by Mark G. Auerbach
Jenn Harris
Berkshire Theatre Group Announces Casting for 90th Season
Some familiar faces will appear onstage in Berkshire Theatre Group plays and musicals this summer, as the theatre company prepares to celebrate its 90th Anniversary season. Harriet Harris, Tony Award winner for Thoroughly Modern Millie, and one of the murderous sisters in last season’s Arsenic and Old Lace, returns to play the title role in Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You. Her co-star, Jenn Harris, is the comedienne who starred in and also wrote one of the sketches in TheaterWorks hilarious Christmas on the Rocks.
Joey Collins
The outstanding cast of last season’s production of Edward Albee’s At Home At The Zoo return to BTG. David Adkins and Joey Collins co-star in The Petrified Forest, and Adkins and Tara Franklin co-star in Naked. James Barry, who directed last season’s blockbuster Million Dollar Quartet, also co-stars in Naked. He and Franklin are offstage husband and wife. Graham Rowat, who co-starred with his wife Kate Baldwin in A Little Night Music, Bells Are Ringing, and Constellations, stars in Church and State. Baldwin’s still on Broadway in Hello, Dolly! And, Rebecca Brooksher, who gave ravishing performances in Cat on A Hot Tin Roof and Anna Christie, return to Stockbridge in The Petrified Forest. For details: 413- 997-4444 or https://www.berkshiretheatregroup.org/
Road Trip: Boston Premieres
Moulin Rouge! The Musical! will play its pre-Broadway tryout at the soon-to-be-reopened Emerson Colonial Theatre in Boston. Based on the Baz Luhrmann movie, the musical co-stars Aaron Tveit from Barrington Stage’s Company, Tony Award winning Karen Olivo, Danny Burstein, and more. Alex Timbers directs. Performances run June 27-August 5. For details: 888.616.0272 or http://www.emersoncolonialtheatre.com
Elizabeth Stanley
Jagged Little Pill premieres at American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, May 5-July 15.. Inspired by Alanis Morissette’s groundbreaking album of the same name, the production features a book by Diablo Cody (Oscar winner for her screenplay of Juno); music by Morissette and Glen Ballard; lyrics by Morissette; music supervision, and orchestrations and arrangements by Tom Kitt (Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner for Next to Normal);. A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus (Tony Award winner for A.R.T.’s Pippin as well as director of Waitress, Finding Neverland, and The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess directs. The Jagged Little Pill cast features Elizabeth Stanley, seen at Barrington Stage in Ragtime and On The Town, and Derek Klena, who created the role of Dmitry in Anastasia at Hartford Stage and on Broadway. For details: 617-547-8300 or www.americanrepertorytheater.org
Keep in Mind
The Springfield Symphony Orchestra joins forces with the Springfield Symphony Chorus, The UMass/Amherst, the UMass/Amherst Chorale and the Illumani Vocal Arts Ensemble to perform Verdi’s Requiem on April 28 at Springfield Symphony Hall. Maestro Kevin Rhodes conducts Verdi’s setting of a Catholic funeral mass, composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian poet and novelist whom Verdi admired. Over 200 musicians will be onstage including soloists sopranos Lisa Gwyn Daqltirus and Stacey Rishoi; tenor Eric Ashcraft, and bass Gustav Andreassen. John Montanari, former music director and morning music host on New England Public Radio’s WFCR, will give a pre-concert talk on the evening’s program. For details: 413-733-2291 or www.springfieldsymphony.org.
Disney’s The Lion King, Jr., with is award-winning Elton John score, take center stage at The Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield on April 28-29, in a Berkshire Theatre Group community production featuring Berkshire County elementary and middle school students. Travis Daly directs. For details: 413- 997-4444 or https://www.berkshiretheatregroup.org/
Shakespeare and Company celebrates Shakespeare’s birthday with a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, performed by its touring company on April 21 in Lenox. It’s a rousing 90-minute family-friendly version of The Bard’s romantic comedy. For details: 413-637-3353 or www.shakespeare.org
Cameron Carpenter
Cameron Carpenter, organ virtuoso, performs at The UMass Fine Arts Center on April 27.Carpenter is the first organist ever nominated for a Grammy Award for his debut solo album, “Revolutionary” (2008), and has appeared with many of the great orchestras around the world; he has spoken and debated at think tanks and conferences including TED, IdeaCity, The Entertainment Gathering, and many more. His Sony Music debut album, “If You Could Read My Mind,” entered Billboard’s Traditional Classical chart at No. 1 on its U.S. release. For details: 413-545-2511, 800-999-UMAS, or www.fineartscenter.com.
Machine de Cirque bring their jugglers, acrobats, and musicians to the UMass Fine Arts Center on April 25. Armed with athletic ingenuity, the Quebec City troupe tells a story in fluid flips and bounds that blends comedy with the physically surreal. . For details: 413-545-2511, 800-999-UMAS, or www.fineartscenter.com
The Legend of Georgia McBride, TheaterWorks current hit, has been extended to April 29. For details: 860-527-7838 or www.theaterworkshartford.org. For The Westfield News Group review: https://thewestfieldnews.com/review-the-legend-of-georgia-mcbride-at-theaterworks/
Highline Vocal Jazz
Check Them Out: Highline Vocal Jazz
My fellow Connecticut Ballet alum, Elizabeth Fleming recently posted a video, featuring her son, Jared Graveley’s latest a capella vocal group, Highline Vocal Jazz, performing the holiday standard “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”. On closer listen, I realized that Connecticut Repertory Theatre alum Chester Martin, who had starred in Spamalot, How to Succeed, and The Laramie Project was the baritone. According to Martin, “Jared essentially brought the group together. At UConn, he was involved in both the music department where he met soprano Alyssa Venora, and the A Cappella scene where we met as part of the Conn-Men. While performing with Hyannis Sound, he met Mark Farnum and Emily and Mark’s girlfriend Emily Gaggiano”. The quintet premiered last December. They’ve got some great covers of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” and Michael Jackson’s “Off The Wall”. They’ll be performing in Massachusetts in June. Find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/highlinevocaljazz or on YouTube as Highline Vocal Jazz.
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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.
