by Mark G. Auerbach
The Berkshire Theatre Awards: A New Way to Recognize Excellence in Theatre
Broadway has its Tony Awards for excellence in theatre.. Chicago has the Joseph Jefferson Awards. In DC, theatres hope to win a Helen Hayes Award. In Boston, it’s the Elliot Norton Awards. Now, Western Massachusetts has an honor too!
In the last twelve months, more than 300,000 people attended a live theatre production in or around Berkshire County. With 75 stage productions employing hundreds of professionals, making theatre is an important cog in the area’s cultural economy. In fact, many consider the region a hot spot for Broadway bound shows, and a popular summer destination for theatre-goers from around the nation.The region’s theatre critics have joined together to create a new Berkshire Theatre Awards program to recognize the importance of their work.
The group announced today more than 120 nominations from which 25 winners will be selected. Participating in the Awards program are twenty arts journalists who will cast their final votes in the coming days, with the winners to be announced by the end of October. A ceremony honoring the winners will be held in November in Pittsfield. The project was organized by Larry Murray. Twenty five arts reporters and critics from Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont are involved in this season’s awards, including three rom the Pioneer Valley. I am honored to be among this very select group.
Seven shows received more than five nominations each including 11 for The Pirates of Penzance and eight for Broadway Bounty Hunter, both produced by Barrington Stage Company. Seven nominations were received for Or, and six for The Merchant of Venice at Shakespeare & Company. Also popular with five nominations each are The Rose Tattoo (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Little Shop of Horrors (Berkshire Theatre Group), and American Son (Barrington Stage).
For a complete list of nominees:
https://berkshireonstage.com/2016/10/11/berkshire-theatre-award-nominations-announced/
Joshua Bell. Photo by Chris Lee
Keep in Mind…
Joshua Bell, the world-renowned violinist and pianist Alessio Bax perform together on October 28, at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, MA, in a recital to honor longtime Mahaiwe supporters Ursula and Walter Cliff of South Egremont. The recital program includes Beethoven “ Sonata in A Major for Violin and Piano, Op. 12, No. 2,” Brahms “(Sonatensatz) Scherzo C minor for Violin and Piano, Brahms “Sonata No. 3 for Violin and Piano in D minor, Op. 108,” Ysaÿe “Violin Sonata No.3 in D minor, Op. 27,” Debussy “Sonata in G minor for Violin and Piano, L140,” and Sarasate “Carmen Fantasy for Violin and Piano, Op. 25.” For details: www.mahaiwe.org
Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Guthrie returns to the Berkshires on October 30 for a performance at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, MA.. His Running Down The Road Tour, will fully embody the best of his catalogue from the late sixties and early seventies. Featuring outstanding cuts from Arlo (1968), Running Down The Road (1969), and Washington County (1970), along with many others. For details: www.mahaiwe.org
The Marcus Roberts Trio brings its unique brand of jazz to Bowker Auditorium at UMass Amherst on November 3.. Pianist par excellence Marcus Roberts and his equally talented cohorts Rodney Jordan on bass and Jason Marsalis on drums will perform jazz standards and original compositions. Founded in New Orleans in 1995, the Marcus Roberts Trio is known for its virtuosity and original approach. While most jazz trios have the piano front and center, the members of this trio share equally in shaping the music, changing the tempo,
Marcus Roberts Trio
mood, and texture with imagination and lightning-quick reflexes. For details: 413-545-2511 or 800-999-UMAS or www.fineartscenter.com
Gilles VonSattel
Gilles Vonsattel, the Swiss-born American pianist who has won the Naumburg and Geneva competitions, has in recent years made his Boston Symphony, Tanglewood, and San Francisco Symphony debuts. A piano professor at UMass, Vonsattel gives a recital at Bezanson Hall at UMass/Amherst on October 3, performing works by Schumann, Brahms, and Webern. For information on Vonstaael: www.gillesvonsattel.com. For concert details:
413-545-2511, 800-999-UMAS or www.fineartscenter.com/musicanddance
Unnecessary Farce, a new play by West Hartford native Paul Slade Smith has its premiere at West Hartford’s Playhouse on Park, November 4-20. A graduate of Conard High School and currently starring as Hook in Finding Neverland, award-winning playwright and
Paul Slade Smith
actor Paul Slade Smith combines a contemporary plot with a classic farce. Unnecessary Farce takes place in side-by-side rooms at a cheap motel. In one, an embezzling mayor is supposed to meet with his female accountant, while in the other, two undercover cops wait to catch the meeting on videotape. But mishaps arise when there is confusion as to who’s in which room. For details: 860-523-5900 x10 or www.playhouseonpark.org.
Danny Dollar, Millionaire Extraordinaire, a play adapted from the book byTy Allan Jackson and E. Gray Simons III and directed by Travis G. Daly, is this year’s Berkshire Theatre Group’s touring productionBTG’s Artists-in-Residence and members from the community perform the show at dozens of venues throughout the region. These well-crafted productions are tailored to elementary and middle school and are designed to introduce students to the excitement of live theatre. A public performance will be held at Pittsfield’s Colonial Theatre on November 3. For details: 413-997-4444, or www.berkshiretheatregroup.org.
The Nate Wooley Quintet featuring Wooley on trumpet, Josh Sinton, bass clarinet, Matt Moran, vibraphone, Eivind Opsvik, bass and Harris Eisenstadt, drums at the Shea Theater in Turner’s Falls, under the auspices of Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares onNovember 6. For details: www.jazzshares.org
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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.
