You don't even have to enter the home to know it's owned by theatrical people. Visitors are greeted by a theater prop painted to look like a tiger coming out of a koi fish at the base of the driveway. Inside, it's decorated with art, masks, and even a clapboard from sets they have designed. They also have theater lights above the couch in their living room and in the kitchen.
Choosing Catskill
In the 1970s, Patterson lived in New York City, studying theater at HB Studio under Herbert Berghof. He participated in a summer theater group in the Greene County town of Lexington, living and working at an 1880s resort hotel. It was during this time that Patterson fell in love with the Catskill Mountains.
In 2003, Sowle and Patterson moved from a large apartment in San Francisco into a 400-square-foot apartment in New York City. Needless to say, they needed more storage space. Remembering his experience in the 1970s, Patterson and Sowle visited the mountains many times and decided it was where they eventually wanted to live. Drawn to Catskill's rich arts history, they found a 10-acre lot on Old Kings Road that already had a building on it they could use for storage until making a permanent move.
Sowle and Patterson lived in the storage building while the house was being built. Sowle did the initial design and worked with a local architect to make it functional. Then they found Craig Nowak, a highly recommended builder from Hudson who was up to the challenge. They broke ground on the house in September 2007. After a series of tricky situations, like straightening all the poles made from trees around the property by strapping bands around them orthodontic-brace style, Patterson and Sowle moved into the completed house in December 2008.
Enlivening the Arts
In 1986, Sowle and Patterson created their own production company, Kaliyuga Arts, for which they design, direct, and produce shows. Through Kaliyuga Arts, they have produced shows all over the place, from San Francisco and New York to Amsterdam.
Some of their many notable productions include "Beauty"—designed by Sowle and Patterson, directed by Sowle, and performed by Patterson—and "All That Fell," in which Patterson performed and Sowle directed and designed. After moving to Catskill, they began producing shows at Stageworks in Hudson, including "The Mound Builders," "True Love Lies," and "Kill Me Now."
Patterson and Sowle's next venture is enriching the arts in Catskill. "We bought a building on Bridge Street and opened the Bridge Street Theatre," says Patterson. "We've made a commitment to enliven the arts community for visual and performing arts." They bought the building in 2013 and spent four months cleaning it out before the Bridge Street Theatre officially opened last April. There are three rooms in the building: the Speakeasy, the Mainstage, and the Big Room. The Speakeasy seats a maximum of about 50 people for intimate, small-scale events such as readings, music, art installations, and community gatherings. The Big Room is exactly what it sounds like: a big space to hold events. The Mainstage, which is still under construction, will be home to an auditorium that can hold more than 70 people for larger shows. Sowle and Patterson encourage local artists to take advantage of the space. "We want groups that don't have a place to do work to come to us," says Patterson. "We want it to be a community resource."
The Bridge Street Theatre gets all kinds of performances, from magicians to classical recitals and shows by Kaliyuga Arts. (They will present "Out of This World," a performance art event with Dan Crabone and Alexandra Tartarsky April 10 to 12.) Like their home and personalities, Sowle and Patterson want to embrace the offbeat sides of humanity in the theater. "We're trying to bring eclectic programming, and we want people to never know what to expect," says Patterson. "We're really doing something we're proud of."
