by Mark G. Auerbach
Ed Dixon
Ed Dixon Brings His Award-Winning Solo Performance Georgie: My Adventures With George Rose to Barrington Stage
Actor and playwright Ed Dixon brings his award-winning solo performance Georgie: My Adventures With George Rose to Barrington Stage’s St. Germain Stage on August 30 through September 3. Eric Schaeffer, director of the Broadway revival of Follies, stages Dixon’s play which has received multiple awards for outstanding solo performance.
George Rose, the English-born Amerian stage and screen actor, had mentored Dixon early in his career and they became good riends over the years that Rose starred on Broadway in The Pirates of Penzance with Kevin Kline, Coco with Katherine Hepburn, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and My Fair Lady, winning a Tony Award for the latter. Rose lived a flamboyant life onstage and off. He was brutally murdered by a young man he had befriended in the Dominican Republic.
For details: 413-236-8888 or www.barringtonstageco..org
Jerry Noble and Bob Sparkman.
Noble Jazz at Huntington’s North Hall Festival
Pianist Jerry Noble and clarinetist Bob Sparkman bring their jazz performances back to the North Hall Arts Festival in Huntington, MA on September 10. Their program includes traditional jazz and Dixieland. This is their 22nd year performing together, and they’ve planned to perform some Fats Waller hits like Ain’t Misbehavin,’ Keepin’ Out of Mischief Now, Honeysuckle Rose, and Jitterbug Waltz, along with a sampling of masterpieces from the American songbook like Hoagy Carmichael’s Stardust, Memphis in June, and New Orleans, with some Dixieland stompers like Fidgety Feet, That’s A-Plenty, and Limehouse Blues. The duo performed on the Sevenars series earlier this summer.
Jerry Noble is a performer and composer whose works have been performed by the Boston Chamber Music Society, the Holyoke Civic Symphony Orchestra, the Western Massachusetts Young People’s Symphony, and the Springfield (Mass.) Symphony Orchestra. Noble serves as staff accompanist for the Smith College Music Department and pianist for the Glee Club and Chamber Singers, which have performed his compositions and arrangements throughout the U.S. and Europe. He also writes classical music reviews and features for the Springfield Republican.
For details:413-667-5543 or www.northhallhuntington.org
Of Note…
ArtsBeat Radio continues this Fall. The limited run series, produced and hosted by Mark G. Auerbach, has been extended. Beginning on Wednesday, September 13, ArtsBeat Radio will air on the second Wednesday of each month from 9AM-10AM. Tune in live on the airwaves, on Comcast ch. 15, www.wskb.org or at www.westfieldtv.org
Broadway On Sale. From September 4-17, many Broadway shows are participating in a two-for-one ticket sale. Some of the big shows participating include Anastasia, Cats, The Lion King, The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked. and Hello Dolly–on the nights Donna Murphy subs in for Bette Midler. For details: https://www.nycgo.com/broadway-week
Holiday Inn, the Irving Berlin musical that originated at Goodspeed and took Broadway by storm, was filmed during its Broadway run. The movie will be shown in cinemas nationwide by Fathom Events on November 16. Tickets go on sale October 6.
Joshua Jackson and Lauren Ridloff in the Berkshire Theatre Group’s production of Children of a Lesser God, which moves to Broadway. Photo by Matthew Murphy.
Children of a Lesser God, Berkshire Theatre Group’s big summer hit with Joshua Jackson and Lauren Ridloff, is moving to Broadway. Jackson and Ridloff will recreate their roles, when the show previews at Studio 54 beginning March 22, before opening on April 11.
The Young@Heart Chorus, those singing seniors from Northampton who have received international acclaim for their rock and roll covers, will tour the area this fall with performances on September 17 at Hartford’s Infinity Hall; October 15 at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, and November 19 at The Academy of Music in Northampton. For details: www.youngatheartchorus.com
Leonid Sigal
The Hartford Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2017-2018 Sunday Serenades Chamber Music Series at the Wadsworth Atheneum. Sunday Serenades chamber music concerts are presented in collaboration with the Wadsworth as a musical counterpart to special exhibitions and the permanent collections. Concerts take place in the museum galleries and feature HSO Concertmaster Leonid Sigal and select HSO musicians. Strauss & The Sublime takes place on November 19. Shostakovich & Gorey will be held on March 4, and Beauty and Beethoven is scheduled for May 20. For details: 860-987-5900.or www.hartfordsymphony.org
Keep in Mind…
Arts Beat Radio welcomes Goodspeed Musicals’ Elisa Hale on Friday, September 2
Goodspeed Opera House featured on this week’s ArtsBeat Radio. Photo by Robert Benson.
from 8AM-9AM on 89.5FM/WSKB. Learn about this great American musical theatre on the shores of The Connecticut River, where Man of La Mancha an Annie began their roads to Broadway. Tune in live on the airwaves, on Comcast ch. 15, www.wskb.org or at www.westfieldtv.org
Avenue Q, the Tony Award winning musical by Jeff Marx, Robert Lopez, and Jeff Whitty, opens the Playhouse on Park season in West Hartford, September 13-October 8. This adults only puppet show musical tells the story of Princeton, a recent college grad, who moves into a shabby apartment in New York City to make it in a world, populated by some strange characters from Gary Coleman to Lucy The Slut. Kyle Brand directs. For details: 860-523-5900 x10 or www.playhouseonpark.org.
The Bridges of Madison County, the musical with libretto by Marsha Norman and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, opens the Majestic Theater’s season September 7-October 22. Based upon Robert James Waller’s book and the film with Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood, the musical premiered at Williamstown Theatre Festival before moving to Broadway, where it won Tony Awards for its score and orchestrations. Danny Eaton directs. Mitch Chakour is musical director. For details: 413-747-7797 or http://www.majestictheater.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.
