by Mark G. Auerbach
2018 in Review Part I: The Newsmakers
Joshua Jackson and Lauren Ridloff in Berkshire Theatre Group’s Children of A Lesser God Photo by Matthew Murphy
Milestones
Berkshire Theatre Group celebrated its 90th season, and many regulars and alums of the theatre returned to perform, turning the entire season into a warm homecoming of talent. Directors Eric Hill, Gregg Edelman, Matthew Penn and David Auburn brought James Barry, Tara Franklin, David Adkins, Joey Collins, Rebecca Brooksher, Rocco Sisto and others to the footlights.
Both The Hartford Symphony Orchestra and The Springfield Symphony Orchestra are celebrating their 75th seasons. The two orchestras are top-notch, led by dynamic music directors, Carolyn Kuan in Hartford and Kevin Rhodes in Springfield. Hartford’s performance roster is more robust, at the Bushnell during the year, at Talcott Mountain in the summer, and at brew pubs, distilleries, and other unique concert venues in between, thanks to its Intermix Series. Springfield retooled its chamber music program with a new Longmeadow venue.
Tara Franklin and James Barry in Eric Hill’s production of Naked at Berkshire Theatre Group
The Sevenars Chamber Music Series celebrated its 50th season. Founded by the late Robert and Rolande Schrade, this popular series is run by their children, and it is beloved by musicians and audiences alike. Shakespeare & Company celebrated its 40th season.
WAM Theatre, the dynamic performance group, operates on a model of giving back to the community, by donating a portion of their box-ofice take to non-profits that better the lives of women and children. They donated a record $15,000 split evenly between The Denise Kaley Fund and the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts’ 2018 Leadership Institute for Political and Public Impact (LIPPI).
Theaterworks’ Artistic Director Rob Ruggiero celebrated his 25th year at the innovative Hartford theatre, while continuing to get rave reviews for his productions at Goodspeed Musicals and St. Louis Muny 100th Anniversary season.
Rob Ruggiero of Hartford’s Theaterworks
Tanglewood devoted much of its season honoring Leonard Bernstein’s and Jerome Robbins’ centennials, and Barrington Stage honored their West Side Story with a highly-charged revival directed by Julianne Boyd with choreography by Robert LaFosse. It was brilliance!
World Stages
Our regional arts groups produced works for the national arena. Barrington Stage’s commissioned work, American Son, has moved to Broadway with Kerry Washington starring, and powerful notices. Their production of The Chinese Lady was welcomed Off-Broadway in a limited run. Berkshire Theatre Group sent its production of Children of a Lesser God to Broadway, winning a Tony nomination for its star Lauren Ridloff. It also sent The Stone Witch Off-Broadway for a short run. Shakespeare and Company’s The Mother of The Maid, staged by Matthew Penn, is a big hit at The Public, with Glenn Close playing Joan of Arc’s mother, with music by the talented Alexander Sovronsky.
Jayne Atkinson as Ann Richards in WAM’s Ann, a sell-out. Photo by Joey Moro
On the European stage, Springfield Symphony Maestro Kevin Rhodes was chosen to conduct the Delibes ballet Sylvia, which had its revival at the Vienna State Opera House. Rhodes and company have received rave reviews from the European dance press; the ballet was streamed in performance, and returns to Vienna after the holidays with Rhodes on the podium.
Westfield’s Burrage brothers are bringing Broadway across the country. Joshua made his Broadway debut in Cats, and is now touring the country in A Bronx Tale. Nick toured the country in Cinderella and is now part of the Cats national tour.
Sarah Crane, Magdalena Rodriguez, Skyler Volpe, Tamrin Goldberg, and Jerusha Cavazos in Barrington Stage Company’s West Side Story. Photo by Danielk Rader.
Comings and Goings
The #MeToo movement caught up with Houston’s Alley Theatre director Gregory Boyd, an alum of Springfield’s StageWest, along with Long Wharf Theatre Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein. Both were abruptly fired. Jacob G.Padrón will replace Edelstein.
Hartford Stage Artistic Director Darko Tresnak, the genius behind the theatre’s A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Anastasia, which moved to Broadway and theatres around the world, is leaving at season’s end. He just made his Metropolitan Opera debut. Before he goes, he’ll stage the world premiere of The Engagement Party and the musical The Flamingo Kid. Hartford Stage’s manager Michael Stotts is moving to The Paper Mill in New Jersey. As of press time, no successors have been announced.
Springfield Performing Arts Development Corporation announced it will not renew its contract to program and run Symphony Hall and Citystage; New Century Theatre shelved its summer eason last year. Time will tell how this plays out.
Final Curtains
The arts community will miss Duane Robinson, Northampton Academy of Music manager; Hartford Stage executive Stephen Albert, Callboard Theatre director and dance teacher David Potter, jazz legend Charles Neville, Dennis Krausnick, Founder and Director of Training at Shakespeare and Company, and Hartford Symphony cellist Eric Dahlin, all who passed away.
Keep in Mind
ArtsBeat in Print: Next week, ArtsBeat continues a three-week recap of the 2018 arts season, including milestrones, outstanding productions and best performances. Look for the series in print in your Westfield News Group newspaper, or online at https://thewestfieldnews.com/
Arts Beat Radio airs every Friday at 8AM, on 89.5fm/WSKB. On December 21, Mark G. Auerbach and fellow arts reporters J. Peter Bergman of Berkshire Theatre Critics, Chris Rohmann of The Valley Advocate, and Fred Sokol from Talking Broadway recap the year in theatre.. Tune in live on the airwaves, on Comcast ch. 15, or www.wskb.org And, if you miss an episode, ind it on YouTube at WSKB Community Radio’s page
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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 for 89.5fm/WSKB.
