#Berkie Awards

[larryland]

Berkshire Theatre Critics Association Announces Nominations for the Second Annual Berkie Awards

Berkshire Theatre Critics Association Announces Nominations for the Second Annual Berkie Awards

(Pittsfield, MA) – The Berkshire Theatre Critics Association is pleased to announce the nominees for the Second Annual Berkshire Theatre Awards, known colloquially as The Berkies. The purpose of the BTCA and the Berkshire Theatre Awards is to promote and celebrate the quality and diversity of theatre in the greater Berkshire region. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on November…

[wallshipjournal]

BSC Company 2017: Aaron Tveit Media Links & Review Excerpts

Last update: 25/8/2017 (Video+Review) - Will be updated if/when new links/reviews appear. Reviews excerpted under cut.

VIDEO Barrington Stage Company - Rehearsal Footage Broadway.com - Opening Night Backstage Interview Barrington Stage Company - Performance Footage Promo Video

AUDIO WAMC "The Roundtable" - Preview w/ some Full Songs & Interviews sarcasticstagemanager - “Being Alive” (full audio bootleg for trade/gift)

PHOTOS Barrington Stage Company - Official Production Photos on Flickr BroadwayWorld - Opening Night Bows & Afterparty Broadway.com - Backstage on Opening Night Playbill.com - Behind-the-Scenes Photos by Mara Davis (+ Snapchat video)

REVIEWS

News Sources & Magazine Blogs

Broadway World Boston: “Barrington Stage Company (recently voted Best of The Berkshires) set a new record at the opening night of Stephen Sondheim's COMPANY last night. There appeared to be more selfie photos attempted of Aaron Tveit the show's star and the cast leaving the stage door of the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage than are taken by the ever present throngs in Broadway's Shubert Alley after a show. Aaron, who was Bobby in the extraordinary production directed by BSC's founder and artistic director JuliAnne Boyd, was mobbed by what seemed like the entire audience as Tveit and the cast tried to exit the stage door and continue on to the after party at the home of BSC Chair, Minky and Bruno Quinson. [...] You can't talk about Aaron Tveit, you have to hear and see him on the stage. One minute he's brilliantly acting and all of a sudden you realize you're hearing his glorious voice singing. One minute he's walking and all of a sudden you're watching a handsome guy moving like Fred Astaire. It's a Tony Award Winning performance, although in this case it will probably garner a Berky Award given by the Berkshire Critics Association.” (x)

Broadway.com: “Broadway.com was in on the action to capture Tveit taking his bow as "Bobby, baby...Bobby, bubi" after an incredible performance. [...] We'll be here, dreaming about Tveit's fantastic take on 'Being Alive.’” (x)

Albany Times Union: “Aaron Tveit brings a riveting magnetism to the leading role of Bobby in “Company,” the Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical that is receiving a masterful revival at Barrington Stage Company. Tveit, returning to BSC after a decade during which he achieved significant success on Broadway, television and film, has the presence but not the remoteness of a star — he’s a standout, yet also fully part of a remarkable ensemble. It would be easy to overplay Bobby, a single man in 1970s New York City surrounded by five married couples all eager for him to join their wedded ranks. Tveit, as directed by Julianne Boyd, instead makes Bobby both the focus of the couples’ attention and a mirror reflecting their varied relationships. Bobby has to just be, neither too anguished about being single nor too carefree, and Tveit achieves this to perfection. [...] By the end, there’s only one thing left to do, and that’s Bobby singing “Being Alive.” It’s a song, Sondheim has said, that moves from complaint to prayer...As sung by Tveit, it’s neither cynical nor sappy. It’s bitter and angry, plaintive and hopeful, pleading and optimistic. It’s being alive.” (x)

The Daily Gazette: “The show’s glue is Aaron Tveit. Boyd rightly sets him down stage center on “Someone is Waiting,” “Marry Me a Little,” and “Being Alive” because he’s such a great communicator. Listen to the phrasing. Read his body language. In these songs and elsewhere, Tveit convincingly reveals why people like Bobby and why what they like may not be what he wants.” (x)

The Westfield News: “Aaron Tveit is a superb Robert, a difficult character to portray, since he’s primarily an observer with little outward emotion, until he breaks his barriers with the emotional Sondheim song “Being Alive”, which is the heart and soul of Company. Tveit is a fine singer, dancer, and actor, and he makes Robert an appealing leading man.” (x)

Boston Globe: “Bobby is a tricky character to play, largely because he’s a protagonist who is more reactive than active (perhaps only Hamlet is more paralyzed by indecision than this guy). Though he is the obsessive center of attention for his friends and his lovers, virtually the apple of their collective eye, Bobby’s posture is largely that of a detached observer...If anything, the Barrington Stage production further emphasizes Bobby’s apartness; while the rest of the cast are attired in garish ’70s clothes...Tveit wears a tastefully understated blue jacket that would not look out of place in 2017.That apartness means that an actor playing Bobby can seem remote or passive, and Tveit does not entirely avoid that trap. His Bobby is urbane, enigmatic, bemused, sometimes amused, sometimes amusing, but he does not come across as terribly conflicted. Except, crucially, in song. There, Tveit shines. He powerfully nails the yearning in Bobby’s solo “Someone is Waiting,’’ and he captures his character’s confusion and ambivalence in “Marry Me a Little,’’ in which Bobby insists he’s ready for marriage while stipulating rigid conditions that suggest he’s not at all ready.In the climactic “Being Alive,’’ Tveit passionately conveys the liberation achieved, paradoxically, when a gregarious loner like Bobby finally surrenders, unconditionally, to his need for another person. (x)

Berkshire Fine Arts: “This season Boyd has taken another crack at Company and critics appear to be unanimous that a sensational production is on the short list of her best work. Boyd is noted for loving musicals and this one is a corker.Much of that is owed to the serendipity of casting Aaron Tveit as a truly charismatic, charming, sexy and all around fabulous Bobby. He is the now 35-year-old swinging bachelor who just can’t take the plunge into marriage. The character charmngly (sic) hovers on the cusp of maturity...There were chills and goose bumps all over me when Bobby belted out that final solo ‘Being Alive.’” (x)

iBerkshires: “Hugh Jackman has it. The young Robert Redford had it – that preternatural ability to exude charisma and magnetic sexiness even when standing stone still. Aaron Tveit has it, too, in addition to his impressive singing, dancing and acting skills. Tveit is the star of Barrington Stage's "Company," one of Stephen Sondheim's biggest hits, and he is just the tip of the talent iceberg in this simply fantastic production. [...] Those of us in the audience who knew the show eagerly awaited "Being Alive," Bobby's final song that sets his inner realization to music. As we all suspected he would, Tveit knocked this iconic musical song out of the ballpark.” (x)

ZEALnyc: “Tveit, in particular, turns out to be an inspired choice for Bobby. Tveit has a chiseled everyman look, pretty but not ethically specific, which actually works well for Bobby, who’s meant to be a sort of cipher. Tveit has a powerful voice, great scene presence, and a terrific, focused way with interpreting a song.Tveit appears to have come a long way since his homogeneously bland take on Frank Abagnale, Jr. in Broadway’s Catch Me If You Can. Plus, he’s so damned good-looking, he can even make a ‘70s leisure suit look hot. Tveit wisely sings most of the songs pretty straight, although he couldn’t seem to help himself during “Being Alive,” during which he threw in a few vocal flourishes and Elphaba riffs.” (x)

Arts Fuse: “If you are a Sondheim enthusiast and can’t get enough of his music, lyrics, and sensibility, you will be pleased to know that Julianne Boyd has cast a strong production of Company, with an excellent Bobby (Aaron Tveit) and vibrant band and ensemble. [...] Slender and likeable Aaron Tveit delivers Bobby’s songs in a lyric tenor; the performer does his best to put some flesh on this stick figure as he ponders the passage of time and lack of human connection on his 35th birthday. Like [the rest of the cast], Tveit is a consummate performer, speaking, singing, and dancing with equal élan.” (x)

The Berkshire Eagle: “There is a stunning ah-ha moment late, very late, in Julianne Boyd's hugely accomplished production of Stephen Sondheim's "Company" at Barrington Stage Company. It occurs in Bobby's — and the musical's — final number, "Being Alive." Bobby (a smart, masterly performance by Aaron Tveit) spends the first half of the song cataloging the downside of relationships, marriage in particular — the entanglements, the choking obligations, the surrenders. The tone is unforgiving. There is not an upside anywhere until Bobby comes, for the first time, to the words "being alive," which he then, as interpreted by Tveit, repeats three more times, slowing down each time as he hears and begins to consider what he is saying. You can see a hint of something registering in Tveit's eyes. Music director Dan Pardo holds the orchestra in a vamp while Tveit's Bobby takes in what he is hearing; begins, finally, to put everything together and then goes back through the catalog he's just completed, this time with surging hope and welcome. It's a defining moment for Bobby. At 35, he has come of age, at last. The number would be triumphant enough on its own. The fact that it comes virtually on the heels of the memorable Ellen Harvey's perfectly calibrated delivery of "Ladies Who Lunch"...makes "Being Alive" an absolute coup de theatre. [...] Tveit wasn't even born when "Company" premiered on Broadway in 1970, but watching him go to work on Barrington Stage Company's Boyd-Quinson Mainstage feels as though he and Bobby were destined for one another. I say go to work, but in fact, Tveit's meticulously crafted performance looks so effortless. His singing voice is a marvel of control, breadth and expression and he dances with graceful assurance. His timing, his sense of Bobby's sense of purpose is clear and resonant, especially in his scenes with the girlfriends... [...] It's been 17 years since Boyd first tackled "Company." Barrington Stage was in Sheffield then. Tveit was 17. Just look how far they all have come.” (x)

WAMC Midday Magazine: "Company is one of those shows, however, that cannot succeed without the lead role of Robert being sensitively interpreted – including his two musical show-stoppers: “Someone is Waiting,” and “Being Alive.”  The leading man must be charming, dashing, vulnerable, disarming, wistful.  This production has such a star in Aaron Tveit, who proves up to the task from opening to closing curtain." (x)

Wall Street Journal: “Directed by Julianne Boyd, it stars Aaron Tveit as Robert, the commitment-phobic New York bachelor whose role was created by Dean Jones in the original 1970 production. I doubt there’s been a better Robert since Mr. Jones left the show. A true tenor with brilliantly gleaming high notes, Mr. Tveit is also a superior actor whose interpretation of the part is a volatile mix of charm, reserve and well-concealed fear. Not since Ben Platt opened in “Dear Evan Hansen” have I seen a musical performance as exciting as this one. In a way, though, what’s most surprising about Barrington Stage’s production is that Mr. Tveit doesn’t stand out nearly as much as you’d expect given the remarkable quality of his performance. Role for role, this is the best-sung “Company” I’ve ever heard—not just in regional theater, but anywhere.” (x)

Review Blogs

Boston Bright Focus: “Tveit is young, handsome, slender and charming, a decent dancer and a good singer, a comedic actor who keeps us serious in this funny show about funny people. There is a strange quality to his work at time when Bobby is hurt or mentally injured we see and feel his pain rather than just witness the incident or hear the remark. He reacts to everything in this role better than anyone else I've seen play Bobby. In its short, two year run on Broadway I saw the show four times with both its male stars, Dean Jones and then Larry Kert. I saw the revival with Raul Esparza. I saw the revival with Boyd Gaines. I saw George Chakiris in Los Angeles. None of them ever brought this quiet understanding, or struggle for understanding that Tveit conveys in the role.” (x)

CurtainUp: “All fourteen actors are multi-talented and each makes his/her role an integral part of the cast dynamics. However, it is Aaron Tveit's Bobby as he quietly glides about and absorbs the energy of those around him who drives the show to its rich and satisfying conclusion. His facial reactions are empathic and he truly becomes the human each of the others believes him to be. Yet he knows that this is not satisfying and is destructive to his own development. Tveit's "Being Alive summarizes the dichotomy of the human longing to connect while remaining free of responsibilities. When he sings In the final line "Someone to force you to care/ Someone to make you come through/Who'll always be there frightened as you /Of being alive," the electricity is palpable and breathtaking as he realizes '...The unlived life is not worth examining.'” (x)

Berkshire on Stage: “The acting, led by Tveit’s sensitive portrayal of Bobby’s confusion and understanding, is marvelous.” (x)

Critics At Large: "...it’s in the show’s revered pair of final numbers, “Ladies Who Lunch” and “Being Alive,” that the production shifts into a different gear. What I find so impressive about Harvey and Tveit in their respective deliveries of these two songs is the sense that they aren’t just basking in their star moments in the spotlight. Instead, they’re using the numbers to take their characters somewhere. [...] As for Tveit, he doesn’t possess superhuman powers, so he can’t make “Being Alive” work in terms of Bobby's overall narrative, but he does convey a remarkable sense of progression throughout the number. It’s a moment of genuine revelation for Bobby. It also stands in stark contrast to the rest of Tveit’s performance, not because he’s bad in the role, but, paradoxically, because he’s perhaps cast almost too well. Since I’m hammering on about the weaknesses in Furth’s script, it’s always bothered me that he intentionally and explicitly makes Bobby such a cipher. The idea that he’s the likable, inoffensive guy whose refusal to wade too deeply into a relationship allows his friends to project their desires onto him, thereby making him their common best friend, makes sense, but it’s also hard to figure out how an actor ought to approach such a role, or how to get the audience to invest in him emotionally. Tveit manages to convey Bobby’s breezy but noncommittal charm, making it clear why his disparate groups of friends enjoy being around him – although, at 33 years old and with a record of playing younger than his age in his major roles, it’s hard to fully buy into this actor as someone who is hitting an age-related crisis. However, he’s smart enough to play up the contrast between that version of Bobby and the newly uncertain but more complex character who emerges at the very end of the play. There’s an open-endedness to such an interpretation, a suggestion that this is merely a beginning, rather than a cathartic ending, for this man." (x)

Rural Intelligence: Tveit faces the challenge of any actor who plays Bobby. While his friends continually profess their love for him, it’s not actually clear what’s so endearing about Bobby besides his being a reliable third wheel who helps keep his friends’ marriages intact; in return, these married couples keep Bobby company so he doesn’t have to settle down. In the finale, Tveit reveals that Bobby’s been paying attention to his friends, and he delivers “Being Alive” with the gusto of a pilgrim who has finally glimpsed the promised land. (x)

From the Desk of Jim R, Take 2: "As played by the enigmatic Aaron Tveit, Bobby's complicated plight and final resolution, is real, raw, honest, soulful, cheerful, passionate and very moving. There's also a vibrant charm, passion and natural dreaminess to the character that makes Tveit's interpretation of Bobby much more believable and grounded than that of his Broadway predecessors Dean Jones, Larry Kert, Boyd Gaines and Raul Esparza. Back then, all four were simply acting out a part and nothing more. Here, Tveit plays Bobby. But he also owns the part. Big difference. From the moment he appears on the Barrington stage, he is Bobby, front and center, backwards and forwards, etc. Moreover, there's real talent behind that boyish allure mixed with just the right amount of poise, presence, flair and personality. Sure, it's all rehearsed, but Tveit makes us believe we're seeing his Bobby for the very first time. There is nothing remotely calculated about his facial expressions, line delivery, body language or interaction with the other onstage actors. Though he wasn't born when "Company" was first conceived, you'd swear Sondheim and playwright George Furth wrote Bobby with Tveit in mind. It's the musical performance of 2017. And one, you'll want to see again and again. Vocally, Tveit's voice is beautiful, polished, strong, commanding and natural. He pays close attention to the beats, lyrics and different rhythms of every Sondheim song he sings. And when he takes center stage and joins the entire cast for a song or two, he avoids that annoying grandstanding you find in other Sondheim shows where the lead actor looks you right in the face with private thoughts that cry out, "Hey, look at me. I'm in a Sondheim show." With the emotional "Being Alive," Tveit passionately reveals the quiet longing and intimacy Bobby desires with another person. The stirring "Marry Me A Little" conveys his confusion and doubt over a real relationship while "Someone Is Waiting" poignantly portrays the character's quiet yearning for that special something collectively shared by his married friends." (x)

Mixed or Negative Reviews (Negativity Warning!)

The Saratogian: "We see all of them through the eyes of Bobby, a handsome, 35-year-old bachelor, portrayed by Aaron Tveit as an unobtrusive observer. George Furth’s book tells us little about Bobby, and Tviet [sic] is faithful to that failing. His main function in this interpretation is to provide an outsider’s view into the private lives of the couples. A problem with the Barrington Stage production results from Tveit playing Bobby as a passive character. We are uncertain as to why the others want him as a close friend and confidant. Tveit presents a handsome figure who is a genuinely nice guy, but for most of the play, he is rather anonymous. It’s not wrong to make Bobby a cipher, but it doesn’t add depth to the friendships. This same passivity extends to his relationships with the three girlfriends we meet. We might understand why they are attracted to Bobby, but his disinterest with the women makes his expressed interest to be married seem insincere. The only times Bobby reveals anything of himself is through the songs “Someone is Waiting,” “Marry Me a Little” and the iconic anthem, “Being Alive.” In these moments, Tveit is marvelous. The doubt he expresses in these songs is revealing, touching and real. If we could see more of this personality throughout the show, the production would have been much more genuine and sincere." (x)

The New York Times: “Company’...is in some ways the least ambitious of the three, and also the most successful. By least ambitious, I don’t mean the material itself...the original production in 1970 was a musical theater game-changer that remains, with its impenetrable main character and abstract action, a difficult piece to pull off. I mean that despite a skilled New York cast led by the glossy Aaron Tveit, Barrington’s “Company,” directed by Julianne Boyd, is neither a Broadway tryout nor an attempt to reinvent the wheel. From the ’70s satire inherent in its pungent costumes to the gorgeous singing of the entire cast, it has evidently been packaged as pure entertainment. How well that approach represents the ambivalence at the show’s core is another matter. Bobby (Mr. Tveit) is a 35-year-old singleton at the height of the sexual revolution; he insists he is enjoying his freedom but his “good and crazy” friends — five married couples — think he is just afraid of commitment. The action consists mostly of Bobby’s watching those couples bicker, and drawing what conclusions he can from the way they make up. Time has not made the plot less problematic. A 35-year-old in 1970 apparently was more middle-aged than he is today; as played by Mr. Tveit, who is 33, there is no sense that Bobby is late to the marriage gate. And later revisions made by Mr. Furth to foreclose on the possibility that Bobby is gay now seem counterproductive. His denial comes across as more of a devious dodge than his silence ever did. Could it be that, absent disruptive directorial interventions like those made by John Doyle in the 2006 Broadway revival, the book is becoming untenable? Instead of psychology, it gives most of the wives gimmicks: One’s a first-time marijuana smoker, another a karate enthusiast. The interchangeable husbands barely get that much. And even Mr. Tveit, though ideally cast, can’t find much to do besides taking his safari-style suit jacket on and off. His Bobby is not merely passive but disaffected to the point of depression. It’s a reasonable reaction to a plot that incessantly nudges him from point A to point A. The good news is that Mr. Sondheim’s score remains thrillingly incisive, dramatizing every issue in its path. Problems of interpretation tend to dissolve when the songs are sung and played as well as they are here, not only by Mr. Tveit but also by Nora Schell as an earthy Marta (“Another Hundred People”) and by Ellen Harvey as a furious Joanne (“The Ladies Who Lunch”). If the result feels like a highlights reel, there are far worse things a musical can be.” (x)

Post-Chronicle: “In the key role of Bobby, Mr. Tveit cuts a handsome figure but rarely projects a distinct personality here. This may be again due to the writing, but in recent revivals both Neil Patrick Harris and Raul Esparza did create a Bobby of both magnetism and depth. Tveit’s bland acting is gratefully overshadowed, though, by his magnificent tenor voice and he successfully rocks the theatre with such Sondheim standards as “Marry Me A little” and “Being Alive”. In a company of superior singers, he is an able leader and often capable of being a thrilling performer.” (x)

[mykalwithay]

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A post shared by Mykal Kilgore (@mykalkilgore)

This summer I got a chance to perform a #dreamrole as The Witch in #IntoTheWoods at @barringtonstage. I’m so proud to announce that I have been nominated for a #Berkie Award for that performance. It was one of the most challenging and incredible experiences of my life, so award or not I have won so much! Here’s a clip of @anna.tobin and me from tech rehearsal! . #bscwoods #thewitch #berkshiretheatreawards #whatashow #imissmycast #broadway (at Pittsfield, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/B39mxdTgKwL/?igshid=xz73sl4aticn

[herreraduero]

No puedes hablar de Aaron Tveit , tienes que escucharlo y verlo en el escenario. En un minuto está actuando brillantemente y de repente te das cuenta de que estás escuchando su gloriosa voz cantando. En un minuto anda y de repente observas a un guapo que se mueve como Fred Astaire . Es un Tony Award Winning rendimiento, aunque en este caso, probablemente recibirá un Premio Berky otorgado por la Asociación de Críticos de Berkshire.

[biankapanovaacademy-blog]

CHN and JPN Neck-To-Neck On 2017 Melbourne Individual Apparatus World Cup

On February 25, 2017, the first Individual Apparatus World Cup of 2017 in Artistic Gymnastics has concluded. It started on February 22, 2017 in Melbourne (AUS) as a part of the International Gymnastics Federation’s (FIG) ongoing World Cup series.

Olympic veterans and standout newcomers have shown off their skills to be able to stand at the podium at Australia’s Hisense Arena. Listed below are the top three winners for each apparatus.

Men’s Artistic Gymnastics Results

In the said event, China has started establishing their dominance in artistic gymnastics once again, after having been defeated in the last Olympic Games. Chinese gymnasts tumbled off with three of the five event titles awarded on the first day. On the finals, the Chinese men bagged a silver on floor from the newcomer Mu Jile, another silver and a bronze on pommel horse from Zou Jingyuan and Weng Hao respectively. The gold from still rings has been snatched by Wu Guanhua and Zou Jingyuan who tied at the first place despite being both newcomers, the latter also took home the gold in parallel bars. Unfortunately, they didn’t place any on the top three for vault and high bar.

However, China’s greatest opponent, Japan, is close on their heels. Olympian and two-time Floor World Champion Kenzo Shirai has put down his team gold medal from the Rio Olympics to be able to hold his new medals. He snatched the gold in floor, high bar and vault, finishing with a silver on parallel bars. His teammate Wataru Tanigawa bagged the bronze in vault while Yusuke Saito was awarded the same at high bar.

Although considered underdogs, other countries also had the spotlights shine on them. Turkey won quite a few to represent their country. Ferhat Arican won the bronze on floor and parallel bars while Ibrahim Colak got bronze as well on still rings. The host country, Australia, got two silver medals from Christopher Remkes at the vault and Mitchell Morgans on high bar. Hungary took home the gold on the pommel horse which was won by the veteran Krisztian Berki, once again proving his supremacy on the apparatus after being the 2012 Olympic Pommel Horse champion and not being able to compete in Rio.

Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Results

The Chinese men’s counterparts aren’t as lucky as they are if based on the medal counts, but their country didn’t lack on podium moments in this series. The female Chinese gymnasts bagged just five medals in total throughout the whole event. The gold on vault was snatched by Olympic team member Wang Yan. Liu Tingting and Huan Luo received their gold and silver medals at the podium responsively from uneven bars. Liu, a sixteen-year-old who passed on Rio due to injuries, returned with a vengeance. She also took home the gold in beam and the bronze in floor.

Australian female gymnasts took revenge for their male gymnasts as they accumulated six medals amongst places first to third. 2012 Olympian Emily Little took home the silver in vault and newcomer teammate Naomi Lee took the bronze. Little also has a bronze in beam and a gold in floor, leaving teammate Georgia Godwin for silver. Another teammate and standout Riana Mizzen was the only Australian medalist in uneven bars, a bronze.

For the full list of results, visit Gymnastics Australia’s website.

The Melbourne World Cup is a part of the two-year FIG Individual Apparatus World Cup series. It began in November 2016 and would end in March 2018. Gymnasts gain points from each stop and the gymnast with the highest points in total at the end of the circuit is crowned World Cup champion on that event. The next stop on this circuit is Doha, Qatar on March 22-25.

Keep up with the latest news and updates about the sport of gymnastics by following our official blogs and social media sites. Enroll today at Bianka Panova Sport and Art Academy and learn gymnastics for kids with us! Come and experience world class training and education!

[larryland]

Shakespeare & Company Wins Six Berkshire Theatre Critics Awards

Shakespeare & Company Wins Six Berkshire Theatre Critics Awards

Top honors for Outstanding Play Production went to the Company’s production of Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog

(Lenox, MA) – Shakespeare & Company is proud to have been honored with six Berkshire Theatre Critics Awards. At a ceremony held in Pittsfield last week, the Board of the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association presented 23 Berkshire Theatre Awards. This was the fourth year the awards…

[larryland]

Fourth Annual Berkshire Theatre Awards Presented

Fourth Annual Berkshire Theatre Awards Presented

Mac-Haydn Theatre and Shakespeare & Company Take Top Honors

PITTSFIELD, MA (November 12, 2019) – At an SRO ceremony held at Zion Lutheran Church in Pittsfield, the Board of the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association (BTCA)presented the Berkshire Theatre Awards on the evening of Monday, November 11, 2019. This was the fourth year the awards have been presented to honor and celebrate the excellence…

[larryland]

2019 Nominees Announced for the Berkshire Theatre Critics Awards

2019 Nominees Announced for the Berkshire Theatre Critics Awards

The fourth annual Berkshire Theatre Critics Awards, aka The Berkies, will be awarded on the evening of Monday, November 11, 2019 at Zion Lutheran Church, 74 First Street in Pittsfield, MA.

Outstanding Solo Performance

Tara Franklin – On The Exhale – Chester Theatre Company

Steven Patterson – Shylock – Bridge Street Theatre

Jayne Atkinson – Ann – WAM Theatre

  Outstanding Supporting Actress in a…

[larryland]

Shakespeare & Company Honored with Four Berkshire Theatre Awards

Shakespeare & Company Honored with Four Berkshire Theatre Awards

(Lenox, MA) –  Shakespeare & Company is proud to have been honored with four Berkshire Theatre Awards. At a ceremony held in Pittsfield last week, the Board of the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association presented 21 Berkshire Theatre Awards. This was the third year the awards have been presented to honor and celebrate the excellence and diversity of theatre in the greater Berkshire region.

The…

[larryland]

CHESTER THEATRE COMPANY RECEIVES BERKSHIRE THEATRE AWARDS

Every Brilliant Thing Tapped for Two Honors Chester, MA – Chester Theatre Company (CTC) has received two Berkshire Theatre Awardsfor work seen on the stage of Chester’s Town Hall Theatre this past summer. Actor Joel Ripkawas cited for Outstanding Solo Performance Piece for Every Brilliant Thing (written by Duncan Macmillian with Jonny Donahoe, and directed by CTC Producing Artistic…

[larryland]

Mac-Haydn Theatre Takes Home Three "Berkie" Awards

Mac-Haydn Theatre Takes Home Three “Berkie” Awards

Artistic Director John Saunders (left), Choreographer Sebastiani Romagnolo (center) and actress Emily Kron (right) proudly show off the trophies they won at the recent Berkshire Theatre Critics Association’s 2nd Annual Berkshire Theatre Awards event.   Hello, Dolly!, the delightful comedy-romance classic directed by Mr. Saunders, shared the Best Musical top spot. The intricate and exciting…

[larryland]

Bridge Street Theatre Honored at 2019 Berkshire Theatre Critics Awards

Bridge Street Theatre Honored at 2019 Berkshire Theatre Critics Awards

The fourth annual Berkshire Theatre Critics Awards (aka The Berkies) were handed out on a chilly Monday evening, November 11, 2019, at Zion Lutheran Churchin Pittsfield, MA. Eligible for nomination were 105 productions from the past year, presented at more than three dozen venues in Western Massachusetts, New York, Vermont and Connecticut, all within a fifty-mile radius of the borders of…

[larryland]

by Lisa Jarisch

Since its arrival on Broadway in 1972, Grease has been the Word in more than 3300 Broadway performances, had 27 productions worldwide, made its way to the big screen as a feature film, been revived on Broadway twice, and has greased and graced the boards of high school stages around the country more times than Betty Rizzo has dated and broken up with Kenickie.

  Now the Class of 1959 from Rydell High has arrived at the Mac-Haydn Theater, with all the rock & roll sound, romance , and teen-age angst one could want on a hot summer night at the theatre.  Director/Choreographer Sebastiani Romagnolo has put his mark on a production that does fair justice to both the original stage production and the wildly-popular 1978 feature film with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in the lead roles. What the production may lack in depth, it more than makes up for in enthusiasm and performance value. There is little if any of the raw, edgy language and tone that characterized original versions; while teenage pregnancy, gang violence, and pressure to conform lurk subtly on the edges of this production, they are to some degree “glossed over” in favour of bringing the flavor of 50s adolescence and music to the stage. And frankly, there’s nothing wrong with that, because what they do with this production of Grease, they do with all the expertise, quality, and theatre-goers have come to expect—and receive—from a Mac- Haydn production. As it centers around the romantic inclinations of greaser Burger Palace leader Danny Zuko and new-girl-at-school Sandy Dumbrowski, this Grease is 2 ½ hours of foot-tapping, sing-along, sit- back- and -enjoy musical theatre.

       Anthony DaSilva is spending his first season at Mac-Haydn, and in the lead role of Danny Zuko, he takes to the round stage as if born to it. With just the slightest channeling of John Travolta (which may be totally unintended, as the film was released well before DaSilva came into the world),  he struts into the cafeteria and leads the Burger Palace Boys through their paces, while alternately wooing and ignoring the new girl in school. He has the voice for the role–and then some !– and while disappointed that the song “Sandy” was substituted for “ Alone at a drive-in movie” there’s no denying DaSilva carries off Danny with power, panache, and presence. His voice rises above ensemble numbers, as it should as the leader of the pack. Let’s hope to see and hear more of this up and coming star as the season continues.

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    Emma Flynn in her second season with the Mac-Haydn company is an ideal  choice for the innocent, naive Sandy, taken in hand and under the collective wing of the Pink Ladies at Rydell High on her first day of school, where she quickly discovers the love of her just past “Summer Nights”  is Rydell student Danny Zuko. Flynn has a beautiful pure voice, with stage presence to match. Watching her journey from the wide-eyed ingenue who ultimately allows herself, admittedly at her own request, to be transformed to the bad-girl of Danny’s wildest hopes and dreams is a delight.  “Hopelessly Devoted to you” adroitly channels Olivia Newton-John, which is almost inevitable, as this too is a number “slotted in” to the stage version from its original appearance in the film. Her final solo reprising “Look at me I’m Sandra Dee” is filled with regret, resignation, and ultimately acceptance of her new role as a pure Pink Lady, and her final duet with DaSilva of “You’re the one that I want” literally shakes the rafters of this barn-cum-theatre in the round. A side note on that particular number.In general I am not a fan of music and songs from movie versions being, sometimes, summarily inserted into stage productions, but in this production I must confess it works to great effect, and was probably the better choice than “All Choked Up” was in the original production.

  Grease is an ideal production for an ensemble cast, which undoubtedly is why it is so often performed in schools, summer stock, and community theatres. Offering a variety of supporting roles for Pink Ladies and Burger Palace Boys makes it a perfect vehicle for the Mac.  Much of the pleasure in this thoroughly-enjoyable production comes from the quality of performance springing from the supporting cast.numbers. Loaded with all the energy of the assembled youthful cast , the stage almost literally shakes, rattles and rolls every time a member of the ensemble gets their turn in the spotlight. Virtually every character is given a featured turn and they make the most of it, with spot-on vocals and solid, committed performances. While none of the numbers are show-stoppers, they perform them as if they are. And so several all deserve their own moments of praise….

  As Doody,  Kylan Ross’s  rendition of “ Those Magic Changes”  earns him an A+ for his spot-on vocals regaling the gang with his mastery of 4 guitar chords learned over the summer. Perhaps my favorite song in the show, I confess to adding my own A, C, F, and G chords to the melody line , no doubt to the misfortune of those sitting within earshot.

Elizabeth D’Aiuto makes the most of her turn as Marty, as she lets her slumber-party Pink Lady guests learn all about “Freddy, My love”, who showers her with gifts sent from his overseas military service. A rogue Twinkie suffers a crushing fate as the Pink Ladies dancingly celebrate the benefits of young love, but D’Aiuto carries off her number with aplomb and vocal accuracy.

       Now, “Greased Lightning”, perhaps the song most associated with Grease…. While Jonah Hale’s lyrics in his portrayal of Kenickie are at times indistinct, or perhaps simply overwhelmed by a band clearly eager to rock and roll the theatre, there is no denying Hale’s enthusiasm as he presents this signature number. He leaps with abandon, sings with gusto, and overall makes us hope for a ride in his cherished automatic, systematic, fuel-injected, chrome-plated rod baby.  Especially impressive is the lighting that accompanies the number—black light, strobe effect, and splashes of vibrant color punctuate this paean to every teen age boy’s dream in the 50s…THE perfect car.

       As Roger and Jan, Joe Hornberger and Zoey Bright inject a lovely dose of almost over the top camp with their rendition of “Mooning”, as Roger musically and physically demonstrates the reason “the guys” have nicknamed him “Rump”  Fortunately for this family-friendly show, he stops short of a “full” explanation, but not before the audience enjoys their rollicking rocking tribute to the fine art of mooning.

  Maya Cuevas shines as Frenchy, the “Beauty School Dropout” nonchalantly attempting to pierce Sandy’s ears while the Pink Ladies smoke and drink at Marty’s slumber party. Her wide-eyed looks of astonishment, and subsequent reactions when her called-upon Teen Angel appears in silver lame, accompanied by a plastic cosmetic cape-draped, sun-glass -wearing Angel Chorus quartet, are worth the price of admission. 

    Last but by no means least of the supporting cast deserving of more than honorable mention is Angie Colonna as the hard as nails self-appointed Head of the Pink Ladies Betty Rizzo.  Sashaying onto the teen scene with a hip-swiveling swagger, Colonna creates the brittle Rizzo personna necessary to play against the sweetness and light of the soon-to-be converted, or subverted, Sandy. Her mocking “Look at me I’m Sandra Dee” in Act 1 is played with nuance and a curled lip; her voice is big, bold, and in perfect keeping with the character. In Act 2, as she reluctantly, angrily, and ultimately tearfully confronts Sandy’s attempts to sympathize with her possibly pregnancy, she declares “There are worse things I could do” with a combination of pathos and defiance that brings perhaps the loudest applause of the evening for a featured performance.

            Wearing his choreographer’s hat, director Romagnolo brings to Grease the signature style that brought him a Berkie Award in 2017. Lithe, sinewy, sometimes almost writhing dance movements infuse much of the dance work throughout the show, and capture in motion the burgeoning craze for rock and roll that was sweeping the nation in the 50s.  Romagnolo stages the assorted ensemble numbers throughout the show with verve and punch. The close of Act 1 brings the energy-charged cast into “We go Together” with rousing hand-slapping, clapping abandon performed in perfect synchronization , and as the cast comes together in “Born to Hand Jive”, the relatively small round stage pounds and  pulses with the gyrations of the dance. Could another Berkie be waiting in the wings…..?

       Scenic designer Kevin Gleason  brings home a Grade A report card for his set work and design.   The black and white checkerboard floor, punctuated with squares of turquoise and pink is the perfect setting for the classic formica tables and chairs that do triple duty as cafeteria, classroom and Burger Palace diner; draped with black leather jackets and hot pink Pink Lady jackets, the set immediately transports the audience back to the 50s before the first musical note. The collection of 50’s memorabilia and ephemera adorning the walls and the stage. Vintage vinyl 45 records, pink flamingos, guitars . From the wall-mounted rotary dial corded phone to the portable transistor radios and metal coolers, every item evokes the now-classic style of the 50s. It’s just a FUN set to look at throughout the show.

     Lighting by Andrew Gmoser complements and enhances the 50s “vibe”  of diners, high school classrooms and cafeteria, teen age girls’ bedrooms, and the occasional outdoor setting in the park or backstreets of Chicago. There is a generous use of color throughout, and happily, the use of a strobe light is forewarned with notices at each entrance to the house , as well as used judiciously and sparingly. 

  Costumes by Alison Zador capture the era of poodle skirts, greaser “bad boys” with their leather jackets, tight jeans and white-shirts, and bouffant hair and prom dresses. 

  While perhaps not the premiere offering of the season, Grease is more than worth a look, perhaps even 2, as one of my companions noted on a full-house opening night    “ I’d see this one again.” Hopefully Producing Artistic Director John Saunders would be quick to declare that “you’re the one that I want “ to make a Summer Night’s journey to Chatham for this production. 

  Grease with book, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey is this season’s 3 week run at the Mac-Haydn Theater in Chatham, NY,  with performances from July 4 through 21. Direction and choreography by Sebastiani Romagnolo, Associate choreographer Madi Cupp-Enyard. Music direction by David Maglione, scenic design by Kevin Gleason, lighting design by Andrew Gmoser,  costume design Alison Zador, hair and makeup design by Matthew Oliver, props master Joshua Gallagher. CAST: Anthony DaSilva as Danny Zuko, Emma Flynn as Sandy Dumbrowski, Kylan Ross as Doody, Elizabeth D’Aiuto as Marty, Jonah Hale as Kenickie, Joe Hornberger as Roger, Zoey Bright as Jan, Maya Cuevas as Frenchy, Angie Colonna as Betty Rizzo.

REVIEW: “Grease” at the Mac-Haydn Theatre by Lisa Jarisch Since its arrival on Broadway in 1972, Grease has been the Word in more than 3300 Broadway performances, had 27 productions worldwide, made its way to the big screen as a feature film, been revived on Broadway twice, and has greased and graced the boards of high school stages around the country more times than Betty Rizzo has dated and broken up with Kenickie.

[larryland]

Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Donald Margulies crowd-pleasingly inventive saga, Shipwrecked! The Amazing Adventures of Louis De Rougemont (As Told By Myself) opens Oldcastle Theatre‘s 46th season Friday May 19th at 7:30 and runs through June 4th. Show times are Wednesday – Saturday at 7:30 with matinees at 2pm on Sunday and Thursday. There is one Saturday matinee performance on May 20th at 2pm

Part story-telling, part biography, part fiction, and part truth, Shipwrecked! brings audiences the amazing story of bravery, survival, and celebrity that left 19th century England spellbound. Be prepared to be whisked away in a story of the high seas, populated by exotic islanders, flying wombats. Giant sea turtles, and a monstrous man-eating octopus. The play examines how far we are willing to blur the line between fact and fiction in order to leave our mark on the world. The New York Times wrote, “We can also consider the possibility that the hero of this story based on an untrue story is a little of each.”

John Hadden

Carla Woods

David Joseph

De Rougemont is played by John Hadden, a founding member of Shakespeare and Company where he won a 2016 “Berkie” award for work with the Lenox, Massachusetts theatre. He is a former Artistic Director of the Hubbard Hall Theater Company and Associate Artist with We Players of San Francisco and Artistic Director/Founder of Counterpoint Theater in Boston. He has appeared in a wide range of Shakespearean roles in Hamlet, Richard II, and King Lear.    He has been performing his one man play Confessions of a Masked Man based on his book and will perform it for Oldcastle audiences this season in addition to his performance in Shipwrecked.

David Joseph plays a variety of roles inShipwrecked! following his delightful portrayal of Charles Chaplin in last season’s The Consul, the Tramp & America’s Sweetheart in which he earned a Berkie nomiation for Best Actor. He has made many appearances with Shakespeare and Company including It’s A Wonderful Life, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest and 39 Steps. he recently completed filming and is in post-production for the feature film Penny Land.

Carla Woods joins Oldcastle for the first time playing everything from a society lady to a sea captain inShipwrecked! She appeared in National Touring companies of All Shook Up and Sister Act, and has acted with the famed Guthrie Theatre, the Cleveland Playhouse and the Virginia Stage Company. She has acted and sung on HBO and headlined for Royal Caribbean Cruises and concerts at Birdland.

The play is directed by Oldcastle’s Producing Artistic Director, Eric Peterson. The set design is by Wm. John Aupperlee, costumes by Ursula McCarty, Lights by David V. Groupe, and sound by Cory Wheat.

For reservations or information call 802-447-0564 or visit http://www.oldcastletheatre.org.

Oldcastle Theatre Presents “Shipwrecked!” Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Donald Margulies crowd-pleasingly inventive saga, Shipwrecked! The Amazing Adventures of Louis De Rougemont (As Told By Myself)

[larryland]

This year is Oldcastle’s 46th season and the 6th in their Main Street theatre. Oldcastle Theatre Company‘s 2017 season includes lots of laughs, heart-stopping suspense, and a psychological thriller that will leave audiences questioning, and debating.

Shipwrecked! The Amazing  Adventures of Louis De Rougemont (As Told By Himself) by Donald Margulies

David Joseph, who was nominated for a Berkie Award for his portrayal of Charlie Chaplin last season, will appear in “Shipwrecked!”

The season opens May 19 with Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Donald Margulies’ highly inventive Shipwrecked! The Amazing  Adventures of Louis De Rougemont (As Told By Himself). The play brings audiences the thrilling story of bravery, survival and celebrity that left 19th century England spellbound. Be prepared to be whisked away in a story of the high seas, populated by exotic islanders, flying wombats, giant sea turtles and a monstrous man-eating octopus. Shipwrecked! examines how far we are willing to blur the line between fact and fiction in order to leave our mark on the world.  The New York Times wrote “We can also consider  the possibility that the hero of this true story, based on an untrue story, is a little of each.”

Moonlight and Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson

The story of producer David O. Selznick shutting down production of his new epic Gone with the Wind. The screenplay, sadly, just doesn’t work. So the all-powerful movie mogul, while fending off the film’s stars, gossip columnists and his own father-in-law sends a car for screenwriter Ben Hecht and pulls formidable director Victor Fleming from the set of The Wizard of Oz. Summoning both to his office, he locks the door, closes the shades, and on a diet of bananas and peanuts, the three labor over five days to fashion a screenplay that will become a blueprint for one of the most successful and beloved films of all time. Seeing Fleming and Selznick “act out” the novel, playing all the parts from Rhett Butler to Scarlet O’Hara is rip-roaringly funny.The Chicago Sun Times call it a ” hyperventilating slapstick comedy, an impassioned love song, and blazing critique of Hollywood.

Mauritius by Theresa Rebeck

Tingling suspense follows with Theresa Rebeck’s Mauritius, a tension filled exploration of the seemingly benign hobby of stamp collecting. Two sisters, following their mother’s death, discover a book of rare stamps that may include the crown jewel for collectors. One sister tries to collect on the windfall, while the other resists for sentimental reasons. In this gripping tale, a seemingly simple sale becomes dangerous when three seedy high- stakes collectors enter the sisters’ world, willing to do anything to claim the rare find as their own.

Ms. Rebeck, who lives part-time in Dorset, has written for “NYPD Blue” ,”Law & Order: Criminal Intent, she created the TV series “Smash.” Her feature films include “Harriet the Spy”. Her numerous plays include Broadway productions of “Dead Accounts,” “Seminar” and “Mauritius.”

Oldcastle’s handsome theatre located at 331 Main Street in the heart of downtown Bennington, VT.

A Comedy of Tenors by Ken Ludwig

Picture one hotel suite, four tenors, two wives, three girlfriends, and a soccer stadium filled with screaming fans. What could go wrong? It’s 1930s Paris and the stage is set for the concert of the century—as long as Producer Henry Saunders can keep Italian superstar Tito Merelli and his hot-blooded wife Maria from causing runaway chaos. Prepare for an uproarious ride, full of mistaken identities, bedroom hijinks and madcap delight.

One of the most popular comedies in Oldcastle’s long history was Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me a Tenor which the Washington Post called: “One of the classic comedies of the 20th century.” It was nominated for seven Tony Awards, winning two including Best Director and Best Lead Actor.

Equus by Peter Shaffer

Equus is the story of a psychiatrist who attempts to treat a young man who has a pathological religious fascination with horses. The play is a kind of mystery with a children’s psychiatrist as the detective. The play was first produced by England’s famed National Theatre. A later Broadway production starred first Anthony Hopkins and then Anthony Perkins, Leonard Nimoy and Richard Burton, who starred in the film version. It won Tony Awards for Best Play, Best Actor and Best Featured Actress. The Oldcastle version features Nigel Gore as the psychiatrist. Ethan Botwick, who appeared with Gore in Oldcastle’s production of “A Lion in Winter” plays the young boy.  Christine Decker and Richard Howe play his parents and Ana Anderson plays the young woman attracted to Botwick.

Nigel Gore plays the psychiatrist, Martin Dysart.

Richard Howe will appear in both “Moonlight and Magnolias” and “Equus” this season.

Christine Decker joins Howe to play the parents of the troubled young man at the center of “Equus.”

Get your 2017 Flex-Pass today to guarantee your seat for this phenomenal season!! Call the box office to order your 802-447-0564

  Oldcastle Theatre Company Announces 2017 Season This year is Oldcastle's 46th season and the 6th in their Main Street theatre. Oldcastle Theatre Company…