Ten events you can’t miss this springPRIME – April 2015By Mark G. Auerbach Special to PRIME The snows should be melted, and the temperatures should warm up. Time to venture out and about again ... to the theatre or concert hall. There are many entertainment options this spring. Here are my picks. Broadway With The Callaways Ann Hampton Callaway, a Tony Award nominee for “Swing” has been active as a singer, composer and arranger. Sister Liz Callaway got a Tony Award nomination for “Baby,” and then provided the singing voices for many characters in animated films, among them “Anya” in “Anastasia”and “Odette” in “The Swan Princess.” Together, they’ve performed in clubs, with orchestras, and recorded their pop album “Sibling Revelry.” This spring, the siblings join the Hartford Symphony Pops for one performance at The Bushnell on April 18. For tickets:860-244-2999 or w.hartfordsymphony.orgww. “Guys and Dolls” Frank Loesser’s tuneful classic, “Guys and Dolls” opens the Goodspeed Opera Houses’ Musical season, with a colorful look at Damon Runyon’s Times Square of the 1950s. The bet of a lifetime puts a hardboiled gambler in the arms of a Save-a-Soul mission worker in the neon-kissed valentine to the saints and sinners of New York. The alleys echo with the swinging sound of “Sit Down, You're Rockin/ the Boat,” “A Bushel and a Peck,” “If I Were a Bell” and more. “Guys and Dolls” became Broadway’s big hit in 1950; the film version came out a few years later, and a 1992 revival made Faith Prince and Nathan Lane the toast of Broadway. The gangsters, mission workers, and Miss Adelaide and the Hot Box girls play the East Haddam, Conn., theater April 10 to June 20. Don Stephenson directs. For tickets: 860-873-8668 or www.goodspeed.org . “Kinky Boots” “Kinky Boots” the award-winning Broadway musical, is based on a 2005 film of the same title, was adapted for the stage by Harvey Fierstein, and staged by Jerry Mitchell. Cyndi Lauper made her Broadway debut as composer/lyricist, and “Kinky Boots” is still Broadway’s hot ticket. Charlie has suddenly inherited his father’s shoe factory, which is on the verge of bankruptcy. Trying to live up to his father’s legacy and save his family business, he finds inspiration in the form of Lola, a fabulous entertainer in need of some sturdy stilettos, Lola turns out to be the one person who can help Charlie become the man he’s meant to be. As they work to turn the factory around, this unlikely pair finds that they have more in common than they ever dreamed possible. “Kinky Boots” got the Tony for best musical, and Lauper got the Tony for best score. The blockbuster plays The Bushnell June 23 to 28. For tickets: 860-987-5900 or www.bushnell.org . “Kiss Me, Kate” Directed by Tony Award-winner Darko Tresnjak, “Kiss Me, Kate,” with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Bella and Samuel Spewack, and choreography by Peggy Hickey, plays Hartford Stage May 14 to June 14. Tresnjak, Tony Award winner for “Best Direction” for “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” gets to combine his love for music and Shakespeare in this Broadway hit based upon a group of theatre performers producing a musical version of “The Taming of The Shrew.” “Kiss Me, Kate” is loaded with Porter hits, including “Another Op’nin,’ Another Show,” “Too Darn Hot,” “Wunderbar,” “So in Love,” and “Brush Up Your Shakespeare.” For tickets: 860-527-5151. or www.hartfordstage.org . “Once” “Once,” the celebrated new musical based on the Academy Award-winning 2007 film,.visits The Bushnell after its long Broadway run (May 19 to 24). “Once” began life at Cambridge’s American Repertory Theatre (which also sent “Hair,” “Porgy and Bess” and “Pippin” to Broadway). The musical first opened Off-Broadway, and moved uptown in time to qualify for the 2012 Tony Awards. “Once” won eight Tony Awards, including “Best Musical,” and ended its run in early January. The book was written by Enda Walsh, retaining many of the songs written by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, including the Academy Award-winning “Falling Slowly.” For tickets: 860-987-5900 or www.bushnell.org . “The Pianist of Willesden Lane” Virtuoso pianist Mona Golabek’s mother, a young Jewish musician from Vienna, was sent from war-torn Austria to relative safety in London, where she survived the Blitzkrieg. Golabek tells her mother’s story of incredible survival during the Holocaust, as she performed some of the great classical music from Vienna. Golabek based the script on her book with Lee Cohen, “The Children of Willesden Lane.” Hershey Felder adapted and directs this riveting play, which has received accolades at theatres nationwide. Performances March 26 to April 26 at Hartford Stage. For tickets: 860-527-5151. or www.hartfordstage.org . ““Sleeping Beauty” and “Danse Macabre”“ The Nutmeg Ballet joins The Hartford Symphony to perform excerpts from Tchaikovksy’s “The Sleeping Beauty”, and The Full Force Dance Theatre performs Saint-Saens “Danse Macabre.” Carolyn Kuan conducts the program, which also includes Prokofiev’s “The Prodigal Son” at The Bushnell, April 9 to 12. Two Connecticut dance companies and one Connecticut orchestra add up to excitement. For tickets: 860-987-5900 or www.hartfordsymphony.org . Springfield Symphony Season Finale Maestro Kevin Rhodes conducts the Springfield Symphony (April 25) in a program which includes Wagner, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 (with guest pianist Spencer Myer) and Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring.” What a way to end a classical season, which has been simply stellar. For tickets: 413-733-2291 or www.springfieldsymphony.org . Stephen Petronio Company Stephen Petronio began his dance career at Hampshire College, After being the first dancer hired by the Trisha Brown Company, he founded his own dance troupe in 1984. At the company’s appearance on April 16 at the UMass Fine Arts Center, the troupe performs Stephen Petronio’s Locomotor / Non Locomotor is an evening-length, full-company work in two parts featuring an original score by electronic hip-hop pioneer Clams Casino. Locomotor explores extreme locomotive states, casting Petronio’s virtuoso company in a careening mix of action forward and backward through time and space, while Non Locomotor begins from the spine and its ability to initiate torque and torsion, sending movement surging throughout the body. For tickets: 800-999-UMASS, 413-545-2511 or http://www.fineartscenter.com/. Viennese Choral Spectacular Kevin Rhodes knows the Viennese music scene very well, as a conductor at the Vienna State Opera Ballet for over 20 years. He’s headed there soon to conduct “La Sylphide” and the Rudolph Nureyev Gala, one of the most important international dance events. On April 11, the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and Chorus perform music of Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert – all composers who had great success in Vienna. Mary Wilson, William Hite, and David McFerrin are soloists along with pianist Nadine Shank. For tickets: 413-733-2291 or www.springfieldsymphony.org . Keep in Mind “The Last Five Years,” Jason Robert Brown’s two character musical about a couple falling in and out of love, has just been released as a movie with Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan. But, it’s really an intimate piece for the stage. The Majestic Theater presents the show (April 16 to May 24). They did a great job with another intimate musical “Next to Normal”. It’s worth a visit to West Springfield. For tickets: 413-747-7797 or www.majestictheater.com . Mark G. Auerbach studied theatre at American University and the Yale School of Drama. He’s worked for arts organizations and reported on theatre for newspapers and radio.  |
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