Beowulf Borrit
By Mark G. Auerbach
Barrington Stage Company has named three new associate artists, scenic designer Beowulf Boritt, actor Leslie Rdoriguez Kritzer, and costume designer Alejo Vietti. Founded in 2010, BSC’s associate artists honorees include choreographer Joshua Bergasse, director Joe Calarco, costume designer Jen Caprio, music director Darren R. Cohen, actor Mark H. Dold, actress Gretchen Egolf, music director Vadim Feichtner, composer/lyricist William Finn, actor Alan H. Green, composer/lyricist Joe Iconis, actor/director Christopher Innvar, lighting designer David Lander, production stage manager Renee Lutz, actor Jeff McCarthy, casting director Pat McCorkle, director/choreographer Jeffrey Page, lighting designer Scott Pinkney, scenic designer Brian Prather, director John Rando, actress Debra Jo Rupp, press director Charlie Siedenburg, actress Elizabeth Stanley, playwright Mark St. Germain, costume designer Sara Jean Tosetti, actress Alysha Umphress, and actress Peggy Pharr Wilson. For details: www.barringtonstageco.org.
Kathy Jo Grover
Magic Tree House: Dinosaurs Before Dark KIDS is Berkshire Theatre Group’s BTG Plays! 2021-22 touring show. Based on the Mary Pope Osborne book “Magic Tree House: Dinosaurs Before Dark,” the musical features a book and lyrics by Will Osborne and Jenny Laird, music and lyrics by Randy Courts, and direction and choreography by Kathy Jo Grover. For details: www.berlshiretheatregroup.org.
Alejo Vietti
La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina, Francesca Caccini’s rarely staged opera, will be performed by Connecticut Lyric Opera and Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra on Nov. 5 at Trinity-on-Main Arts Center in New Britain, and on Nov. 7 at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. Adrian Sylveen is artistic director, and Alan Mann is stage director. The cast includes Rebecca Batista de Almeida (Alcina), Madison Marie McIntosh (Melissa), Daniel Kamali? (Ruggiero), Maria Margiolakou (First Lady), Heather O’Connor (Second Lady), Allison Waggener (Third Lady), Samuel Bowen (Nettuno), Rongjun Li (First Tenor), and Sung Shi (Second Tenor). This is the first opera composed by a woman. Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra also performs Mozart’s Requiem on Nov. 1, at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford. For details: thevirtuosi.org.
The Bushnell’s new installation provides a digital stage for local artists in pre-show events displayed on video boards on the exterior of The Bushnell, as well as the projection wall in the grand foyer of the theater. Look for a variety of local groups performing digitally, before performances. For details: www.bushnell.org/localartslocalarts.
Felipe Salles (SUBMITTED PHOTO BY JEFF SCHNEIDER)
Felipe Salles, professor of jazz saxophone at the UMass Department of Music and Dance, has been awarded a creative residency grant by Jazz Road. This grant will allow Salles and his Interconnections Ensemble to collaborate with eight guest artists, including Paquito D’Rivera and Yosvanny Terry.
Pilobolus, the Connecticut-based internationally acclaimed modern dance troupe, brings its Big Five-OH! Celebration to Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts at UConn-Storrs on Nov. 5. As part of its 50th anniversary, the company performs the vintage classic “Untitled” and some signature works to the stage. For details: www.jorgensen.uconn.edu.
The Linda Ronstadt Experience, starring Tristan Mcintosh of “American Idol,” plays Pittsfield’s Colonial Theatre on Nov. 6, courtesy of Berkshire Theatre Group. McIntosh performs some of Ronstadt’s iconic songs, including “You’re No Good,” “When Will I Be Loved,” “That’ll Be the Day” and “Blue Bayou.” For details: www.berkshiretheatregroup.org.
Leslie Kritzer
The 39 Steps takes center stage at Connecticut Repertory Theatre, with performances Oct. 28 through Nov. 7. A comic mix of a Hitchcock thriller with Monty Python, the Tony Award winner by Patrick Barlow features over 150 characters played by a cast of four, an onstage plane crash, handcuffs and romance. For details: www.crt.uconn.edu.
Carolyn Kuan, maestra of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, is currently in London, conducting the Philip Glass opera “Satyagraha” at the London Coliseum through Oct. 28. Phelim McDermott staged Glass’ meditation on Gandhi’s early years in South Africa, tracing the progress of his concept of non-violent protest as a positive force for change. For details: carolynkuan.com/performance-39.html.
Mark G. Auerbach studied theater at American University and the Yale School of Drama. He has worked for arts organizations nationwide, and reported on the arts for print and broadcast. Mark produces and hosts “ArtsBeat,” “Athenaeum Spotlight” and “On The Mark” for WCPC, Channel 15, and WSKB-FM 89.5. He’s a regular contributor to Pioneer Valley Radio and a member of the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association.
