There can be no denying the summer theater season has arrived.
Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, MA has just opened a stunning production of the musical “Cabaret” that runs through July 8.
It’s a brilliant interpretation that is both dark, disturbing and emotionally powerful. Expertly produced and directed by BSC’s new artistic director Alan Paul, it looks at Nazi Germany in 1929, and makes the statement that not opposing Hitler was an act of collaboration.
Today, Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA, opens “The Contention,” the middle play of the Henry VI trilogy. It’s rarely produced because most theaters feel the three plays should be offered as a unit.
Besides the obvious problems of time and expense, not to be overlooked is that Part I is considered one of the weakest plays with Shakespeare’s name on it. Literary historians agree that the first section was actually a collaboration with other writers that included Thomas Kyd and Christopher Marlowe.
“The Contention” is a much better work, which Shakespeare probably wrote himself with little outside assistance. Some contend that it actually was the original play in the trilogy.
It is also considered one of Shakespeare’s more exciting plays to stage. It explores the brutal conflict over control of the throne between the York and the Lancaster dynasties.
And, true to Shakespeare, there is plenty of intrigue and betrayals. It runs through July 15 at the Tina Packer Playhouse in Lenox, MA.
Adding to June’s bounty, this Thursday, June 29, Park Playhouse opens the delightful musical “Something Rotten” offered free of charge at Albany’s Washington Park.
It’s a clever, funny take on the Bottom family who want to compete with Shakespeare. Their solution is to write the first musical. The story they decide on is the basis of “Hamlet,” or as their soothsayer advisor calls it “0mlette”. It’s an idea which Shakespeare later steals to create his famous tragedy.
The show is filled with comic mashups of Shakespeare’s plays, contemporary musicals and just plain farcical comedy. You don’t need to know anything about classical theater to laugh at the antics of these clumsy theater types. It plays outdoors in Albany’s Washington Park through July 22.
The same weekend Opera Saratoga offers two of the season’s three productions. Opening Friday, June 30 is “Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.” It is not really an opera, rather it’s a Broadway show.
Based on a 1949 Alec Guinness film, “Kind Hearts and Coronets,” it’s about a man who has to murder eight people who are ahead of him to inherit a large fortune. Adding to the fun, all eight victims are played by the same actor. It continues at Saratoga’s Universal Preservation Hall July 2, 6 & 8.
Also opening next week at Opera Saratoga is “Don Pasquale.” It’s Donizetti’s classic comic opera detailing Don Pasquale’s quest to marry a younger woman to spite his nephew who is actually in love with the same woman. It continues at Universal Preservation Hall. July7 & 9.
This Wednesday June 28. Adirondack Theatre Festival opens its season with “The Last Wide Open.” As with all the company’s work it is a world premiere. “The Last Wide Open” has a “Ground Hog Day” flavor in which a couple get several chances of falling in love. It plays at the Charles Wood Theatre in Glens Falls through July 8.
I know it’s hard to believe, but it is still only June. Just wait until July and August when things really get busy.
Bob Goepfert is theater reviewer for the Troy Record.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.
