Westfield News Group Arts Beat for 11/30/16

My Westfield News Group Arts Beat for 11/30/16. Nutcracker Suite and Spicy in Hartford. Traditional Nutcracker in Pittsfield and Springfield and more. http://thewestfieldnews.com/arts-beat-151

Westfield News Group Feature: Kevin Rhodes Conducts Raymonda in Vienna

Client, The American conductor Kevin Rhodes, will conduct the Vienna State Opera's production of Rudolf Nureyev's "Raymonda", with music by Glazunov. The Westfield News Group reports: http://thewestfieldnews.com/american-conductor-kevin-rhodes-to-conduct-rudolf-nureyevs-production-of-raymonda-at-the-vienna-state-opera-ballet-december-22-through-january-8

Media Release: American Conductor Kevin Rhodes to Conduct Vienna State Opera Ballet's Raymonda

DATELINE: November 28, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AMERICAN CONDUCTOR KEVIN RHODES TO CONDUCT RUDOLF NUREYEV’S PRODUCTION OF RAYMONDA AT THE VIENNA STATE OPERA BALLET DECEMBER 22 THROUGH JANUARY 8

The Massachusetts-based American conductor Kevin Rhodes will conduct the Rudolf Nureyev production of Raymonda at the Vienna State Opera Ballet, with performances on December 22, 26, 27, 30, and January 3, and 8. Rhodes returns to Vienna for his 21st season, and he will also conduct the annual Nureyev Gala at the Vienna State Opera on June 28.

Raymonda is one of Russia’s classic full-length ballets, with original choreography by Marius Petipa to music of Alexander Glazunov. It was first preented in St. Petersburg in 1898, and later was revived by the Kirov Ballet in 1948, in a production by Konstantin Sergeyev. Nureyev staged his version, inspired by the Kirov, in the West, after his flight from the Soviet Union in 1961. He choreographed a production for the Royal Ballet at the Spoleto Festival in Italy in 1964; He staged his definitive version for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1983-84, upon becoming the Ballet’s director. 

Maestro Rhodes first conducted Nureyev’s production of Raymonda in Vienna in 1997, and he has also conducted that version of the ballet in Paris.. 

Maestro Rhodes divides his time between his roles as Music Director for the Springfield Symphony Orchestra in Massachusetts, and the Traverse Symphony in Michigan; he is celebrating his 16th season with both ensembles. He is also Principal Conductor for Boston’s Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra for his 7th season. This fall, Maestro Rhodes conducted an all-Balanchine program as part of the Paris Opera Ballet’s Homage to Violette Verdy. .A regular guest conductor at Europe’s top opera houses for over 20 years, this season he also returns to the Stuttgart Ballet to conduct Romeo and Juliet and makes his debut with the Norwegian National Ballet in Oslo, conducting Don Quixote.. 

For details on the Vienna State Opera Ballet’s production Raymonda: http://www.wiener-staatsoper.at/Content.Node/home/Startseite-Content.en.php

For Kevin Rhodes’ website: http://kevinrhodesconductor.com/

For Kevin Rhodes biography: http://www.parkerartists.com/Kevin-Rhodes.html

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Westfield News Group Arts Beat 11/22/16

My Westfield News Group Arts Beat 11/21/16. Once at UMass Fine Arts Center, a new Romeo and Juliet by UMass Dance, Springfield Symphony Holiday Pops and more. http://thewestfieldnews.com/arts-beat-150

Media Advisory: The Capitol Steps Post-Election Therapy Show

DATELINE: November 22, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA ADVISORY

The Mike Thornton Agency presents

THE CAPITOL STEPS:

POST-ELECTION THERAPY SHOW

Saturday, November 26, 2016 at 5PM

Saturday, November 26, 2016 at 8PM

Sanders Theatre

Memorial Hall, Harvard University

45 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA.

The Capitol Steps make history in the aftershock of the “historical and hysterical” presidential election in their newly subtitled "Post-Election Therapy" Show.

The Capitol Steps have been a national institution for over 35 years, providing a unique blend of musical and political comedy and satire to audiences coast-to-coast. Each show consists of tasteful lampooning guaranteed to leave both sides of the political spectrum laughing. The troupe started in 1981. Since then, they have appeared on The Today Show, Nightline, CBS Evening News and for many years in specials for NPR. 

The Capitol Steps Post Election Therapy Show features all the recent candidates, plus Vladimir Putin, Rachel Maddow, Anthony Weiner, Pope Francis, Nancy Pelosi, “W,” and many others.

5PM Performance:  $45, $41, $35. Student discount: $5 OFF per ticket (limit of 2 tickets with student ID in advance). Student Rush: $15 at door after 3:30PM, Limited Seating available.

8PM Performance:  $43, $39, $33. Student and Senior discount: $5 OFF per ticket (limit of 2 tickets with ID in advance). Student Rush: $15 at door after 6:30PM, Limited seating available.

Tickets are on sale at the Harvard Box-Office and at the door. For details:  617-496-2222 orhttps://www.boxoffice.harvard.edu

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Note to The Press.

Capitol Steps YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/CapitolSteps#p/u/0/SJ70OFLagq8

Mike Thornton, The Capitol Steps performer and producer, and/or other members of The Capitol Steps may be available for interviews with the media in advance of their arrival in Boston. To schedule an interview, contact: Mark G. Auerbach at 413-427-7352 or mgauerbach@gmail.com

For Capitol Steps publicity photos: http://www.capsteps.com/live/pr06.html

For links to broadcast versions of Capitol Steps songs, and other promotional items, please email Mark G. Auerbach at mgauerbach@gmail.com. 

Review: An American in Paris at The Bushnell

My Westfield News Group review of "An American in Paris" at The Bushnell. C'est magnifique on every level. http://thewestfieldnews.com/review-an-american-in-paris-at-the-bushnell-in-hartford-cest-magnifique

Westfield News Group Arts Beat 11/16/16

My Westfield News Group Arts Beat 11/16/16. A Christmas Carol in Hartford and Pittsfield, Christmas on the Rocks at TheaterWorks, and more. http://thewestfieldnews.com/arts-beat-149

Media Release / Gionfriddo Reading/Booksigning in Pittsfield, MA on December 17

Update December 16. This event has been postponed due to inclement weather forecast. We hope to reschedule this in summer.

DATELINE: November 17, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Mark G. Auerbach

Mark G. Auerbach Public Relations

mgauerbach@gmail.com

BERKSHIRE THEATRE GROUP MUSICAL DIRECTOR, MARK GIONFRIDDO, AND HIS MOTHER, JEANNIE GIONFRIDDO, AUTHOR NEW BOOK,“GOOD NIGHT, DEAR HART, GOOD NIGHT,” 

READING AND BOOK SIGNING SCHEDULED AT THE GARAGE IN PITTSFIELD, MA ON SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17 AT 4PM

Berkshire Theatre Group presents a reading and book signing of Good Night, Dear Hart, Good Night, a new historical non-fiction book by Jeannie and Mark Gionfriddo, on Saturday, December 17 at 4pm at The Garage at The Colonial Theatre. Admission to the reading and book signing is free, and books will be available for sale at the event. The event begins immediately following the 2pm matinee of A Christmas Carol.

When Jeannie Gionfriddo and her late husband, Roy, purchased their family home in Holyoke, MA in 1964, there was one seller’s condition: the tenant, Hart Lester Allen, in the adjoining apartment, had to have the right to live there as long as she wanted. As the Gionfriddo’s got to know Mrs. Allen, she shared her personal history.

Allen was the widow of Massachusetts Bank Commissioner, Joseph C. Allen, who investigated and brought to justice the notorious criminal Charles Ponzi, whose “Ponzi Scheme” robbed many people of their life savings. Jeannie Gionfriddo, a columnist at the Holyoke Sun, began to chronicle Allen’s story. Her son, Mark, assisted with the research. But after a draft or two, they put the book aside. When Bernie Madoff’s financial crimes made headlines, the Gionfriddo’s revised Good Night, Dear Hart Good Night, which is part backstory of a bank commissioner taking on a powerful criminal, and part love story of the woman who supported him along the way, set in Massachusetts cities and towns, including Springfield.

Mother and son, Jeannie Gionfriddo and Mark Gionfriddo, still live in the Holyoke house where Good Night, Dear Hart, Good Night takes place; she in the main house, and he in the apartment, where Hart Lester Allen once resided. Jeannie Gionfriddo has authored cookbooks and wrote the Holyoke Sun’s food columns. Mark Gionfriddo is a member of the music faculty at Mount Holyoke College, creator of The Big Broadcast, a recreation of a 1940s radio show with the Jazz Ensembles at Mount Holyoke College, and a musical director at Berkshire Theatre Group, where he conducted Beauty and The Beast last summer, and is currently the vocal coach of the 11th annual production of A Christmas Carol.

For details on Good Night, Dear Hart, Good Night, visit the book’s website at, http://goodnightdearhart.com/, or visit the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/goodnightdearhart.

To purchase tickets to A Christmas Carol,  contact the Colonial Ticket Office at 111 South Street, Pittsfield by calling 413-997-4444, or online at www.berkshiretheatregroup.org. Ticket Offices are open Monday-Friday 10am-5pm, Saturdays 10am-2pm or on any performance day from 10am until curtain

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Media Release: The Capitol Steps Bring Their Newly-Coined "Post Election Therapy Show" to Cambridge, MA on November 26

DATELINE: November 14, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Mark G. Auerbach

Mark G. Auerbach Public Relations

mgauerbach@gmail.com

THE CAPITOL STEPS BRING THEIR NEWLY-COINED “POST ELECTION THERAPY SHOW" TO HARVARD ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26.

The Capitol Steps make history in the aftershock of the “historical and hysterical” presidential election in their newly subtitled show: Post Election Therapy Saturday, November 26 at 5PM and 8PM at Sanders Theatre in Memorial Hall on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, MA.

The Capitol Steps have been a national institution for over 35 years, providing a unique blend of musical and political comedy and satire to audiences coast-to-coast. Each show consists of tasteful lampooning guaranteed to leave both sides of the political spectrum laughing. The troupe started in 1981. Since then, they have appeared on The Today Show, Nightline, CBS Evening News and for many years in specials for NPR. 

Mike Thornton who plays Trump, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, George “W” Bush, and compresses the craziness that was the 2016 Presidential Election into a 10 minute “spoonerism," says: “All bets went out the window. We are now taking on the formidable comedic task of lightening up a multitude of distraught Capitol Steps fans. The response has been profound and wonderful.”

Thornton recounts scores of audience members approaching the performers after recent shows in Rockport MA, Maine and New Hampshire and thanking them for elevating their spirits to the point of “much needed” raucous laughter. Thornton says that The Capitol Steps' cast and writing team have been working non-stop since the election to add fresh new material to the show. 

“The good folks up at the Stone Mountain Arts Center gave me the idea of “Post Election Therapy” at our recent performance in Brownfield Maine.  “A Once In A Lifetime Election Show – Post Election Therapy” is just too long, so I’m simply using the Post Election Therapy Show for short," Thornton says.  

The Capitol Steps Post Election Therapy Show features all the recent candidates, plus Vladimir Putin, Rachel Maddow, Anthony Weiner, Pope Francis, Nancy Pelosi, “W,” and many others.

Tickets for both performances by The Capitol Steps are available at the Harvard Box-Office. Advance student discounts are on sale, subject to availability for both performances, and advance senior discounts, also subject to availability, are offered for the 8PM performance. Student rush tickets may be available at the door for both performances. For details:  617-496-2222 or https://www.boxoffice.harvard.edu

To preview some of the Capitol Steps materials, visit their website, www.capsteps.com, or find The Capitol Steps on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter (@capsteps)

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Westfield News Group Arts Beat 11/9/16

My Westfield News Group ArtsBeat for 11/9/16. Made in the Berkshires; Capitol Steps in Cambridge; a new Gionfriddo book and more. http://thewestfieldnews.com/arts-beat-148

My Succeeding in Small Business Profile: Thomas Parker

I profiled Thomas Parker of Parker Artists or Succeeding in Small Business. We first met when I was Marketing Director at the Springfield Symphony in the 1980s. Now, we share a client, the conductor Kevin Rhodes. http://www.succeedinginsmallbusiness.com/small-business-success-33-thomas-f-parker-parker-artists/#.WCCOLCMrJaV

My Pioneer Valley Radio Interview

My interview with Michael Harrison on Pioneer Valley Radio. Mike was my radio mentor when I got started behind the mic. I got to talk about some of my clients.
http://pioneervalleyradio.com/2016/11/04/radio-show-65-pr-executive-mark-g-auerbach-interviewed-by-michael-harrison/

Westfield News Group Arts Beat 11/2/16

My Westfield News Group Arts Beat 11/2/16. "An American in Paris" is Bushnell-bound. Berkshire Theatre Awards and more. http://thewestfieldnews.com/arts-beat-147