MARK AUERBACH
From Stage to Page
Tina Packer, co-founder of Shakespeare & Company, has profiled the women of Shakespeare’s plays in her one-woman tour-de-force performance. Now, she’s written it all down in her new book, “Women of Will”, which has been published under the Knopf banner. She’s touring the country with readings and booksignings, and she’ll appear on April 25 at Shakespeare and Company in Lenox. For details: http://women-of-will.com/ or http://www.randomhouse.com/book/212740/women-of-will-by-tina-packer#blurb_tabs
“Women of Will” cover
Williamstown Theatre Festival has published “Many Stages: A Portrait of WilliamstownTheatre Festival. The First 60 Years: 1954-2014”, a coffee table book that chronicles the theatre’s history, productions, and artists. Co-authored by WTF veterans Juliet Flynt, Steve Lawson, and Joan Zegras, and with contributions from others who have played the world-famous theatre, it’s a keepsake for those who have enjoyed performances there over the years. For details: www.wtfestival.org.
Peter Filichia, beloved Broadway historian and theatre writer, has chronicled the legendary 1963-64 Broadway season in “The Great Parade: Broadway’s Astonishing, Never-to-Be-Forgotten 1963-1964 Season” (St. Martin’s Press). It was a year of 68 plays and musicals vying for attention, from Carol Channing in “Hello Dolly” to Barbra Steisand in “Funny Girl”. It was the season that Neil Simon and Stephen Sondheim made their mark on the Great White Way, and folks like Paul Newman, Richard Burton, Kirk Douglas, Mary Martin, and others worked around Shubert Alley. Filichia is a great story-teller, and this is my next “must-read” book. . For details: http://us.macmillan.com/thegreatparade/peterfilichia
“Tanglewood Picnic” cover
Gina Hyams’ “The Tanglewood Picnic: Music and Outdoor Feasts in The Berkshires”, celebrates the eight-decade tradition of picnicking on the lawn at Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home in Lenox, Massachusetts. The hardcover gift book includes: 150 photos of Tanglewood picnickers from the 1940s through the present from the Boston Symphony Orchestra Archives and audience members’ family scrapbooks; a dozen classic picnic recipes (summer corn pudding, lobster sliders, brownies; the ultimate Tanglewood picnic checklist; and a foreword by best-selling cookbook author Alana Chernila. For details. http://tanglewoodpicnic.com/
“The Great Parade” cover
Great Symphony Programs Next Season
The Hartford Symphony Orchestra has announced a rich classical season at The Bushnell. (At press time, they’d not released their pops season for that hall, although their summer Talcott Mountain Music Festival season was announced during the snows of winter). Among music director Carolyn Kuan’s programs are: a “Bold Beethoven” season opener; “Joyful Voices” with the Hartford Chorale performing the Faure Requiem in D Minor and excerpts from Handel’s “Messiah”; “Love Notes” with Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata”; an evening of Russian Masters (Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky); Gluck’s opera “Orpheus and Euridyce”; a “Romantic Rachmaninoff” program, and “An American in Paris”.
The Hartford Symphony is selecting a new Assistant Conductor, and they’ll be showcasing the finalists in “The Battle of The Batons”. Three as of now not-chosen conductors will compete for a chance on the Bushnell podiumin a program of difficult music by masters Mozart, Debussy, and Borodin. The audience will have the chance to vote on their favorite.
For details: 860-987-5900 or www.hartfordsymphony.org.
The Springfield Symphony has posted its upcoming season on its website. Among the goodies: a double-bill of excerpts from the Gershwins’ “Porgy and Bess” and Duke Ellington’s jazzy ballet score “The River”; trumpeter Thomas Bergeron performing Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in E Flat; Stravinsky’s “The Firebird”, and the Faure Requiem… all with Maestro Kevin Rhodes on the podium. Rhodes will also conduct an evening of John Williams movie music hits on the Pops line-up.
Steven Lippia will lead the Pops in a Sinatra Centennial concert, saluting the iconic “Old Blue Eyes” from his crooning days, through his Big Band period, to his pop status. The Pops will also perform their annual holiday concert, and a salute to the music of Journey.
For details. http://www.springfieldsymphony.org/concerts-events/2015-2016-concerts/
Keep in Mind…
***The Last Five Years, the acclaimed Jason Robert Brown musical about a marriage in decline, closes the Majestic Theater in West Springfield (April 16-May 24). Brown, who provided script, music, and lyrics, loosely told the story of his first marraige, disguised as the tale of Jamie, a writer, and Cathy, an aspiring actress. Robbie Simpson and Darcie Champagne play the star-crossed lovers at The Majestic, and Gina Kaufman directs. Brown won a Tony for “Parade”. His musicals “The Bridges of Madison County” and “Honeymoon in Vegas” were recently on Broadway. “The Last Five Years” was recently released as a movie with Jeremy Jordan and Anna Kendrick. For tickets: 413-747-7797 or www.majestictheater.com.
***A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare’s fantasy-filled whimsical comedy is next at Connecticut Repertory Theatre in Storrs (through May 3). Michael Patrick Kane stars as Bottom. He was most recently in the movie “The Judge” and as Little Charles in “August Osage County” at the Arkansas Repertory Theater. He has also just written and starred in a three part web series called “Two Guys”, an (R) rated black comedy. The rest of the cast are members of UConn’s Theatre department. For tickets: 860-486-2113 or www.crt.uconn.edu.
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.
