in "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Law and Order: Criminal Intent." Her voice can be heard on several recordings, including "Jane Eyre" (Original Broadway Cast Recording and world premiere Toronto Cast Recording), "The Prince of Egypt" (soundtrack), "The Broadway Musicals of 1949," "A Prairie Home Companion Christmas," and on several Saturday morning cartoons. Marla is a graduate of the Juilliard School drama division and studied at the Moscow Art Theatre School.

MARSHA DANIELS-GADOURY (Human Resources) is the daughter of the well known make-up artist and theatrical costumer in Boston, Murl Daniels, working with her dad on many occasions. Her background as an employee of the Grand Lodge of Masons, while her dad was then "wardrobe master," also taught her about the theater. As a young adult she became a Supervisor of Ticketing with United Airlines in NYC, later becoming a Travel Agent and Deputy Tax Collector, all leading her to Greensboro and GAAR

JONES CHARLES MCATEER (Co-Artistic Director) is a Broadway producer (Superior Donuts) and actor (Titanic). In addition to his Broadway work, he has acted off-Broadway and in diverse television work. A graduate of NYU's Tisch School of The Arts, McAteer received his professional acting training from the Atlantic Theater Company and Stonestreet Film and TV Studios. As a producer, he earned his chops working in the office of the multiple Tony-award-winning Mr. Jeffrey Richards, an experience for which he will always be grateful. While at GAAR, McAteer has been fortunate enough to play the role of Joe Bonaparte in Golden Boy as well as to direct the productions of Our Town, Carousel, various selections from Shakespeare and most recently Kiss Me, Kate.  Last summer he also had the lead role in Hamlet. McAteer makes his home year-round in Greensboro with his beautiful wife, Lily.

LILY MCATEER (Programs Director) has over ten years of professional performing and administrative experience in the arts. Beginning her training in the arts as a dancer under the direction of acclaimed ballerina Patricia McBride at North Carolina Dance Theater, Ms. McAteer went on to receive her BFA from Fordham University while dancing professionally with a variety of classical ballet and modern companies, such as Eglevsky Ballet and Ballet Neo. Upon graduation, Ms. McAteer joined the faculty of both Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Mark Morris Dance Group. As an arts administrator, Ms. McAteer has worked for North Carolina Dance Theater, The Joyce Theater (NYC), and Stanley Zabar/Painting With Light. For GAAR, her favorite projects include Carousel, Hamlet, and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Lily is glad to make her home year round in Greensboro with her husband, Jones Charles McAteer.

EVE POMERANCE (Casting Director) began her Casting career in the 1990's when she produced two features after leaving the London Film School. She then went to work as an assistant  for a talent agent at  ICM UK. This lead to being asked to cast industry readings for 5th Night Reading series (NYC) and BFI's Script Factory, which she helped to set up and was asked to join the Board of Directors. In 2009 Eve formed Major Motion Pictures with her partner, Jonathan Mossek, in order to produce, 'As Good as Dead.' She was uncredited as one of the Casting Directors and cast: Andie Macdowell, Carey Elwes, Frank Whaley and Brian Cox. Then she garnered her first casting credit on "Festival of Light" where she cast:  Aidan Quinn  and Jimi Mistry. Subsequently Eve cast several independent features, a Drama Documentary for Ric Burns and two video games for Sony.

SONIA DUNBAR (Wardrobe Director) been involved with GAAR since 2007, serving both onstage stage and off as a musician and actress (including H6R3, Our Town, and The Miracle Worker), and as GAAR’s wardrobe mistress, a position that has expanded over the years to include design and construction of costumes for productions such as Hamlet, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, Kiss Me Kate, Carousel, and The Miracle Worker.  Prior to joining GAAR, she was a twenty-plus year member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc., an historical re-creation organization covering the period c. 450 CE to 1625 CE.  While in the SCA, Sonia focused on period arts, including the research, design and construction of period clothing for men and women, winning several awards for her work.   An ethnic dancer who performed, choreographed, and taught North African, Central Asian, and Middle Eastern modern and ethnic styles of dance for many years, she also designed and constructed stage costumes with an eye toward balancing authenticity of design with the dancers’ special costuming needs. Sonia earned her BA in pre-classical instrumental music from Wells College, and is an attorney and lay minister.  She is a past juried member of Athena’s Thimble (the SCA Embroiderer’s Guild), past member of Arachne’s Web (the SCA Lace-maker’s Guild), and a current member of The Costume Society (UK) and the Vermont Bar Association.  

The Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency is proud to present their partnership with the Greensboro Free Library on their 3rd Annual Writers’ Forum, curated by acclaimed local poet Julia Shipley. From August 31st - September 4th, 2016, featured authors will explore the theme of “Interconnection”. Featured authors and literary artists for Writers’ Forum 2016 are Newberry and National Book Award winner Katherine Paterson (Bridge to Terabithia, Jacob Have I Loved); Thomas Christopher Greene (Mirror Lake, The Headmaster’s Wife) esteemed novelist and Founder of the Vermont College of Fine Arts; Megan Mayhew Bergman (Birds of a Lesser Paradis, Almost Famous Women), Salon Contributor and Associate Director of Bennington College’s renowned MFA Program; poet Didi Jackson (Almost Animals), finalist for the 2015 Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize; Steven Willis, internationally recognized slam poet and Finalist in the 2015 Individual World Poetry Slam; and Julia Shipley (The Academy of Hay, Adam’s Mark), Contributing Editor of Yankee Magazine. Events will be held at The Greensboro Free Library, The Masonic Hall (in collaboration with The Art House), Lakeview Inn, and Highland Lodge. Galaxy Bookshop will be selling books by the featured authors at each Writers’ Forum event. All Writers’ Forum events have a suggested donation of $10.00 (students are free). For further information and to reserve a space, please email info@themirror.org or click the button below.

Schedule of Writers’ Forum 2016 Events:

August 31st , Opening Reception and Author Discussion: 7:00 PM @ Highland Lodge- Katherine Paterson (Bridge to Terabithia, Jacob Have I Loved)

September 1st, Author Discussion: 7:00 PM @ Greensboro Free Library - Megan Mayhew Bergman (Birds of a Lesser Paradise, Almost Famous Women),

September 2nd, Author Discussion: 7:00 PM @ Greensboro Free Library - Thomas Christopher Greene (Mirror Lake, The Headmaster’s Wife)

September 3rd, Poetry Slam and Open Mic: 7:00 PM @ The Masonic Hall (in conjunction with The Art House) - Poetry Slam featuring Steven Willis

September 4th, Writing Workshop: 1:00 PM @ Greensboro Free Library - Workshop with Poet Julia Shipley

September 4th, Closing Reception and Author Discussion: 7:00 PM @ Lakeview Inn - Didi Jackson (Almost Animals)

Since 1983, the Mirror has had a distinguished Arts in Education program. Nationally recognized by Brown and Williamson’s Achiever Prize in Washington, the program was early recognized by NYSCA. Sabra Jones, with Thomas McAteer and the late Dory Davidson, Vice Principal of the then Julia Richman High School, designed a complex and worthwhile program, “Self-Awareness through Acting and Dramatic Literature.” The program first operated with a drop-out prevention program at the school, involving nearly eighty students and six teachers from the school system, as well as Mirror interns. The program was so successful that CNN in 1994 featured it in a televised special involving the work "Othello."