by Mark G. Auerbach
The Company of Rent. Photo by Carol Rosegg
“Rent” Comes to The Bushnell
Rent, Jonathan Larson’s rock musical changed the Broadway landscape, when it opened 23 years ago. Rent, a Pulitzer Prize winner and a Tony Award winning masterpiece, took the characters of Puccini’s La Boheme, and updated them. Seven artists struggling to make ends meet search for their dreams. Rent picked up Tony Awards for “Best Musical”, “Best Book of A Musical”and “Best Original Score”. A twentieth anniversary revival played Broadway a couple of years ago, and the national tour plays Hartford’s Bushnell, March 12-17. Evan Ensign recreates Michael Greif’s staging. Neither the movie version nor the recent TV production did Rent justice. It must be seen live onstage to be savored. For details: 860-987-5900 or www.bushnell.org.
Jenn Thompson
Of Note
Gabriel Barre
Goodspeed Musicals has announced its directors and choreographers for the 2019 season. Jenn Thompson, who just staged A Doll’s House, Part 2 at Theaterworks in Hartford, , returns to Goodspeed to direct Meredith Willson’s The Music Man, which opens the season on April 12. Patricia Wilcox, who teamed with Thompson on the Goodspeed production of Bye, Bye Birdie, will choreograph. The new musical, Because of Winn Dixie, which opens June 29, features direction by John Rando, who staged Barrington Stage’s and later Broadway’s revival of On The Town. Chris Bailey, choreographer of Goodspeed’s The Drowsy Chaperone, and Chasing Rainbows, provides the dances. Gabriel Barre, who has staged numerous musicals at Goodspeed, directs Billy Elliot, which opens September 13. Marc Kimelman will choreograph the Elton John score. There are two new musicals slated for Goodspeed’s Terris Theatre in Chester, CT. Hi, My Name is Ben, which opens May 17, will be directed by Andrew Panton, and Emily Jane Boyle will choreograph. Passing Through, which opens July 26, will be directed by Igor Golden, and choreographed by Marcos Santana. Casts and creative teams will be announced at a later date. For details: 860.873.8668; or www.goodspeed.org
Nick Nudler & Jordan Mann in Shakespeare & Company’s Hamlet tour.Photo By Jay Sundar Rajan
Shakespeare & Company‘s Northeast Regional Tour of Shakespeare is now on the road, performing for schools and community centers throughout the Northeast. This year, the Company’s Tour brings two Shakespeare productions, Hamlet and The Taming of the Shrew, to over 20,000 students. The Tour visits 75 schools throughout the Northeast in ten different states including; Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The 90 minute productions feature a cast of six. Both productions will also be staged in Lenox; The Taming of The Shrew on April 8, and Hamlet on March 25 and April 22. For details: www.shakespeare.org..
Rylan Morsbach, the South Hadley actor who has appeared in many productions at Berkshire Theatre Group and Shakespeare and Company, is starring in Doug Wright’s Pulitzer Price and Tony-winning solo piece, I Am My Own Wife, March 8-17, at Hubbard Hall in Cambridge, NY. He plays dozens of characters to tell the true story of Charlotte Von Mahlsdorf, a transgender German, who survived the Nazi and Communists in Berlin. For details: 518-677-2495 or www.hubbardhall.org
Big Apple Bound. Broadway Bounty Hunter, a musical starring Annie Golden, which premiered at Barrington Stage in 2016, heads off-Broadway this summer.for a limited run. It features a score by Joe Iconis, whose new musical, Be More Chill, is previewing on Broadway. Broadway Bounty Hunter i the tale o an over-the-hill, out-of-work actress, who becomes a bounty hunter. Make Believe, Bess Wohl’s play which opened Hartford Stage’s current season, is scheduled to move to Second Stage in New York this summer.
Keep in Mind
Arts Beat Radio airs every Friday at 8AM, on 89.5fm/WSKB. On March 15, we’ll preview The Berkshire Theatre Group’s 91st season with CEO/Artistic Director Kate Maguire. 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
(In)Dependent: The Heroin Project, a new play by Kent State University students Emelia Sherin and Zach Manthey, comes to Northampton’s Academy of Music Theatre on March 22-23. It’s directed by Eggtooth Productions’ Linda McInerney. The drama is based on interviews with people who use heroin, counselors, and family members. It exposes the reality of the heroin crisis, and captures the physical, mental, and emotional issues that people who have experienced opioid use disorder, friends, families, nurses, policemen, and children undergo from primary and secondary interaction with heroin. For details: 413-584-9032 ext.105 or www.aomtheatre.com
The Choir of Man
The Choir of Man plays Berkshire Theatre Group’s Colonial Theatre on March 21, as part of their North American tour. It’s a party. It’s a concert. It’s a pint-filled good time set in a real working pub that combines incredible harmonies, high-energy dance and live percussion with foot-stomping choreography. The multi-talented cast of nine handsome men sing everything from pub tunes and folk to Broadway and classic rock. For details: 413-997-4444 or www.berkshiretheatregroup.org
Rapunzel, the fairy tale favorite, comes to Barrington Stage on March 16 in a new production from Ragtag Theatre. Nominated for the Best Family Show Off Broadway Alliance Award, Rapunzel features book, music and lyrics by Sam LaFrage, and staging directed by Dennis Corsi and Sam LaFrage.,Performance is 2PM on the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage (30 Union Street). For details: 413-236-8888 or www.barringtonstageco.org
Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares offer a couple of jazz performances in the Pioneer Valley. Triple Double, featuring Ralph Alessi, trumpet, Taylor Ho Bynum, cornet, Mary Halvorson and Brandon Seabrook, guitar, and Gerald Cleaver and Tomas Fujiwara, drums, comes to Greenfield’s Hawks& Reed on March 13. On March 14, Wayfaring, featuring James Falzone, clarinet and vocals, and Katie Ernst, bass and vocals, performs at the Parlor Room in Northampton. For details: www.jazzshares.org
Matt Stamell and old friends Craig Eastman and Guy Devito perform an evening of folk rock on March 15 at Hawks & Reed Arts Center, 289 Main St., Greenfield. Stammel performs new music plus music from his recent CD. For details: http://hawksandreed.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. Mark produces and hosts ArtsBeat Radio for 89.5fm/WSKB.
