by Mark G. Auerbach
Ali Louis Bourzgui, the Pittsfield actor who starred in the recent Broadway revival of The Who’s Tommy, takes on the role of Orpheus in Hadestown, beginning May 6. For details: https://hadestown.com/
Eliza Gonzales, UMass Theatre Assistant Professor of Voice and Acting, makes her Broadway debut as voice and dialect coach for the new musical, Real Women Have Curves. She’s been associated with the production since its pre-Broadway run at ART in Cambridge. For details: https://www.realwomenhavecurvesbroadway.com/
The next generation of a theatre dynasty makes its debut. Sam Barry, son of actors/directors Tara Franklin and James Barry, made his musical theatre debut in a recent school production of Footloose. During Covid, he occasionally appeared in his parents’ YouTube series Covid Covers.
Dear Edvard, a music-theatre piece by Steven Schoenberg and Richard Michelson, two well-known Western Massachusetts artists, will have its world premiere, June 20-July 6 at The Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse. Kevin Newbury will direct, and David Sytkowski is music director. Schoenberg, a Longmeadow native, is a pianist, and composer. Michelson, a poet and children’s book author, has been the Poet Laureate of Northampton. For performance details: https://mvplayhouse.org/theater/2025/03/2025-summer-season/
Alan Filderman, longtime casting director at Berkshire Theatre Group, died on March 19. He co-directed Godspell in a tent on the BTG campus during the pandemic. For details: https://playbill.com/article/casting-director-alan-filderman-has-died-at-70
Berkshire Previews, a six-week online preview of the Berkshires 2025 arts season, will be presented by OLLI, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College, beginning April 4 on ZOOM. Five local arts reporters and critics, myself amongst them, opened the program on April 4. Artistic directors on subsequent panels include: Kate Maguire, Berkshire Theatre Group; Jim Frangione, Great Barrington Public Theater; Alan Paul, Barrington Stage Company; John Sowle & Steve Patterson, Bridge Street Theatre; John Saunders, Mac-Haydn Theatre; Pamela Tatge, Jacob’s Pillow; Brian Garman, Berkshire Opera Festival; Allyn Burrows, Shakespeare & Co, and representatives from Williamstown Theatre Festival and Chester Theatre Company. Naomi Spatz NY theatre producer and creator of Teachers Night on Broadway and Kids Day on Broadway is course facilitator. For details: https://berkshireolli.org/F104BerkshirePreviewsSp25
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.