by Mark G. Auerbach
Mark H. Dold in Hartford Stage’s Cloud 9.
Hartford Stage presents Cloud Nine
Hartford Stage presents Caryl Churchill’s provocative comedy Cloud 9, directed by Elizabeth Williamson through March 19.
The world of Cloud 9 contains unexpected trysts, gender swaps, role reversals and power plays. Victorian repression clashes with liberal expression as the play follows a British family from colonial Africa to London in the 1970s. The tantalizing comedy explores the ever-changing world of sexual politics as it asks what it takes for each of us to reach our own Cloud 9. The Cloud 9 cast includes Mark H. Dold, a familiar face at Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield,MA, where he serves as an Artistic Associate.
For details: 860-527-5151 or www.hartfordstage.org.
Tenors Everywhere
The Irish Tenors.
The Springfield Symphony Pops presents An Evening With The IrishTenors on March 4, at Springfield Symphony Hall. Ronan Tynan, Anthony Kearns, and Finbar Wright, along with conductor Lloyd Butler, perform popular Irish melodies. They’ll be joined by some local Irish Step Dancers. They’ve been touring globally since 1998, and they’ve sold out at concert halls all over the world. For details: 413-733-2291 or www.springfieldsymphony.org.
The Ten Tenors bring their Power of Ten concert to Pittsfield’s Colonial Theatre on March
The Ten Tenors.
10, under the auspices of the Berkshire Theatre Group. Celebrated for their wonderfully vast repertoire, breathtaking arrangements and powerful live performances, The Ten Tenors are one of Australia’s most successful touring entertainment groups. Amidst their remarkable achievements, including six Platinum and Gold records, The Ten Tenors have also performed alongside countless music legends including, Andrea Bocelli, André Rieu, Keith Urban, Rod Stewart, Willie Nelson, and Christina Aguilera. For details: 413-997-4444 or www.berkshiretheatregroup.org
Think Summer!
Shakespeare & Company‘s 40th summer season in Lenox, MA will include Shakespeare’s Cymbeline, The Tempest, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, two Edith Wharton plays; 4,000 Miles by Amy Herzog, Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage, and God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza. The latter stars Shakespeare and Company favorites Elizabeth Aspenleider and Allyn Burrows. For details: 413-637-3353 or www.shakespeare.org.
Yidstock! The Yiddish Book Center in Amherst presents its sixth annual Yidstock Festival of New Yiddish Music on July 13-17. Yidstock includes performances by top names who are redefining klezmer, and a modern folk oratorio by Klezmatics member Frank London, based on Yiddish writer I.L. Peretz’s play A Night in the Old Marketplace. Other highlights include: Eleanor Reissa & Frank London’s Klezmer Brass All-Stars, Ezekiel’s Wheels Klezmer Band and Andy Statman Trio. For details: www.yiddishbookcenter.org..
Brian Lapis headlines The Big Broadcast!. Photo by Dori Gavitt.
The Big Broadcast Brings 1940s Swing to South Hadley
The Jazz Ensembles of Mount Holyoke College present the 12th edition of The Big Broadcast! on Sunday, March 5 at Chapin Auditorium, Mount Holyoke College, in South Hadley, MA. Created and directed by Mark Gionfriddo, who is 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. WWLP-TVs Brian Lapis is emcee “Fred Kelley” for his 10th consecutive season.
“This year, much of what we’re presenting is all new material to The Big Broadcast!,” says Gionfriddo. “We are performing two Johnny Mercer songs about trains: Harold Arlen’s “On The Atchison, Topeka & The Santa Fe” from the movie The Harvey Girls, as arranged for Rosemary Clooney and Harry James; and Les Brown’s “Sentimental Journey” as sung by Doris Day.
The Big Broadcast also includes “Chicago Style” from the Hope and Crosby movie Road to Bali, “There’s No Business Like Show Business” as originally recorded by Bing Crosby, The Andrews Sisters, and Dick Haymes, Artie Shaw’s “One Night Stand” and more.
For details: 413-545-2511, 800-999-UMASS or www.fineartscenter.com.
Keep in Mind…
The Boston Pops kicks off its 2017 season in April with Queen Latifah, a series of programs celebrating John Williams’ 85th birthday, music of ABBA, Ben Folds, a salute to the late Pops legend Arthur Fiedler; Cirque de la Symphonie, Hamilton Tony Award winner Leslie Odom Jr, and a Stephen Sondheim salute. Keith Lockhart is on the podium for many of the concerts in Boston’s Symphony Hall. For details: 888-266-1200 or www.bostonpops.org
Sydney Dance Company in Raw Models.
The Sydney Dance Company comes to the UMass Fine Arts Center in Amherst on February 28. Based in Australia, this ensemble has racked up rave reviews for its high-energy performances. Choreographer and dancer Rafael Bonachela has been the company’s artistic director since 2009. The company regularly performs works that Bonachela has created for the company—his “Frame of Mind” is on the bill in Amherst. For details: 413-545-2511, 800-999-UMAS or www.fineartscenter.com.
Waiting for Lefty, Clifford Odets’ passionate and politically-charged play comes to Connecticut Repertory Theatre in Storrs on a bill with Severance, a new one-act play by recent UConn grad Levi Alpert Waiting for Lefty, staged by Michael Bradford, is a timeless piece of classic American theatre. In 1930’s New York City the Great Depression takes full force and working families are put out on the streets to starve. As people fight for their lives, a union of cab drivers decide ‘no more’ and wait for their leader, Lefty Costello, to choose if they will strike or not. Performances run through March 5 at the Nafe Katter Theatre on UConn’s Storrs campus. For details: 860-486-2113 or crt.uconn.edu
—
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.
