Pioneer Valley Theatre Newsletter June 4, 2015

Pioneer Valley Theatre Newsletter View this email in your browser June 4, 2015 Issue #2 A bunch of fantastic theatre events coming up as we head into the real summer months. New this week: a featured event. One event will be listed at the top of each newsletter, no matter what its date. Featured event listings will be first come first served for $5, which will help defray the costs of running this newsletter. Email me if you are interested in reserving a future feature. To start us off, New Century Theatre's Life in the 413, a special event this Saturday to kick off the 25th season. Don't miss it! If there is something missing from this newsletter, submit it! Next week issue will include events through July 1. Help me help you spread the word about all the wonderful theatrical events in the Pioneer Valley. Any questions, comments or feedback? Email me at pioneervalleytheatre@gmail.com Submit Your Theatre Event This weeks featured event is New Century Theatre's LIFE IN THE 413. More information can be found in the listing below or online at www.newcenturytheatre.org.  (For information about having your event featured, email me at pioneervalleytheatre@gmail.com.) PERFORMANCES Monson Arts Council presents LEND ME A TENOR by Ken Ludwig directed by Stephanie Gilbert June 5, 6 & 7th (Friday and Saturday at 7:30 PM, Sunday at 2:00 PM) Harmony Hall, Palmer Historical and Cultural Center, 2072 Main Street, Three Rivers MA Lend Me A Tenor is a madcap comedy that takes place in 1934 as the Cleveland Grand Opera company prepares to welcome world-famous tenor Tito Merelli for a sold out, one night only performance. It's all downhill from there. What transpires is an hilarious farce full of mistaken identity, slamming doors, and bawdy humor. Join us for an evening or afternoon filled with farce and side splitting hilarity! Tickets are $20 Adults & $17 Seniors and Children. Tickets available online.   Black Cat Theatre presents A LITTLE QUICKIE by Jane Milmore and Billy Van Zandt, directed by Tony Jones June 5 and 6 at 7:00 PM and June 7 at 2:00 PM Granby Jr/Sr High School (385 East State St (Route 202), Granby). The stand up comedy team of Steve and Allen is on the brink of success when Steve's neglected wife Sara and Allen have an unexpected fling, a lifelong dream come true for Allen. Flashy manager Roscoe Clementine who narrates, his latest pickup Polly, and a New York fashion model become involved in covering up the infidelity. The play is interspersed with bits of Steve and Allen's routine which provide a hilarious running commentary on the actions.  Rated M for Mature! General Admission is $15.00, $12.00 for Seniors/Students, and all Military (active or retired) are admitted free. For ticket reservations email blackcattheater@gmail.com or call 413-563-6023. Profits from our shows help to support an annual scholarship to a South Hadley High School or Granby High School student going on to college to major in the arts. See the Facebook event here. New Century Theatre presents LIFE IN THE 413 Saturday, June 6 at 7:00 PM Theatre 14, Mendenhall Center for the Performing Arts, Smith College Northampton A Valley tradition now in it's third year! Come laugh and toast life inside the 413 area code! Celebrate our collective Western MA hometowns with an evening or five original tales by local authors presented as old-time radio theatre. Join WHMP host Monte Belmonte and musical guests Mitch Chakour, Molly Damon-Rush, Casey Opal, and Greg Alexander.  Tickets available online or by calling 413-585-3220. Amherst College presents THE SCARLET PROFESSOR Sunday, June 7 at 3:00 PM Buckley Recital Hall, Amherst College A free workshop performance of the first half of The Scarlet Professor, a new opera based on the celebrated 1960 arrest and trial of Smith College professor Newton Arvin, created by local artists Eric Sawyer, Harley Erdman, and Barry Werth! The semi-staged performance will be followed by a talk-back with Sawyer, Erdman, and Werth.  The Scarlet Professor recounts the story of Newton Arvin, a nationally renowned literary critic and English professor who was arrested in 1960 along with two younger colleagues for possessing ‘beefcake’ pornography. The darkly comic opera blends the human drama of men caught in a national crusade against perceived indecency with fantasy based on scenes from the book Arvin wrote about most passionately: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, with its depiction of sin, secrecy, and shame in small-town New England. Happier Valley Comedy presents Sunday Improv Fun Time 135 Russell Street (Rts 9 & 47)/North Star building, Hadley, MA Sunday, June 7 at 7:00 PM An open improv jam and show where you get to play improv games with the pros in a very fun, supportive environment. (Or just watch). Only $5! Happier Valley Comedy presents THE HAPPIER VALLEY COMEDY SHOW Saturday, June 13 at 8:00 PM The Arts Block Cafe, Main Street, Greenfield All-new improv comedy show featuring The Ha-Ha's & Friends! $10 online in advance, $13 at the door PG-13 Tickets available online.  Hampshire Shakespeare Company presents ROMEO & JULIET directed by Brianna Sloane June 17-21, 24-28 at 7:30 PM The Massachusetts Center for Renaissance Studies, 650 E Pleasant St, Amherst, MA 01002 General Admission $18.00 Students & Seniors $15.00 Children (to age 12) $7.00 Group Rate (10 or more) 20% Discount of General Rate All seating is general admission, on a first-come, first-seated basis. We welcome and encourage you to bring a picnic!  Tickets are available at the box office starting approximately 1 hour before each performance. Tickets are available online.  And tickets can also be purchased at:  Amherst Books (413) 256-1547 Broadside Bookshop (413) 586-4235 For additional information, visit hampshireshakespeare.com, or send an email. New Century Theatre presents SEMINAR by Theresa Rebeck  directed by Maggie Miller June 18-27 Theatre 14, Mendenhall Center for the Performing Arts, Smith College Northampton NCT opens its twenty-fifth season with a new comedy, by a Pulitzer Prize nominee, that critics hail as one of Rebeck’s best works with big laughs. Four young and aspiring novelists with high hopes for fame sign up for private writing lessons with Leonard – a best-selling author and international literary figure.  His unorthodox instruction and shockingly honest assessment gives them the schooling of their lives. The New Yorker calls SEMINAR “Slick and satisfying.” We call SEMINAR the perfect opener in our 25th Anniversary season. Tickets are now available online or by calling 413-585-3220. THE FULL DISCLOSURE FESTIVAL June 19 and 20, 6:00 and 8:00 PM, Downtown Greenfield Different from the sister Double Take Fringe Festival, Full Disclosure is a festival of new theater pieces commissioned to share unique experiences with her audiences. Full Disclosure is four different offerings from four different artists: Lindel Hart, Amy Swisher, John Sheldon, and Joe Dulude II. Each show will run twice a night at 6 pm and 8 pm and audiences may choose to see one, or two each night, and all four if they come both nights. Each show runs between 60 and 90 minutes. Tickets also at Artsblock on the nights of the show. A single $20 ticket gets you into everything.  Lindel Hart is creating a piece called, INTERVIEW that will take place at Greenfield Community Television at 393 Main Street. John Sheldon is doing a new piece about his life through music and Jules Verne’s JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH at Artsblock on the corner of Main and Bank Row. Amy Swisher is doing an evening of participatory improvisation limited to sixteen people per show that will have sign ups in advance called STORYLINE at Community Yoga on 16 Federal Street. Joe Dulude II has written his very first play that will receive a production on the second floor of Hope and Olive called IN THE END that grapples with the LGBT experience of finding love and opening your heart. To participate in Amy Swisher's improv STORYLINE sign up with Linda at: lmciner@gmail.com after purchasing your ticket online. And following John Sheldon on Saturday night at Artsblock - ODP's new name launch party! Valley Light Opera and Amherst Ballet present PINEAPPLE POLL and THE ZOO June 26 and 27 at 8:00 PM, June 28 at 2:00 PM Academy of Music Theatre, Northampton At the end of June, lovers of light opera and ballet will have a rare opportunity to see two dazzling shows paired together in one performance. Pineapple Poll is a rollicking ballet (no singing) set to music from the Gilbert and Sullivan operas by the late Sir Charles Mackerras. Choreographed by Amherst Ballet Executive Director Sueann Townsend, Pineapple Poll is not unlike some well-known G&S operas: nautical, silly and full of surprises. It will be danced by the company of Amherst Ballet. Mackerras's arrangement of Sullivan's music is brilliant. Fans of the G&S operas will love spotting the tunes as they rush by (see link below for a list), yet people of all ages will enjoy this energetic and beguiling ballet, regardless of their familiarity with Gilbert and Sullivan. Pineapple Poll will be preceded on the program by The Zoo, a one-act comic opera (lots of singing here) featuring music by Arthur Sullivan and a whimsical libretto by B.C. Stephenson writing as Bolton Rowe. With this program, Valley Light Opera caps off celebrating 40 years of bringing high-quality light opera to Pioneer Valley communities. For an added treat, the two pieces will be conducted by two of VLO's founding fathers, Bill Venman and Michael Greenebaum. More information available on their website. AUDITIONS & OPPORTUNITIES Summer Apprenticeships at New Century Theatre The apprenticeship program at New Century Theatre is a part-time summer program for local high school students. High school students will have the opportunity to learn all about backstage work, from lighting and set painting, to props and costume building, running a show backstage and working front of house.  More information can be found on the NCT website or by emailing info@newcenturytheatre.org Wilbraham United Players - Auditions for THE ODD COUPLE June 14 at 1:00 PM, June 16 and 17 at 7:00 PM Wilbraham United Church - 500 Main Street, Wilbraham, MA Auditioners will be asked to read from the script.  We are staging the "traditional" Odd Couple - calls for 5 men of middle age (late 30's to 60's) and two women (30's to 40's - must be able to do British Accent) Black Cat Theater - Auditions for HELLO, DOLLY! Monday, June 15 and Thursday, June 18, 6:00-8:00 PM South Hadley High School Auditorium Any interested candidate between ages 13-17 years old must be accompanied by a parent/guardian. All applicants should bring with them a short biographical sketch and be prepared to perform a short musical piece. We will have a CD player and a cappella is also an option. All auditionees will learn a simple choreography movement so please dress prepared to move. Hello, Dolly! is scheduled to be produced at South Hadley High School in early November. Rehearsals are on Monday and Thursday evenings starting at 6pm. If unavailable to be seen in person please call 413-563-6023 or email blackcattheater@gmail.com. See the Facebook event here. WORKSHOPS LAST EARLY BIRD EXTENDED TO JUNE 6 - $50 off and one hour of free coaching!  Bring a friend along - another $50 off!  This is a small group experience! * Three days to luxuriate in learning the art and craft of storytelling * Three days of PLAYING with movement, voice, characterization, story arc and meaning through the lens of improv theatre and movement * Three days to join in community with others who share your passion * Three days of immersing yourself in a calming, beautiful setting, complete with hot tubs and a pool! * Twenty PDP's for Massachusetts Teachers!! WHY BOTHER? To teach and inspire To develop communication skills on many levels To be a better boss To enter into the 21st century of business To be a better public speaker To be more easeful with physicality To grow and learn To be a better teacher, therapist, lawyer, nurse, librarian, artist, actor, activist, person! THE INSTITUTE IS AUGUST 7-9, 2015 For more info and Registration: www.ronatales.com/events.html Questions? 413-586-0624 rona@ronatales.com   Copyright *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* Our mailing address is: *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* *|END:IF|* unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences  *|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|*