Chester Theatre’s 2024 season includes two world premieres, a fully staged production of Jay Sefton’s “Unreconciled,” directed by James Barry and starring Sefton, July 4-14, and more. Lucas Hnath’s “The Thin Place” opens the season on June 20. Tara Franklin stars. Broadway’s Bill Bowers stars in his solo piece “It Goes Without Saying,” July 14-15. Julie McKee’s “Will Sacrifice” has its world premiere, staged by Keira Naughton, July 25 to Aug. 4. “Big, Big Sky” by Tom Wells, directed by James Warwick, plays Aug. 8-18. James Barry stars. For details: www.chestertheatre.org.
“The Big Broadcast” is a recreation of a 1940s live radio show, complete with jazz and swing and songs of the day, commercials, and sketches. Created and directed by Mark Gionfriddo, and featuring the Jazz Ensembles of Mount Holyoke College, this has been a signature event at Mount Holyoke for 19 years. This year’s performances are on March 9, at Chapin Auditorium. Brian Lapis returns as emcee Fred Kelley. This year’s selections include “The American Patrol” from the Glenn Miller Orchestra; Rodgers & Hart’s “This Can’t Be Love”; Romberg and Hammerstein’s “Lover, Come Back to Me”; the iconic Gene Krupa drum feature “Sing Sing Sing”; and Cole Porter’s “Don’t Fence Me In,” as popularized by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters. Incidentally, this is the 25th anniversary of the Jazz Ensembles of Mount Holyoke College. For details: www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/music/big-broadcast.
“The Simon and Garfunkel Story,” a musical retrospective of the top-of-the-charts duo, showcasing their music, was a big hit in London, and its North American tour plays a one-night stand at the UMass Fine Arts Center on March 1. One of the tour stars is Max Pinson from the Cape Cod music group Hyannis Sounds. Dean Elliott directs. For details: www.fineartscenter.com.
“The Cher Show,” the Tony Award-winning musical celebrating the life of Cher, plays The Bushnell, March 5-10. The splashy show includes 35 Cher hits, costumes by Bob Mackie, and a retrospective on the life of one of America’s pop music icons. Three actresses play Cher, the kid starting out, the glam pop star, and the cultural icon. The musical is staged by Casey Hushion. For details: www.bushnell.org.
The Springfield Chamber Players Clarinet Quintet performs “March Reveries” on Sunday, March 10, at 3 p.m., at First Church of Christ, Longmeadow. The ensemble includes Christopher Cullen, clarinetist; Masako Yanagita and Miho Matsuno, violinists; Yuko Naito, violist; and Patricia Edens, cellist. Their program will feature “Souvenirs de Voyage” for Clarinet Quintet by Bernard Herrmann, the Academy Award-winning composer of Alfred Hitchcock film scores such as “Psycho,” “North by Northwest,” “Vertigo” and “The Birds.” Also included will be Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Six Studies in English Folk Song,” and selections from Haydn’s String Quartet Op. 50, No. 5, and Paul Chihara’s “Ellington Fantasy.” For details: www.springfieldsymphonymusicians.com.
“The Hot Wing King,” Katori Hall’s new play, comes to Hartford Stage Feb. 29 to March 24. Christopher D. Betts, who directed Hartford’s “Trouble in Mind,” returns to stage this Pulitzer Prize winner, about a Memphis hot wings festival. The play opened to rave reviews Off-Broadway, but was a victim of the pandemic. Bring your appetite for a fast-paced food drama. For details: www.hartfordstage.org.
Silverthorne Theater presents a series of readings of plays in progress by locally based playwrights, beginning with “Tight Pants” by Betel Arnold on Feb. 29 at Holyoke Media. Pedro Eiras directs. For details: silverthornetheater.org.
Paula Poundstone, the iconic comic known for her appearances on NPR’s “Wait, Wait … Don’t Tell Me,” will bring her act to the Berkshire Theatre Group’s Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield on May 4. For details: www.berkshiretheatregroup.org.
Mark G. Auerbach studied theater at American University and the Yale School of Drama. He has worked for arts organizations nationwide and reported on the arts for print and broadcast. Mark produces and hosts “ArtsBeat,” “Athenaeum Spotlight” and “On the Mark” for WCPC, Channel 15 in Westfield, and WSKB 89.5 FM. His “Arts Beat” column appears Mondays in The Westfield News. He’s a regular contributor to Pioneer Valley Radio and a member of the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association.
