Western Mass Theatre News November 14, 2024

Your source for theatre events in Western Massachusetts.

Western Mass Theatre Newsletter View this email in your browser November 14 - December 4, 2024 I don't know about you, but when it's this cold and dark, I have to either be under the blankets or at a show! Maybe you need a show to go to this week. You're in luck! There are options!  Read Max Hartshorne's review of A Moon for the Misbegotten at the Majestic here.  The next issue will include events from November 21 - December 11. Submit upcoming events via the link below or by emailing me before Tuesday at midnight. Any questions, comments or feedback? Email me at westernmasstheatre@gmail.com Submit Your Theatre Event Starlight's Youth Theatre presents Spring Musicals Beginning January 18, 2025 Learn More and Sign Up Here Greenfield Community College presents Love/Sick by John Cariani Nov 14-17, The Sloan Theater at GCC Tickets and More Information YOUR EVENT HERE $5 per week for your poster and ticket link in top billing! Email me to reserve your dates. Click to Access: Western Mass Theatre Personnel Spreadsheet PERFORMANCES Greenfield Community College Love/Sick by John Cariani Nov 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23 @ 7:30pm and Nov 17 @ 2pm The Sloan Theater at GCC From the playwright that brought us the award-winning play ALMOST, MAINE comes LOVE/SICK by John Cariani at GCC’s Sloan Theater. Eighteen actors make up this full-length play of nine slightly twisted and completely hilarious stories about the joy and pain of being in love. gccfor.me/lovesick Tickets are still on sale for Leonora, la maga y la maestra Performances: November 14 - 17 at 7:30   Tickets are still available for the latest iteration of Leonora, la maga y la maestra, conceived and directed by DE Founder and Vision Strategist Stacy Klein. Inspired by the visual art, writings and life of British-born Mexican artist Leonora Carrington and her mentorship of a long line of male artists, this surreal performance unfolds an encounter between Leonora and Adán (everyman) and portrays the magic, mystery, and humanity found in Carrington’s work. "a peek into an expansive world -- a hallucinatory symbol-heavy tour of Carrington's fervid mind" -New York Times, Critic's Pick Tickets MAJESTIC THEATER PRESENTS A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN  NOVEMBER 14 – DECEMBER 1 West Springfield’s Majestic Theater will present A Moon for the Misbegotten, Eugene O’Neill’s final and most personal play, onstage October 24 through December 1.  Set on a dilapidated Connecticut farm, the play focuses on Josie, a woman commanding and tough outside, sensuous and sensitive inside and Jamie Tyrone, a dissipated former actor with an astonishing capacity for alcohol. Josie’s father, Phil Hogan, a tenant farmer, suspects that Jamie intends to sell the farm to a hated neighbor and sets a plan in motion to bring Jamie and Josie together. This American classic play is a requiem about being able to love and be loved with a unique blend of comedy, tragedy, autobiography and imagination. The play will be directed by James Warwick.  Danny Eaton is producing director, and Sue Dziura is associate producing director.  Stephen Petit is production stage manager, and the associate production manager is Aurora Ferraro.  Chelsie Nectow is the stage manager, Greg Trochlil is the scenic designer, and the lighting designer is James MacNamara.  Costume design is by Dawn McKay and Alan Schneider is technical director. The cast includes Sue Dziura (Josie Hogan), J. T. Waite (Phil Hogan), Jay Sefton (James Tyrone, Jr.), Mike Hogan (Caleb Chew) and Tom Dahl (T. Stedman Harder).  Understudies include Tom Dahl, Myka Plunkett and Max Weinberg. Tickets to the show range from $35-$38 and can be purchased in person at the box office or by calling (413) 747-7797.  Box office hours are Monday – Friday 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.  Doors to the theater will open one hour before the start of a show, which is also when the café opens.  For more information, visit www.majestictheater.com Exit 7 Players Disney's Beauty and the Beast Performances:  Fri. Nov 15th 2024, 8:00 pm  Sat. Nov 16th 2024, 8:00 pm  Sun. Nov 17th 2024, 2:00 pm Exit 7 Theater, 37 Chestnut Street, Ludlow MA 01056 Based on the smash hit 1991 Disney animated feature and dating back to a late 18th-century classic French fairy tale, Disney's Beauty and the Beast tells the story of Belle, a beautiful and intelligent young woman who feels out of place in her provincial French village. When her father is imprisoned in a mysterious castle, Belle’s attempt to rescue him leads to her capture by the Beast, a grisly and fearsome monster, who was long ago trapped in his gruesome form by an enchantress. The only way for the Beast to become human once again is if he learns to love and be loved in return. There is a time limit, too: once a magical rose loses all of its petals, all hope will be lost and he will stay a Beast forever. The Beast’s enchanted household--populated by such beloved characters as Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Chip--watch anxiously as Belle and the Beast grow to understand and befriend one another. Their feelings grow ever deeper as the clock ticks and petals continue to fall off the enchanted rose--will they confess their love for one another before it is too late?  Featuring the talents of Maddy Oldenburg as Belle, Christopher Morey as Beast, Austin Kopp as Lumiere, John Scully as Cogsworth, Lila Dunk as Mrs. Potts, Trin Mutti as Chip, Lyndsey Raucher as Babette, Eleanor Tynan as Madame, Evan Garber as Gaston, Caden Boeri as Lefou, Joe Lessard as Maurice, John Woytowicz as Monsieur D'Argue, Lauren Bailey, Antonio Mutti, Haley Thompson and Joana Tulik as the Silly Friends, Zachary Ciano, Grace Peltier and Deanna Weech as the Featured Dancers, and Florry Arnold, Ben Crowe, Andrei Danilchenko, Kevin Grady, Alora Machuca, Matthew O’Reilly, Tim Tynan, Marissa Warren, and Joe Wilcox as the Villagers and Castle Staff.  Direction by Krystle Bernier  Music Direction by Benjamin Maniscalchi  Choreography by Sarah Devine  Stage Managed by Ben Cantwell and Kel Fellows  Costumes by Sue Dubois and Karen Webb  Set by Francisco Aquas and Kyle Maskell  https://tinyurl.com/6y333dwu Wilbraham United Players One Slight Hitch 11/15, 11/16 at 7:30PM 11/17 at 2:30PM Wilbraham United Church Fellowship Hall Stage at 500 Main St, Wilbraham, MA 01095 Tickets are now on sale for the Wilbraham United Players upcoming production "One Slight Hitch". Tickets may be purchased online at www.wilbrahamunitedplayers.org.  Written by Lewis Black, this very funny farce takes place in a mid-west home in the 1980's. The Coleman's daughter, Courtney, is getting married. Delia, her mother, has all the wedding details, including her relaxed husband, Doc, in hand, when Courtney's ex-boyfriend, Ryan, shows up at the door. Chaos ensues as Doc, along with younger daughters Melanie and PB attempt to keep Ryan out of sight of the rest of the family and groom, Harper.  *Contains mature language  Premium seating tickets are $25. Regular seating is $22 with a $5 discount for Students and Seniors. Tickets OUR TOWN By Thornton Wilder Directed by Behnam Alibakhshi Nov. 15, 16, 20, 21, 22, 23 at 7:30 p.m. | Nov. 20 at 10 a.m. | Nov. 23 at 2 p.m. The Curtain Theater $5 students, seniors, Card to Culture, $17 general admission “Our Town” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com Content advisory: alcohol use and smoking, discussions of death. Recommended for children age 12 and up Tickets on sale through the Fine Arts Center Box Office (413-545-2511 and online), as well as at the door on the night of the show (subject to availability). To make our shows more affordable, we offer Card to Culture pricing for qualifying patrons. Finding the profound in the everyday UMass Theater presents Our Town, a timeless play about what's important. Do we appreciate the present moment as we should? That's the question to which director Behnam Alibakhshi returns over and over as he contemplates Thornton Wilder's Our Town. This American classic, which runs Nov. 15-23 in the Curtain Theater at UMass Theater, conveys the profundity of ordinary human experiences, something Alibakhshi feels we need more than ever in our current moment. "Life's inherent brutality often prevents us from fully understanding and enjoying simple, ordinary moments," says Alibakhshi. "The play draws attention to the fact that we don't need more brutality; we don't need to further complicate our lives." Our Town is a play in three acts that follows the journey of two main characters, Emily and George, from childhood to marriage and eventually death. Along the way, we also get to know other citizens of Grovers Corners, NH, as they encounter their own milestone moments in life. In Our Town a stage manager frames and comments on the action, and the production design is minimal, with actors miming where they might otherwise use props. The production creates what dramaturg Pedro Eiras describs as a "timeless" effect. "While our version will be timeless, it will gesture toward the past—not any specific past, but rather an idea of the past. Time is fluid, and the circle of life is eternal. Our version of Our Town could take place 100 years ago, it could take place now, or it could take place 100 years in the future." Alibakhshi notes that Wilder wrote the play in 1938, a time of global upheaval between two wars — and with the conflicts happening currently around the world, we might be uniquely positioned to appreciate Wilder's simple, immersive, and deeply resonant message. Our Town is presented in the Curtain Theater, a intimate space, so make your reservation now before performances sell out! Tickets and More Information CitySpace Pay It Forward Series: Grotesque Burlesque Friday, November 15 at 8:00 PM Saturday, November 16 at  8PM 43 Main Street, Easthampton, MA 01027 Educator, activist, and performer, Lex Grotesque, presents Grotesque Burlesque on November 15-16, 2024, 8pm in CitySpace’s Blue Room at Old Town Hall at 43 Main St. Easthampton, MA. Advanced tickets are $20-$25 and $30 at the door. 18+  The Grotesque Burlesque will transform CitySpace’s Blue Room into an immersive dreamscape, inviting audiences to explore the intricate tapestry of the dream world and the beyond. This interactive, healing theater arts group features queer burlesque performance that welcomes audience engagement. Their latest work centers on the theme of dreams, inviting you to experience this emergent, evocative piece.  Lex Grotesque (aka Jupiter Returned) is a Black, transgender- nonbinary, queer, educator, activist, and witch. Lex specializes in somatic healing, process arts, contemporary dance movement, theater arts, and curriculum development. Co-founder of Moon Prism Arts Collective; a queer makerspace & arts community in Easthampton, Ma & Literacy Educator and Teacher.  This project is part of the Pay It Forward Series. https://www.cityspaceeasthampton.org/all-events/#/events/113453 The Holyoke Community College Theater Department presents Polaroid Stories, by Naomi Iizuka  Directed by Rose Schwietz Malla  Thursday November 21st 7:30pm  Friday November 22nd 7:30pm (ASL Interpreted)  Saturday November 23rd 2:00pm  Saturday November 23rd 7:30pm  All performances will be in the Leslie Phillips Theater on the campus of Holyoke Community College  303 Homestead Ave. Holyoke MA, 01040 [Fine and Performing Arts Building, 2nd floor]  Tickets:  HCC Students Staff and Faculty $5.00  General Admission $10.00  Seniors $8.00  Tickets available 1 hour before show, at the Leslie Phillips Box Office, or by calling 413 552 2528 to reserve tickets.  This show is appropriate for audience members 13 years of age and older. Contains: Strong language, references to prostitution and sexual violence, staged violence. Improv Through the Ages Nov 22, 2024 at 7:00 PM Northampton High School On Friday November 22nd, the Scarlet Sock Foundation will present an evening of fun, delight, and spontaneity with Improv Through the Ages!  The Scarlet Sock Foundation supports underrepresented populations by administering small grants to community organizations and individuals of all ages to increase exposure and access to social justice theater. Our efforts aim to increase the number of people from underrepresented populations involved in community-based theater by partnering with and providing funds for programming such as theater classes, the development of new plays, ticket purchases, pre/post show lessons, talkback opportunities, and other educational materials. We have funded social justice theater projects in Hampshire, Hampden, Franklin and Berkshire counties. Scarletsock.org  Improv Through the Ages will feature Heidi Haas’s theater students, the Ookie-Wookies (grades 1st-4th) and the Pickle Heads (grades 5th-8th) and the Northampton High School troupe, Funktionlust! Special guests include Jim Young, Hilary Bucs, Ethan Meigs and Susan Edelstein.  Funktionlust, now in its 19th year, is the only Improv group at NHS and has enough liveliness to power Childs Park! But with all their spontaneity and enthusiasm, they have entertained their audiences at Northampton’s First Night, Happier Valley Comedy, Click Workspace and with their fellow students at NHS! They are psyched to be on stage with all the other Improvers!  The show is family friendly. Tickets are available at the door and the cost is suggested at $5 for children and $15 for adults. As it’s a fundraiser, audience members are encouraged to give what they can to support the Scarlet Sock Foundation’s mission.  For More Information: Contact Heidi Haas at Heidi_Haas@comcast.net AUDITIONS & OPPORTUNITIES Easthampton High School Drama Club is looking for 2 resourceful and reliable people. Both positions carry stipends. Neither person would be working alone. Amy is directing the production and will be providing support, especially with student communication and navigating the resources we have at the school. Quinn Renehan is the EHS shop teacher and he is teaching Stagecraft during the school day so many things can be started or finished there. Contact Amy Pawlus at apawlus@epsd.us Technical Director  The technical director is responsible for making sure that all of the set, prop, costume, lighting and sound elements are in place for the rehearsal and performance process. The technical director coordinates with the EHS shop teacher and stage director on material needs, budget and building strategies to run the Saturday set construction sessions from 10-2 during Mar/April. They will need to create job lists for student and parent volunteers and oversee work on set, prop and costume building and organization. The technical director should be available to oversee the run of the performances and the breakdown and disposal of the set as well as return any rental or borrowed items. This position comes with a $2500 stipend and requires at least 100 hours of time. Musical Conductor The musical conductor is responsible for teaching the students all of the music for the musical. Rehearsals usually happen between 2-4 usually one or two days a week. The cast focuses on learning the group songs early in the rehearsal process and then rehearsals for music are shorter and more focused on solos as the process continues. There is no live orchestra for this production. The musical conductor must be comfortable with the digital playback software for both rehearsal and performance purposes and needs to be available for rehearsals and performances to work with and/or train the sound board operator. The musical conductor should help with assignment of wireless microphones and placement of monitors or other audio related equipment. This position comes with a $1700 stipend and requires at least 60 hours of time. Audition for Spring UMass Theater Show Sign-ups open now for performers for the ground-breaking Unfinished Women Cry in No Man's Land While a Bird Dies in a Gilded Cage Our second show of the season is about to open, but UMass Theater is already looking ahead to the future! Auditions for our first spring show, Aishah Rahman's Unfinished Women Cry in No Man's Land While a Bird Dies in a Gilded Cage are Nov. 19 & 20 and we are now open for sign-ups! To audition, please sign up for a 10 minute individual slot. Auditioners should familiarize themselves with the Sides of the character they wish to read for based on the Character Breakdown, both of which can also be found at the link. Show summary and a note about Theatrical Jazz, the genre of this play: Unfinished Women Cry in No Man's Land While a Bird Dies in a Gilded Cage This play is set in 1955. Five young women face their futures and the fates of their yet-to-be born children as residents of the Hide-A-Wee Home for Unwed Mothers while jazz musician Charlie Parker contemplates his life through a drug-addled haze in Pasha’s boudoir. Black theater historian Margaret Wilkerson has stated that, “Aishah Rahman 'reaches well-beyond statistics and sociological theories to find the unarticulated, half-understood longings of teenage mothers.'” According to Thadious M. Davis, who wrote the introduction to Plays by Aishah Rahman , “Music provides the connective link that makes understanding possible. Through the music of Charlie Parker, the Bird, Rahman connects 'life and death, wholeness and fragmentation, community and isolation.'” Additionally, this play is a fine example of the jazz aesthetic in theater and Rahman is often cited as the first to use the term. She describes her work in this way: “'I was trying to dramatize the unconscious or emotional levels of character. And that’s why I find that I always have to make some kind of leap that might be described in some Eurocentric term like “absurdist.” But I don’t think of it that way. My work is in the tradition of what I call the “jazz aesthetic,” which acknowledges the characters' various levels of reality. They have triple consciousness: of the unborn, the living and the dead…the jazz aesthetic in drama expresses multiple ideas and experiences through language, movement, visual art and spirituality simultaneously.'” (from Theatrical Jazz: Performance, Àse, and the Power of the Present Moment by Omi Osun Joni L. Jones) Content Advisory: descriptions of drug use and overdose, mention of sexual assault, depiction of gendered violence There will be one week of rehearsal in December prior to break, then resuming in February. Learn more at our audition page, which includes cast breakdowns, content advisories and more: https://www.umass.edu/theater/auditions Or go directly to our sign up link. CASTING CALL Auditions for staged reading of The Surprizing Work of God, a folk-opera about Jonathan Edwards by Jeff Olmsted Jan 25, 26, 2025 Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity, Florence, MA Auditions-Saturday Dec 1, 1:00-4:00 by appointment CASTING Jonathan Edwards (Tenor C3-A4 (mostly E3-E4) the one who preached “Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God” in Northampton in 1742. From lyrical to declamatory. Sarah Edwards (Soprano A3-E-5), wife of Jonathan, she was a mystic, sought-after as an herbal healer, plus she ran the farm and they had eleven children. Range A4-E5. Leah (Alto G3-C5) Woman enslaved to the Edwards’ family. This character narrates, speaking directly to the audience. Requires actor to be Black/AA identifying. Other roles blind cast. These roles are paid. We are also looking for (unpaid) chorus members, to play the congregation, in hell and in heaven. The music is tuneful, not difficult. Most rehearsal in January, singers at music stands, Jan 25-26 4 p.m. Email Jeff: surprizingwork@gmail.com. The Harlot Queens Auditions for 2025 Season Online through December 1, 2024 Seeking female/non-binary identifying singers/musicians: The Harlot Queens is a professional comedic musical group that travels around New England and beyond performing both traditional family-friendly and bawdy tavern-style songs at renaissance faires, festivals, and more. For our 2025 season we are looking to add a second guitar player, a percussionist, as well as a dynamic singer/actor. Compensation is based on availability and bookings. We highly value diversity, and encourage performers of color as well as members of the lgbtqia community to apply. For more information visit www.theharlotqueens.com  Click the link below to sign up. https://forms.gle/xEkE5jP47G6Y4rFz7 WORKSHOPS & CLASSES Phantom Sheep Players Game On! Improv Workshops 11/18 Unity House Players, 245 Porter Lake Dr, Springfield, MA Focusing on short form theater games with a different theme each week such as "storytelling", "guessing", "gibberish", "character swaps" and more. This is an all levels program perfect for those who are brand new to improv, as well as those experienced who want to develop their stage technique. Each person is challenged at their own pace. Facebook event $22 per week drop in rate. Starlight's Youth Theatre, Inc. Sign up for Spring 2025 musicals Classes begin January 18, 2025 Mapleridge Community Center 659 Amherst Road, Sunderland, MA Aladdin Jr musical for grades 1-6 start January 18, 2025 every Saturday morning with performances at the Amherst Middle School auditorium March 22, 2025 Aladdin Jr. will be so much fun for the cast with expanded characters, new songs, and more thrills, this new adaptation of the beloved story will open up “a whole new world”. Class fee is $260, limited space, sign up at https://starlights-youth-theatre.org/register-portal/ Starlight classes are held at Mapleridge Community Ctr 659 Amherst Road, Sunderland, MA Financial Aid is available. No experience necessary.  Hello, Dolly! The musical for grades 7-12 , classes start January 18, 2025, every Saturday 11am with performances May 2 & 3, 2025 at The Academy of Music in Northampton. This Tony Award winner has some of the greatest songs in musical theatre history. Songs such as “Hello, Dolly”, “Put on your Sunday clothes”, “Before the Parade marches by”, and “It only takes a moment”, Besides the lead and supporting lead roles this show has a very active ensemble that fill the show with song and dance. Class fee is $295 Auditions Dec 7th but everyone will have a role. Sign up at https://starlights-youth-theatre.org/register-portal/ Starlight meets at Mapleridge Community Ctr 659 Amherst Road, Sunderland, MA Financial Aid is available. No experience necessary. Register Here. Submit your workshop, class, audition, performance, or any other theatre opportunity here! Western Massachusetts Theatre Companies Academy of Music Theatre Amherst Community Theater Arena Civic Theatre A.C.T. Youth Theatre Barrington Stage Company Berkshire Theatre Group Chester Theatre Company CitySpace Completely Ridiculous Productions Drama Studio Double Edge Theatre Easthampton Theater Company Eggtooth Productions Exit 7 Players Ghost Light Theater Great Barrington Public Theater Greenfield Community College's Theater Department Hampshire Shakespeare Company Happier Valley Comedy Hawks and Reed Performing Arts Center Human Agenda Theater Ja'Duke Center for the Performing Arts K and E Theater Group Ko Theater Works/Ko Festival of Performance Majestic Theater Mount Holyoke College Rooke Theatre No Theater Northampton Community Arts Trust Northampton Playwrights Lab PaintBox Theatre Panopera Pauline Productions Performance Project Phantom Sheep Players Play Incubation Collective Plays In Place Real Live Theatre Serious Play Theatre Ensemble Shakespeare & Company  Shakespeare Stage Shea Theater Arts Center Silverthorne Theater Smith College Department of Theatre South Hadley Players Spindrift Theatre St. Michael's Players Starlight's Youth Theatre, Inc. Theater Between Addresses Theatre Guild of Hampden TheatreTruck UMass Department of Theater UMass Theatre Guild Unity House Players Valley Light Opera Valley Players WAM Theatre Ware Community Theatre Westfield Theatre Group Wilbraham United Players Williamstown Theatre Festival World and Eye Want to know even more about events in Western Massachusetts and beyond, including reviews, interviews, and previews? In the Spotlight, Inc. Berkshire on Stage Stagestruck ArtsBeat TV/Radio and News Column Local Theater Critic Max Hartshorne Copyright © 2024 Western Mass Theatre, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up to receive the Western Mass Theatre Newsletter. This newsletter is published weekly on Thursdays and all information about upcoming performances and auditions is reader submitted. The newsletter is limited to information about theatre in Western Massachusetts. unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences