'Bionic Girl' Hosts Cabaret Fundraiser For Scoliosis Research

icon 7 Photos
Thea's final class at Gateway in December 2017. COURTESY THEA FLANZER

Thea's final class at Gateway in December 2017. COURTESY THEA FLANZER

Thea after her final class at Gateway in December 2017. COURTESY THEA FLANZER

Thea after her final class at Gateway in December 2017. COURTESY THEA FLANZER

Thea and her Gateway classmates celebrated with a party at Gateway in April 2018. COURTESY THEA FLANZER

Thea and her Gateway classmates celebrated with a party at Gateway in April 2018. COURTESY THEA FLANZER

Thea and her Gateway classmates celebrated with ice cream after rehersal back in summer 2016. COURTESY THEA FLANZER

Thea and her Gateway classmates celebrated with ice cream after rehersal back in summer 2016. COURTESY THEA FLANZER

Thea with her fellow classmates at Gateway. COURTESY MARTY TIMLIN

Thea with her fellow classmates at Gateway. COURTESY MARTY TIMLIN

Thea Flanzer as Jane Banks in the Gateway Playhouse's production of Mary Poppins. COURTESY THEA FLANZER

Thea Flanzer as Jane Banks in the Gateway Playhouse's production of Mary Poppins. COURTESY THEA FLANZER

Thea Flanzer at her East Quogue home on Monday. VALERIE GORDON

Thea Flanzer at her East Quogue home on Monday. VALERIE GORDON

authorValerie Gordon on May 20, 2019
Thea Flanzer couldn’t imagine a time when she wasn’t performing. So, when it was all taken away, the 16-year-old was, to say the least, “shell-shocked.”Since she was 5 years old,... more

You May Also Like:

'Bled by Our Side'

The combination of the new Ken Burns documentary on the American Revolution and the rosy image of the first Thanksgiving led me to recall a 1778 event that exemplifies the true relationship between the white settlers and the Indigenous population. And that relationship spread west as the settlers did. During the war, the Stockbridge Mohicans, along with the Oneida, Tuscarora and a handful of other Indigenous nations, allied with the American colonists in their struggle for independence from Britain. Many of these communities hoped that their military support would ensure recognition of their sovereignty and protection of their lands. Instead, ... 26 Nov 2025 by Tom Clavin

Another Chance

Will Governor Kathy Hochul sign, or again veto, a bill to protect horseshoe crabs that again passed by large majorities in the State Legislature earlier this year? Hochul vetoed the same bill last year. She claimed then that the Horseshoe Crab Protection Act was “well intentioned,” but their management should best be left with the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation. She said the DEC has “significant rules and regulations regarding commercial and recreational fishing in the state.” It currently has an annual quota of 150,000 horseshoe crabs that can be taken. Environmentalists have been actively calling on Hochul to sign ... by Karl Grossman

Thankful, and Not

Thanksgiving is synonymous with harvest. Reaping what you have sown, you walk across the threshold of the field, your machete idle but ready to swing, to neatly lob off a head of broccoli. The level of satisfaction is hard to replicate in layman’s terms, somewhere between basketball’s slam dunk and capturing the flag. Harvest is what gave us some primordial ease, that the dark, cold months will not be hungry ones. The ancient discovery that successful agriculture could offer its practitioners self-reliance — to a degree — is what set us on the path to discovering other things, like gratefulness. ... 24 Nov 2025 by Marilee Foster

'Tea Talk' Topic Is Indigenous Art and Culture

Stony Brook Southampton’s FoodLab will welcome professor Joseph M. Pierce as the guest speaker for its next Tea Talk Tuesday on December 2 at 3:30 p.m. The event, which is open to the community, will focus on Indigenous art and culture. Pierce, an associate professor at Stony Brook University and founding director of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative, is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. He will discuss his new book, “Speculative Relations: Indigenous Worlding and Repair,” which will be available for purchase. According to a press release, the talk will invite attendees to “imagine Indigenous futures and ... 21 Nov 2025 by Staff Writer

Parade Committee Organizing Toy Drive

The Southampton Village Fourth of July Parade Committee’s annual holiday toy drive is underway and will continue through November 29. The community initiative aims to bring joy to children and offer support to local military families during the holiday season. Residents are encouraged to donate new, unwrapped toys for children of all ages. Donations may be dropped off at Veterans Memorial Hall at 25 Pond Lane in Southampton, which will also serve as the site of Santa’s visit on November 29 following the Festival of Lights Parade. During that event, the committee will offer a free mug of chili to ... by Staff Writer

Doc Fest 'Hometown Heroes' Film Contest Winners Announced

Hamptons Doc Fest education director Anita Boyer has announced the winners of its second annual “Hometown Heroes” documentary short film competition, where middle and high school students on the East End were invited to create a documentary short film honoring the local everyday heroes who have made a significant impact on their lives or their local community. Jackson Rohrer took first place, earning a $300 scholarship. He is a junior at the Shelter Island School and his winning film is “The Lifeline of Shelter Island — Cliff Clark.” Second place and a $200 scholarship went to Springs School eighth-grader Francisco ... by Staff Writer

Wind Symphony

The wind has been blowing hard enough to bring the outdoor cat in. And while it is not truly cold, the wind makes it feel like winter, which is nice for a change. The developing trend is late autumn warmth, heat that makes it risky to store potatoes much earlier than mid- to late October. The storage barns are cinder block hallways built into or banked by earth. They are improved mid-century root cellars, designed to the specs of a regional growing season that once seemed permanent and perpetual. If your occupation does not put you in regular contact with ... 20 Nov 2025 by Marilee Foster

Turnout, Turnout, Turnout!

Election 2025 is now in the history books. What happened? Why did it happen? What does it mean for 2026? As we look across the nation in this off-year election, there is overwhelming consensus that the 2025 election was a big victory for Democrats. Democrats won gubernatorial elections with moderate candidates in New Jersey and Virginia. Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, was elected mayor of New York City as a Democrat, with a majority of the vote in a three-way race. In California, Governor Gavin Newsom’s redistricting proposal was approved by more than 60 percent of the vote. Democrats also ... by Fred Thiele Jr.

Warm Air, and Hot Air

There’s a highly threatening and new reality for hurricanes. Unusually, the East Coast of the United States was not struck this year by any hurricanes. And thus, luckily, we were not hit by one of these extreme hurricanes that first meanders as a minor storm and then, in just a day or so after feeding from waters made ever-hotter by climate change, rise to the worst hurricane level, Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. But it’s just a matter of time. The National Weather Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency defines online Category 5 as: “Winds 157 ... 19 Nov 2025 by Karl Grossman

Community News, November 20

YOUTH CORNER Toddler & Teeny Tumbling Project Most at the Community Learning Center, 44 Meadow ... by Staff Writer