The Shea Theater Arts Center is looking to put locals in a jolly mood with three shows kicking off the holiday season over the next three days.
The featured events include a “Dear Mister Ward” comedic book reading at 8 p.m. on Friday, Eggtooth Productions’ Valley Vaudeville Variety Show at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, and the Música Franklin Holiday Cheer Benefit Concert at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
“Dear Mister Ward,” an emotionally evocative, reading-based performance, will return to the Shea Theater on Friday after a successful performance on July 23.
“The audience was so delighted with this quirky offering of real complaint letters to the Montgomery Ward Department Store that we are bringing it back,” Director Linda Tardif recounted in a statement.
Performers will “bring to life” an assortment of “hilarious, weird and occasionally heartbreaking” complaint letters sent to Midwestern mail-order business Montgomery Ward between 1932 and 1942. Montague resident Evan Gregg put together a book, “Dear Mister Ward,” based on some of those letters.
“Touching on topics that include fashion, relationships, technology, loneliness, debt and toilet paper, they provide a glimpse at the daily lives and preoccupations of rural Americans from the peak of the Great Depression into the early days of World War II,” dearmisterward.com reads.
“To me, this is a really interesting snapshot of a time and place in history, a time before people wrote complaints online, on Facebook or Yelp,” Gregg said previously. “When I did a Kickstarter campaign to fund the first print run of my book, some friends and other people told me they’d had a lot of fun reading the letters aloud to each other. That’s partly where I got the idea (for a staged reading).”
This new version of the show includes music by Zara Bode of The Sweetback Sisters. Tickets are $15 in advance through dearmisterward.com/events or $20 on the day of the show.
The Shea Theater describes the Valley Vaudeville Variety Show as “a panoply of performances in a wintry spectacle.” The family-friendly show, created by Greenfield artists Katherine Adler and Ashley Kramer, as well as Easthampton’s Rebecca Schrader, features short performances with vaudeville-themed comedy, dance and music.
“We are delighted to offer an assorted array of talents and tales from around the valley,” Adler said in a statement. “As the holidays begin, this is the perfect chance to grab a cider and bring the kids for wholesome fun and frolic. This show has a little bit of magic for everyone.”
Featured acts include excerpts from “Dear Mister Ward” and the Música Franklin Holiday Cheer Benefit Concert, as well as “divertissements from Eggtooth players and Cloudgaze ensemble.” Guests are encouraged to stay for cider, wine and music from Cloudbelly in the lobby after the curtains close.
Tickets are being sold at the door and online at bit.ly/3EQFsU3, with a sliding scale of $5 to $15 and special deals offered for families.
According to a notice from Música Franklin organizers, the Música Franklin Holiday Cheer Benefit Concert showcases “world-class musicianship” from some of the Pioneer Valley’s “most accomplished musicians.”
The multi-genre concert will feature Metropolitan Opera tenor Irwin Reese, concert pianist Julia Bady, violinist and composer Michi Wiancko, jazz musicians and composers Matan Rubinstein and Wes Brown, and Música Franklin Executive Director Orice Jenkins.
Suggested donations of $20 can be given at the door or at bit.ly/3GW7gsL. All proceeds benefit the students of the Música Franklin after-school program for students in Greenfield and Turners Falls.
Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-930-4231 or jmendoza@recorder.com.