Pioneer Valley Theatre News June 25, 2015

Pioneer Valley Theatre Newsletter View this email in your browser June 25 – July 15, 2015 Looking for something to do with a bored teenager this summer? Send them to help with New Century Theatre's production of Junie B. Jones. Student apprentices help with everything backstage - from running light and sound boards to helping actors with their costumes and props. It's a lot of fun!  If there is something missing from this newsletter, submit it! The next issue will include events through July 22. 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 PERFORMANCES Hampshire Shakespeare Company presents ROMEO & JULIET directed by Brianna Sloane June 25-28 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 25 at 7:30PM June 26 and 27 at 8:00 PM 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. Silverthorne Theatre Company presents THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH directed by Toby Bercovici June 25, 26, 27, 28 and July 2, 3, 4, 5 Thursdays at 7:30, Friday & Saturday at 8:00, Sunday at 2:00  Sloan Theater at Greenfield Community College Thornton Wilder’s 1940s classic (and still relevant) comedy! A not-so-average New Jersey family survives humanity’s greatest disasters from the Ice Age to contemporary conflicts “by the skin of their teeth!” The winner of the 1943 Pulitzer Prize, and a huge hit, the Herald Tribune called the show “A tremendously exciting and profound stage fable.” Time magazine said it was “A sort of Hellzapoppin’ with brains.” Our Brechtian take on this perennial favorite is sure to involve you – literally!     This program is supported in part by grants from the Bernardston and Northfield Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.   Tickets and more information available online. 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. New Century Theatre presents THE LITTLE FOXES by Lillian Hellman Directed by Ed Golden July 2-11 Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday at 7:30 PM, Friday, Saturday at 8:00 PM, Sunday at 2:00 and 7:30 PM Theatre 14, Mendenhall Center for the Performing Arts, Northampton, MA The work of one of America’s finest and most provocative dramatists spanned thirty years. Lillian Hellman’s life was filled with sex and scandal.  She lived her life on her own terms – apologetic to no one. THE LITTLE FOXES, perhaps her most produced work, is also steeped in sex and scandal. Set in the deep south at the dawn of the 20th century, the ruthless, moneyed Hubbard family live by the “all is fair in love and war” credo. Penned in 1939, the events in Hellman’s work unfold with the stark inevitability of a Greek tragedy. Tickets are now available online or by calling 413-585-3220. New Century Theatre presents JUNIE B. JONES, THE MUSICAL Book and lyrics by Marcy Heisler, Music by Zina Goldrich, Adapted by Barbara Park from the Junie B. Jones Series of Books Directed by Cate Damon with Musical Direction by Mitch Chakour July 8-11 and 22-25 at 10:30 AM Theatre 14, Mendenhall Center for the Performing Arts Northampton, MA Hooray! Hooray! NCTKids is bringing everybody's favorite first grader to the stage in this lively musical adaptation of Barbara Park's beloved Junie B. Jones book series. Junie B. (the B. stands for Beatrice only she does not like Beatrice, just B.) sings and dances her way through First Grade with the help of her teacher Mr. Scary, the Cafeteria Lady and friends like Sheldon and Herb and even that tattle- tale, May. Grab your top-secret personal beeswax journal and join us for all the fun of JUNIE B. JONES: THE MUSICAL. Tickets available online or by calling 413-585-3220.   Hampshire Shakespeare Company presents THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR July 8-12, July 15-19 at 7:30 PM directed by Josh Platt Massachusetts Center for Renaissance Studies, 650 East Pleasant St., Amherst MA 01002 Come join us for Shakespeare Under the Stars. We encourage everyone to bring a picnic and enjoy the outdoors! Calendar available online. Visit Hampshire Shakespeare online at:  hampshireshakespeare.com facebook.com/hampshireshakespearecompany or send an email!  Ko Festival of Performance presents CROSSING THE BLVD July 10 and 11 at 8:00 PM, July 12 at 4:00 PM Holden Theater, Amherst College Judith Sloan/EarSay's multimedia vision of the future based on 3 years of oral histories with immigrants in Queens, NY. A celebration of resilient people – in search of home.  Part of Ko Festival of Performance 24th summer season theme: NEW|HOME|LAND: Strangers, Newcomers and Neighbors in a New America. Tickets available online. KoFest is Western Massachusetts' popular summer experience: 5 weekends of theatrical performances, 2 one-night events, and 3 6-day intensive theater workshops.  On the Amherst College campus. AUDITIONS & OPPORTUNITIES Real Live Theatre OPEN AUDITION Sunday, June 28, 12:30-3:00 PM North Star building, 45 Amherst Road, Sunderland, MA 01375 Real Live Theatre is looking for an actor to fill the role of "Krissy" in our 2015 Northeast tour of the original play The Lion & The Clown: A Rumi Lovesong for Beauty & The Beast which premiered in the Valley last summer. The ideal candidate will be able to juggle, or at least be able to demonstrate the ability to learn to juggle in a very short period of time. Although it makes the most sense for Krissy to be in her twenties or thirties, we are also open to working with the right older actor. Actors of all races are welcome. Krissy must be able to rehearse in July for most Sundays 12-5pm and most Wednesdays 4-8pm. She also needs to be able to rehearse for most or all of Monday, July 27 - Friday, July 31, 10am-6pm. Rehearsals are primarily in Sunderland, near I-91. Tour performance dates are: 8/1, 8/22-23, 10/3-4, 10/17-18, 12/5-6. Touring locations are in Massachusetts, Vermont, and possibly Connecticut and Maine. All within 3 hours of the Pioneer Valley. Travel expenses are covered by RLT, actors will equally share the profits from ticket sales. Krissy is a supporting role in a tight ensemble of seven actors. She is a juggler in a small, struggling, American, family-style circus. She eventually leaves the circus to become a physicist. The Lion & The Clown is a total re-imagining of the Beauty & the Beast mythology, set in a contemporary circus. It is a world in our reality, yet filled with magic, mundane and miraculous. It is a story about love, redemption, and the power of our choices. To schedule your audition please email reallivetheatre@gmail.comwith recent photo and resume and why you want to audition for this role and work with our company. More information online. 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 TheatreTruck hosts a  Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Community Meet and Greet! Tuesday, July 7 at 7:00 PM High Horse, 24 N Pleasant St, Amherst, MA 01002 TheatreTruck hosts a Meet-and-Greet for The Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Community! We're new on the scene and would love to get together for a casual night out of chatting and networking. So come grab a drink and say hello. We hope to see you there! More information online. WORKSHOPS & LECTURES TheatreTruck presents Fashioning Emily: Translating Historical Fashion for the Modern Eye Saturday, June 27 at 5:00 PM Amherst College Alumni House, 75 Churchill Street, Amherst, MA TheatreTruck Co-Founder and Costume Designer Elizabeth Pangburn offers a talk exploring the fashion and clothing of Emily Dickinson's Amherst through her lens as a designer, answering the question: "How to dress Emily?" Get an inside look into the research and creative work of The Emily Dickinson Project, a site-specific theatrical production taking place at the Homestead this July.  After the talk the audience will have the unique opportunity to help choose a costume design for The Poet, one of the variations of Emily featured in The Emily Dickinson Project. Which version of The Poet will you choose? TheatreTruck will offer three costume renderings of this character and you can vote for your favorite. The rendering with the most votes will be the garment produced for this summer’s production! Proceeds from the event will directly benefit this summer's production of The Emily Dickinson Project, a co-production of TheatreTruck and The Emily Dickinson Museum. Suggested Donation: $10 General/ $5 for EDM Members and students More information available online. Happier Valley Comedy presents The Zen of Improv Comedy 1 Six Thursdays, 7-9pm July 9 - Aug. 13th Sunderland, MA SUMMER SPECIAL $83 (One free class!) Would you like to play and laugh for two hours every week? Do you want to get better at thinking on your feet? Could you use some practice in mindfulness and staying in the moment? Would you like to become more confident speaking in public? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, “The Zen of Improv Comedy” would be an ever so lovely way to spend a couple hours every week. Pam Victor, founding member of The Ha-Ha’s, offers this series of classes for adults who want to try something fun, rewarding, and, quite possibly, mind-expanding. You’ll learn a very gentle, very easy approach to improv comedy in an incredibly positive and accepting atmosphere that will get you up on your feet and out of your head. Through exercises, improv games, and scene work, you’ll practice the vital improvisation skills of paying attention acutely, accepting other people’s ideas, redefining and disempowering failure, staying in the moment, reacting honestly to the reality of the here and now, and much more. NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY. Being funny is not required! Want to stretch your wings for a couple hours every week and laugh yourself silly in in the process? Now is your chance. To register, email pamelaCvictor@yahoo.com About your teacher: Pam Victor is the founding member of The Ha-Ha’s, and she produces The Happier Valley Comedy Show. Pam regularly performs in Massachusetts at The Happier Valley Comedy Show (Arts Block Cafe/Greenfield), ImprovBoston (Cambridge), and with the Majesters (Majestic Theatre/W. Springfield). Pam has received training from iO Theater (Chicago), Annoyance Theatre (Chicago), ImprovBoston, and from Second City teachers. Pam also writes a lot about improvisation. She writes the “Zen of Improv” series, a sassy (and sometimes naughty) look at the alignment of improvisation and Zen thinking. Along with TJ Jagodowski and David Pasquesi, Pam is the co-author of "Improvisation at the Speed of Life: The TJ & Dave Book." These three summer KoFest workshops are filling up fast - register in advance if you're planning to sign up! KoFest Workshop:  July 20-25  FIRST PERSON: Crafting Your Story for Performance with Gerard Stropnicky Story can be employed to bring laughter, or tears, or understanding, or lasting social change. Come with a story. Leave with a performance.  6-day KoFest workshop intensives for performers, writers, storytellers, directors, educators, and all those wanting to kickstart their creativity. Past participants have ranged in age from 18 to 80. On the campus of Amherst College​ in Amherst, Massachusetts​. More information available online. KoFest Workshop:  July 27-August 1  ZEN & THE ART OF PERFORMANCE  with Jubilith Moore Zen is the way to a goal, not the goal itself.  The same can be said for performance. For the inter-culturally curious . . . 6-day KoFest workshop intensives for performers, writers, storytellers, directors, educators, and all those wanting to kickstart their creativity. Past participants have ranged in age from 18 to 80. On the campus of Amherst College​ in Amherst, Massachusetts​. More information available online. KoFest Workshop:  August 3-8 IMAGE–OBJECT–PUPPET: Creating a Poetic Theatre with John Farrell Use objects. learn principals of puppet animation, and create bunraku style puppets and an original, poetic, devised work. 6-day KoFest workshop intensives for performers, writers, storytellers, directors, educators, and all those wanting to kickstart their creativity. Past participants have ranged in age from 18 to 80. On the campus of Amherst College​ in Amherst, Massachusetts​. More information available online. 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|*