by Mark G. Auerbach
Rylan Morsbach stars in The Music Man
The Music Man Marches To Pittsfield’s Colonial Theatre
76 trombones play Pittsfield with a cast and crew of over 100 turning The Berkshire Theatre Group’s Colonial Theatre stage into River City for Meredith Willson’s musical comedy classic, The Music Man, onstage through August 6. Rylan Morsbach stars as “Professor” Harold Hill, a fly-by-night travellng salesman who comes to town to con the people into buying musical instruments and starting a marching band. But the con man has a heart, and he falls for Marian The Librarian.
Travis G. Daly directs this beloved American musical; Mark Gionfriddo is music director, and Avital Asuleen choreographs the tuner, which features a cavalcade of hits like “76 Trombones”, “Til There Was You”, “Lida Rose”, “Marian The Librarian”, and “Goodnight My Someone”. Daly and Gionfriddo have worked together on BTG community productions of Beauty and The Beast, Mary Poppins, and Seussical. Daly works with educational programs at BTG. Gionfriddo is the jazz teacher at Mount Holyoke, and creator of the popular Big Broadcast.
According to Daly, “The Music Man is a musical love letter. An uplifting history lesson with great ideals, this production shows how infectious the power of love is. Harold has a metamorphosis throughout the play, and as he begins to grow, he inspires this entire community, bringing them together to be a part of something bigger than themselves.”
For details: 413-997-4444 or www.berkshiretheatregroup.org
New Season Announcements: TheaterWorks and Connecticut Rep
Tina Packer of Shakespeare and Company
TheaterWorks’ Artistic Director Rob Ruggiero has announced the Hartford theatre’s upcoming 2017-2018 Season. The line-up will include The Wolves by Sarah De Lappe, Constellations by Nick Payne, The Legend of Georgia McBride by Matthew Lopez, Invisible Hand by Ayad Akhtar, and Hand to God by Robert Askins. Constellations was a hit last summer at Berkshire Theatre Group. The Legend of Georgia McBride is by the author of Reverberation, which premiered at Hartford Stage. The Wolves is a 2017 Pulitzer Prize finalist. Invisible Hands is written by the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright of Disgraced. Hand To God, a recent Broadway hit, was a Tony Award-nominee for “Best Play”. For details: 860-527-7838 or www.theaterworkshartford.org
Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s new season in Storrs has some classics on tap, from Oscar Wilde’s masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Timberlake Wertenbaker’s historical drama Our Country’s Good, and Shakespeare’s As You Like It, staged by Shakespeare and Company’s Kristin Wold, a former StageWest member, headline the Main Stage season. In the Studio Theatre, Jen Silverman’s powerful new play, That Poor Girl and How He Killed Her., will be staged by Matthew J. Pugliese along with Qui Nguyen’s She Kills Monsters. For details: 860-486-2113 or http://www.crt.uconn.edu
Keep in Mind…
Arts Beat Radio talks Sevenars Music on Friday, July 7 at 8AM on 89.5FM/WSKB. Host Mark G. Auerbach interviews Rorianne Schrade, pianist and daughter of the Sevenars founders who have built a world class music series in the foothills of The Berkshires.. Tune in live on the airwaves, on Comcast ch. 15, www.wskb.org or at www.westfieldtv.org
Jazz in July
The Jazz in July All-Stars perform at UMass Bezanson Recital Hall on July 13. Artists include Sheila Jordan, Avery Sharpe, Earl MacDonald, Jeff Holmes and more. For details: 413-545-2511, 800-999-UMAS or www.jazzinjuly.com.
Vanessa Butler as Lorraine Hansberry in Jimmy and Lorraine.
Jimmy and Lorraine by Talvin Wilks. The story of James Baldwin and Lorraine Hansberry, two major artists who came of age in the mid 20th century, opens the Ko Festival series in Amherst on July 7-9.. This production by Hartbeat Ensemble of Hartford, has won numerous accolades. Chinas Uche plays Baldwin and Vanessa Butler plays Lorraine Hansberry. Butler starred in Hartford Stage’s Queens For A Year. Performances at Holden Theatre, Amherst College.. For details: 413-542-3277 or www.kofest.com.
The Paint Box Theatre, under the direction of Tom McCabe, presents its 14th season of summer theatre for kids of all ages in Easthampton and Turners Falls. The Wizard of Oz plays at The Williston Theatre on July 6-9, before moving to the Shea Theatre in Turners Falls on July 12-13.. How I Became a Pirate will be staged at Williston on July 21-23 and in Turners Falls on July 26-27. Dr. Doolittle will be performed on August 4-6 in Easthampton. For details: 413-923-7159 or www.paintboxtheatre.com
HSO Music of David Bowie
The Hartford Symphony Orchestra’s Talcott Mountain Music Festival will pay tribute to an iconic artist with The Music of David Bowie on July 14 at Simsbury Meadows Performing Arts Center in Simsbury, CT. Tony Vincent from NBC’s “The Voice,” headlines. Richard Carsey conducts. The concert is rain or shine. For details: 860-987-5900 or www.hartfordsymphony.org.
Sevenars presents cellist Emmanuel Feldman and pianist Joy Cline Phinney performing works by Beethoven, Brahms, Gershwin, and George Walker on July 16 in Worthington, MA. For details: www.sevenars.org
Yidstock, the sixth annual fstival of new Yiddish music, returns to the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA on July 13-16. A new multimedia folk oratorio, A Night in the Old Marketplace, by Klezmatics co-founder Frank London, will be featured. Yidstock also features. performances by a diverse group of groundbreaking, innovative bands. For etails: www.yiddishbook.center.org/yidstock.
Cymbeline, directed by Shakespeare and Company’s Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer, plays in Lenox through August 6. This production marks a milestone for Packer who has now directed all 37 plays in Shakespeare’s canon. Tamara Hickey and Jonathan Epstein co-star. For details: 413-637-3353 or www.shakespeare.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. Mark produces and hosts ArtsBeat Radio on 89.5fm/WSKB Radio.
