Thursday, November 18, 2021

Pioneer Valley Theatre News November 18, 2021

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Pioneer Valley Theatre Newsletter
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November 18 - December 8, 2021


Happy Thursday, everyone. 

Check out Chris Rohmann's review of Cabaret here. Then go see it! (or Dance Nation, or Play On!, or Testimonies, or Elf the Musical, or Don't Dress for Dinner) It's another busy weekend at the theatre - don't forget your vaccination cards!

The next issue will include events from November 25 - December 15. 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
YOUR EVENT HERE
$5 per week for your poster and ticket link in top billing!
Email me to reserve your dates.
Click to Access: Pioneer Valley Theatre Google Calendar
Click to Access: Pioneer Valley Theatre Personnel Spreadsheet
THIS WEEK IN THEATRE NEWS:
from American Theatre

To Be a Long Hauler; Or, If We Can Build It We Can Thrive
by Tania Richard

From the article: 

One puff Advair, one Singulair, two hits of Nasacort, one Zyrtec, two puffs of Albuterol, one Benzonate, three Ibuprofen.

In August 2021, I took these medications every day to perform School Girls; Or The African Mean Girls Play. We were the first Chicago production to do in-person performances with a live audience since March 2020. The show was shut down three days before opening due to the pandemic. There was promise that we'd pick up as soon as the virus “cleared.” Two to three weeks turned into sixteen months.

Have you read an interesting article about theatre recently? Send it to me! pioneervalleytheatre@gmail.com
LIVE PERFORMANCES
K and E Theater Group Presents CABARET
 
Leave your troubles outside – life is beautiful at Cabaret!  John Kander, Fred Ebb and Joe Masteroff’s Tony®-winning musical is about following your heart while the world loses its way. K and E Theater Group will continue its supersized season with the timeless “masterpiece of musical theatre” (Chicago TribuneCabaret onstage, live at Northampton Center for the Arts, 33 Hawley Street, in Northampton, November 18-20, 2021.
 
In a Berlin nightclub, as the 1920's draw to a close, a garish Master of Ceremonies welcomes the audience and assures them they will forget all their troubles at the cabaret. With the Emcee's bawdy songs as wry commentary, Cabaret explores the dark, heady, and tumultuous life of Berlin's natives and expatriates as Germany slowly yields to the emerging Third Reich. Cliff, a young American writer newly arrived in Berlin, is immediately taken with English singer Sally Bowles. Meanwhile, Fräulein Schneider, proprietor of Cliff and Sally's boarding house, tentatively begins a romance with Herr Schultz, a mild-mannered fruit seller who happens to be Jewish. Cabaret has some of the most memorable songs in theatre history, including “Cabaret,” “Willkommen” and “Maybe This Time.”
 
K and E Theater Group's production of Cabaret features Eddie Zitka as the Emcee and Myka Plunkett as Sally Bowles, Christopher Marcus as Clifford Bradshaw, Becca Greene-Van Horn as Fraulein Schneider, Gene Choquette as Herr Schultz, Jay Torres as Ernst Ludwig, and Carina Savoie as Fraulein Kost. Cabaret also features Brenden BartlettDavid CavallinKelsey CollisNatasha EllisDominique Libera, Hannah McCluskeyAndre RuizBeth SieglingDavid Webber, and Jami Wilson
 
Bill Martin is the Musical Director leading a band of eight musicians. Chris Webber serves as Stage Manager. K and E Theater Group Artistic Director Eddie Zitka is the Director and Choreographer.
 
Tickets are general admission for $27.00. There is no reserved seating. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit KETG.org/cabaret.
 
* This production includes strong sexual content, smoking, and depictions of violence. Strobe lighting will be used. Parental guidance is suggested.

** Proof of vaccination and face coverings that cover the nose and mouth will be required for entrance and while seated at the Northampton Center for the Arts.
UMass Theater's presents Dance Nation, a play about dance, ambition, and growing up

Dance Nation 
by Clare Barron
Directed by Dawn Monique Williams '11G
Nov. 18, 19 at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 20 at 2 p.m. 

The Rand Theater, Bromery Center for the Arts (formerly the Fine Arts Center), UMass

Tickets sold through the Fine Arts Center Box Office and  at the door.
Prices: $15 general admission, $5 youth, students, and seniors
 
 
Being thirteen feels like being between two worlds: playing with toys on the one hand, and burning up in the heat of a first crush on the other. In Clare Barron's Dance Nation, competitive dance becomes a backdrop and a metaphor for the internal complexities and contradictions of young teenager-hood.
"What I love about the play is its honesty; it exposes the complexity and vulnerability of girlhood. The humor is an added bonus," said Dawn Monique Williams '11G, who is Associate Artistic Director of Aurora Theatre Company in Berkeley, CA, and whom we are thrilled to welcome back to campus to direct this production. 
The story centers on a dance troupe, their coach, and their parents, as they gear up to present their newest number. The dancers, an ensemble of different races, ethnicities, body types, and gender presentations, navigate conflict, negotiate the demands of their own ambitions and confront the challenges of growing up.
"It's shockingly and darkly funny, touching and vulnerable, and so lovely," said production dramaturg Bianca Dillard, a student in our MFA program. 
Meanwhile, the casting adds a layer of meaning, as none of the actors playing the dancers are actually 13, but are all in fact well past pubescence.
"The actors' older bodies are haunting these thirteen-year-old characters," Dillard said — and vice versa — making this a sort of ghost play, in Barron's terms.
The result is a play that, like its subjects, is by turns compelling, hilarious, ferocious, and touching — and a must-see event.
This is a dance party you won't want to miss.

Get your tickets today!
Content Advisory: Gore, coarse language, depictions of self-harm, simulated masturbation and descriptions of masturbation, sex and sexual violence
Black Cat Theater presents Play On!
South Hadley High School, 153 Newton St, South Hadley, MA 01075
November 18, 2021 @ 7pm; November 19, 2021 @ 7pm; November 20, 2021 @ 7pm; November 21, 2021 @2pm.

Produced by Black Cat Theater, Inc., Play On! by Rick Abbot is the hilarious story of one plucky community theatre group trying desperately to put on a play in spite of maddening interference from a haughty author who keeps revising the script.
Act I is a rehearsal of the dreadful show, Act II is the near disastrous dress rehearsal, and the final act is the actual performance, in which anything that can go wrong, does. Play On! is a hilarious love letter to community theatre.

https://fb.me/e/47Gbelvdg

Note for Attendees: Masks will be required while inside South Hadley High School and throughout the performance. If you have any questions regarding Black Cat Theater's Covid-19 safety precautions, please contact blackcattheater@gmail.com or 413-351-9411.
Testimonies
by Ellen W. Kaplan
directed by Hilary Dennis
November 18, 2021
7:30 p.m.

The LAVA Center
324, Main Street, Greenfield, MA

Testimonies is based on interviews with Ezidi (Yezidi) women in camps in Northern Iraq, in 2019. The Ezidi are a Kurdish-speaking religious minority who trace their roots back to ancient Mesopotamia. They practice a pre-Islamic religion, that draws inspiration from Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Traditionally, Ezidi are farmers and shepherds, but in the mid-seventies Saddam Husain had Ezidi villages destroyed and their inhabitants transferred to collective settlements. In August 2014, the Ezidi (Yezidi) people were subjected to genocide: thousands were massacred, kidnapped, enslaved, raped and tortured by the Islamic State (ISIS).

 https://silverthornetheater.org/event/testimonies/
DON’T DRESS FOR DINNER AT THE MAJESTIC THEATER
NOVEMBER 18 – DECEMBER 5
 
The second show of the Majestic’s 24th Season opens this Thursday.  Don’t Dress for Dinner, a madcap French farce written by Marc Camoletti (who wrote Boeing Boeing, a recent Majestic production) runs through December 5.
 
The comedy is set in renovated French farmhouse two hours from Paris.  Bernard is hoping to send his wife Jacqueline off to her mother’s place for the weekend so that he can romance his mistress Suzanne, a Parisian model. He’s also hired a Cordon Bleu cook, Suzette, as an alibi, and he’s invited his friend Robert to dinner. Jacqueline, though, is becoming suspicious, and in a phone conversation with Robert it’s revealed that they, too, are also having an affair. Suzette, the caterer, arrives, and Robert introduces her as his mistress. Bernard is furious because of the mix-up, and Jacqueline feels betrayed because she thought she was Robert’s only mistress. Suzette is convinced, for a little extra money, to go along with the deception — but then Suzanne arrives and she now has to pretend she’s the cook!
 
The cast includes Jack Grigoli (Bernard), Scott Renzoni (Robert), Bethany Fitzgerald (Jaqueline), Elizabeth Pietrangelo (Suzette), Alexandra O’Halloran (Suzanne) and Shaun O’Keefe (George).  Danny Eaton is producing director, Stephen Petit is the director/production manager and Greg Trochlil is set designer.  Costume designer is Dawn McKay, stage manager/associate producing director is Sue Dziura, and Dan Rist is lighting designer.
 
In accordance with regulations from the Actors' Equity Association, an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance, the Majestic Theater requires all attendees to wear masks at all times (except when eating and drinking), to be fully vaccinated against COVID, and to present their vaccination card (or a photo of it on their cell phone) upon arrival.  At this time, no food or drink may be brought into the theater, and needs to be consumed in the Majestic Café.

Tickets range in price from $31 - $37 per show, and are available for sale at the box office in person Monday – Friday 10am – 5pm, Saturday 10am – 1pm; or on the phone at (413) 747-7797. 
Ja'Duke Theater Elf the Musical
12/3/21 @ 6pm; 12/5/21 @ 2pm; 12/17 and 12/18/21 @6pm ;12/19 @2pm
Ja'Duke Theater

Based on the beloved holiday film, this hilarious fish-out-of-water comedy follows Buddy the Elf in his quest to find his true identity. Buddy, a young orphan, mistakenly crawls into Santa's bag of gifts and is transported to the North Pole. The would-be elf is raised, unaware that he is actually a human until his enormous size and poor toy-making abilities cause him to face the truth. With Santa's permission, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York City to find his birth father and discover his true identity. Faced with the harsh realities that his father is on the naughty list and his half-sister doesn't even believe in Santa, Buddy is determined to win over his new family and help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas.

This modern-day holiday classic is sure to make everyone embrace their inner elf. After all, the best way to spread Christmas Cheer is singing loud for all to hear!

https://www.jaduketheater.com/

Bright Half Life
By Tanya Barfield
Directed by Gina Kaufmann
December 3-11, 2021
Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center
289 Main Street
Greenfield, MA 01301

This intimate and celebratory production is under the direction of Gina Kaufmann, who directed Silverthorne’s  The Revolutionists in 2019.  She is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and a Professor of Theater (Acting and Directing) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.  She is also a feminist who prioritizes social justice in her directing work and in her season planning. Throughout her thirty-year career as a director, almost every project Gina chose to work on was selected at least in part by her desire to wrestle with gender, gender hierarchies and revising form and expectations to open up our minds to new models of relating to one another.

Featured in this production are Kyle Boatwright in the role of Vicky, and Katie Mack, a member of the Actors Equity Association, as Erica. Boatwright is a Pioneer Valley-based musician, actor, coach, and creative collaborator. She was last seen on the Silverthorne stage in The Revolutionists (2019) and recently directed Smith College’s production of Stoop Pigeons. This will be Katie Mack’s first time working with Silverthorne, but Valley theater-goers will remember her performances at The Majestic in West Springfield. Ezekiel Baskin is stage manager and John Iverson will provide technical direction.

Moving seamlessly from head-over-heels romance to marriage to children to skydiving and so many little intimacies in between, the two characters, Vicky and Erica, span decades in an instant and slowly, delightfully, allow us to know and love them. Bright Half Life is a joyful and complicated chronicle of a deeply committed lesbian relationship.

“If these women, these maybe soul mates, could somehow suddenly see what the years will bring, would they still go out on that first date?” The New York Times


Tickets are available at the door and via Eventbrite.

Friday, December 3, 10, 2021 @ 7:30 PM
Saturday, December 4, 11, 2021 @ 7:30 PM
Sunday, December 5, 2021 @ 3:00 PM

Masks and Proof of Vaccination required for admittance. Click here for more details.

https://silverthornetheater.org/event/bright-half-life/

Buy Tickets for Bright Half Life
Welcome to the Completely Ridiculous Open House

You are cordially invited to the Completely Ridiculous Open House!

On Monday December 6th, from 6-8pm EST we are opening up our doors to any and everyone who might be interested in getting to know who we are and what this whole Completely Ridiculous Conservatory is all about.

Meet some faculty, chat with some alumni, learn about all we have to offer, and more!

To join us on Monday December 6th, please click here and register for free on Eventbrite. The Zoom link will be sent out to registrants the day of. You can also visit our Facebook Event Page. And, if you’re interested in learning about the conservatory ahead of time, just head on over here!

Hope to see you soon!!

Click here to Register!
AUDITIONS & OPPORTUNITIES
LAVA Arts Center
The Bridge of Her Nose
December 12 at 1:00 PM,
December 19, 5-7 PM
Greenfield, MA

Mature teens and adults are warmly invited to audition for a play about Israel/Palestine to be staged as three dramatic readings the evening of February 26 and the afternoon and evening of February 27 at the LAVA Art Center in Greenfield. Please contact christinebenvenuto@hotmail.com and andreack2013@gmail.com.

Collaborating with LAVA and area theater artists, Temple Israel Greenfield will present a play in two parts, one a work of fiction, the other drawn from the transcripts of Compassionate Listening sessions conducted in the West Bank and Israel. We aim to increase understanding and empathy, and promote positive dialogue about the Middle East while considering our own urgent need for effective communication here at home. Performances will be followed by facilitated conversation with the audience.

People of all backgrounds, communities and identities urged to audition as we strive to create a multicultural, multigenerational ensemble cast.

Assistant or Associate Professor of Acting 

The Department of Theatre at Smith College invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor, to begin July, 2022. Teaching responsibilities for this position will regularly include beginning acting courses and a range of other acting classes, as well as directing students in one theatre production annually. Other courses may be taught depending upon the candidate’s field of specialization. The course load is 2/2, and directing a student production counts as a course. Candidates should have a strong foundation in Black, Indigenous, or Latinx theatre; college teaching experience; and significant professional acting experience. Candidates should have a demonstrated commitment to developing an inclusive approach to teaching a diverse student body, and to the role of theatre in a liberal arts education. M.F.A. in acting or a relevant field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience, is expected by the time of appointment. Candidates from groups underrepresented in theatre are encouraged to apply.

Located in Northampton, MA, Smith College is the largest women’s college in the country and is dedicated to excellence in teaching and research across the liberal arts. A faculty of outstanding scholars and artists interact with students in small classes, as advisors, and through student-faculty research projects. Smith College offers opportunities to foster faculty success at every career stage, such as those listed here: https://www.smith.edu/about-smith/provost/faculty-development. The College is a member of the Five College Consortium with Amherst, Hampshire and Mt. Holyoke Colleges, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Students cross-enroll and faculty cross-teach across the Five Colleges. Details about the Department of Theatre may be found at https://www.smith.edu/academics/theatre

Submit application at https://apply.interfolio.com/95269 with a cover letter, curriculum vitae, diversity/inclusion statement, sample syllabus, links to any acting sample and/or reviews of acting work, and three confidential letters of recommendation. Finalists may be asked for additional materials. Review of applications will begin on October 31. 

Diversity and a culture of equity and inclusion among students, staff, faculty, and administration are crucial to the mission and values of Smith College. We are an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, age, color, religion, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression or veteran status in the recruitment and employment of faculty and staff, and the operation of any of its programs and activities, as specified by all applicable laws and regulations. Women, historically underrepresented minorities, veterans, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply. 

CASTING UNTITLED ANNIE BAKER FILM
Written and directed by Annie Baker, originally from Amherst, Massachusetts, and Pulitzer-Prize-winning playwright of The Flick.
Produced by Dan Janvey - Academy-Award-winning producer of Nomadland and Beasts of the Southern Wild - and BBC Films.
The film follows 11 year old Lacy, her mother Janet, and the three people who come into their lives over one summer in 1991.
CASTING
LACY - 8-12 years old, any ethnicity. She is herself. Curious, observant, straightforward. Solid in her uniqueness, lives in her imagination. Odd birds welcome.
PIANO TEACHER - female piano teacher, 50-75 years old, any ethnicity. She teaches the Suzuki method to the main character, Lacy (8-12 years old).
ALSO SEEKING EXTRAS of all ages!
Acting experience is not necessary.
FILMING BEGINS SUMMER 2022 in Western Massachusetts.
Casting directors Eléonore Hendricks and Abby Harri are teaming up for their third film together in search of the young lead for Untitled Annie Baker Film. They specialize in street casting, finding non-professional actors, and discovering new talent.
TO APPLY / CONTACT
For more information and/or if you’re interested in you or your child being considered for the film, please apply at: untitledanniebakerfilm.com
password: Lacy
For any questions, contact Eléonore and Abby at: anniebakerfilmcasting@gmail.com
WORKSHOPS & CLASSES
Apply Now to the Completely Ridiculous Conservatory!

Winter Session
January 10th - March 5th, 2022

Spring Session
April 4th - May 28th, 2022

Starting in January, and then again in April, a dynamic ensemble of Completely Ridiculous students will have the opportunity to engage in globally minded professional actor training, all from the comfort of home!

The CRC is a one of a kind program, in that it was built entirely for Zoom, AND each faculty member not only has extensive training in their individual discipline of actor training, but also a strong foundation in the world of clown, games, play, and physical acting - having all trained with Master Clown and Commedia Teacher Christopher Bayes at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, and/or The Pandemonium Studio.

At the end of the 8 weeks, Completely Ridiculous students will walk away with:

A greater sense of direction, as well as concrete and actionable next steps for each individuals career.

•A more enthusiastic and curious body.

•A larger capacity to dream and dream big.

•A greater comfort with spontaneity, freedom and play.

Students will also gain a deeper understanding of who they are as unique, individual artists and what they bring to an ensemble, as well as a whole new set of skills and professional contacts to apply to their career and/or ongoing education.

Don’t miss your chance to work with our ever expanding community of international artists and apply today!

Click the link below for all of the info and COME PLAY!

Apply Now!
Submit your workshop, class, audition, performance, or any other theatre opportunity here!
Pioneer Valley Theatre Companies
Academy of Music Theatre

Amherst Community Theater

Arena Civic Theatre

A.C.T. Youth Theatre

Black Cat Theater

Chester Theatre Company

CitySpace

Cold Spring Community Theatre

Completely Ridiculous Productions

Drama Studio

Double Edge Theatre

Eggtooth Productions

Exit 7 Players

Ghost Light Theater

Greenfield Community College's Theater Department

Hampshire Shakespeare Company

Happier Valley Comedy

Hawks and Reed Performing Arts Center

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

Real Live Theatre

Red Thread Theater

Royal Frog Ballet

Serious Play Theatre Ensemble

Shakespeare Stage

Shea Theater Arts Center

Silverthorne Theater

Smith College Department of Theatre

St. Michael's Players

Starlight's Youth Theatre, Inc.

Strident Theatre

TheatreTruck

Turbulent Times Theater

UMass Department of Theater

UMass Theatre Guild

Unity House Players

Valley Light Opera

Ware Community Theatre

Westfield Theatre Group

Wilbraham United Players
Want to know even more about events in the Pioneer Valley and beyond,
including reviews, interviews, and previews?
Pioneer Valley Theatre Google Calendar
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