by Mark G. Auerbach
Mark St. Germain
Spotlight: Playwright Mark St. Germain
Playwright Mark St. Germain is nationally known for his portfolio of plays about real people in history, from Freud to Einstein to Dr. Ruth. His plays are regularly performed in area theatres, from Berkshire Theatre Group to Hartford’s TheaterWorks, to Pittsfield’s Barrington Stage, where St. Germain is on the Board of Directors (and has a charming small theatre named for him).
Two theatres have St. Germain plays on their rosters this Fall. Hartford’s TheaterWorks presents the premiere of his newest work Relativity, October 7-November 15. Artistic Director Rob Ruggiero stages the play about Albert Einstein, and Richard Dreyfuss, the internationally acclaimed movie star, plays Einstein.
According to TheaterWorks Artistic Director Rob Ruggiero, “Einstein was beloved and a hero to many, but he was also a deeply complicated and difficult man. Relativity challenges our preconceived notions of who Einstein was and delivers a far more nuanced and humane understanding of the man behind the genius.
Richard Dreyfuss
Ruggiero added that “Richard Dreyfuss is an ‘Einstein enthusiast’ and will bring not only his intelligence and sensitivity to the role, but also a deep connection to Einstein, the man.”
Meanwhile, Barrington Stage presents Camping With Henry And Tom, October 5-25, fascinating yarn about Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Warren Harding, which premiered at Berkshire Theatre Festival some twenty years, ago and moved to New York to win numerous awards.
Camping with Henry and Tom, an early play by Mark St. Germain, will be staged at Barrington Stage by Christopher Innvar Set in 1921, it’s the story of Ford, Edison, and Harding, who went camping in the Maryland woods. Camping with Henry and Tom is an exploration of friendship, politics and leadership—a comedic and dramatic clash of two great minds and one great heart of the twentieth century.
St. Germain’s credits also include Dancing Lessons, and work in television as a writer for The Cosby Show and As The World Turns. As a personal project, he directed and co-produced the documentary My Dog: An Unconditional Love Story, featuring, among others, Richard Gere, Glenn Close and Lynn Redgrave.
For details on Relativity at TheaterWorks: 860-527-7838 or http://theaterworkshartford.org/
For details on Camping with Henry and Tom at Barrington Stage: 413-236-8888 or www.barringtonstageco.org
Another Opening, Another Show
Alan Cumming
Decisions, decisions…There are two big opening nights on Saturday, September 24. Where will you be ?
The UMass Fine Arts Center season opens on September 24, with Alan Cumming from Broadway’s Cabaret and TV’s The Good Wife, in which Cumming played Eli Gold. He brings his hit one-man show, Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs, to Amherst. Cumming starred in London in Hamlet, Accidental Death of an Anarchist and The Bacchae; on Broadway in Threepenny Opera, Design for Living, and his one-person adaptation of Macbeth. His film credits include Emma, GoldenEye, the Spy Kids trilogy, and X2: X-Men United. He won the Tony Award for his performance in Cabaret. This is one of the area’s must-see performances of the year. For details: 413-545-2511, 800-999-UMASS or www.fineartscenter.com
Also, on September 24, The Springfield Symphony Orchestra launches its 73rd season. Maestro Kevin Rhodes has curated another program of classical favorites, as well as lesser known works for a season of celebration and enlightenment. On Opening Night, Rhodes will lead the symphony in rousing performances of three of the master Russian composer Tchaikovsky’s famous orchestral works: the “Festival Coronation March”, Symphony No. 6 and Piano Concerto No. 1. By the way, the Symphony has the Restaurant Package again whhich includes ticket, round-trip bus from Longmeadow and Wilbraham, and dinner at The Fort. For details: 413-733-2291 or www.springfieldsymphony.org
Newsmakers…
Rob Ruggiero, Artistic Director of Hartford’s Theaterworks, who also frequently stages musicals at Goodspeed, directed Sondheim’s Follies, which opened the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis’ 50th Anniversary Season. Follies runs through October 2. For details: http://repstl.org/season/show/follies
Allyn Burrows
Allyn Burrows, a long-time member of Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, MA, has been named its new Artistic Director. Burrows, an Eliot Norton Award Winner, is a graduate of Boston University. He has performed in film, television, Off-Broadway, and regionally, and has served as Company member, Artistic Associate and Board member at Shakespeare & Company. .For details:t www.shakespeare.org.
Luca Antonucci hasbeen appointed Pioneer Valley Symphony’s new Youth Orchestra director. Antonucci is a graduate of Amherst College who spent the year following his graduation on a Fulbright scholarship in Vienna. He is currently in the second year of his Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting at the Hartt School of the University of Hartford. For details: http://www.pvsoc.org/
Keep in Mind…
Corbin Mayer as Johnny Cash and Brian Michael Henry as Jerry Lee Lewis in Million Dollar Quartet, at the Majestic Theater. Photo: Lee Chambers
Million Dollar Quartet, the recent Broadway hit musical, opens the Majestic Theater’s 25th Anniversary Season in West Springfield. Million Dollar Quartet tells about the real-life events of 1956 at Sun Records’ Memphis studio, when Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley drifted into the studio, and the quartet took part in a loose jam session that producer Sam Phillips had the foresight to record. Performances run through October 23. For details: www.majestictheater.com
The Magic Triangle Jazz Solos & Duos Series begins its 15th season with a concert by Wadada Leo Smith and Vijay Iyer on September 27 at Bezanson Recital Hall on the UMass/Amherst campus. For details: 413-545-2511, 800-999-UMASS or www.fineartscenter.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.
