by Mark G. Auerbach
Zoe Darrow. Photo by Guillaume Morin.
The Big Broadcast! Returns to Mount Holyoke on March 2
The Jazz Ensembles of Mount Holyoke College present the 14th edition of The Big Broadcast! on Saturday, March 2 at 2PM & 7:30PM at Chapin Auditorium, Mount Holyoke College, in South Hadley, MA. Snow date is Sunday, March 3. Created and directed by Mark Gionfriddo, who is also onstage as “Matt Morgan”, The Big Broadcast! is a re-creation of a live 1940’s radio show featuring the Mount Holyoke College Big Band, Vocal Jazz, and Chamber Jazz Ensembles performing well-known tunes from the swing era and the American songbook. WWLP-TV meteorologist Brian Lapis is emcee “Fred Kelley” for his 12th consecutive season. This season marks the 20th anniversary of the Jazz Ensembles of Mount Holyoke College and Mount Holyoke alum, fiddler Zoë Darrow will join The Big Broadcast! as special guest.
According to Gionfriddo, “In researching material for this year’s program, we learned that then up-and-coming Glenn Miller Orchestra performed at the Mount Holyoke Senior prom on February 24, 1939, in Chapin Auditorium. In Celebration of the 80th anniversary of that Prom, we’ll feature some music made famous by Glenn Miller. And, fiddler Zoë Darrow will be performing with us on on two pieces: “Stay A Little Longer” originally recorded by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, and “Ciribiribin” originally by Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters”.
Zoë Darrow is an accomplished fiddler and musician of rare intensity and expressive range who grew up playing Cape Breton and other Celtic music on a sheep farm in Blandford, MA. She released her first recording in 2001 at the age of 12, with her band the Fiddleheads. The Valley Advocate named them “Best Celtic Band” in 2007 and Celtic Heritage Magazine acclaimed Zoë as an artist “destined to add savory spice to the global mix.” A graduate of Mount Holyoke College with a degree in anthropology and music, she has also become a much sought after collaborator, touring and recording with luminaries like banjo innovator Tony Trischka, Bela Fleck’s primary banjo guru and an instructor at the Berklee College of Music. With Tim Eriksen and percussionist Peter Irvine she has toured North America and as far abroad as Singapore.
For details 413-545-2511 or 800-999-UMASS.
Lauren Gunderson
Lauren Gunderson’s The Revolutionists at Playhouse on Park
Playhouse on Park presents Lauren Gunderson’s provocative The Revolutionists in West Hartford, February 20-March 10. The Revolutionist is a grand and dream-tweaked comedy about art and activism, feminism and terrorism, violence and legacy, and changing the world. Gunderson is a much-produced playwright whose I and You was a hit of Chester Theatre’s 2017 season, and WAM Theatre has twice presented Gunderson’s Émilie: La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight.. Sarah Hartmann, Associate Director of Anastasia for both Broadway and the First National Tour., stages this prouction.
Gunderson was recently profiled in The New Yorker : https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/youve-probably-never-heard-of-americas-most-popular-playwright
For details: 860-523-5900 x10 or www.playhouseonpark.org
Of Note
Shakespeare & Company has announced its 2019 summer season, themed as The Strings of The Heart. The season includes Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew, and, in a special workshop production, Coriolanus. The contemporary plays this season are the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan; Tony Award nominated play The Children by Lucy Kirkwood; Pulitzer Prize winner Topdog/Underdog by MacArthur Foundation Fellowship recipient Suzan-Lori Parks; and Time Stands Still by Obie Award winner Donald Margulies. For details: 413-637-3353 or www.shakespeare.org
Willie Hill
Dr. Willie Hill, Jr, Director of the UMass Fine Arts Center, came to the FAC in 1999, and his retirement on February 8 closed out a half-century career in arts education that launched just after he led the first Super Bowl Halftime Show in 1967. For an organization that’s 43 years old, Hill’s nearly 20 years at the University was undeniably impactful. Hill is the second long-term director of the Fine Arts Center, following Dr. Frederick C. Tillis (1978-1998)..
William Swan
William Swan, Berkshires based stage, screen and TV actor, died on January 20 at age 90. He appeared in many plays at the Berkshire Theatre Festival, where his late partner of 40 years, Richard Dunlap, had been a director.https://theberkshireedge.com/william-h-swan-90-of-monterey-stage-and-screen-actor/
Keep in Mind
Arts Beat Radio airs every Friday at 8AM, on 89.5fm/WSKB. On February 22, Brian Lapis and Zoe Darrow preview The Big Broadcast! ArtsBeat Radio, live on Fridays at 8AM on 89.5fm/WSKB, on Westfield Comcast channel 15, or streamed on www.wskb.org. And, if you miss an episode, find it on YouTube at WSKB Community Radio’s page
Hartford Symphony Orchestra continues its Sunday Serenades series with Land, Sea, Sky on February 24 at The Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. Sunday Serenades artistic director and HSO concertmaster Leonid Sigal will be joined by Barbara Hopkins on flute, Heather Taylor on oboe, Curt Blood on clarinet, Yeh-Chi Wang on bassoon, Barbara Hill on horn, Michael Wheeler on viola, Peter Zay on cello, Margreet Francis on piano and celeste, and other musicians to be announced. For details: 860-987-5900 or www.hartfordsymphony.org.
Rachel Barton Pine
The Springfield Symphony Orchestra performs an evening of Mendelssohn and Brahms on February 23, with Maestro Kevin Rhodes on the podium, the Springfield Youth Orchestra, and renowned violinist Rachel Barton Pine, who had been affiliated with the Musicorda Chamber Music Series at Mount Holyoke. Pine performs Brahms’ Violin Concerto, Op. 77, D Major. Also on the program is Augusta Read Thomas’ Prayer and Celebration. For details: 413-733-2291 or www.springfieldsymphony.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. Mark produces and hosts ArtsBeat Radio for 89.5fm/WSKB.
