The Roundtable

The Dirty Dutchess variety show fundraiser for the Empire Training Center for the Arts at The Chance Theatre on 3/15

By Sarah LaDuke

Published March 7, 2025 at 11:14 AM EST

Performers at 2025 Dirty Dutchess at The Chance

Empire Training Center for the Arts is a new vocational venture operating out of The Chance Theatre on Main Street in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Married co-founders Trish Santini and Frank Butler have drawn on decades of combined arts administration and stagecraft experience to develop a brand-new training blueprint for individuals interested in working in the performing arts from the production side.

Their first major fundraising event in Poughkeepsie is coming up on March 15. The Dirty Dutchess: An Evening of Vaudeville, Burlesque and Broadway is directed by Peter Flynn. Flynn is a New York based director, writer and educator and he joins us now - along with Empire Training Center for the Arts Co-Founder and Executive Director Trish Santini.

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Sarah LaDuke

Sarah has worked in public radio since 2006. She grew up in Saranac Lake, New York where she worked part-time at Pendragon Theatre all through high school and college. She graduated from UAlbany in 2006 with a BA in English and started at WAMC a few weeks later as a part-time board-op in the control room. Through a series of offered and seized opportunities she is now the Senior Contributing Producer of The Roundtable and Producer of The Book Show. During the main thrust of the Covid-19 pandemic shut-down, Sarah hosted a live Instagram interview program "A Face for Radio Video Series." On it, Sarah spoke with actors, musicians, comedians, and artists about the creative activities they were accomplishing and/or missing. She is on the board of WAM Theatre and lives in Albany, New York with her husband, Paul, and their dog, Doritos.

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