by Mark G. Auerbach
Taj Mahal Headlines 3rd Springfield Jazz and Roots Festival
Taj Mahal headlines the Springfield Jazz and Roots Festival.
Court Square in downtown Springfield will sizzle on Saturday, August 6, when the Third Annual Springfield Jazz and Roots Festival takes over the town with a daylong series of free concerts, workshops, and culinary offerings. .Headlining the festival is Springfield native and world music legend, Taj Mahal, who for more than 50 years has nearly single-handedly reshaped the definition and scope of the blues via the infusion of exotic sounds from the Caribbean, Africa and the South Pacific.
Mahal’s appearance at the 3rd annual Springfield Jazz & Roots Festival is significant for both the city and the festival. Co-executive producer, Kristin Neville, said, “Taj represents Springfield’s roots and is a symbol of its proud history. The festival celebrates the rich musical heritage of jazz and roots music, as well as the cultural life in Springfield, and Taj is a source of pride for Springfield residents. He is a significant part of Springfield’s musical history; elements of which we hope to bring attention to at this year’s festival.”
Samirah Evans headlines the Springfield Jazz and Roots Festival.
Also appearing at the festival will be the dynamic Grammy award-winning drummer, Terri Lyne Carrington, the master of the jazz organ, Joey DeFrancesco, and the Grammy award winning guitarist, popular musician and producer, Eric Krasno. Samirah Evans and Her Handsome Devils, the Charles M. Greenlee Ensemble, Jose Gonzalez and Banda Criolla, and Heshima Moja and Ofrecimiento with special guest Rayvon Owen are on the roster.
The Festival goes on rain or shine. For details: http://www.springfieldjazzfest.com
George Bowerman showcased at Sevenars. Photo by David Bowerman.
Sevenars Showcases Springfield Pianist George Bowerman
Sevenars presents its inaugural “Young Artist To Watch” concert, showcasing pianist George Bowerman on August 7 in Worthington, MA. Bowerman, a Springfield native, is a graduate of Dickinson College, and has distinguished himself in the Seattle International Piano Competition, the North York Music Festival in Ontario (“Best Advanced Pianist”), and recently as a major prizewinner in the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition. He is an alumnus of many premiere summer programs, from Eastman to Brevard Music Center, and has performed frequently throughout the Northeastern US and Canada. Notable solo performances have been at New York’s Steinway Hall, Newport’s Belcourt Castle, on recital series in New Haven, Philadelphia, Massachusetts, and Toronto,. His program will include Beethoven’s Sonata in E-flat Op. 27, No 1, Brahms Fantasies, Op 116 (complete), and Chopin’s 24 Preludes, Op. 28 (complete). For details: www.sevenars.org.
Annie Golden stars in Broadway Bounty Hunter at Barrington Stage
Barrington Stage Presents World Premiere Musical Broadway Bounty Hunter
Annie Golden and Jeff McCarthy star in the world premiere of Broadway Bounty Hunter at Barrington Stage in Pittsfield rom August 12-September 4. Broadway Bounty Hunter features music and lyrics by Joe Iconis (Be More Chill, The Black Suits, Bloodsong of Love), book by Lance Rubin (author of Denton Little’s Deathdate) and Jason SweetTooth Williams (Off Broadway: Once Upon A Mattress), choreography by Jeffrey Page (Broadway: Violet), and direction by Leah C. Gardiner. Joel Waggoner is music director.
Inspired by the Blaxploitation movies of the 1970s (think Shaft), this exciting new musical about a down-on-her-luck actor Annie (SAG Award Winner and Broadway veteran Annie Golden) as she’s asked to become a bounty hunter and capture a South American drug lord. With a score rich with R&B and Funk (and a splash of ‘80s Rock ‘n’ Roll), the musical follows a woman of a certain age as she tries to find the inner strength she needs to save theatre and realize her true badass identity.
For details: 413-236-8888 or www.barringtonstageco.org
Of Note…
Barrington Stage Company, through the generosity of Jessie and Bernard Wolfson, will combine it administrative offices, and rehearsal studios and production facilities in new digs, The Wolfson Theatre Center at 122 North Street in Pittsfield, MA. Currently, those operations are spread out amongst several buildings. Barrington Stage and Berkshire Theatre Group have stirred a renaissance in downtown Pittsfield by bringing live theatre on multiple stages to the city’s downtown. For details: www.barringtonstaeco.org.
Connecticut Repertory Theatre has announced its new season, which begins with King Lear by William Shakespeare. The production will coincide with the Folger Shakespeare Library’s national tour of First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare, which will bring a rare first folio to UConn’s campus where it will be displayed September 1-25 in the William Benton Museum of Art. King Lear will be directed by Dale AJ Rose and play onstage in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre October 6-16. Also on the line-up, the musical Shrek, Clifford Odets’ Waiting for Lefty, and an adaptation a a Feydeau farce, An Absolute Turkey inspired by Le Dindon. For details: 860-486-2113 or www.crt.uconn.edu.
Keep In Mind…
Kenneth Tigar stars in The Gin Game at North Hall in Huntington.
Cry “Havoc!” features playwright Stephan Wolfert as himself, recounting his own experiences as a veteran. With the help of Shakespeare’s most iconic speeches, he examines a story of military service that so often goes untold: the soldier’s struggle to reintegrate into society after coming home from combat. At Shakespeare and Company through August 13. For details: 413-637-3353 or www.shakespeare.org.
Peerless, Jiehae Park’s comedy about ambitious and brilliant twin sisters who plot their admissions to a dream college, is onstage at Barrington Stage in Pittsfield through August 6. Louisa Proske directs; the cast includes Sasha Diamond, Ethan Dubin , Ronald Alexander
Peet , Laura Sohn, and and Adina Verson. Playwright Park is a graduate of Amherst College. For details: 413-236-8888 or www.barringtonstageco.org.
The Gin Game, D.L. Coburn’s Pulitzer Prize winning play, will have a staged reading at North Hall in Huntongton on August 7. Kenneth Tigar and Margery Shaw co-star. Mitch Giannunzio directs. For details: 413-667-5543 or www.northhallhuntington.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.
