MARK AUERBACH
“Having Our Say” Next at Hartford Stage
Having Our Say: The Delaney Sisters’ First 100 Years, the 1995 Broadway adapation of the sisters’ best-selling 1993 oral history, written with Amy Hill Heart, is next at Hartford Stage (through April 24). This co-production with New Haven’s Long Wharf Theatre, adapted for the stage by Emily Mann, directed by Jade King Carroll, and starring Brenda Pressley and Olivia Cole, got great reviews in New Haven, and looks like another successful venture for Hartford Stage.
Sadie Delany, 103, and Bessie Delany, 101, were the daughters of a former slave, grew up in the Jim Crow South, lived in Harlem during its renaissance, and had professional careers as a teacher and a dentist, respectively. While they make dinner to remember their father’s birthday, the two sisters tell us the story of the last century, as they lived it – history at its most immediate, and poignant.
Brenda Pressley and Olivia Cole in Having Our Say at Hartford Stage. (Photo by T. Charles Erickson)
When the story of the sisters was published, it became a best-selling chronicle of two sisters’ extraordinary lives and a family history of over 200 years. As the book remained on the top of the bestseller list, Mann, artistic director of Princeton’s McCarter Theatre, adapted it for Broadway, where it enjoyed a long-run, followed by a successful national tour. Having Our Say was adapted into a screen play for CBS in 1999; the telefilm starred Ruby Dee and Diahann Carroll as the Delaney sisters, and Amy Madigan as Amy Hill Heart. Emily Mann also adapted the screen version.
Here’s an excerpt from a TV interview the Delaney Sisters gave to PBS’ Charlayne Hunter Gault, which was broadcast on NewsHour with Jim Lehr in 1994. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsgvoslqwNA
For details: 860-527-5151 or www.hartfordstage.org
Plan Ahead
Anastasia, the new musical based on the life and mystery of the Tsar’s daughter, Anasatasia Romanov, has its world premiere at Hartford Stage (May 12-June 12), and it’s likely headed to Broadway. Don’t be one of those procrastinators who missed out on seeing Kevin Bacon in Rear Window at Hartford Stage, put off buying tickets, and found out that the show was an instant sell-out. Order the tickets now, (860-527-5151 or www.hartfordstage.org) and then finish reading this article.
Anastasia, inspired by real history, and the 20th Century Fox movie, features book by Terrence McNally, and music and lyrics by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens. They created the musical Ragtime. Darko Tesnjak (who won the Tony Award, when Hartford Stage’s A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder moved to Broadway to snag the Best Musical Tony) is staging this, with choreography by Peggy Hickey. Together, they brought Kiss Me, Kate to Hartford last year.
Christy Altomarie (from Mamma Mia) has been cast as Anya, and Derek Klena (from Wicked) is Dmitri. Mary Beth Peil plays the Dowager Empress.
The Anastasia story was previously turned into a musical in 1965, with a book by George Abbott and Guy Bolton and music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest. As they had done with Song of Norway and Kismet, Wright and Forrest developed the musical score using themes written by a classical composer, in this case Sergei Rachmaninoff. The cast featured Constance Towers and Lillian Gish. After 16 previews and 16 performances, the show folded.
Go get the tickets. 860-527-5151 or www.hartfordstage.org
Maria Schneider
High School Musicale
The UMass Department of Music and Dance hosts the 18th Annual High School Jazz Festival on April 9 at Bexanson Recital Hall and the UMass Fine Arts Center on the Amherst campus. High school big bands, combos, and vocal ensembles, attend clinics, rehearse, and perform together in competition. The winning ensemble opens for Grammy winner Maria Schneider and her jazz orchestra, who plays the Fine Arts Center that night. The daytime activities are free and open to the public. The Maria Schneider event is ticketed through the Fine Arts Center.
Three ensembles from Enfield’s Enrico Fermi High School, under the direction of instrumental music teacher Mark Reppucci, are competing.
For details: https://www.umass.edu/events/18th-annual-high-school-jazz
John Novacek, piano soloist with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. (Photo by Peter Schaaf)
Keep in Mind…
The Springfield Symphony Orchestra performs Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 and Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in their next concert, April 9, at Symphony Hall. Kevin Rhodes conducts; John Novacek is guest pianist. Novacek has performed in concert halls worldwide, and has also appeared on NPR’s Performance Today, St. Paul Sunday and, as both featured guest composer/performer, on A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. He was also seen and heard on television, including The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Entertainment Tonight and CNN International. For details: 413-733-2291 or www.springfieldsymphony.org.
Maria Schneider, composer, pianist, and five time Grammy winner, brings her 18-member jazz collective to the UMass Fine Arts Center Concert Hall on April 9. Before the performance, the winning high school jazz ensemble at the 18th High School Jazz Fest will open for Schneider. For details:413- 545-2511, 800-999-UMAS, or www.fineartscenter.com.
Reformed Whores
The Reformed Whores, the acclaimed country-western duo, who took Hartford by storm, return to the scene of the crime at The Mark Twain House & Museum on April 13. Hot on the heels of their debut album Ladies Don’t Spit, these two low-brow sweeties have unleashed their new album, Don’t Beat Around the Bush. Obviously, this show is for (im)mature older audiences! For details: 860- 247-0998 or www.marktwainhouse.org.
Not Exactly April Fools Show with the Young@Heart Chorus and special guests from the Young@Heart Prison Project and the Northamptones bring an evening of music to Northampton’s Academy of Music theatre on April 15. For details: 413-584-9032 x 105 or http://youngatheartchorus.com/
Mark G. Auerbach studied theatre at American University and the Yale School of Drama. He’s worked for arts organizations and reported on theatre for newspapers and radio.
