James Taylor, WMass resident, may see his music on Broadway. According to Broadway News, Tracy Letts (August Osage County) is penning Fire and Rain, an original musical using the music of the James Taylor songbook. For details: https://www.broadwaynews.com/new-musical-is-in-the-works-featuring-the-songs-of-james-taylor/
Jane Scheckter, the Springfield native who started her career Off-Broadway and in Improv and moved to the cabaret in New York and France, will receive the 2025 Bistro Award for Sustained Cabaret Artistry. For details: https://bistroawards.com/award-winners/jane-scheckter/
Tara Franklin, former Co-Artistic Director of Chester Theatre, always had a delicious side hustle, Sweet Sam Bakes, which makes a variety of artisanal cookies and candies, and ships them from WMass to anywhere in the globe, It now gets more attention from this baker, with the help of actor/director James Barry and son Sam. For a menu: https://sweetsambakes.com/
Todd Rosenthal, the Tony Award-winning set designer (August Osage County) from Longmeadow, is having a banner year. He designed the Broadway production of Eureka Day (whose Kennedy Center run was cancelled); the pre-Broadway run of Rutka in Cincinnati; The Matchbox Magic Flute for The Goodman in Chicago, Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC and Berkeley Rep. For a look at his designs: https://www.toddrosenthalstudio.com/
Rashidra Scott, a Goodspeed regular (Ambassador of Love: The Pearl Bailey Musical, Anything Goes, A Christmas Story: The Musical; and Christmas in Connecticut, took the stage as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, where she’s standby for Nicole Scherzinger. For details on Sunset Boulevard. https://sunsetblvdbroadway.com/
Survivor Stories, Westfield Community Programming’s acclaimed series highlighting people who have survived obstacles and challenges, begins its second season on April 4. Among those in the theatre community to be profiled: Berkshire on Stage’s Gail M. Burns, and Northampton-based actor Gabriel Levey. Profiled in season 1 are: Broadway’s Evan Pappas and Mamie Parris (soon to appear in Goodspeed’s Ragtime), Unreconciled’s Jay Sefton, Barrington Stage Company Associate Artist Mark H. Dold, and more. For details: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnSwTu8SRtqLto_6FD-UP6H0xGaUXnjL4
Ben Scranton, the Springfield-based playwright, had his short play, The End of Society featured in PlayZoomers MIXED BAG, an assortment of four online plays airing in March. For details: https://www.benscranton.com/
Jacques Lamarre, the Hartford-based playwright, has his name on multiple marquees. His new play, The Baroness, premieres at West Hartrford’s Playhouse on Park June 4-22. Miss Conception’s Make America Gay Again summers in P-town, and TheaterWorks Hartford, where his Christmas on The Rocks playlets are an annual tradition, will present the premiere of his new play Circus Fire (about the 1944 Hartford tragedy). And, by day, he works as a publicist at Hartford’s Buzz Engine, doing PR for The Bushnell, Hartford Stage, and a lot of other clients. For details: https://www.jacqueslamarreplaywright.com/
Radio Personality Michael Buster McMahon of Westfield Community Programming wrote a play, Sanctuary Much, which had a series of staged readings at Exit 7 Players in Ludlow in March. In his cast: former Springfield radio legend Bo Sullivan.
Mark G. Auerbach studied theatre 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, Survivor Stories and On The Mark for WCPC15 and 89.5fm/WSKB. He’s a regular contributor to Berkshire onstage and a member of the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association.