Arts Briefs: Folk rock at Iron Horse, ‘Xanadu’ auditions at UMass, and more
Published: 01-29-2025 2:36 PM |
Local folk rock band High Tea (Isabella DeHerdt and Isaac Eliot) and Wallace Field will co-headline a show at the Iron Horse on Friday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m.
High Tea’s music, according to a press release, includes “soulful melodies and ‘y’allternative’ musical style, blending elements of folk, punk, and americana to create a performance that is both authentic and emotionally resonant.” (The members of High Tea also collaborated on the album “Exploding Star” by Heather Maloney, who the Gazette recently profiled.)
Wallace Field’s music draws from influences that include Kate Bush, Aldous Harding, Joni Mitchell and Weyes Blood. A Greenfield Recorder review of her 2023 debut album said, “Field emerges as a master storyteller who takes the listener on a journey through darkness to the light on the other side. A powerful, musically stunning debut about survival.”
In a statement, Field said, “Playing the Iron Horse is a dream come true for me, and to share this honor with my friends in High Tea makes it all that more special. The Valley music scene has always felt so collaborative and community-minded, and this show will be a celebration of that.”
Tickets are $24 at ironhorse.org.
The UMass Amherst Theater Department will hold auditions for its production of “Xanadu” in the Rand Theater on Monday, Feb. 3, and Tuesday, Feb. 4, from 6:30 to 10:15 p.m. Callbacks will be Wednesday, Feb. 5, and Thursday, Feb. 6, from 6:30 to 10:15 p.m.
The show itself will run Friday, May 2, through Saturday, May 10.
The one-act musical “Xanadu” is about a Greek Muse, Clio, who disguises herself as a roller-skating Australian woman (played by Olivia Newton-John in the original movie) and inspires artist Sonny Malone to open a roller disco. (The audition description says the show is “a glitzy, campy, roller-disco dream” that “will certainly leave the audience rolling with laughter – and on skates!”)
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Auditions are open to the community, including non-students. (Note: the show has “mild references to sex” and “some coarse language.”)
Interested actors should prepare 16 bars of a musical theater piece similar to (but not from) “Xanadu,” including printed sheet music for the accompanist, plus a one- or two-minute contemporary monologue, preferably comedic.
To reserve your audition spot or see a character breakdown list, visit umass.edu/theater/events/xanadu-auditions.
Cellist Matt Haimovitz will perform at The Drake in Amherst on Sunday, Feb. 2, at 4 p.m.
The concert, part of The Drake’s classical music performance series, aims to bring classical music to people who might not otherwise be able to access it, either for financial reasons or a lack of prior experience with the genre.
Series co-founder Amy Gates told the Gazette in December, “It’s a very different visceral experience when you’re up that close to artists creating live music. You hear the grip of the bow on the string or the breathing of a wind instrument. You can see the piano fingers up close, and it’s a very different experience like that. And I think that’s really valuable to people — it’s breaking that barrier.”
Tickets to The Drake’s classical music shows are $15 at in advance (via thedrakeamherst.org/events) or $20 at the door, and they’re always $5 for students.
First Generation Ensemble, part of the Springfield-based theater company The Performance Project, will present an original production, “Mother Tongue,” on Saturday, Feb. 1, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m, at the Shea Theater in Turners Falls.
The show, according to the event description, is inspired by true stories from the Ensemble members’ lives (as well as those of their families and communities) and “weaves together movement, music, dance, theater, and stories in Arabic, Swahili, Nepali, Spanish, and English and incorporates themes of language, culture, identity, diaspora, hypermasculinity, transphobia, racism, education, the school to prison pipeline and revolution.”
The show will include a 20-minute talkback with the audience.
Tickets are $15 to $25, sliding scale, not including fees, via performanceproject.org/blog. (That link also has a trailer for the show.)
“Mother Tongue” is appropriate for ages 12 and up.
Montague Shakespeare Festival will hold auditions for its upcoming production of “Macbeth” over three virtual sessions this weekend and next.
Each session will have a different purpose: Session 1, on Saturday, Feb. 1, from 1 to 2:30 p.m., will be an introduction to the show from artistic director Nia Lynn, followed by ensemble work; Session 2, on Sunday, Feb. 2, from 1 to 2:30 p.m., will involve scene-building and character work; and Session 3, on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 1 p.m., will have the actors try different casting options.
Actors will receive their roles and scripts on Sunday, Feb. 9. In-person rehearsals start Saturday, March 15.
The production will be at Shea Theater in Turners Falls from Wednesday, March 26, through Sunday, April 6.
To register, visit montagueshakespearefestival.com/casting-events.