by Mark G. Auerbach
“Matilda: The Musical” Next At The Bushnell
Matilda The Musical, the London and Broadway hit based on Roald Dahl’s children’s novel of the same name, ivisits The Bushnell in Hartford April 26-May 1.
Matilda
Ripley Sobo
The story of a precocious five-year old with telekenesis, Matilda overcomes obstacles in her way and helps her overbearing teacher reclaim her life. Matilda The Musical, with book by Dennis Kelly and music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, originated at the Royal Shakespeare Company in London, became a hit, transferred to London’s West End, and premiered on Broadway in 2013, where it’s still running.. This national tour rehearsed and premiered at New Haven’s Shubert Theatre last May. Matilda The Musical won several Tony Awards including Best Book of a Musical, BestScenic Design and Best Lighting Design.
The three girls sharing the title role are Sarah McKinley Austin, Lily Brooks O’Briant, and Savannah Grace Elmer. The principal cast also features: Jennifer Blood (Miss Honey), Quinn Mattfeld (Mr. Wormwood), David Abeles (Miss Trunchbull) and Cassie Silva (Mrs. Wormwood).
Matthew Warchus directs the national tour. For more information on Matilda The Musical: www.matildathemusical.com/tour. For details on The Bushnell: 860-987-5900 or www.bushnell.org.
April in Paris with The Longmeadow Chamber Music Society
The music of France is featured on The Longmeadow Chamber Music Society’s final concert of the season, on April 29 at the First Church of Christ in Longmeadow. The program will include: Jean Francaix’s String Trio, Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major, and Gabriel Faure’s Piano Quintet No. 2, 0p. 115. The featured musicians include: Joel Pitchon and Marsha Harbison, violins, Ronald Gorevic, viola, Volcy Pelletier, cello, and Judith Gordon, piano. Pitchon, Gorevic, Ms. Pelletier, and Ms. Gordon all teach at Smith College. Ms. Harbison is , a Longmeadow resident, is the assistant concertmistress of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, and Gorevic is the principal violist in that ensemble.Tickets will be available at the door with a contribution to the non-profit organization.
The Longmeadow Chamber Music Society is a volunteer, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting masterpieces of chamber music from all periods of music performed by professional musicians who reside in the Pioneer Valley. The Westfield News Group, publishers of the Westfield News, Pennysaver, Longmeadow News, and Enfield Press is a season concert sponsor.
For details: 413-567-8213 or www. longmeadowcms.org
Of Note
New England Public Radio’s 2016 Arts & Humanities Awards honorees are: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder; independent arts center Amherst Cinema; Springfield Massachusetts’ first poet laureate, María Luisa Arroyo; and Community Access to the Arts of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, which celebrates the creativity of people with disabilities through shared experiences in the visual and performing arts. For details: http://nepr.net/events/2015/05/02/2016-arts-and-humanities/
Opportunity
The Massachusetts Critics Circle Awards is accepting applications for the Walter Haggerty Memorial Scholarship, a $500 award given to a local high school senior, who plans to enroll in college to major in any genre of art.Application deadline is May 30. For details: I [email protected]
Plan Ahead
Hartfford Stage announced four of the six offerings on their 2016-17 season. The remaining prouctions will be announced soon. Queens for a Year by Army Wives writer T.D. Mitchell, will have its world premiere in Hartford. James Lecesne will perform his riveting play The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey which has music by Duncan Sheik. Darko Tresnjak will stage Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, and ade King Carroll stages August Wilson’s masterpiece The Piano Lesson. For details: 860-527-5151 or www.hartfordstage.org..
Connecticut Repertory Theatre has announced its casting for the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and this show looks like a sizzler. (June 2-12). Emmy Award winner Charles Shaughnessy, star of TV’s long-running sitcom The Nanny, will play corporate tycoon J.B. Biggley alongside Riley Costello as up-and-coming junior executive Finch. 
Costello won rave reviews in last season’s Peter Pan. Tina Fabrique, who starred in the recent Broadway revival of How to Succeed reprises her performance in Storrs. Sarah Schenkkan, Ariana Shore, Steve Hayes, and Chester Martin are also featured. Vincent Cardinal directs, and John Pike is Musical Director.. Fo rdetails:: 860-486-2113. or www.crt.uconn.edu
Keep in Mind…
The Jane Ira Bloom Quartet performs on April 28 at UMass/Amherst’s Bexanson Recital Hall, under the auspices of the 
Magic Triangle Jazz Series. The program, caled Wild Lines, features Jane Ira Bloom as Emily Dickinson. The group includes Jane Ira Bloom, soprano saxophone; Deborah Rush, voice; Dawn Clement, piano; Mark Helias, bass and Bobby Previte, drums. For details: 413-545-2511, 800-999-UMAS or or www.fineartscenter.com.
Wit, Margaret Edson’s powerfully imagined Pulitzer Prize winning play is next (through May 8) at West Hartford’s Playhouse on Park. Wit follows a brilliant and exacting poetry professor (played by Elizabeth Lande) as she undergoes an experimental treatment for cancer. A scholar who devoted her life to academia, she must now face the irony and injustice of becoming the subject of research. Steve Zimmerman directs. Lane has numerous theatre credits at major regional theatres. For details: 860-523-5900 x10 or www.playhouseonpark.org
The UMass Fine Arts Center 40th Birthday Party is a free celebration on May 1 at the Fine Arts Center Plaza at UMass/Amherst. Performances include: Mountain River Tako Drummers, Pioneer Valley Symphony Chamber Choir, a UMass Belly Dance and Bollywood Show; Amherst Ballet, Amherst Leisure Services performing excerpts from Mary Poppins, and more. There will be art on display, food trucks, and more. For details: 413-545-2511, 800-999-UMAS or or www.fineartscenter.com.
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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.
