by Mark G. Auerbach
Sarah Crane, Magdalena Rodriguez, Skyler Volpe, Tamrin Goldberg, and Jerusha Cavazos in Barrington Stage Company’s West Side Story. Photo by Daniel Rader.
Third Annual Berkshire Theatre Awards Winners Announced
The Berkshire Theatre Critics Association presented the Berkshire Theatre Awards on November 12, the third year the awards have been presented to honor and celebrate the excellence and diversity of theatre in WMass. The top honors for Outstanding Play Production went to the Williamstown Theatre Festival’s production of Theresa Rebeck’s Seared, and West Side Story took home the award for Outstanding Musical Production for Barrington Stage Company. Julianne Boyd was named Outstanding Director of a Musical for her work on West Side Story at Barrington Stage, and James Warwick was named Outstanding Director of a Play for Mothers and Sons at Shakespeare & Company. The Larry Murray Award for Community Outreach and Support through Theater went to Shakespeare & Company for their Shakespeare in the Courts and Fall Festival of Shakespeare programs For the list of nominees and winners: http://berkshirecritics.org/index.htm
Seasonal Holiday Fare
John Iverson, Joan Haley, John Reese, Michael Haley, Sharon Weyers, Ann Steinhauser, Marvin Shedd, David Rowland in Silverthorne Theatre’s A Christmas Carol: A Radio Play. Photo by John Reese
A Christmas Carol: A Radio Play, Silverthorne Theatre Company’s hit from 2016, returns this season with performances in three unique Franklin County venues, December 8-9. Director John Reese has revised the 2016 script adapted from an original full-length play he penned with Linda McInerney and Michael Haley. It’s now a radio play, with six actors playing 33 different characters. Haley anchors the performance as Scrooge, joined by Joan Haley, David Rowland, Sharon Weyers, Ann Steinhauser and John Reese, with Marvin Shedd providing narration. Performances and venues are: Saturday, December 8 at Centennial House, Northfield; Sunday afternoon, December 9 at Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center, Greenfield; and Sunday evening, December 9 at 7 pm at The Deerfield Inn. For details: 413-768-7514 or www.silverthornetheater.org
SeaTea Comedy Theatre
An Improvised Christmas Carol, developed by Seattle’s Randy Dixon, will take live audience suggestions to make this Charles Dickens masterpiece even more fun. The show is produced by Hot Cocco Productions and presented at the Sea Tea Comedy Theater on 15 Asylum Street in Hartford. What if Scrooge owned a hair salon? What if the Ghost of Christmas Past was a Western cowgirl? What if Tiny Tim wasn’t so tiny? Come find out and see how your suggestions tell an all new tale of Ebenezer Scrooge’s life. Performances run December 6-16. For details: 860-578-4832 or www.seateaimprov.com
A Civil War Christmas
A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration, award-winning playwright Paul Vogel’s play with music, is set in 1864 in a divided nation. In the shadow of our own partisan divide, can the nation put aside its differences and share in the hope and generosity the Christmas season has to offer, and the promise of Christmas future? Forrest McClendon stars in the Connecticut Repertory Theatre production, running through December 9, at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre on the UConn/Storrs campus. Elizabeth VanDyke directs. For details: 860-486-2113 or https://crt.uconn.edu
Of Note
Randy Harrison
Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven has named Jacob G. Padrón as its new Artistic Director. For the American Theatre announcement: https://www.americantheatre.org/2018/11/08/jacob-g-padron-named-artistic-director-of-long-wharf-theatre/
Randy Harrison from TV’s Queer As Folk, Broadway’s Wicked, and the national tour of Cabaret, has joined the cast of TheaterWorks’ Christmas on The Rocks. For details: http://www.theaterworkshartford.org/
Shakespeare & Company announced its Shakespeare lineup for the 2019 summer season in Lenox, MA. Under the direction of Artistic Director Allyn Burrows and Managing Director Adam Davis, the season will include three Shakespeare plays: Twelfth Night directed by Burrows, The Merry Wives of Windsor directed by Kevin G. Coleman, and The Taming of the Shrew directed by Kelly Galvin. For details: 413- 637-3353 or www.shakespeare.org
Hartford Stage will host its fourth annual Tiny Tim’s Holiday Food Drive to benefit Hands On Hartford’s MANNA Community Pantry. The food drive continues through the run of A Christmas Carol–A Ghost Story of Christmas, ending on Saturday, December 29. Patrons may drop off donations of non-perishables at the theatre lobby on performance days for A Christmas Carol–A Ghost Story of Christmas. To learn more about Hands On Hartford: http://www.handsonhartford.org.
Keep in Mind
Arts Beat Radio airs every Friday at 8AM, on 89.5fm/WSKB. On December 7, Mark G. Auerbach and Patrick Berry go backstage at Hartford’s Theaterworks. Start your weekend with ArtsBeat Radio. Tune in live on the airwaves, on Comcast ch. 15, or www.wskb.org
What of the Night?, the late Maria Irene Fornés’ quartet of plays will be performed by the UMass Theatre Department throughDecember 8 at the Curtain Theatre. Fornés was a leading voice of the Cuban-American experience in the Off-Broadway scene, and this play was a Pulitzer Price nominee. For details: 413-545-2511 or www.fineartscenter.com.
The UMass Wind Ensemble and Concert Band will share the stage for a unique and ambitious program, December 7, at the UMass Fine Arts Center Concert Hall. . Matthew Westgate will lead the Wind Ensemble in performing Joel Puckett’s Shadow of Sirius with guest Cobus du Toit on flute, Mason Bates’ Mothership and Adam Gorb’s Awayday! The Concert Band, conducted by Timothy Anderson, will present Leonard Bernstein’s Slava!, along with other works, including a mallet quartet featuring the UMass Marimbas. Guest conductor David Waybright, Director of Bands for the University of Florida, will conduct pieces on both halves of the program. For details: 413-545-2511, or www.fineartscenter.com/musicanddance.
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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.
