by Mark G. Auerbach
The Springfield Symphony Season Grand Finale – A Really Big Show
When the Springfield Symphony ends a triumphant 2015-16 season on May 7, they’re going on summer break with a really big show. Maestro Kevin Rhodes conducts two big works, Faure’s Requiem and Saint-Saens’ Symphony No 3. with the Springfield Symphony Chorus
and the Pioneer Valley Symphony Chorus onstage, alongside soloists Griffin McMahon, a Longmeadow native, playing organ; soprano Dana Lynne Varga, and baritone John Salvi. When you add it all up, that’s close to 200+ musicians onstage.
The upcoming season will be announced around May 11.
For details: 413-733-2291 or www.springfieldsymphony.org.
Tony Awards Season Begins
All eyes are on Broadway, as the awards season begins, and ends with the 70th Tony Awards on June 12. You can follow the nominees (announced May 3) until the envelopes open with the winners. Last year, a group of Western Massachusetts theatres productions got 13+ nominations. This year, the only Broadway show with Baystate roots is Waitress. For a list of all Tony-eligible shows (open or closed): http://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/broadway/spotlight/
Spring and summer is prime tourtist season on Broadway, so if you’re thinking of catching a show, place your ticket orders before the Tonys are announced. And note, five Broadway hits now playing are headed to the Bushnell in Hartford next season: An American in Paris, The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night, Beautiful (The Carole King Musiclal), The King and I and Fun Home. Also on the Bushnell line-up is the 2014 “Best Musical” Tony winner, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, which originated at Hartford Stage. The Book of Mormon is also returning to Hartford. They’ll be just as good in Hartford. For the Bushnell season: www.bushnell.org.
For Tony Awards news: www.tonyawards.com. For BroadwayBox, my favorite source for discount tickets: www.broadwaybox.com.
A Whole Lotta Laughs
Mel Brooks, the funny man behind movies like Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety, and The Producers, brings his movie Blazing Saddles to The Bushnell in Hartford on Sunday afternoon, May 22, and chats about his career on Broadway, in Hollywood, and on television. The program is called: Mel Brooks…Back in The Saddle Again. There are some VIP meet-and greet tickets on sale. For details: 860-987-5900 or 
www.bushnell.org.
Kevin Meaney, the Tonight Show and SNL comic, who appeared on the TV series Uncle Buck appears at The Berkshire Theatre Group’s Garage (at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield) on May 11. For tickets: www.berkshiretheatregroup.org.
Sandra Bernhard in Conversation. The actress, comedienne, author an Sirius-XM chats with Jacques Lamarre in a benefit for the Mark Twain House and Museum on May 18 at the Museum in Hartford. For Sandy Land fans, there are VIP tickets which include a meet-and-greet. For details: (860) 247-0998 or www.MarkTwainHouse.org
Opportunity
The Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative offers a new film workshop, “How to be a Production Assistant,” on May 7 at Shakespeare and Company in Lenox.. Topics include: job responsibilities, proper film set etiquette and dress, production paperwork, definitions of film departments and crews, union vs. non-union productions, using walkie- talkies, how to find work and potential career paths. Instructors include: Alexa Green – professional Production Assistant and 2nd Assistant Director, William Beautyman – Owner of Limelight Productions and IATSE Local 481 Union representative, and Diane Pearlman – also an independent film producer. For details: 413.528.4223 or email [email protected]
Keep in Mind…
The Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA, hosts a Mother’s Day Cooking Workshop, with Kirsche Shapiro, author of Food, Family and Tradition: Hungarian Kosher Family Recipes and Remembrances. Learn to make aranygaluska—Hungarian sweet golden dumplings, which are stuffed with preserves, nuts, and spices. For details: 413-256-4900 or www.yiddishbookcenter.org.
The Hartford Symphony Orchestra presents “Romantic Rachmaninoff” on May 12-15 at The Bushnell’s Belding Theatre. Emil de Cou is guest conductor, and Alex Slobodyanik is piano soloist. The program includes the composer’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Symphony No. 2. For details: 860-987-5900 or www.hartfordsymphony.org.
Riverdance 20th Anniversary Tour plays The Bushnell in Hartford on May 6-8. It’s an exciting blend of music and dance drawing on Irish traditions, and the tour includes a new piece, Anna Livia. For details: 860-987=5900 or www.biushnell org.
The Memorial Exhibit for Genevieve Burnett, curated by the Anchor House for Artists, is on display through May 31 at the Jasper Rand Museum in the Westfield Athateneum. Burnett,, an Anchor House artist, battled with persecutory auditory hallucinations from childhood but lived primarily independently for most of her adult life with cyclic stays in psychiatric hospitals from the age of eighteen. Selections from her vast portfolio and samples of her writings and drawings will be organized to present a holistic view of her artistic output. For details: www.anchorhouseartists.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.
