by Mark G. Auerbach
Barrington Stage Presents Eighth Annual 10X10 New Play Festival
Matthew Penn
Barrington Stage Company announces the ten 10-minute plays for the Eighth Annual 10X10 New Play Festival, part of the 2019 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival, which plays February 14-March .10 at BSC’s Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center on Linden Street in downtown Pittsfield, MA.
Directors for the 10X10 New Play Festival are BSC Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and returning for his third year, Matthew Penn, who staged Barrington Stage’s Typhoid Mary.. An Emmy-nominated director of Law & Order, Penn is a Co-Artistic director of the Berkshire Playwrights Lab in Great Barrington. Penn, son of famed film director Arthur Penn who once helmed the Berkshire Theatre Festival, grew up in the Berkshires, and staged Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You, during the Berkshire Theatre Group’s 90th season. Casting will be announced at a later date.
The 10 10-minute plays are summarized on Barrington Stage’s website. https://barringtonstageco.org/10×10-new-play-festival-2019/
For details: 413-236-8888 or www.barringtonstageco.org
Amy Beach
Springfield Symphony Orchestra Showcases American Women Composers
The Springfield Symphony Orchestra returns to Symphony Hall on February 2, with Maestro Kevin Rhodes, back from conducting the Vienna State Opera Ballet’s acclaimed new production of Sylvia, and Vienna and Oslo productions of The Nutcracker. The Orchestra will perform Rimsky-Korsakov’s 1888 blockbuster Scheherazade, inspired by the 1001 Arabian Nights. The program, however showcases three American women composers who have changed the scope of classical music.
Amy Beach’s Bal Masque, first performed in 1893, opens the program. The Boston-based composer (1867-1944) was the first successful American female composer of large-scale classical music. Her “Gaelic” Symphony, premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1896, was the first symphony composed and published by an American woman.
Joan Tower’s 6th Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman and Sequoia are two pieces featured at this concert. The first was inspired by Aaron Copland’s Fanfare For The Common Man; the latter is Tower’s first major orchestral composition and remains one of the composer’s most performed works’
Jennifer Higdon’s Blue Cathedral completes the bill. Higdon won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her Violin Concerto, and two Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.
Maestro Rhodes previews this concert on a Youtube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKMwskTZnqg
For details: 413-733-2291 or www.springfieldsyphony.org
Opportunity
New England Public Radio is accepting nominations for the 2019 New England Public Radio Arts & Humanities Awards. Established by the NEPR Foundation, Inc. in 2008, the NEPR Arts & Humanities Awards recognize those who have made a positive impact on the arts and humanities and bring awareness to the critical role played by musicians, artists, dancers, writers, teachers and cultural institutions in western New England. Nomination deadline is January 30, 2019. For details: https://www.nepr.net/
Debra Jo Rupp
Of Note
The Cake, Bekah Brunstetter’s play about a baker in turmoil as to whether to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian couple, was a big hit at Barrington Stage last summer. Debra Jo Rupp will repeat her role as Della, when The Cake moves to New York’s Manhattan Theatre Club, after rave reviews in Los Angeles. Performances begin February 12. For details: https://www.manhattantheatreclub.com/2018-19-season/the-cake/
Keep in Mind
Arts Beat Radio airs every Friday at 8AM, on 89.5fm/WSKB. On February 1, we’ll check in with Springfield Symphony Maestro Kevin Rhodes abut the Orchestra’s 75th Season, American women composers, and more.. ArtsBeat Radio, live on Fridays at 8AM on 89.5fm/WSKB, on Westfield Comcast channel 15, or streamed on www.wskb.org. And, if you miss an episode, find it on YouTube at WSKB Community Radio’s page
Lez Zeppelin
Lez Zeppelin, the all-girl Led Zeppelin cover band plays Berkshire Theatre Group’s Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield on February 9. They have been featured on BBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, MTV, VH1, FOX and radio shows worldwide, such as Sirius XM and NPR. For details: 413-997-4444 or www.berkhiretheatregroup.org.
Pilobolus
Pilobolus, the acclaimed contemporary dance theatre company, plays Great Barrington’ Mahaiwe Center for the Performing Arts on February 8-9. The engagement includes a performance for children, a movement workshop for seniors at Berkshire South Regional Community Center, and a public performance of the company’s latest extravaganza. For details: 413-528-0100 or www.mahaiwe.org
Bal Masqué, The UMass Fine Arts Center 30th Annual Gala brings glam to The UMass Campus Center Auditorium on February 2. The fundraising, fun-filled evening begins with cocktails, appetizers, red-carpet photos, and a silent auction, followed by a three-course dinner, dancing, and a lavish live and second silent auction. Proceeds benefit the FAC’s Arts/Access outreach programs. For details: 413-545-2511, 800-999-UMAS, or www.fineartscenter.com/gala
The Apple Hill String Quartet performs at the Community Music School o Springfield on i January 27.The Quartet will be joined by the pianist Mikael Darmanie, and the group will play works by Gabriel Fauré, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Florence Price. For details: 413-723-8428. or http://communitymusicschool.com/event/applehill/
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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.
