MARK AUERBACH
Magic To Do
The world’s hottest magic show, The Illusionists-Live from Broadway, opens the Bushnell’s Broadway series in Hartford on September 22-27, as part of a 45-city national tour.
Full of hilarious magic tricks, death-defying stunts and acts of breathtaking wonder, The Illusionists-Live from Broadway has shattered box office records worldwide and thrilled audiences of all ages with a mind-blowing spectacular showcasing the jaw-dropping talents of seven of the most incredible illusionists on earth.
The seven stars, each a master in their own field, are: The Manipulator, Yu Ho-Jin; The Anti-Conjuror, Dan Sperry; The Trickster, Jeff Hobson; The Escapologist, Andrew Basso; The Inventor, Kevin James; The Weapon Master, Ben Blaque; and The Daredevil, Jonathan Goodwin. The British-born Goodwin is considered to be one of the most creative, skilled and craziest stunt performers in the world who has been hanged, buried alive, hung by his toes from helicopters, burned at the stake and attacked by sharks.
For details: 860-987-5900 or www.bushnell.org.
Paula Pounstone
An Evening with Paula Poundstone
Paula Poundstone, the award-winning comic best known for appearances on Public Radio’s Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me, comes to Pittsfield’s Colonial Theatre on September 26, under the auspices of The Berkshire Theatre Group.
In the early ’80s, Paula Poundstone packed up her belongings, hopped on a Greyhound bus, and traveled across the country performing at open mic comedy clubs. Poundstone went on to become one of the great humorists of our time. You can hear her through your laughter as a regular panelist on NPR’s popular weekly news quiz show, Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me. She tours regularly, performing standup comedy across the country.
In the early ’90s Poundstone was the first woman to win the cable ACE for Best Standup Comedy Special and the first woman to be invited to perform standup at the prestigious White House Correspondents dinner, where she joined the current President as part of the evening’s entertainment. Poundstone starred in a self-titled series for HBO in ’93 (for which she won her second Cable ACE Award for Best Program Interviewer), and moved the show to ABC which was short-lived, but applauded for its break from convention. Poundstone had her own comedy specials on HBO and Bravo. In fact, she starred in several comedy specials on HBO, including Paula Poundstone Goes to Harvard, the only time the elite university has allowed their name to be used in the title of a television show. Poundstone is recognized as one of Comedy Central’s 100 greatest stand-ups of all time. Poundstone won an American Comedy Award for Best Female Standup Comic, and in 2010 she was one of a select group voted into the Comedy Hall of Fame.
For details: 413-997-4444 or www.BerkshireTheatreGroup.org.
Josh Burrage
Plan Ahead
Josh Burrage, a 2014 Westfield High School graduate, is performing as “Darcy” in the national tour of the Broadway hit musical Newsies, which plays The Bushnell in Hartford on October 13-18. For tickets: 860-9987-5900 or www.bushnell.org.
Hamish Linklater, the stage and film star who began performing at Shakespeare and Company, returns to Lenox to star in a staged reading of The Bard’s Richard III as a benefit for the theatre on October 10. There will be other guests to be announced, and the reading’s staged by Artistic Director Jonathan Croy. For details: t 413-637- 3353. or www.shakespeare.org.
Arlo Guthrie brings his Alice’s Restaurant: 50th Anniversary Tour to Pittsfield’s Colonial Theatre for one performance on October 11, courtesy of The Berkshire Theatre Group.
Arlo Guthrie’s career exploded in 1967 with the release of the album, Alice’s Restaurant, whose title song helped foster a new commitment to social awareness and activism. “Alice’s Restaurant” is 18-minutes long and tells a winding, interwoven tale of a true story that took place over a Thanksgiving weekend in 1965. Rarely played on recent tours, Arlo is reviving this classic for this concert. For details: 413-997-4444 or www.BerkshireTheatreGroup.org.
Hamish Linklater
Keep in Mind…
The Hot Sardines, a mix of hot jazz, sultry 1920s standards, a hint of Dixieland, and a dash of wartime Paris, open the UMass Fine Arts Center 40th Anniversary Season on September 26. (There’s a pre-show speakeasy party for ticketholders). For details: 413-545-2511, 800-999-UMASS, or www.fineartscenter.com
The Eighth Annual “Tapping Into Twain” Oktoberfest , the annual beer festival at the Mark Twain House and Museum on September 25, offers a selection of locally produced beers and artisanal ales from Hartford Better Beer Co., Hooker Brewery, Bru Room, Top Shelf Brewing, Stony Creek Brewery, Boston Beer Co., Witch Doctor Brewing, and Shebeen Brewing Co. Plus, food from local restaurants — including pizza, pasta, jambalaya, sliders and pulled pork. Guests will enjoy all of this to the live sounds of The Rude Mechanicals and The Alternates Duo, with sets by DJ Whitney Bobby. For details: 860-280-3130 or www.marktwainhouse.org
Summer Songs, a faculty recital by UMass Music Department mezzo Marjorie Melnick, will be held at Bexanson Recital Hall on the UMass/Amherst campus on September 20. J. Clifton Noble will accompany Melnick on piano, in a program that includes five summer songs set to poems of Emily Dickinson. For details: 413-545-2511 or https://fac.umass.edu/Online/MusicandDanceDepartment.
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.
