MARK AUERBACH
The Big News. You Can Be Six Degrees from Kevin Bacon
Kevin Bacon, the renowned stage and screen actor, best known for Footloose, will star in the world premiere of Rear Window, adapted by Keith Reddin from the story of the same name by Cornell Woolrich, which became the Hitchcock movie of the same name. Hartford Stage’s Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak stages the thriller (October 22-November 23). Bacon has a Golden Globe Award, an Emmy nomination, and is known for films A Few Good Men, Apollo 13, Murder in the First and more. He and his brother Michael are The Bacon Brothers band. For tickets: 860-527-5161 or www.hartfordstage.org.
Christopher Shinn, playwright
Hartford Stage: World Premiere. Connecticut Playwright Writes About Connecticut
Hartford Stage presents the world premiere of An Opening in Time by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Connecticut native Christopher Shinn, with direction by Oliver Butler of The Debate Society, from September 17 through October 11, 2015. An Opening in Time’s central Connecticut setting is inspired by Shinn’s hometown of Wethersfield.
A Pulitzer finalist for Dying City, presented at Hartford Stage in the 2008-09 season, Shinn is the winner of a 2005 OBIE in Playwriting and a Guggenheim Fellowship in Playwriting. He was shortlisted for the London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play and has been nominated for an Olivier Award for Most Promising Playwright and the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Playwright.
His plays also include Four, Now or Later, What Didn’t Happen, and his Broadway adaptation of Hedda Gabler. Beginning October 1 at the Donmar Warehouse, the London premiere of his play Teddy Ferrara will open almost simultaneously with An Opening in Time at Hartford Stage.
Deborah Hedwall in Hartford Stage’s “An Opening in Time”
In An Opening in Time, Anne, a retired schoolteacher, moves back to the suburban town in central Connecticut which she left years before. She finds a number of things have been changed. Dunkin’ Donuts franchises are everywhere; the local high school is putting on a production of Rent; and a long-lost friendship suddenly appears in a new guise in this subtle and moving play about finding connections in a shifting world.
Hartford Stage Associate Artistic Director Elizabeth Williamson said, “”I’ve been an admirer of Chris’ work since first reading Four many years ago, and this is perhaps my favorite of his plays to date. His psychological acuity is always impressive, and never more so than in this play as he tracks the risks his characters are and are not capable of taking, in the hope of having a second chance—at love, at reconciliation, perhaps at self-knowledge. An Opening in Time is set right here in Connecticut, which makes it doubly exciting to be premiering it at Hartford Stage.”
For details: 860-527-5151 or www.hartfordstage.org.
Kristen VanGinhoven of WAM
Road Trip
There’s a lot of theatre happening in Boston, and the Greater Boston Theatre Expo offers theaterlovers with the opportunity to connect with over 60 Greater Boston theatre companies to learn about their seasons. It’s free and it takes place on September 29. Thanks to American Repertory Theater’s Kati Mitchell for sharing this event with us in western Massachusetts. For details: http://www.stagesource.org/?page=GBTheatreExpo
Keep in Mind…
A Wonderful Life, the Joe Raposo and Sheldon Harnick’s musical based on Frank Capra’s holiday film classic It’s A Wonderful Life, brings the spirit of the season to Goodspeed Musicals September 18 through November 29. Parker Esse choreographs. Esse choreographed the recent Berkshire Theatre Group production of Bells Are Ringing. For details: 860-.873.8668 or www.goodspeed.org.
A Streetcar Named Desire, the sultry Tennessee Williams classic and Pulitzer Prize winner, opens the Majestic Theater season (September 10-October 18). The story follows Blanche DuBois, fragile and penniless, who finds herself in New Orleans’ French Quarter and under the roof of her sister Stella, and her husband Stanley Kowalski. Blanche finds Stanley “common,” but strikes up a relationship with Mitch, one of his poker buddies, until old truths surface. Rand Foerster directs. For details: www.majestictheater.com
The Effect, a new play by Lucy Prebble, will be the final WAM Fresh Takes program on September 13 at No. Six Depot Roastery and Café, 6 Depot Street in West Stockbridge, MA. Kristen van Ginhoven, co-founder and Artistic Director of WAM Theatre, directs the play described as a clinical romance. For details: 800-838-3006 or http://www.wamtheatre.com. Due to the limited availability, advance booking is a must. .
The Gerry Beaudoin Trio launch CityStage’s Thursday Night Jazz Series on September 17 and includes Nicole Zuraitis Group on October 15, June Bisantz on November 12, and Yoko Miwa Trio on December 3. The series continues with The Nicole Zuraitis Group (October 15), June Bisantz (November 12) and The Yoko Miwa Trio (December 3). It’s produced in partnership with New England Arts and Entertainment. For details: 413-788-7033.
The Northanpton Jazz Festival brings some cool programs to Northampton and surrounding areas on September 8-12. New England Public Radio Jazz hosts Tom Reney and Kari Njiiri emcee the events. For details. http://www.njfest.org/
Echoes from the Borscht Belt, Marisa Scheinfeld’s incredible photos of the once splendor Catskills resorts as they fell into decay. has been held over at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst through November 22. Don’t miss it. For details: 413-256-4900 or www.yiddishbookcenter.org.
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.
