Pioneer Valley Theatre News November 14, 2019

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Pioneer Valley Theatre Newsletter View this email in your browser November 14 - December 4, 2019 Romeo and Juliet at Northampton High School opens tonight - get your tickets here. Also, My Life as a Cowboy is seeking a man, in the 30-50's age range, who could play a good old fashioned cowboy. If that's you, see the info in the audition section below. The next issue will include events through 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 pioneervalleytheatre@gmail.com Submit Your Theatre Event Tickets available here. YOUR EVENT HERE $5 per week for your poster and ticket link in top billing! Email me to reserve your dates. THIS WEEK IN THEATRE NEWS: from Howlround "But Does It Pay?" by Bridin Clements From the article:  During our busy season, this role may involve fourteen-hour workdays, six days a week. It will be demanding, but it is a fantastic opportunity for hands-on exposure to the industry. Upon completion of your internship, we can offer you a small stipend to cover the cost of a monthly MetroCard. I have been that hiring manager more times than I would like to admit, looking for a host of unpaid (or severely underpaid) interns to serve as the labor force for an arts organization. Have you read an interesting article about theatre recently? Send it to me! pioneervalleytheatre@gmail.com Click to Access: Pioneer Valley Theatre Google Calendar Click to Access: Pioneer Valley Theatre Personnel Spreadsheet PERFORMANCES Northampton High School presents Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Directed by Stephen Eldredge Nov 14-16 7pm Nov 16 2pm Fayette Congville Auditorium, Northampton High School $8 Adults $5 Students, NHS Staff and Seniors romeonhs.brownpapertickets.com These violent delights have violent ends Northampton High School’s Romeo & Juliet gets a new look NHS Theater takes on the eternal questions plaguing teenagers in a modern interpretation of Shakespeare’s classic tale of young love and ancient rivalry: when is a child not a child? How do we step into adulthood? What’s too soon? What’s too late? What’s too dangerous? What’s too... beautiful? Director Stephen Eldredge and a cast and crew of 30 NHS students have spent the past five months re-imagining the world of the play to suit the generation of Juliets, Tybalts, Mercutios and Romeos taking the stage in today’s “Globe-al” theater. While the text of the play is unaltered, the visual world is a hash of old and new: classic stone arches vie for attention with skateboards and swing sets; the graffiti-inspired artwork of Banksy compliments the exposed brick back wall of the NHS auditorium stage. Diana Paradise and Fletcher Soto’s costume designs are neo-grunge inspired, while young duelers fight with any object that comes to hand: shopping carts, plumbing parts and barbed wire necklaces all find their place in this vibrant urban landscape. The actors have made their own decisions about the gender identities and preferences of the characters they play, giving us a new twist on classic romance and immersing us in a world that, in Shakespeare’s words, “hold(s)... the mirror up to nature... show(s) virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure”. Paul Kinsman’s music composition students have composed an original score to accompany the action; there will never be another Romeo & Juliet like this one - see it before it’s too late! PEACE IN THE HOME Written and Directed by MacKenzie Kugel ‘20 November 14-16, 2019, 8 p.m., Holden Theater Tickets are free. Seating is limited. Reservations encouraged: (413) 542-2277. AMHERST, MA – The Amherst College Department of Theater and Dance presents Peace in the Home, a senior honors project in playwriting and directing created by MacKenzie Kugel. The show will run on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, November 14, 15 and 16 at 8:00 p.m. in the Holden Experimental Theater. Set Design by Kathy Couch, Karinne Keithley Syers and MacKenzie Kugel, Costume Design by Sahara Ndiaye AC ‘20, Lighting Design by Kathy Couch, and Sound Design by Karinne Keithley Syers. Peace in the Home is about coming together for love, for family. It immerses its audience into the hearts and minds of seven characters wrestling with what it takes for two families from different cultural backgrounds and faiths to create peace in the home, together. This play is made of familial trials and joys, of aging parents, of what is lost and gained when children grow up. Admission is free and open to the public. Seating is limited. Reservations are encouraged. To reserve tickets, please call (413) 542-2277. IT WASN’T THE PEA AT ALL!!! Black Cat Theater is preparing for their fall production of Once Upon A Mattress with an all adult cast!!! Artistic Director Stephanie Flinker and Music Director Greg Williams are thrilled to be working with this talented cast. If you thought you knew the story of The Princess and The Pea you may be in for a walloping surprise! Did you know, for instance, that Princess Winnifred actually swam the moat to reach Prince Dauntless the Drab? Or that Lady Larken's love for Sir Harry provided a rather compelling reason that she reach the bridal altar post haste? Or that, in fact, it wasn't the pea at all that caused the princess a sleepless night? Carried on a wave of wonderful songs, by turns hilarious and raucous, romantic and melodic, this rollicking spin on the familiar classic of royal courtship and comeuppance provides for some side-splitting shenanigans. Chances are you'll never look at fairy tales quite the same way again. FAMILY FRIENDLY FOR ALL AGES. All performances are at South Hadley High School. The show dates are November 14-15-16 with a 7:00 pm curtain and Sunday, November 17 with a 2:00 curtain. Seating is open and first-come first-served. Doors open 30 minutes before curtain. Ticket prices are General Admission $15.00 and Senior/Student $12.00. Military personnel and First Responders, active and retired, (with ID) will be admitted free to any performance. For reservations please email blackcattheater@gmail.com or call 413-563-6023. K and E Theater Group Presents ASSASSINS 11/14, 11/15, 11/16 at 7:30 PM and 11/17 at 2:00 PM Northampton Center for the Arts, 33 Hawley Street, Northampton Take a shot at history with the Five-Time Tony Award musical presented by K and E Theater Group, ONE WEEKEND ONLY November 14 – 17, 2019 at Northampton Center for the Arts in Northampton. A multiple Tony Award-winning theatrical tour-de-force from John Weidman and Stephen Sondheim, ASSASSINS combines Sondheim's signature blend of intelligently stunning lyrics and beautiful music with a panoramic story of our nation's culture of celebrity and the violent means some will use to obtain it, embodied by America's four successful and five would-be presidential assassins. Bold, original, disturbing and alarmingly funny, ASSASSINS is perhaps the most controversial musical ever written. This production of ASSASSINS features a killer cast of local talent Matthew Bussell, David Cavallin, Joseph Charles, Gene Choquette, Paul DiProto, Joshua Aaron Mason, Shaun O'Keefe, Lisa Parker, Tim Reilly, Autumn Tustin, Christine Voytko, Chris Webber and David Webber. Musical Direction by Bill Martin. Direction by KETG Artistic Director Eddie Zitka. This production includes themes of violence, abusive behavior, suicide, death and there is use of racist language infrequently, and may not be suitable for all audiences. There will be flashing lights, loud bangs including gun shots. It may also include strobe lighting. "Everybody's Got the Right" to buy tickets at www.KETG.org! Tickets. Springfield College presents The Illusion November 14, 15, 16 & 17 THE ILLUSION a comedy by Pierre Corneille freely adapted by Tony Kushner  Presented by Springfield College Theater Director: Martin Shell Fuller Arts Center, 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2:00 p.m. In the dead of night, desperate to find the son he drove away years before, a father creeps into a dark cave for help from a mysterious magician. The sorcerer conjures up strange and unsettling visions of the son’s passionate life, full of betrayals, adventures, and the perils of love. The illusions have the feeling of reality, but is anything truly what it seems?  Suggested donations: General Admissions: $5; Students and seniors: $2  Appleton Auditorium, Fuller Arts Center Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 7:30p.m.; Sunday, 2:00p.m. UMass Amherst presents THE BACCHAE OF EURIPIDES by Wole Soyinka directed by Judyie Al-Bilali Performance Details Nov. 14, 15, 16 at 7:30 Nov. 16 at 2 Curtain Theater Tickets $5 students and seniors, $15 general admission. Call 1-800-999-UMAS or  reserve your tickets through the Fine Arts Center Box Office Content Advisory This production includes: Simulated Violence Euripides’ 2400-year old play, The Bacchae, bursts into the modern day at UMass Theater’s Curtain Theater this November. As envisioned by Director and Professor Judyie Al-Bilali, the Bacchae’s earthy dancing becomes a call for renewal in times of oppression. Dionysus, the god of theater, wine, and fertility, goes head to head with the repressive regime of King Pentheus of Thebes, who refuses to recognize the god. Dionysus incites his followers, the Bacchae, into a state of frenzy with violent consequences for Pentheus and his family. Through their wild dances, the Bacchae embody revolution and make art our call for societal change.  Al-Bilali is using Nobel Prize-winning Nigerian playwright Wole Soyinka’s adaptation, The Bacchae of Euripides: A Communal Rite, which he wrote in response to the civil war in his country in the 1970s. She has set her version in 2020, just a few months into our future, in Gaia, the Greek word for Mother Earth.  Although the play is classified as a tragedy, Al-Bilali has a more complicated, ultimately hope-filled, view of the message it carries today. In Thebes, there is conflict between two opposing forces: Dionsyus’ natural, sensual world and Pentheus’ society of law and order. A world—not unlike our own—has gone out of balance. And it is through a communal rite, as Soyinka suggests, and grave sacrifices that we strive to restore balance to an unjust world. "Culture and art are what drives social change,” says Al-Bilali. Come be a part of the change. The Bacchae runs at the Curtain Theater from Nov. 7 to 16 — get tickets today! *** More about the Department of Theater: umass.edu/theater To purchase tickets, call 1-800-999-UMAS or visit the Fine Arts Center Box Office online. $15 single tickets; $5 single tickets for students/seniors “FOREVER PLAID” TAKES THE STAGE AT MAJESTIC THEATER NOV 14 – DEC 8  The Majestic Theater's 23rd Season continues with “Forever Plaid,” a musical that runs October 24 through December 8, according to Producing Director Danny Eaton. The play, by Stuart Ross, tells the tale of a semi-professional harmony group on their way to their first big gig at the Hilton airport cocktail bar, rehearsing their big finale, when they are slammed broadside by a school bus full of teenage girls on their way to witness the Beatles make their debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. While none of the girls are injured, the four harmony singers are killed instantly, but somehow manage to take the stage for one final gig. “Forever Plaid” is filled with great songs that audience members are sure to know and love, and has been described as “screamingly funny and entirely enchanting.” The cast includes Tomm Knightlee (Smudge), Bryan Austermann (Jinx), Brian Michael Henry (Sparky), and Chris Coffey (Francis). The play is directed by Ben Ashley, and Mitch Chakour is the music director. Set design is by Greg Trochlil, Dawn McKay is costume designer and the lighting design is by Dan Rist. Doug Wallace is sound engineer, and Stephen Petit is production stage manager. The band includes Chakour, Cliff Schofer and Don Rovero. Ticket prices range from $27 to $34 and can be purchased by calling the box office at (413) 747-7797 or visiting while the box office is open (Monday – Friday 10am – 5pm, and Saturday 10am – 1pm). Tickets for the other plays in the Majestic's 23rdSeason can also be purchased. Greenfield Community College present FUDDY MEERS by David Lindsay-Abaire, Directed by Tom Geha Nov 14, 15, 16 at 7:30pm Greenfield Community College, Sloan Theater, One College Drive, Greenfield MA “Dark, sweet and thoroughly engaging comedy… the production is willfully silly and grotesque, yet there’s a cool, satisfying strategy in its piecing together of its jigsaw puzzle of a plot.” — The New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Lindsay-Abaire traces one woman’s attempt to regain her memory while surrounded by a curio-cabinet of alarmingly bizarre characters, including her chipper husband, her so-called-brother, a dimwitted thug with a foul-mouthed hand puppet, and her perpetually stoned son. It’s one harrowing and hilarious turn after another on this rollercoaster ride through the day of an amnesiac trying to decipher her fractured life. Tickets. Wilbraham United Players present 1940's RADIO HOUR November 15, 16, 22, 23 at 7:30pm; November 17 & 24 at 2:30pm Wilbraham United Church Fellowship Hall, 500 Main Street, Wilbraham, MA 01095 Full of 1940s music, dancing and old-time sound effects, the play portrays the final holiday broadcast of the Mutual Manhattan Variety Cavalcade on the New York radio station WOV in December 1942. The harassed producer, the leading singer who is often drunk, the second banana who dreams of singing a ballad, the delivery boy who wants a chance in front of the mic, and the trumpet player who chooses a fighter plane over Glenn Miller. All of this wrapped up in holiday charm and nostalgia. It's a great way to kick off the holidays! Tickets are now on sale through our website Book by Walton Jones Music by various composers Music Direction by BENJAMIN MANISCALCHI Directed by DEB TRIMBLE Facebook Event Page Ja'Duke presents Annie November 15 at 6:00 PM, Nov. 16 6:00pm, Nov. 17 2:00pm, Nov. 22 6:00pm, Nov. 23 6:00pm, Nov. 24 2:00pm Ja'Duke Theater in Turners Falls 110 Industrial Blvd.  Turners Falls, MA Tickets. The Happier FAMILY Comedy Show November 16th at 3:00 PM Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, 125 W Bay Rd, Amherst, MA Monthly family-friendly improv comedy show, great for 5-13 year olds and their adults. It's funny for the whole family! Saturday, October 19th at 3pm at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (125 W Bay Rd., Amherst). Tickets at the door: $10/Adults, $5/Kids, Free/4 yrs and under (Reduced admission for museum members). For more info: www.happiervalley.com. HVC Presents: Not In Charge!  November 16th at 7:00 PM Happier Valley Comedy Theater (1 Mill Valley Rd, Hadley, MA)  Join the talented group Not In Charge for a polished, fast-paced improv show inspired by true stories from the cast and audience! Saturday, October 19th at 7pm at the Happier Valley Comedy Theater (1 Mill Valley Rd, Hadley, on rte.9). Tickets: $13 online and at the door. For more info: www.happiervalley.com. “FALL WITH ME” THE FINAL OFFERING IN SILVERTHORNE THEATER’S 2019 NEW PLAY READING SERIES   Local author Jared Eberlein’s powerful play, Fall with Me, rounds off Silverthorne’s 2019 new play reading series, Theater Thursdays . It will be read at 7 pm on Thursday, November 21 in the Franklin County Coop meeting space at 170 Main Street, Greenfield. The reading is free and open to the public.   Fall with Me tells the story of JJ Johnston, the once charismatic captain of the 369th Infantry Regiment (a.k.a. the Harlem Hellfighters, known for their distinct bravery) during World War I. Unlike many of his fellow black veterans during the early 1930s of the Great Depression, Johnson has steady employment as a steelworker. When less fortunate members of his army unit ask him to join them and thousands of veterans, known as the Bonus Army, to march on Washington DC to demand compensation for service promised to them in 1924 Johnson's choice between his job and family and the cause of justice for his fellow vets has tragic consequences.   Under the direction of Trenda Loftin, the cast of readers will include Bessie Jones, Shae Shae Quest, Tobias K. Davis and Tony Jones.  Loftin directed STC’s fall play reading, Campus Unrest, and recently staged What Our Voices Carry with the Voice from Inside women’s poetry project for formerly incarcerated and recovering women. She is a governing member of the Real Live Theater Company and is an art-integrated equity consultant.   Eberlein is a prolific playwright who currently heads the Theater Program at Northfield Mount Hermon School. He worked for nearly a decade as an actor in New York and regional theater before turning his focus to the page. He is the bookwriter and lyricist of The Facts of Life – The Musical (Pace University) and The Man in the Iron Mask (EAT, 13th Street Rep & The Jerry Orbach Theater, NYC) both collaborations with composer, David Mallamud. Jared’s play, Fall with Me, is the 2019 WINNER of Dayton Playhouse’s FutureFest. It was also chosen for the 2019 Garry Marshall Theater New Works Festival (Burbank, CA) and was a finalist for Capital Repertory Theatre’s Next Act! Summit 8 (Albany, NY).   An integral part of Silverthorne Theater Company’s mission is to promote the development of new work, especially by Western Massachusetts and New England playwrights. In 2018, we staged the world premieres of three new works, two of which were from such writers.   In 2019 we offer Theater Thursdays, a series of free rehearsed readings of new or new to us plays, followed by audience discussions. The purpose of the readings is to give a platform for new work to be heard, and when possible, to be able to give playwrights direct audience feedback.  It also gives Silverthorne a look at plays that we might consider fully producing in future seasons. These will be held in different locations in the region. Complete information for each reading may be found at https://silverthornetheater.org. St. Michael's Players of East Longmeadow present Oliver!  Thursday November 21 -Friday Nov 22 - Saturday November 23 at 7PM and Sunday Nov 24 at 2PM. 53 Somers Road, East Longmeadow Consider yourself at home with St. Michael'sPlayers! Join us for an amazing production of the family favorite musical, Oliver! Tickets. Academy of Music presents Pike St., Nilaja Sun’s highly praised sixth play, vividly brings to life a family on New York’s Lower East Side. As a storm approaches, Evelyn is trying to assure the safety of her teenage daughter, Candi, whose unidentified illness has immobilized her. Caring for Candi has forced Evelyn to quit her job as a subway conductor; still, she helps support both her philandering father and her brother, who has returned to New York from Afghanistan and suffers from PTSD. Just behind the grace and humor with which Evelyn manages to hold together her own life and those of the people who depend on her is the constant threat of both natural and man-made disasters. Nilaja Sun is an actress, playwright, and teaching artist, who has had many roles in television and film. She is best known for No Child . . . (2006), her solo performance piece based on her experience as an arts educator in New York City schools, which won Obie and Lucille Lortel awards. Age recommendation: 16+ “A resonant, highly timely melting-pot tale” – Washington Post “Full of vivid life” – The New York Times   Show Date/ Time: Saturday, November 23, 2019 at 7:30 pm Doors at 7:00 pm Ticket Prices: $20 (plus additional fees) Where/ How Tickets Can be Purchased: Academy of Music Box Office Open Tuesday- Friday 3:00PM-6:00PM Call: 413-584-9032 ext.105 (Service fees will apply with purchase) Online Tickets  The Happier Valley Championship!  November 23th at 7:00 PM Happier Valley Comedy Theater (1 Mill Valley Rd, Hadley, MA)  In this competitive comedy show, two teams of improvisers face off through scenes and games to see who can win the ultimate prize: an old trophy we found in someone's attic. Saturday, October 26th at 7pm at the Happier Valley Comedy Theater (1 Mill Valley Rd, Hadley, on rte.9). Tickets: $13 online and at the door. For more info: www.happiervalley.com. LAST CHANCES TO SEE 2019 CLIMATE CHANGE THEATRE PROJECT GREENFIELD  Play reading series wraps up with programs at Dance Spree and Racial Justice Rising  November 30, 2019 – 7:00 pm - Climate Change Theatre Action: Lighting the Way: 5 short plays about climate change read during Dance Spree Community Thanksgiving Potluck. Episcopal Church of St James & Andrew, 71 Federal St, downtown Greenfield. Suggested donation: $5-$10 plus potluck contribution.  December 7, 2019 – 10:15 a.m. – Climate Change Theatre Action: Lighting the Way: 10 short plays about climate change plus songs about the earth by Musica Franklin's youth chorus, followed by a talk-back session. First Congregational Church, 43 Silver Street, Greenfield. Childcare available with reservation: Contact email@racialjusticerising.org with number and ages of children. FREE. AUDITIONS & OPPORTUNITIES Starlight's Youth Theatre, Inc. presents Spring 2020 Musicals Registration and Audition DISNEY’S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST JR.   students Grades 2-6  Sign up online. Come join the fun November 16, 2019 for a Registration Workshop 9:00-9:40am at Mapleridge Community Center, 659 Amherst Road, Sunderland.  Singing,  dancing and pick up materials. Regular class begins January 11, 2020. Show in early April 2020. Limited Space! Sign up today. FIDDLER ON THE ROOF JR.  Students Grades 7-12      Registration open online. Auditions will be held November 16, 2019  9:45-11:00 am at Mapleridge Community Center, 659 Amherst Road, Sunderland. Please prepare 34 bars of music.  Please select a song from the show or another musical that will show not only your vocal ability but your personality.  You do not have to audition to sign up for the class as there are many characters that do not have solos. Class/Rehearsal begins January 18, 2020. Show date to be announced May 2020. More info. Exit Seven Players Ltd. presents Auditions: The Who's Tommy November 17 Exit 7 Theater, 37 Chestnut Street, Ludlow, MA 01056 Based on the iconic 1969 rock concept album, The Who's Tommy is an exhilarating story of hope, healing and the human spirit. The story of the pinball-playing, “deaf, dumb and blind boy” who triumphs over his adversities has inspired, amazed and puzzled audiences for more than 50 years. This five-time Tony Award-winning musical was translated to the stage by theatrical wizard, Des McAnuff, and is a high-energy, one-of-a-kind theatrical event. Directed by Michael O. Budnick Music and Sound Supervised by George Garber Jr. Choreography by Janeen Connor Instrumental Accompaniment by Cadre Prime Produced by Adam Malmborg and Drew Gilbert Full audition information, including character descriptions, vocal selections and other information may be found here. Audition Dates November 17 3-5pm: All children followed by principal callbacks by appointment 5-7pm (if necessary.) Children will be called in the order of arrival and may leave after their audition. Please try to arrive at least 10 minutes before start time. Not all auditionees will need to stay for the entire session. To make auditions run more smoothly please fill out the audition form (attached) in advance and bring it with you. Also, please bring a current headshot, if you have one. Rehearsal and Production Dates Rehearsals are scheduled to start in late January on Monday and Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoon or evenings (depending on other show schedules) in Ludlow, MA. Not all actors may be required for all rehearsals. There may be some meetings with principals prior to rehearsal start.   Tech week starts April 19 and actors must be available all week in the evenings. Performances are April 24-26, May 1-3, 8-10 at 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays and at 2pm on Sundays. More Information. Six Voices Coming to Light is a new and innovative holiday-season play that will be performed at the Northampton Center for the Arts on Saturday, December 14.  Its influences are diverse and rich: Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author, Masters’ Spoon River, a poetry slam, and Advent.  The six equal roles, three female and three male, perform spoken-word songs that offer a fresh, seriocomic, and, above all, meaningful take on the holiday season.  With interspersed live music, klezmer and ballads, by Jim Armenti.  For one or two final roles to be cast this week, please contact pierrotproductions243@gmail.com. The Amherst College Musical's Auditions for Green Day's American Idiot Amherst College in O'Connor Commons (in the basement of Charles Pratt dorm, 3 Mead Dr., Amherst, MA 01002) *OPEN TO ALL FIVE COLLEGE STUDENTS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS* Auditions for the Amherst College Musical will be by appointment on Friday, November 15, from 6-9:30pm and Saturday, November 16, from 3:30-7:30pm. Auditions will take place at Amherst College in O'Connor Commons (in the basement of Charles Pratt dorm, 3 Mead Dr., Amherst, MA 01002). Please prepare a 1-3 minute contemporary monologue and 32 bars (or a verse and chorus) of a pop or pop-rock song. This can be a musical theatre or contemporary song, but it should be in a similar style to American Idiot. Unlike in past years, we will not be using an accompanist in auditions. You should send us an mp3, Spotify or Youtube link, or other easily accessible file of your backing track, or bring a musical instrument to accompany yourself (we are specifically looking for people to play instruments onstage while singing, so this is encouraged!). We will have a piano for your use in O'Connor Commons if you wish to accompany yourself on piano.  To schedule an audition, you MUST sign up for a time slot using this sheet: A list of character descriptions and vocal ranges is linked below, along with our audition form. We will have hard copies of the form for you to fill out at auditions but if you want to be extra prepared, please feel free take a look and/or fill it out beforehand! Callbacks and dance call will be by invitation only on Sunday, November 17 from 3:30-7:30pm.  If you have any questions about auditions, the musical, finding our location, or anything else at all - please don't hesitate to message any of the event hosts. We can't wait to see all of you in November!! Directed by Megan Healey Music directed by AJ Krawczyk Choreography by Sue Dresser Stage management by Abigail Douglas With assistance from Julian Brown Produced by Marina Zambrano Link to audition form Link to character descriptions If you are not interested in auditioning but would still like to participate in the musical, please fill out this form Facebook Event Link Be a part of a collaborative community theatre project! Looking for actors to play the lead character of a cowboy and sheriff from Denton, Texas in "My Life As a Cowboy" About the project: This play was conceived by Mike O'Neil, a participant at Riverside Industries in Easthampton, a non-profit organization that supports people with disabilities through job training, arts, and education programs. Mike dreams of being a cowboy and with the help of a Riverside staff member Lyndzi Wildheart, he wrote “My Life As A Cowboy,” a fictional memoir of his imaginary life as Sherriff Buford Ewing, a trick shooter and leader of a down-and-out western town called Denton. Along with a team of other artists, a playwright, set builders, actors (professional and amateur), and Riverside participants we want to help Mike’s dream become a reality.  We are building a life-sized set of Mike’s town (including the city hall and the Sherriff’s di facto office, the Sweetwater Saloon) and stage a play inspired by his story for a live audience. The team will perform the short play in a free, outdoor performance in Easthampton in late Spring 2020.  Auditions for Buford will take place in November & December, exact times TBD. All levels of actors or any gender are encouraged to audition. Interested? Please contact Amanda Herman at aaherman@gmail.com The Play Reading Co-op is currently seeking submissions of full length plays from New England writers for a monthly, ongoing reading series. The mission of the co-op is simply for local theater makers to have a chance to get in a room together to work on high quality material for our own learning, enjoyment, and camaraderie. It's also a great way to learn about new works and writers. The reading is intended to be informal and without an audience other than other co-op “members” and potentially a friend or colleague(s) of the writer. If the writer is looking for a discussion or feedback afterward, we are happy to make space for that as well. We are ideally looking for plays with at least 2 female identifying roles.  http://www.rachelfhirsch.com/play-reading-co-op Springfield JCC Auditions December 1 at 2:00 PM Springfield JCC: 1160 Dickinson St Tony Award-winning writing team, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's, first produced show, Lucky Stiff, premiered Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons. Based on the novel, The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo by Michael Butterworth, Lucky Stiff is an offbeat, hilarious murder mystery farce, complete with mistaken identities, six million bucks in diamonds and a corpse in a wheelchair. The story revolves around an unassuming English shoe salesman who is forced to take the embalmed body of his recently murdered uncle on a vacation to Monte Carlo. Should he succeed in passing his uncle off as alive, Harry Witherspoon stands to inherit $6,000,000. If not, the money goes to the Universal Dog Home of Brooklyn... or else his uncle's gun-toting ex! Facebook event. Ghost Light Theater's Auditions for FUN HOME Announcing Ghost Light Theater’s Auditions for Fun Home.  Book & Lyrics by Lisa Kron. Music by Jeanine Tesori. Based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel. Directed by Megan Healey Music Direction by Jacob Nichols Produced by Kimberly Overtree Karlin Choreography by Susan Dresser Auditions by appointment – sign up for an audition slot here Monday December 2nd 6:30-9:00 at the Bangs Community Center (70 Boltwood Walk Amherst) Wednesday December 4th 6:30-9:30 in Stage 2 at Gateway City Arts (92 Race Street Holyoke) Callbacks (if necessary) by invitation only: Friday December 6th at 6:30 PM Please fill out this audition form before your audition if possible. PERFORMANCES: Performances are May 1, 2, 3, 7, 8 & 9 at Gateway City Arts in Holyoke, MA. Any questions should be directed to Megan Healey at healeymegan11@gmail.com. SHOW SYNOPSIS: The Tony Award-winning musical Fun Home traces the coming-of-age of lesbian author Alison Bechdel, from her youth, to her years at Oberlin College, and finally to the present, where Alison, now grown, is struggling to write her own graphic autobiography. As Alison reflects on her past, she struggles to make sense of it, particularly her relationship with her father, Bruce, a closeted gay man and the owner of the family business -- the Bechdel Funeral Home (“fun” home, as it’s known to young Alison and her brothers, John and Christian). As she watches her father’s self-loathing consume him, Alison recognizes her own experience of discovering, and ultimately embracing, her identity. As Fun Home progresses, Alison is drawn deeper and deeper into her memories, finally entering into them, desperate (but unable) to reverse her father’s self-destruction. An unforgettable and groundbreaking musical, Fun Home explores the haunting pull of memory and the power it has to alternately destroy or shape, our identity. **PLEASE NOTE** The Characters of Alison Bechdel, Small Alison, Christian Bechdel & John Bechdel have been cast. All other roles available. #GLTFunHome Facebook Event Link WORKSHOPS & CLASSES Playwright Eliza Bent to visit UMass Theater for workshop, play reading Workshop: The Art of Self-Production Nov. 15, 2:30-4:30 p.m. Fine Arts Center Room 204, UMass Free, open to all artists and theater-makers Registration is encouraged but not required, click here to register. Community Play Read Participate in reading Eliza Bent's Indeed, Friend!  Nov. 15 at 4:30 p.m. Fine Arts Center Room 204, UMass Free, open to all artists and theater-makers, no registration Artists and theater-makers alike are invited to join the University of Massachusetts Amherst Department of Theater in the Fine Arts Center on Nov. 15 for a workshop, The Art of Self-Production, with New York-based playwright Eliza Bent, who will then take part in Community Play Read as we discover her fresh new comedy, Indeed, friend! Bent is the former Senior Editor of American Theatre Magazine, a founding member of the Obie Award-winning, Brooklyn-based theater company Half Straddle, and—amongst many other works—co-wrote/co-starred in the musical Blue Wizard/Black Wizard with Tony-nominated composer Dave Malloy (Natasha, Pierre, and The Great Comet of 1812). Bent will begin with her workshop about self-producing, fundraising and public relations. It is free to all attendees and is scheduled to take place Nov. 15 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Fine Arts Center Room 204 on the UMass campus. Advance registration is encouraged but not required. Fill out the Google Form to secure your spot: https://forms.gle/uMcQytts6J8tZLC5A After the workshop, Bent joins our weekly Community Play Read at 4:30 p.m. Community Play Read is an opportunity for the Pioneer Valley to discover a play every week first-hand. This week, Bent will participate in the group-reading of Indeed, friend!, her new comedy, which is fresh from a workshop with Playwrights Horizons. Community Play Read is free, with no registration required. More about Eliza Bent: ELIZA BENT is a 2017/18 New Georges Audrey Resident, 2016 SPACE on Ryder Farm Working Farm resident writer, a MacDowell Colony fellow, a 2016 Target Margin Institute Fellow, a Bay Area Playwrights Finalist, a New Georges affiliated artist, and an alum of Project Y Playwright’s Group and TerraNova’s Groundbreakers group. Bent is a former senior editor at American Theatre magazine, where she still writes, a frequent performer with the Obie-award winning company Half Straddle, and an adjunct lecturer at Brooklyn College where she received an MFA in playwriting.  *** More about the Department of Theater: umass.edu/theater  Submit your workshop or class or audition or performance or job or any other theatre opportunity here! Pioneer Valley Theatre Companies Is your theatre company missing? Email me! 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