Friend Me: Portraits and Projects, Carole Freeman
Unite the World by Painting Portraits
People
By: Astrid Hiemer - 01/22/2012
Facebook has given rise to 'Friend Me Projects,' which started publicly with an exhibition in Toronto and has expanded into different elements. In its entirety, 'Friend Me Projects' aim to engage 800,000,000 Facebook 'friends' and a global general population as well. "Every body wants to get involved" is the reaction Carole Freeman and partner Michael Bain are receiving.
Pieranna Cavalchini Lets Artists Think, Explore at the Gardner
The Gift of Time
Fine Arts
By: David Bonetti - 01/22/2012
The Artist-in-Residency Program at the Gardner Museum is 20 years old. Now, with a dedicated gallery and two resident apartments, it is poised to take on a higher profile. Curator Pieranna Cavalchini talks about the program.
La Dame Pique Peaks at the Paris Opera Bastille
Vladimir Galouzine, a Great Hermann
Music
By: Susan Hall - 01/25/2012
Singer after singer, in role upon role, hits a home run at the Opera Bastille. You might think this is the way Opera should be delivered, but we don't get it at the Metropolitan Opera, so consistent performance is a thrill in Paris.
Barrington Stage Company Announces 2012 Season
Fiddler, Arthur Miller, Mark St. Germain Headline
Theatre
By: Barrington - 01/26/2012
It would be difficult to match the success of the 2011 season of Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield. The company set records with its productions of Guys and Doll and a riveting new work by Mark. St. Germain, Best of Enemies. But in a press conference Julianne Boyd, artistic director of BSC, stated that she doesn't want to repeat herself. Opening with a musical, Fiddler on the Roof, Arthur Miller and a farce directed by John Rando, however, looks sure to run the table on the Main Stage. With St. Germain's new Dr. Ruth among the tricks up her sleeve for Stage 2.
Huntington Theatre To Present Our Town
December Production by David Cromer
Theatre
By: Huntington - 01/26/2012
Huntington Theatre Company announces that its 2012-2013 Season will include MacArthur “Genius” David Cromer’s groundbreaking new production of Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning American classic Our Town December 7, 2012 – January 13, 2013. Cromer will direct and play the Stage Manager, a role he previously performed in Chicago and Off Broadway productions.
10x10 on North
Winter Arts Celebration in Pittsfield
Opinion
By: Pittsfield - 01/27/2012
10X10 On North announces the schedule of events for the Berkshires’ first-ever winter contemporary arts festival, creatively enlivening downtown Pittsfield February 16-26 with art, dance, film, music, theatre, and more
New Gardner Museum Expands Isabella's Mission
Brilliant Architectural Addition By Renzo Piano
Architecture
By: Mark Favermann - 01/15/2012
The gleaming new wing at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum demonstrates how great design can preserve a historic structure. Through great vision, hard work and patient persistence, Executive Director Anne Hawley, her staff and board worked over seven years to complete a brilliant reconfiguration of a venerable art institution. Starchitect Renzo Piano masterfully created a gem.
Gerard Malanga at Architecture for Art Gallery
Hillsdale, New York Exhibition January 21 to February 26
Fine Arts
By: Charles Giuliano - 01/19/2012
You can take the boy out of the city but you can’t take the city out of the boy. No, cancel that. The former lizard prince, who performed the famous Whip Dance with Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, has gone country. Big time. Can you believe it? He’s showing landscapes at Architecture for Art Gallery.
Jenny Gersten Sortah Announces WTF Season
The Dog Ate the Homework
Theatre
By: Charles Giuliano - 01/19/2012
Cripes. More of the same old same old. Yet again there is bait and switch as artistic director Jenny Gersten appears to manipulate the media to get the maximum impact from limited news. Some media got an exclusive advance on this while for the rest of us, the news was late getting out. So New York. As usual. That said here are some hints on what to expect this summer.
Catherine Russell at Mass MoCA February 18
Jazz Singer to Appear in the Hunter Center
Music
By: MoCA - 01/16/2012
Catherine Russell, who has earned comparisons to jazz icons such as Ella Fitzgerald and Bessie Smith, will share her soulful blues on Saturday, February 18, at 8pm in MASS MoCA's Hunter Center in a concert sponsored by Amtrak.
Jonas Dovydenas War and Peace in Afghanistan
Berkshire Community College Exhibition Through February 17
Photography
By: Charles Giuliano - 01/18/2012
Between 1985 and 2010 the Berkshire based photographer Jonas Dovydenas made 13 trips to Afghanistan to create an edited portfolio of some 12,000 images. A selection of work has been densely hung, salon style, in the Koussevitzky Art Gallery at Berkshire Community College (BCC) in Pittsfield where they will remain on view, Monday through Friday, 9AM to 5PM through February 17.
John Douglas Thompson Three
Portraying Louis Armstrong and Joe Glaser
People
By: John Douglas Thompson and Charles Giuliano - 01/22/2012
John Douglas Thompson is renowned for his interpretations of iconic theatrical roles. This summer he returns to Shakespeare & Company with a world premiere of Satchmo at the Waldorf written by Wall Street Journal drama critic Terry Teachout. Charles Giuliano started listening to Louis Armstrong in the 1950s. Here they discuss Satchmo and his controversial manager Joe Glaser. In the play Thompson will portray both characters.
Desperados in North Adams
Lunch with Los Amigos
Food
By: Pit Bulls - 01/21/2012
Hands down, Desperados is the best Mexican restaurant in North Adams. Since it opened a year or so ago it has been a popular destination with a combo of affordable, not very spicy food, in a tight space that makes for noisy evenings.
Opera Bastille's Smashing Manon by Massanet
Natalie Dessay and Giuseppe Filianoti Enchant
Music
By: Susan Hall - 01/19/2012
Let us hope that there will always be Paris, because at the Opera Bastille, there will always be opera as it is meant to be: big, thrilling, musically completely in step and in tune. Even punk and Emo seem just right on stage with the descending staircases of Kings.
Mezze in Williamstown Offers Staff Menu
Comfort Food at Affordable Prices
Food
By: Mezze - 01/23/2012
In the cold winter months, comfort food is what most diners crave at mealtime. The Staff Menu evolved from the popularity of Comfort Sunday at Mezze Bistro – a three-course prix fixe menu available on Sundays from November through May. Comfort Sunday has created a strong following with many regulars coming back week after week.
ICA Endows Positions
Half of Goal of $50 Million Raised
Opinion
By: ICA - 01/24/2012
Both the Director and Chief Curator positions have been endowed for the first time in the Institute of Contemporary Art's 75 year history. Ellen Poss has endowed the Director position, now named the Ellen Matilda Poss Director; and Barbara Lee has endowed the Chief Curator post, now named the Barbara Lee Chief Curator.
The Back Chamber By Donald Hall
Former US Poet Laureate's First Book of Poetry In A Decade
Word
By: George Abbott White - 11/11/2011
Rarely giving interviews, former US Poet Laureate Donald Hall agreed to have a conversation with his former University of Michigan student George Abbott White for BFA. On a beautiful sunlit November day, the two sat down at Hall's New Hampshire farm to an extensive dialogue about what went into his life and poetry. This was a special exchange both personally and professionally.
Rembrandt and Degas: Two Young Artists
Clark Art Institute to February 5
Fine Arts
By: Charles Giuliano - 11/13/2011
The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown is fighting off a double Dutch dilemma (pun intended) with a miniscule but riveting special exhibition Rembrandt and Degas: Two Young Artists. It is now off season in the Berkshires and the museum is 90% closed for renovation and construction through summer 2014. But it gamely remains open with free admission, terrific small exhibitions, and the enormously popular Met Live in HD broadcasts.
ICA Announces WINTER/SPRING 2012 Schedule
Performances, Talks And Film Programs
Film
By: Joyce Linehan - 12/05/2011
For the upcoming winter and spring 2012, the ICA has developed a full and provocative series of events that include an array of performances, film programs and lectures. Be there or be square.
Denise Markonish Part One
Mass MoCA Curator
People
By: Denise Markonish and Charles Giuliano - 12/15/2011
In May Mass MoCA curator, Denise Markonish, will present the result of a three year long survey of contemporary art in Canada. From some 400 studio visits she has selected roughly sixty artists. During an in depth dialogue we explored our common roots as alumni of Brandeis University and its troubled Rose Art Museum. In this first installment we explore her education and career as a young curator prior to joining the staff of Mass MoCA.
Denise Markonish Part Two
Projects for Mass MoCA
People
By: Denise Markonish and Charles Giuliano - 12/15/2011
The concept of Mass MoCA was initiated more than twenty years ago by Tom Krens then the director of the Williams College Museum of Art. When he departed for the Guggenheim Joe Thompson took over. The museum opened some eleven years ago with Laura Heon as chief curator and her associate Nato Thompson. Both have since parted. The team of curators Susan Cross and Denise Markonish accentuate Chapter Two of the museum's evolving history. When Markonish was hired the museum was in the midst of an ugly conflict over a later abandoned project by Christoph Buchel in the vast Building Five.
Denise Markonish Part Three
Curating a Survey of Canadian Art for Mass MoCA
People
By: Denise Markonish and Charles Giuliano - 12/16/2011
For the past three years Mass MoCA curator, Denise Markonish, has trekked across Canada making hundreds of studio visits. When not on the road she has researched exhibitions and catalogues. Few American curators and critics are as broadly informed on the vast and complex topic of contemporary art in Canada. It is a project she took on almost by default given the general lack of interest and commitment. In June the museum will exhibit the work of 64 artists in what should prove to be an eye opening and ground breaking overview. This is the third and final segment of a critical dialogue.
The Belle Epoque of Massenet
An Exhibition at Opera Garnier, Paris
Music
By: Nelida Nassar - 12/19/2011
On the occasion of the centennial anniversary of Jules Massenet’s death, an exhibition is being held at the Paris Opera Garnier. Displayed are Jules Massenet’s reconstructed workshop, his glasses, and an inkwell set on his piano/desk, his manuscripts and opera posters.
Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT
Celebrating a Remarkable Legacy
Fine Arts
By: Zeren Earls - 12/21/2011
Artist and educator Gyorgy Kepes, who championed an integrated vision of our world, using all our faculties to assimilate with "the scientist's brain, the poet's heart and the painter's eyes," played a key role in bringing art to MIT. Kepes's legacy through the Center for Advanced Visual Studies he founded was recently celebrated by the artist fellows and followers of the program.
Cesaria Evora Took Her Final Bow
Cape Verde's Barefoot Diva
Music
By: Nelida Nassar - 12/20/2011
The music world mourns the morna ballads of cape Verdian queen Cesaria Evora. Her unforgettable legacy leaves our world richer. She will be remembered for her barefoot stage arrival, a bit provocative, singing passionately then sometimes stopping for a sip of cognac or a cigarette, transporting her audience from laughter to tears. Before tiptoeing in great discretion and humility to another universe, she leaves us with words of wisdom: “Life goes on, I came towards you, I did my best, I had a career that many would like to have.”
Jacobs Pillow Announces 2012 Season
Highlights of 80th Year of World Class Dance
Dance
By: Pillow - 12/19/2011
January 2012 will kick off the momentous 80th Anniversary of Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, a National Historic Landmark, National Medal of Arts honoree, and America’s longest-running international dance festival. Founded in 1933 by modern dance pioneer Ted Shawn as a retreat for his company of Men Dancers, Jacob’s Pillow has been a mecca of dance for eight decades.
Large Scale: Fabricating Sculpture in the 60s & 70s
Jonathan D. Lippincott's New Monograph
Word
By: Christina Lanzl - 12/21/2011
Large Scale presents a rare opportunity to witness the creative process up-close in a new, illustrated monograph on the Lippincott workshop, which fabricated monumental works with such notables as Ellsworth Kelly, Roy Lichtenstein and Barnett Newman.
Christina Olsen to Head Willams Museum
Joins College on May 1
People
By: WCMA - 01/19/2012
Williams College today announced the appointment of Christina Olsen as the Class of 1956 Director of the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA). Olsen is currently the director of education and public programs at the Portland Art Museum and previously worked at the Getty Foundation and Getty Museum.
Tony Simotes Plays His Markers on Berkshire Theatre
Getting Shakespeare & Company Back on Track
Theatre
By: Charles Giuliano - 01/11/2012
In announcing a stunning, star studded program for the 35th season of Shakespeare & Company, now in his third season as artistic director, Tony Simotes provided indicators of what to expect in the future. This summer he will play his aces with former teacher and friend Olympia Dukakis in The Tempest. The company's homegrown star, John Douglas Thompson, returns after a hiatus in a new one man play Satchmo at the Waldorf.
Le Comte d'Ory Seduces Our Gal in Zurich
Camareno, Bartoli and Olvera Scintillate at the Opernhaus
Music
By: Susan Hall - 01/13/2012
Zurich proves that opera can be live and freshly-minted in apt productions, beautifully sung and acted and true to the composer and the form without twisting itself out of shape to satisfy. When it first opened in Paris almost two hundred years ago critics said Le Comte d’Ory was a mess, too vaudeville, and too much of a pastiche of Rossini’s previous work.
Thespian John Douglas Thompson One
Next Up Iceman Cometh at Chicago's Goodman
People
By: John Douglas Thompson and Charles Giuliano - 01/12/2012
John Douglas Thompson discusses working with Sam Waterson and Bill Irwin this season in King Lear at the Public Theatre in New York. And pending plans for Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh in Chicago at the Goodman Theatre with Nathan Lane and Brian Dennehy.
Wilco Solid Sound Festival a No Go
Set To Return in 2013
Music
By: Charles Giuliano - 01/13/2012
Cancel your hotel reservations and put away the tent and camping gear. Damn. There will be no Wilco Solid Sound Festival at Mass MoCA this June as there has been for the past two years. That's tough darts for fans and merchants alike. The rock band will perform a benefit for MoCA on a date TBA and return with the festival in 2013.
John Douglas Thompson Two
Developing the Terry Teachout Play Satchmo
People
By: John Douglas Thompson and Charles Giuliano - 01/14/2012
This summer at Shakespeare & Company John Douglas Thompson will premiere a one man play Satchmo at the Waldorf written by the Wall Street Journal drama critic Terry Teachout. Thompson is in the early stages of research on the life and music of the legendary jazz musician Louis Armstrong.
Patriots and Paterno
A Sunday of Triumph and Tragedy
Opinion
By: Charles Giuliano - 01/23/2012
Yesterday the death of disgraced college football coach, Joe Paterno, at 85, and the triumph of an underdog, come from behind New England Patriots offered the unique invitation to compare and contrast. More than winning and losing sports are about character and facing challenges and adversity. More than covering the outcome of games is the opportunity to delve into the heart and soul of the human condition. The Patriots rose to the challenge while in facing his greatest test JoPa was found lacking in morality and character.
Temporary Structures
Architecture As Minimalist Functional Sculptures
Architecture
By: Mark Favermann - 06/27/2011
Traditionally, architects showcased their skills or made their professional bones by designing a house. Usually these were created for close relatives or more often their parents or wealthy patrons. Today, there seems to be a widespread trend of emerging architectural firms and practitioners to want to design functional sculptural forms that are often temporary. Sculptors working closely with structural engineers also build impermanent functioning structures. The results are often provocative and sometimes spectacular.
Mad Jacks BBQ in Pittsfield
Launching the Barbecue Project
Food
By: The Pit Bulls - 05/11/2011
This is the launch of the Barbecue Project. The mandate is to seek out, taste, and report on ever restaurant and pit in the Berkshires. Of which there are now quite a few. We will focus on ribs and pulled pork as well as evaluate sides and the all important variety of sauces. We got off to a great start with Mad Jacks in Pittsfield. With a promise to return to JackJack's Soul Food, also in Pittsfield, when Terrell serves barbecue on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
JackJack’s Soul Food in Pittsfield
Searching for Elusive Barbecue
Food
By: The Pit Bulls - 08/04/2011
Both together and separately the Pitt Bulls (Cisco and Pancho) have visited JackJack's Soul Food in Pittsfield. The one man operation of chef Terrell Ortiz has demonstrated flashes of brilliance and inspiration. But without extra help for prep a general lack of consistency. The full menu has not been available during our several visits. This is the second in an ongoing series surveying barbecue and soul food in the Berkshires.
Barbecue in the Berkshires
Asian Ribs at Flavours in Pittsfield
Food
By: Pit Bulls - 08/22/2011
Flavours, a basement restaurant at 75 North Street in Pittsfield is not what comes to mind when seeking out neighborhood rib joints. It is just an aspect of the diverse menu of the Malaysian born chef Sabrina Tan. Not just in the Berkshires, however, her Asian style barbecue is in a class by itself.
The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess at ART
Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis Sizzle
Theatre
By: Charles Giuliano - 09/02/2011
With three women in charge, artistic director, Diane Paulus, playwright, Suzan-Lori Parks and music director/ composer Diedre L. Murry this ART production of The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess at American Repertory Theatre is more about Bess than Porgy. Audra McDonald stars in this revision of an American classic by and for women. Norm Lewis, however, more than holds his own as Porgy and Phillip Boykin as Crown must be seen and heard to be believed. Incredible. This Cambridge smash hit will swarm over Broadway for the Holidays.
Clyfford Still Unfolds in the Rockies
A Stand Alone Museum for Still Opens in Denver
Fine Arts
By: Susan Hall - 11/18/2011
Ninety-four percent of Clyfford Still's output is now housed in a new museum in Denver. The hush hanging over his work has been broken and all the early excitement and praise he received from his peers and critics is proven correct in the paintings exhibited in this extraordinary viewing space.
Occupy Wall Street Occupies the Metropolitan Opera
OWS Shouted Out Over a Dozen Times Before Act III of Faust
Music
By: Susan Hall - 12/04/2011
Occupy Wall Street was banned from the Lincoln Center Plaza, city owned property leased to Lincoln Center, on December 1, as Philip Glass read from the Ghandi libretto in front of the Met. On December 3, a protester succeeded in getting into the house and calling out his message, by and large favorably received by audience claps, but quelled by Met staffers.
The Eames Iconic Plywood Leg Splint
A Breakthrough Design Leading To New Furniture
Design
By: Mark Favermann - 12/10/2011
At the beginning of WWII, the United States War Department was in a dilemma. They needed a more modular, lightweight way of splinting wounded personnel. They turned to the creative Venice Beach based designers, Charles and Ray Eames, to help solve the problem. The Eameses had been working on molding plywood for the previous few years. Having accessible the Navy's facilities, their design team was able to develop a molded plywood splint. Sculptural and elegant, it is now a design icon.
Chorus Line Opens Colonial Summer
Great Mix for Berkshire Theatre Group’s Second Season
Theatre
By: Charles Giuliano - 12/10/2011
For the second season this summer there will be head to head musicals in Pittsfield. Berkshire Theatre Group has announced that A Chorus Line will be presented at the Colonial Theatre. While a few blocks away Barrington Stage will feature Fiddler on the Roof. Both theatre companies have yet to announce their complete summer season of plays and performances.
Painting Marathon by James Aponovich: One
A Painting a Week for a Year Then a Show at Clark Gallery
People
By: James Aponovich and Charles Giuliano - 12/11/2011
James Aponovich is regarded as among the foremost American realist painters. He is in the midst of a conceptual project to finish a painting a week for a year. It was the subject of a broadcast on Chronicle this past week. In May the entire series of 52 paintings will be shown at Clark Gallery in Lincoln, Mass. This was an occasion to catch up with a superb artist and old friend.
James Aponovich Part Two
Is Conceptual Realism an Oxymoron
People
By: James Aponovich and Charles Giuliano - 12/13/2011
Working nine to five, six and a half days a week, the realist painter James Aponovich sees himself as an art worker. Over a year which ends in May he has set a goal of completing one new painting a week. All 52 works will be shown at the Clark Gallery in June. While he has been out of the New York art world for several years in 2014 he is scheduled for a one man show at the prestigious Hirschl & Adler Gallery. This is the second and final installment of a dialogue with the New Hampshire based artist.
Mass MoCA Winter/ Spring Schedule
A Mix of Music and Arts
Opinion
By: MoCA - 12/14/2011
In the galleries the new exhibition Sanford Biggers: The Cartographer's Conundrum will open on February 5, while the group exhibition Invisible Cities debuts on April 15. Series offered this season will include the exciting Alt Cabaret which features music and dance and MASS MoCA's Thursday night Cinema Lounge series, titled Strategic Thinking, with four films most followed by Q&As with filmmakers.
Vaclav Havel Dead At 75
Czech Playwright, Poet, Dissident Conscience and President
People
By: George Abbott White - 12/18/2011
George Abbott White met and admired Vaclav Havel, and Havel's death has brought back memories of Havel's impact not only on the Czech Republic democracy but even more so on his historic contribution to his time and place.
10x10 On North
Pittsfield Winter Festival February 16 to 26
Opinion
By: Frosty - 12/20/2011
10x10 On North, the Berkshires’ first-ever winter contemporary arts festival, will creatively enliven downtown Pittsfield February 16 through 26, 2012, with a dynamic mix of new art, dance, music, theatre, and more.
Movie Mania
Major Films In Seasonal Abundance
Film
By: Mark Favermann - 12/27/2011
Starting around Thanksgiving, filmmakers and studios start showing there wares for consideration of major recognition and box office rewards. Some years there are just a few notable movies. For some reason, this 2011 holiday season there are many. Looking at some of the major cinema presentations, there is something for everyone and probably a lot more than was expected. These few holiday weeks collectively have been like a film festival of good movies.
Paul Geremia Live At Bull Run
With Marylou Ferrante
Music
By: David Wilson - 12/28/2011
It had been some forty or so years since seeing Paul Geremia perform. During that time he became a cult icon. Even Dave Van Ronk, in his autobiography, speculated that Paul, might be the best blues performer extant. Marylou Ferrante who opened for him is yet to record. That should change soon. We look forward to her future performances and since she resides in the Worcester area..
Rufus Wainwright's Prima Donna
Urgent Plea For New York City Opera
Music
By: Susan Hall - 01/04/2012
Parts of this opera are available in a terrific documentary, Rufus Wainwright, Prima Donna, the Making of an Opera. City Opera plans to give the US premier at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, but they have not resolved problems with unions. Rufus's letter tells you all about it.
Superior Donuts Delicious At Lyric Stage Company
Tasty Comedy/Drama Food For Thought
Theatre
By: Mark Favermann - 01/08/2012
Set in a shabby Chicago neighborhood, a downtrodden former hippy donut shop owner hires a street-savvy aspiring young writer with hustle and bright ideas. Elegantly directed by Spiro Veloudos, this is a play full of pathos, laughs and compelling characters. Written by the Pulitzer Prize winning author of August: Osage County, this drama mixes the challenge of embracing one's past with the redemptive power of friendship. This is a must see and tell your friends comedy/drama.
Gail Burns Part Two
Publishing GailSez Since 1997
Opinion
By: Gail Burns and Charles Giuliano - 01/08/2012
Writing reviews of some dozen theatre companies within a two hour radius of her home in Williamstown is just one aspect of Gail Burns. Since 1997 her site GailSez has become an invaluable documentary resource of theatre in the region. This is part two of a critical discourse.
Gail Burns of GailSez
Covering Berkshire Theatre Since 1997
Opinion
By: Gail Burns and Charles Giuliano - 01/08/2012
Few Berkshire based critics see more theatre than Williamstown based Gail Burns. She is know for feisty, passionate over the top reviews. Her on line site GailSez includes not only her own reviews but compiles lists and links to all of the other critics in the region. She also posts press releases and casting calls. It is a massive archive reaching back to 1997. This is the first segment of an extensive dialogue.
Red Masterpiece at SpeakEasy Stage Company
Thomas Derrah Channels Mark Rothko
Theatre
By: Mark Favermann - 01/08/2012
Winner of six 2010 Tony Awards including Best Play, Red is a glowing colorful portrait of an artist’s ego, ambition and vulnerability. After he lands the biggest commission in the history of modern art, first generation abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko begins work on a series of large paintings (murals) assisted by a new young artist assistant. What takes place between the two men is a master class on the methods and purpose of art and the dynamic relationship between an artist, his creations and his life purpose.
Gail Burns Part Three
Community Service in Addition to Theatre
Opinion
By: Gail Burns and Charles Giuliano - 01/09/2012
After Hurricane Irene hit and destroyed 300 homes in Williamstown I was among the first responders and I am proud to say that my work recently became incorporated as a non-profit called Higher Ground dedicated to providing ongoing assistance to the flood victims and working long-term on the crucial need for affordable housing in North County.
Chunky Move at Mass MoCA March 24 & 25
Co Sponsored with Jacob's Pillow
Dance
By: Pillow - 01/13/2012
Jacob’s Pillow Dance and MASS MoCA will co-present leading Australian contemporary dance company Chunky Move in Connected. Based in Melbourne, the company brings “blasts of choreographic excitement” (Jack Anderson, New York Times) to its performances.
Panchos Mexican Restaurant in Pittsfield
Numbingly Mediocre Tex Mex
Food
By: Pit Bulls - 01/19/2012
In the heart of Pittsfield driving or walking by Panchos Mexican Restaurant looks lively and enticing for those hungry for flavorful, affordable ethnic food. The cuisine however did not match the colorful decor.
Lewis Black on Caris’s Peace
Documentary Featured in Williamstown Film Festival
People
By: Charles Giuliano - 10/20/2011
Surgery for a brain tumor left the actress Caris Corfman with long term memory but no short term memory. In a struggle to overcome a cornucopia of health and memory issues she developed a one woman play. It is the culmination of a documentary film by Gaylen Ross which will be screened as a part of the Williamstown Film Festival. Her friend and one of the producers, the comedian Lewis Black, discussed Caris, his approach to comedy, and the play One Slight Hitch which was produced at the Williamstown Theatre Festival this past summer.
'COLORS' by Sarah Sutro
Reflections on Planet Earth and Art
Word
By: Astrid Hiemer - 07/04/2011
Sarah Sutro is a painter, writer and poet. Her latest publication, COLORS, Passages through Art, Asia and Nature was published in 2010. This one hundred page book offers one thousand bits of wisdom, knowledge and information about living thoughtfully, carefully and well - here and abroad.
Big, Bold, and Undeniably Ambitious
Jonathan Prince at the Sculpture Garden in New York City
Fine Arts
By: Edward Rubin - 10/18/2011
At first glance, Prince’s monumental sculptures appear to be nothing more than simple geometric forms, a square with a broken edge, a column with its top gouged, and couple of circular sculptural riffs, one resembling a large distressed pill set on edge, the other a partially eaten donut doing a clever balancing act. On closer examination the lively simple shaped quartet begins to take on an otherworldly, if not quasi-religious cast.
Michael Conforti Discusses the Clark Art Institute
An Expanding Role for Contemporary Art with Mass MoCA
Opinion
By: Charles Giuliano - 10/24/2011
Recently the Clark Art Institute held a press conference to discuss the final phase of a $145 million project for construction and renovation. We approached Michael Conforti, for the past 16 years the director of the museum, with follow up questions. In particular its relationship with Mass MoCA and future programming for modern and contemporary art. We also discussed concerns for the conservation risks of Parading the Relics as the Clark sends it treasures on an extended world tour.
Building the Revolution
Soviet Architecture and Art 1915-1935 At Royal Academy
Architecture
By: Mark Favermann - 10/30/2011
Examining the Russian avant-garde architecture made during the brief but intense period of design and construction from 1922 to 1935, Building the Revolution is a rare exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art in London. The designs were directly inspired by the Constructivist art that emerged in Russia starting around 1915. Architects transformed this radical artistic language into three dimensions, creating structures whose innovative style embodied the energy and optimism of the new Soviet Socialist state. Alas, it did not last very long.
La Fogata in Pittsfield
Miguel Gomez Serves the Taste of Colombia
Food
By: Pit Bulls - 11/12/2011
For those seeking authentic Colombian cuisine La Fogata in Pittsfield has become an essential destination. It is readily accessible on a main route into the downtown. It has been a favorite restaurant of Pancho's for several years. We compared notes of multiple visits to give an in depth report on the full range of an extensive menu. The chef and owner Miguel Gomez brings family food of the other to the starving Berkshires.
Remembering WBCN The Rock of Boston
25th Anniversary Album February, 1993
Music
By: Charles Giuliano - 11/15/2011
In the process of scanning a vast archive of vintage jazz and rock images we came upon a album shot during the 25th anniversary party of the now off air WBCN. It jogged rusty rock memories. On hand were a heady mix of music celebrities from a golden age.
Tanglewood 2012
Summer Schedule Released by BSO
Music
By: BSO - 11/17/2011
Tanglewood, one of the world’s most beloved music festivals and the famed summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra located in the beautiful Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts, celebrates its 75th anniversary season, June 22-September 2, with a spectacular lineup of musical guests and programs that spotlight Tanglewood’s rich tradition of presenting summertime concerts at their best since 1937.
From Train Tracks to A Public Art Walk
Newburyport's Triumphant Clipper City Rail Trail
Design
By: Mark Favermann - 12/17/2011
After 11 years of planning, meetings, grantsmanship, engineering oversight and curating public art, Geordie Vining established the Clipper City Rail Trail on the west side of the City of Newburyport, MA. He took an unused Boston & Maine railroad right of way and created a walking, jogging and biking pathway that was enhanced by public art. The result is a true pride of place.
Vivian Maier Photographer at Greenberg Gallery
Billing as a Nanny Photographer Is Inappropriate
Photography
By: Susan Hall - 12/17/2011
Tens of thousand of images shot on the street throughout the world by an artist who well may come to be called great have emerged through the accidental discovery and then dogged determination of John Maloof. Howard Greenberg is beginning to curate the images.
Opera Boston Bites the Dust
Company Dies Over Puny Half Mil Deficit
Music
By: David Bonetti - 12/26/2011
The smaller of Boston's two small opera companies will cease operations as of Dec. 31. Board problems seem to be as much at fault as lackluster fundraising.
MFA Boston Fills Void By African American Artists
Acquisitions From John Axelrod Collection
Fine Arts
By: MFA - 12/26/2011
Greatly strengthening an extremely thin area of its American collection, the Boston MFA acquisition of works by major African-American artists includes 67 works from collector John Axelrod. Now the Boston institution holds one of the major groupings of African-American Art anywhere. Axelrod is selling the works to the MFA at below market values, between $5 million and $10 million.
Boston Art Dealer Joan Sonnabend
Created Collections for Sonesta Hotels
People
By: Charles Giuliano - 12/26/2011
When Boston art dealer. Joan Stoneman, married Roger Sonnabend she had an enormous influence on his family owned chain of Sonesta Hotels. Under her charge the international hotel chain pioneered the policy of purchasing and commissioning major collections of contemporary art. She is remembered as a formidable presence during the transition of the contemporary art scene in Boston during the late 1960s and 1970s.
Clem DeRosa Drummer and Jazz Educator
was co-founder of the International Association for Jazz Education
People
By: Ed Bride - 12/30/2011
Pittsfield based jazz entrepreneur Ed Bride remembers a friend and colleague Clem DeRosa. The Texas based drummer and educator was the founder of the International Association of Jazz Education.
The Amore Opera Presents The Barber of Seville
A Delightful Production of Rossini's Legendary Opera
Music
By: Susan Hall - 01/02/2012
Although the Metropolitan Opera is committed to driving audience from live performances in the House by mounting rehearsals for HD broadcasts, where singers often call in performances, opera is live and thriving in America, even though Opera Boston closed. The Amore Opera in New York is heir to the Amato Opera, famous for giving an opportunity to talented young performers and also for mounting unusual fare.
The Amore is terrific, under the helm of Nathan Hull.
Janus the Two Faced Roman God
Looking at the Arts Behind and Ahead
Opinion
By: Charles Giuliano - 01/02/2012
It is that time of year when we look back at the highlights and insights of the past season. Take a deep breath and anticipate what lays ahead for 2012. There is much to remember as well as look forward to.
Barrington Stage Streams 92nd Street Y
Walter Isaacson on Steve Jobs January 24
Opinion
By: Barrington - 01/03/2012
Barrington Stage Company (BSC) continues the “Live from NY’s 92nd Street Y” Simulcasts with three programs for winter 2012.
Barrington Stage Salutes That's Entertainment
Series of Classic Film Musicals Starts January 28
Film
By: Barrington - 01/05/2012
That’s Entertainment! Barrington Stage Company salutes the American movie musical with a special film series on the big screen at the Mainstage (30 Union Street) beginning January 28. Free for kids under 13.
Otello at the Zurich Opera House
Thomas Hampson, Barbara Frittoli and Jose Cura
Music
By: Susan Hall - 01/09/2012
Americans turn up their noses at Reggie Theater and Eurotrash, but certainly in Zurich, the directors understand what the implied deconstruction means. The setting may be changed, and the costumes made to match stage time, but the heart of a wonderful story remains the same. Intelligent opera designers understand that jealousy, temptation and the impact of missing handkerchiefs don't change over time. The Zurich Otello mounted by noted British stage director Graham Vick is wonderful.
Shakespeare & Company 35th Season
Olympia Dukakis and John Douglas Thompson
Theatre
By: The Bard - 01/10/2012
For the 35th season of Shakespeare & Company there is a stunning contrast between the old- King Lear and the Tempest- and the new Satchmo at the Waldorf. Olympia Dukakis will play Prospero in The Tempest. In a play being written and developed by Wall Street Journal drama critic, Terry teachout, John Douglas Thompson returns to Lenox in a one man show focusing on jazz legend Louis Armstrong and his mobbed up manager Joe Glaser
Jane and Jeff Hudson Rock Mass MoCA
Re-release of 30-year-old LP Flesh
Music
By: Charles Giuliano - 01/15/2012
Some 200 senior citizens stayed up late last night at Mass MoCA to cheer on their peers Jane and Jeff Hudson. They were cool to the point of stoic performing loud synthrock with pulsing, robotic, rhythm tracks. The occasion marked the re-release of their 30-year-old indy album Flesh. It was a fun night.
Artist/Musician Florian Hecker’s Chimerization.
Visual Art and Music Challenges Entice at MIT
Music
By: Nelida Nassar - 01/16/2012
The artist Florian Hecker primary interest is in sound and music as well as the interplay between acoustics, software development, composing and the different circulation of material in sound. Chimerization is the piece he specifically created and performed during his artist in residency at MIT . It hybridizes many disciplines - philosophy, typography, music, technology, science and more. “It is an attempt to find a materialization and exchange qualities for a utopian longing.”
Charles Giuliano Romanian Photo Exhibition
Festivalul International de Jazz Garana, Romania July 21-24
Photography
By: Charles Giuliano - 07/04/2011
Jazz on a Summer's Day. The German/ Romanian artist, Elisabeth Ochsenfeld, has curated an exhibition of vintage, black and white photographs of leading American musicians by Charles Giuliano. The portraits have been enlarged and laminated for outdoor display during the Festivalul International de Jazz Garana, Romania July 21-24. Following the event the images will be donated to a museum in Garana.
9/11: Ten Years After
Remembering by Design
Architecture
By: Mark Favermann - 09/11/2011
After many years and much delay, the 9/11 Memorial was unveiled to the public at the 10th Anniversary of the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center in NYC. The ceremony was dignified and sadly beautiful; the memorial is a legacy to those who perished. The rest of the structures to be completed on the site may be anticlimactic.
Julianne Boyd of Barrington Stage: Three
Defining and Transgressing Boundaries
Theatre
By: Julianne Boyd and Charles Giuliano - 11/06/2011
In this third installment of a dialogue with Julianne Boyd, artistic director of Barrington Stage Company, we discussed the value and impact of reviews and critical dialogues. Is theater more of a life than a profession? What happens when boundaries get blurred?
Julianne Boyd of Barrington Stage Company
Producing Plays That Matter
Opinion
By: Julianne Boyd and Charles Giuliano - 10/10/2011
Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield is winding down its most successful season. It started with the riveting one man play Zero in May. Surged through Guys and Dolls to launch high season and is currently bringing back the riveting drama The Best of Enemies which was a hit during the summer. This is part one of an extended dialogue with artistic director Julianne Boyd.
Julianne Boyd of Barrington Stage: Two
Planning Several Seasons in Advance
People
By: Julianne Boyd and Charles Giuliano - 10/25/2011
In planning plays for Barrington Stage Company artistic director Julianne Boyd relies on a small circle of trusted associates like composer/ lyricist, Bill Finn, actor Christoher Innvar, and playwright Mark St. Germain. Usually she is developing programming two and three years into the future. Since, ultimately, decisions fall on her shoulders she describes it as a lonely job.
New Metropolitan Opera Introduced at The Greene Space
WNYC's Performance Space Brings Us to the Future
Opinion
By: Susan Hall - 12/09/2011
Starbucks founder Howard Schultz bet that even when people got their wish to work at home, they would want to spend a good part of their day in the presence of others. The Greene Space suggests another venue that provides this with a live radio presence.
The Budapest Festival Orchestra at Carnegie Hall
Andras Schiff Delivers a Schubert Piano Concerto
Music
By: Susan Hall - 10/31/2011
Europeans clearly have an edge in presenting music anyone can love, because they understand it, and do not hold back in performance. We have the beautiful sound of Carnegie and the new Disney, Fisher and Helzberg Halls whose sound is designed by Yasuhisa Toyota. Now they can begin to figure out how to bring an audience in.
Life in Lake Quabbigon Gone Honk
With Apologies to Garrison Keillor
Theatre
By: David Wilson - 11/21/2011
Where all the artists draw with finer lines, musicians play more melodious chords and cows give sweeter milk. Randy Stevens, she lives just a short piece down the road here, talked some about how some of the darker events in her life have affected her vision and her creations.
The Guthrie Family Rides Again at the Colonial
Thanksgiving Tradition Continues in Pittsfield
Music
By: David Wilson - 11/22/2011
At one point I counted 13 Guthrie Family members on stage all at the same time. There may have been more, but some were small and scampered around a bit. The first time I and most of the audience heard Arlo, was also the first time we heard Alice’s Restaurant. Within a short time, Arlo had the entire room in the palm of his hand.
The Caucasian Chalk Circle at Berliner Ensemble
Bertold Brecht - Der kaukasische Kreidekreis
Theatre
By: Astrid Hiemer - 11/27/2011
It's a storied threatre, the Berliner Ensemble! Bertold Brecht premiered his 'Three Penny Opera' there in 1929. He opened with 'The Caucasian Chalk Circle' in 1954, when he took over the theatre at Schiffbauerdamm in Berlin. Today's production, presented with a 2011 vision by director Manfred Karge and ensemble, delivered food for thought as it did in 1954.
Tex Mex in Lenox
Too Far North of the Border
Food
By: Pit Bulls - 12/04/2011
This vast restaurant on the main drag between Pittsfield and Lenox changes hands and food themes every couple of years. Tex Mex attracts drive by tourists during high season but is on life support during the winter months. In order to survive restaurants must attract a local audience to sustain year round. Significantly, during our disappointing visit the cavernous space was virtually empty.
Artist Helen Frankenthaler at 83
Her Paint and Reputation Spread Thin
People
By: Charles Giuliano - 12/28/2011
In 1952 a remarkable painting "Mountains and Sea" placed a recent Bennington College graduate, Helen Frankenthaler, in a position of innovator of what critic/ boyfriend, Clement Greenberg, dubbed Post-Painterly Abstraction. The movement is more widely known as Color Field Painting. We discussed her work in 1981 during an exhibition at the Rose Art Museum. At 83 she died on December 27.
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Channels Bach
All the Brandenburg Concertos Presented with Aplomb
Music
By: Susan Hall - 01/03/2012
The Chamber Music Society knows what it is doing. Under the artistic direction of Wu Han and David Finkley, they have become the go to group of the heavy-duty institutions of Lincoln Center. But while three big houses often paper to get a plausibly filled hall, the CMS is packed. We learned some of the reasons why in their Baroque December.
Boston Symphony Orchestra
2011-2012 Schedule of Performances
Music
By: BSO - 05/06/2011
The Opening Night concert of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s 2011-12 season will give music fans an extraordinary opportunity to hear Anne-Sophie Mutter in a program of Mozart Violin Concertos Nos. 3 and 5, when she returns to the Symphony Hall stage on Friday, September 30, to make her first BSO appearances in the dual role of conductor and soloist.
Malcolm Rogers on Contemporary Art
No Longer an Oxymoron for the MFA
Opinion
By: Malcolm Rogers and Charles Giuliano - 09/21/2011
For most of its more than hundred year history Boston's Museum of Fine Arts had relatively little interest in the work of living artists European or American. That proved to be a costly error when it bought its first Picasso. It missed the boat on Abstract Expressionism, Pop and Minmal Art. With the opening of the Lind Wing for Contemporary Art Malcolm Rogers, the director of the MFA, assured us that the museum will be a player in contemporary art.
WBCN Documentary in the Works
Bill Lichtenstein an Award-winning Film Maker
Film
By: Bob Fowler - 12/14/2011
WBCN was the pioneering Boston radio station which brought rock to the FM dial in 1968, and reflected the social ferment of the times. It went off the air in 2009, but now an honored documentary film maker, Bill Lichtenstein, who once worked at BCN is doing a documentary about the station’s early days, and crowdsourcing content and funding for the project.
Eva Zeisel, Ceramic Designer Dies At 105
A Playful Search For Beauty
Design
By: Mark Favermann - 12/31/2011
Eva Zeisel, one of the most influential industrial designers of the 20th Century who created beautifully lyrical yet practical tableware and ceramics, has died at the amazing age of 105. Zeisel estimated that she had designed 100,000 pieces of tableware. Many of her elegant curving organic pieces often appeared to have human qualities, particularly in the way they tended to hug and nestle. These playful, simple designs first produced in the 1940s are still popular.
99 in Pittsfield
Not Exactly a Rib Joint
Food
By: Pit Bulls - 09/28/2011
For a chain the barbecue at 99 was surprisingly good. The full rack of St. Louis style rubs was cooked perfectly. But finished with a generic barbecue sauce. No matter how they are done the steak tips at 99 are always terrific.
Bounti Fare BBQ
All You Can Eat in Adams
Food
By: Pit Bulls - 09/30/2011
Pancho took a pass on the BBQ buffet at Bounti Fare in Adams. He didn't miss much. If you are looking for a bargain and tons of food then check it out. But if you really deeply care about BBQ, well, that's another matter.
In Durance Vital - Part IV
Notable Music From Musical Notables
Music
By: David Wilson - 10/28/2011
Once again I have a batch of some new and some almost new goodies by real oldies almost all of whom are still putting out music worth listening to. I address these descriptions mostly to those of you who survived the ‘60s and the decades that followed, but if you were not around then, here is recent music by some of the best who may have made daily life for your parents and grandparents if not joyous, a bit more bearable.
Former ICA and Whitney Director David A. Ross
Part One of a Feisty Dialogue
Fine Arts
By: David Ross and Charles Giuliano - 11/18/2011
In 2001 David A. Ross, after a four year "honeymoon" was fired as the director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Prior to that he served as director of Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Since departing as a museum director Ross has been a chameleon after decades in the art world with more than nine lives. Today he performs as lead singer with the band Red. His day gig is running a graduate program for the School of Visual Arts in New York.
David A. Ross Two
Critical Remarks on the MFA and Rose
Fine Arts
By: David Ross and Charles Giuliano - 11/19/2011
David Ross is less than impressed by the installation of the Museum of Fine Arts's new Linde Family Wing of Contemporary Art. He also expressed impatience with the lack of fundraising acumen by Carl Belz during his directorship of the Rose Art Museum. But Ted Stebbins of the MFA was a gentleman whom everyone loved.
David A. Ross Part Three
Hits and Misses of a Former Museum Director
Fine Arts
By: David Ross and Charles Giuliano - 11/22/2011
David A. Ross started a career in museums at 20 while still an undergraduate. He became curator of video art for the Everson Museum of Syracuse. His career as a museum director ended abruptly, at 53, in 2001 when he was fired just short of four years at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Currently he lives in Beacn, New York and commutes as chair of the MFA in Art Practice program at New York's School of Visual Arts.
David A. Ross Four
Edifice Complex of Mega Museums
Fine Arts
By: David Ross and Charles Giuliano - 11/25/2011
In this fourth and final installment David Ross discusses the phenomenon of museum expansions and the creation of global satellites by the Guggenheim. He applauds Adam Weinberg for moving the Whitney to the Meatmarket. Surprisingly, he says that as the Whitney's director he would have lacked the guts for such a bold decision.
Brooks Ashmanskas a God of Carnage
A Comedic Bare Knuckles Slug Fest
People
By: Brooks Ashmanskas and Charles Giuliano - 01/14/2012
With Brooks Ashmanskas, currently playing in God of Carnage at The Huntington Theatre, you come to expect the unexpected. Starting with a straight interview it doesn’t take long for the wheels to come off. From there it devolves into a comedic, bar knuckles slug fest. But all in outrageous fun. Read this and weep. Tears of hysterical joy.
Chicago's Magnificent Millennium Park
Iconic Green Space Punctuated By Public Art
Architecture
By: Mark Favermann - 11/26/2011
Set near the city's Lake Michigan shoreline, Chicago's Millennium Park covers a 24.5-acre section of northwestern historic Grant Park, a vestige of the Columbian Exposition of 1893. Massive public art and architectural statements make this open space wonderfully original and exhilarating. Millennium Park was opened on July 16, 2004, four full years behind schedule. Far exceeding its original budget of $150 million, it cost around $500 million to complete. Beyond the cost overruns, controversy and criticisms, it is a civic design that is a joy to behold by all visitors.
Josef Hoffmann: Wiener Werkstätte Designer
Influential Designer With No Moral Compass
Design
By: Mark Favermann - 11/29/2011
Josef Hoffmann was one of the major designers of the first half of the 20th Century. His work across architecture, interiors, furniture and household objects was of great technical and aesthetic beauty. Also, he lived a long time. Unfortunately, his design skill did not always correspond to his moral integrity. Somehow, he was confused at the end of his life as to why he was not honored for his creative contributions. Perhaps, it was the fact that his last major work was for the wrong client.
Powered By Free Design
UK Pylon Competition Sought New Design
Design
By: Mark Favermann - 11/29/2011
Called Britain's "industrial soldiers," they have marched across hills and valleys carrying the UK's 400,000-volt power lines. Now the British government and National Grid are ending the 84-year-old design of the electricity pylon. A competition was held to find a more attractive 21st-century alternative to carry power across hundreds of miles of British countryside. On paper, the idea sounds great, the winning design is elegant, but once again the design community is being undervalued and having demanded from it free work.
Occupy Northern Berkshires Movement Growing
Eclipse Mill Meeting in North Adams December 10
Opinion
By: Michael Bedford - 12/05/2011
The unemployment rate in North Adams is over ten percent (with the U.S. avg. at 8.6%). Recent job growth is increasingly negative, with core stores such as Staples [albeit not locally-run] recently closing its North Adams store with its 20+ employees in December. Occupy Northern Berkshires meeting at the North Adams' Eclipse Gallery, 243 Union Street, at 7PM on Saturday, 10 December.
Sculptor John Chamberlain at 84
Car Crash as Art and Metaphor
People
By: Charles Giuliano - 12/23/2011
Car Crashes with their bent and distorted slabs of polyrchormed sheet metal were the inspiration and metaphor for the signature work and jagged life of sculptor John Chamberlain. An appreciation with memories of time spent with the artist in the late 1960s and 1970s in New York and the Berkshires.
