by Mark G. Auerbach
Samantha Massell of Hartford Stage’s The Flamingo Kid
Hartford Stage Announces Casting for “The Flamingo Kid”
Hartford Stage has announced the cast and creative team for the world premiere musical The Flamingo Kid, helmed by Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak. The musical, which closes the current season, and ends the tenure of Darko Tresnjak, runs May 9-June 9. .
The Flamingo Kid, inspired by the 1984 Garry Marshall coming-of-age film starring Matt Dillon, reunites Tresnjak with A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder’s Tony Award-winning book writer and lyricist Robert L. Freedman. They are collaborating for the first time with the Tony Award-nominated Grey Gardens composer Scott Frankel.
In the summer of ’63, against the wishes of his father, Brooklyn teenager Jeffrey Winnick leaves behind his blue-collar roots for an exciting job working as a cabana boy at the colorful El Flamingo — a posh private club on Long Island. There, Jeffrey meets Carla, a forward-thinking young woman from California. The music, the romance, and the beach are magical — until tensions grow between father and son when a slick club member takes Jeffrey under his wing.
Jimmy Brewer was cast in the leading role of Jeffrey Winnick in The Flamingo Kid last year while still a student at the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama.
Broadway veterans Adam Heller (Tevye in Goodspeed’s Fiddler on The Roof) and Liz Larsen (Mrs. Lovett in the CT Repertory Theatre’s Sweeney Todd) will play Arthur and Ruth, Jeffrey’s parents. Three-time Tony Award nominee Marc Kudisch (Thoroughly Modern Millie) and Olivier Award winner and Drama Desk Award nominee Lesli Margherita (Matilda the Musical) play Phil and Phyllis Brody, the affluent couple who frequent the El Flamingo Club. Samantha Massell (winner of the CT Critics Circle Award for her role in Goodspeed’s Rags) plays their niece, Carla.
The creative team includes Tony Award-nominated Choreographer Denis Jones (Holiday Inn, the New Irving Berlin Musical; Tootsie); Tony Award-nominated Set Designer Alexander Dodge, Tony Award-winning Costume Designer Linda Cho and Lighting Designer Philip Rosenberg, all of whom partnered with Tresnjak on A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, at Hartford Stage and on Broadway;
For details: 860-527-5151 or visit www.hartfordstage.org.
The Band’s Visit comes to The Bushnell. Photo of the Broadway production by Matthew Murphy
Bushnell Announces Upcoming Broadway Season
The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts announced the productions that will make up its 2019-2020 Broadway Series season. Beginning this fall, The Bushnell will bring seven exciting titles to the region, along with additional off-Series hits to round out a strong season lineup. Series titles are: The Spongebob Musical, Hello Dolly! ; Anastasia, the Broadway hit that originated at Hartford Stage; last season’s “Best Musical” Tony Award-winner, The Band’s Visit, the hot-ticket Dear Evan Hansen, a revival of Jesus Christ Superstar, and Escape to Margaritaville, with music by Jimmy Buffet. Non-series events include How The Grinch Stole Christmas and Blue Man Group. Additionally, it was announced that Hamilton, which played a record-breaking run at The Bushnell last December, would return to Hartford during the 2020-2021 season. For details: www.biushnell.org.
Tara Franklin
Of Note
Tara Franklin, well-known to area audiences for her stage work (including Bar Mitzvah Boy, White Rabbit, Red Rabbit, and Sister Play at Chester Theatre Company) has joined the staff of Chester Theatre Company in a dual role, that of Associate Artistic Director/Director of Education. Additionally, this summer she will appear in Martín Zimmerman’s On the Exhale, a one-woman tour-de-force written in the wake of the events at Sandy Hook. Franklin, a Berkshires-based actor, has also starred in Berkshire Theatre Group productions of Naked, The Homecoming, and Edward Albee’s At Home At The Zoo, all directed by Eric Hill.
Keep in Mind
Arts Beat Radio airs every Friday at 8AM, on 89.5fm/WSKB. On April 26, we’ll chat with Paul Marte about The Bushnell’s upcoming Broadway series, and we’ll meet Lucinda Kidder, co-founder of Silverthorne Theatre. 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
Reduced Shakespeare Company
The Reduced Shakespeare Company’s irreverent The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised] comes to the UMass Fine Arts Center Concert Hall on April 23, The Bard’s Birthday. Immediately following the performance, the cast will join the audience in the lobby for the Bard’s Birthday Bash, a collaborative celebration between the Fine Arts Center and UMass Amherst Theater Department and Department of Music and Dance. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised] is a hilarious, high-speed romp through all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays in 97 minutes, all performed by three actors: Dominic Conti, Michael Faulkner, and Michael Perez. For details: 413-545-2511, 800-999-UMAS, or www.fineartscenter.com
Kathy Jo Grover
Disney’s Aladdin JR comes to the Berkshire Theatre Group’s Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, April 26-28. The musical, featuring 100 Berkshire County elementary and middle school students, is directed by Travis Daly, with music direction by Erin M. White and choreography by Kathy Jo Grover. Disney’s Aladdin JR. is based on the 1992 Academy-Award®-winning film and the 2014 hit Broadway show, Aladdin. For details: 413-997-4444, or www.berkshiretheatregroup.org
The Marvelous Wonderettes, Roger Bren’s musical et in a 1958 Senior Prom, closes the current Majestic Theater 22nd season, running through May 26 in West Springfield. Danny Eaton directs, and Mitch Chakour is music director of the story of a quartet who sing songs like “Dream Lover,” “Stupid Cupid,” “Lipstick on Your Collar” on this song and dance trip down memory lane. The cast includes: Kait Rankins (Missy), Mollie Posnick (Suzy), Tina Sparkle (Betty Jean) and Kaytlyn Vaneloecht (Cindy Lou). For details: ww.majestictheater.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. Mark produces and hosts ArtsBeat Radio for 89.5fm/WSKB.
