Features:
The Shape She Makes Work of Art At Oberon
A Spectacular Fusion of Movement and Dialogue
Theatre
Brilliantly conceived and performed by an ensemble of ten, this production is a fusion of movement and words in the world premiere of this theatrical hybrid. It explores the emotional and continual impact of childhood experiences on our adult lives. Here Quincy, a precocious 11-year old, seeks to understand what she’s inherited from her absent father and neglectful mother. It is a poignant dance of affecting drama. Superbly, it is like nothing else you have seen.
2013-14 Outer Critics Circle Awards
Nominations for New York Theatre
Theatre
Celebrating its 64th season of bestowing awards of excellence in the field of theater, the Outer Critics Circle is an association with members affiliated with more than ninety newspapers, magazines, websites, radio and television stations, and theatre publications in America and abroad. The winners of the following categories will be announced on Monday, May 12th and the annual awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, May 22nd (4PM) at the legendary Sardi’s Restaurant.
Grande Old Opry in Nashville
Yee Hah Y’All
Music
While in Nashville we attended a broadcast of the legendary Grande Old Opry. Much has changed since the first radio show on November 28, 1925. While as big and glitzy as a Vegas casino the venerable Opry adheres to tradition and carefully guards its legacy and hallowed ground.
Diane Paulus Named To The TIME 100
One of the 100 Most Influential People In the World
Theatre
Diane Paulus, the American Repertory Theatre Artistic Director, received another major accolade as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. Since joining the ART, she has added vibrancy and excitement to theatre both in Boston, nationally and worldwide.
Humana Festival Another Opinion
Report by California Correspondent
Theatre
The American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) attended the recent Humana Theatre Festival in Louisville, Kentucky.
We have posted coverage by Charles Giuliano. Now our California correspondent and ATCA member, Jack Lyons, contributes his take on the renowned festival.
Becoming Cuba Shines At Huntington's Calderwood
Love and War Imbedded In Dark Modern History
Theatre
Set in 1897 Cuba on the eve of the Spanish-American War, vivacious widow Adela runs a pharmacy, seemingly indifferent to the mounting conflict around her. But when the rebellion literally comes to her home to Havana, she has to choose between her country and her family. With some wonderful performances, this is powerful drama by Playwright-in-Residence Melinda Lopez and directed eloquently by Huntington Associate Producer M. Bevin O’Gara.
The Christians by Lucas Hnath
Lapse of Faith at Humana Festival
Theatre
It is Sunday morning in a mega evangelical Christian church. After years of hard work, due to the generosity of the congregation, it is now debt free. This should be a moment of joyous celebration. But the four part sermon of Pastor Paul reveals a radical new interpretation of scriptures. This results in a tense and absorbing conflict. The Christians by Lucas Hnath was the most successful and provocative new play of the Humana Festival in Louisville, Kentucky.
Steel Hammer Galvanic at Humana Festival
Based on Music by Julia Wolfe Directed by Anne Bogart
Theatre
At two hours with no intermission Steel Hammer the avant-garde deconstruction of the traditional ballad John Henry was physically and emotionally demanding on the performers as well as the audience. The company was co founded in 1992 by the Japanese master Tadashi Suzuki and Columbia University professor and director Anne Bogart. After the first five years Suzuki ceased participation but the company continues to follow the Suzuki method which entails cult like discipline and dedication.
Pantagleize by Michel de Ghelerode in Pittsburgh
A Smart Adaption by Jay Ball of 1929 Play
Theatre
Pantagleize – Jay Ball’s smart adaptation of Michel de Ghelderode’s 1929 play of the same name – is a deeply cynical, outrageously comic, and highly provocative play about challenges and contradictions of democratic revolutions. The world premiere of the adaption runs in Pittsburgh at Quantum Theatre through April 27.
Humana Festival Wrapup
Brownsville Song, Partners, The Grown Up
Theatre
From Wednesday through Sunday while attending the 38th Humana Festival of New American Plays we were flat out. It's a part of the Festival Syndrome absorbing and sorting out a sensory overload of information. Some plays are etched into the subconscious indelibly while others evaporate like the burned off morning fog. With an intense regimen of plays to see there were fleeting impressions of historic Louisville, Kentucky.
George Grant's Grounded
One Woman Play at Pittsburgh's City Theatre
Theatre
George Brant’s new one-woman play Grounded, is, on one level, the story of a fighter pilot whose job has changed drastically. The Pilot (Kelly McAndrew), tells us she was born to be “in the blue” at the controls of an F16 fighter jet, dropping bombs on unseen targets and accelerating away before the shells explode. It runs at City Theatre in Pittsburgh through May 4..
Anything Goes at Beef and Boards
Noel Coward Back Home in Indiana
Theatre
Anything Goes has been entertaining crowds for 80 years and is on stage now at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre. The show contains a selection of charming well-known songs, like “It’s De-Lovely” and “I Get a Kick Out of You,” by Indiana’s ownNoel Coward.
RED at San Diego Repertory Theatre
Riveting Drama About Artist Mark Rothko
Theatre
The hovering clouds of color by Mark Rothko are among the most absorbing and spiritual paintings of the Abstract Expressionist artists of the New York School. The Tony Award winning play Red, having a San Diego production, focuses on the emotional intensity of the artist in crisis. There is a compelling interaction with his assistant in a riveting drama of their give and take. John Vickery and Jason Maddy are powerful in their roles.
Fresh Gulf Shrimp and Cobia
Home Cooking on Florida’s Panhandle
Food
Along the Emerald Coast of the Florida Panhandle in the clear Gulf water the seafood is just awesome. In the galley kitchen of our condo we cooked up a storm with fresh jumbo shrimp in white wine sauce and the local delicacy cobia which was in season. Here are quick and easy delicious recipes.
Reinventing I Remember Mama Off Broadway
A Brilliant Concept, a Brilliant Cast, an Astonishing Experience
Theatre
The Transport Group Theatre’s New York production of I Remember Mama, the season’s truly “must see” and “run don’t walk” – it will be treading the boards at the Gym at Judson through April 20, and hopefully extended – granted all of my above wishes, judging from welling tears, breaths held, and the audible hosannas heard as they exited the theatre.
Colombia: Part Three
Cartagena
Travel
A city with a unique blend of African, Spanish and indigenous cultures, Cartagena enchants. It has meticulously renovated colonial buildings, cobbled plazas and a shimmering waterfront. A lively street life with horse-drawn carriages, side-walk cafes and Caribbean rhythms after dark enhance the city's charm.
Williamstown Theatre Festival News
Casting and Special Event Added
Theatre
Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced casting for their Main Stage productions, along with a several special events for their 2014 Summer Season. On the Main Stage: Festival veterans including Nate Corddry, Holley Fain, Christopher Fitzgerald and Nancy Opel join the cast of June Moon, directed by Jessica Stone (July 2- 13); Justin Long returns to Williamstown, joining Renee Fleming in the World Premiere of Living on Love (July 16 - 26), and theater veterans Judy Kuhn, Howard McGillin, festival favorite Roger Rees, and more join Chita Rivera in the John Doyle-directed production of The Visit, with choreography by Graciela Daniele (July 31 - August 17).
Christopher Williams at the Art Institute of Chicago
Play and Dream an Image. Let Someone Else Click.
Photography
The title of the exhibit, "The Production Line of Happiness" is taken from a Jean Luc Godard documentary in which an amateur filmmaker compares his day job as a factory worker with his hobby of editing his films of the Swiss countryside. Williams says that today's consumer culture pictures and produces endless images to be consumed.
Broadway Across America in Indianapolis
2014-2015 Season Announced
Theatre
Broadway Across America announces the 2014/15 Indianapolis program. Season tickets are now on sale.
Darren Waterston at Mass MoCA
Deconstructing Whistler's Peacock Room
Fine Arts
For the past 18 months, while resident in the artist loft Eclipse Mill in North Adams, Darren Waterston has been working on an exacting installation based on Whistler's iconic Peacock Room. We viewed the work in progress with the artist during the intensive final phase of the exhausting project. The work is now completed and on view.
Norman Liebman's Evocative Paintings
At Art Alternative Gallery in Brookline. MA
Fine Arts
Trained as a physician, actually a surgeon, Norman Liebman painted throughout his college education and medical career. Liebman has spent his retirement painting in his studio five or more days a week working in a style related to the COBRA group that worked from 1948-1951 in Europe. He uses bright color and distorted representational form to create semiabstract moody images that have a Modigliani mysteriousness and an expressionist's visual articulateness to them. In his ninth decade of life, he expresses himself in an exuberant, skillful way that underscores a vitality and a youthful experimentation.
Malcolm Rogers Retires from the MFA
More Autocrat than Aristocrat
Fine Arts
By just two years over Perry T. Rathbone, at 19, the British born Malcolm Rogers is leaving the Museum of Fine Arts as its longest running, most successful and controversial director. From top to bottom he reformed, renovated and rebuilt ever aspect of the museum. Along the way playing a hardball game of croquet worthy of the Queen of Hearts.
Malcolm Rogers Another Opinion
Defending Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood
Fine Arts
David Bonetti started a career as an art critic writing for the Boston Phoenix and Art New England. He moved on to write for daily papers in San Francisco and St. Louis. Now retired from covering fine arts he has returned to Boston. For the past few years he has covered opera for Berkshire Fine Arts with the occasional art piece. In response to our coverage of the retirement of MFA director, Malcolm Rogers, in a letter to the editor he offered a different take. We post it as an op ed piece.
Malcolm Rogers Resignation Sidebar
Transition of Perry T. Rathbone to Merrill Reuppel
Fine Arts
The MFA today has been totally rebuilt and defined by Malcolm Rogers. He is resigning after 19 years of dramatic and event brutal change. Part of that transformation is a not so benign neglect of more than a century of institutional and cultural history. The story of the resignation of Rogers was written under pressure of deadline. Since then further research has clarified points raised in the article. More will follow.
The Whale Brilliantly Spouts at SpeakEasy
Morbid Obesity As Metaphor For Life Choices
Theatre
Not an ordinary whale of a tale, The Whale is the story of a rather pathetic Charlie. And he wants to make up for lost time. In the wake of personal tragedy, he has gluttonously eaten to assuage his grief and become a morbidly obese couch-bound, apartment-bound sad recluse. With his health ominously failing, he makes one last desperate attempt to connect with his estranged teenage daughter. Along the way, there are ingredients of Mormonism, costly medical insurance and online higher education as well. This is an exceptionally well-acted humorous, and emotionally wrenching play.
Joe Thompson on Mass MoCA Expansion
Part One on Phase Three
Fine Arts
Tom Krens, then at Williams College, initiated the idea of Mass MoCA which was all but dead when he departed for the Guggenheim. Now 26 years ago his protegee, Joe Thompson, took the next twelve years to open the doors. The Krens idea was to warehouse low maintenance collections. Thompson changed direction to initiate a kunsthalle or non collecting exhibition space. Now, in developing 120,000 square feet of new gallery space, double the present, the museum is becoming a hybrid of those different strategies.
Joe Thompson Expansion Part Two
Economic Impact and Wish Lists
Fine Arts
Massachusetts funded Mass MoCA initially, and now again, as an economic development to drive the creative economy of cultural tourism in the depressed Northern Berkshire County. In addition to the Clark Art Institute expanded and coming back on line this summer, in a few years, Mass MoCA plans to double its exhibition space. A key result of that expansion will be a shift of visitors from day trips to weekends. In this next phase more involvement with the local community, particularly its artists, will be crucial.
Gonzo Chronicles: Promo Man Roger Lifeset
How Alice Cooper Trashed My Cambridge Apartment
Music
On a balmy January night some 300 to 400 rockers crashed, trashed and smashed my basement Harvard Square apartment during an "Intimate VIP" party following an Alice Cooper concert. It was instigated by Warner Brothers promo man and ubermensch, Roger Lifeset. As part one in the ongoing Gonzo Chronicles we discuss the utter madness of the Boston rock scene.
Gonzo Chronicles: Roger Lifeset Two
Captain Beefheart Wanted a Lobster
Music
Don van Vliet, known by the stage name of Captain Beefheart, was an eccentric genius of rock and roll. His double album Trout Mask Replica is considered a masterpiece. Most of his albums didn't sell well and he bounced around labels. Roger Lifeset connected me with Beefheart when he was promoting Spotlight Kid for Warner Brothers. Once Don got his hooks in me he wouldn't let go.
Gonzo Chronicles: Roger Lifeset Three
J. Geils, Modern Lovers, Springsteen, The Cars, Boston, Aerosmith
Music
In the lively 1970s a lot of bands broke out of Boston: J Geils, The Cars, Modern Lovers. Real Paper rock critic Jon Landau discovered and then managed Bruce Springsteen. Promo Man Roger's Lifeset's Warner Brothers partner, Charlie McKenzie, and colleague, Paul Ahern, signed Boston to Epic Records. Filthy rich McKenzie, as we discuss with Lifeset, lived the life of the Great Gatsby and died just as tragically.
The Burren, Cliffs of Moher and Newgrange
A Photo Essay
Photography
A photograph is worth how many words? You decide! Our trip to Ireland and England included a couple of days experiencing the land, people and natural wonders of Ireland by bus. We returned with rock-solid photographs (pardon the pun!) and long lasting memories.
Fernando Botero Seen in Bogota
Colombia's Living Treasure
Fine Arts
Botero's art permeates Bogota's and Medellin's major museums and plazas with overwhelming grandeur and sensuality. Contrasting giant and dwarf figures, sometimes with underlying satire, the artist creates voluptuous exuberance that charms and captivates.
Tommy Tune Taps at Barrington Stage July 28
Tall Tales of Music and Dance
Theatre
Tony Award-winner Tommy Tune in Taps, Tunes, and Tall Tales performs on Monday, July 28 at 8pm at Barrington Stage in Pittsfield. Tune is a nine-time Tony Award winner for his work on Seesaw, A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine, Nine, My One and Only, Grand Hotel, and The Will Rogers Follies. In addition, he has been awarded eight Drama Desk Awards, three Astaire Awards and the Society of Directors and Choreographers' George Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement. He was honored with The Helen Hayes Tribute in 2011. We have an interesting and hilarious interview.
Huntington Theatre Company 2014-2015
Six Shows Plus One
Theatre
Huntington Theatre Company announces six productions of its 2014-2015 Season plus one additional title. Continuing its 32-year tradition, the Huntington will present world-class productions of new works and classics made current created by the finest local and national talent. The varied lineup includes a Tony Award-winning Broadway comedy, a thrilling new play set in Boston, a new play by a celebrated local writer that riffs on a beloved classic, a revival of a provocative comedy, a classic American drama, and a topical new play directed by Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois, plus the return of visionary director David Cromer (Our Town).
Arnold Trachtman Portraits, Galatea Fine Art
Visions Through a Personal Prism
Fine Arts
At 84, Arnold Trachtman is exhibiting a dozen pieces from the last 50 years of his artistic career. Relentlessly he is compelled to express and document history through a vey personal lens. His art never fit the current fad. Arnie never got the memo on the next big wave. Or if he did, he disregarded it. He often combined the past imperfect of the political and social agenda of Europe and the USA in his mostly strident painted images. But the works shown at Galatea Fine Art are more mellow memories yet painted in his most original voice.
The Clark Art Institute Embraces Modernism
Pollock's Masterpiece Lavender Mist This Summer
Fine Arts
This week representatives of the Clark Art Institute, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown Theatre Festival and Mass MoCA met with the media to promote plans for a spectacular Northern Berkshires season. The Clark reopens following extensive expansion and renovation. Mass MoCA offers the first full season of its Anselm Kiefer building. Jenny Gersten has planned a blockbuster program for WTF. WCMA plans special events like a Think and Drink series. In high season it may be hard to book a hotel or dine at the best restaurants.
The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman at Schaubühne, Berlin
Die kleinen Füchse Returns in April
Theatre
A contemporary staging of 'The LittleFoxes - Die kleinen Füchse ' by Lillian Hellman will continue a successful run in April and through the end of the Berlin theatre season, at the Schaubühne. Director, Thomas Ostermeier, and cast have presented sold out performances.
The Clark's Masterpieces Home at Last
On Tour to Eleven Venues on Three Continents for Three Years
Fine Arts
After three years with eleven museums on three continents the treasures of the Clark Art Institute are back home safe and sound. They will be seen this summer when the museum reopens after extensive renovation and expansion on July 4. This grand tour of major museums will reap benefits as the Clark requests loans for major exhibitions. Other major museums, however, including the Museum of Fine Arts and the Guggenheim, have loaned works to their satellites and commercial exhibition promoters for cold cash.
For Goodness Sake by Musicals Tonight!
The First Musical by George and Ira Gershwin
Theatre
Musicals Tonight! is presenting For Goodness Sake at New York’s The Lion Theatre. A light, frothy musical it was one of the first collaborations between George and Ira Gershwin. It has not been seen in New York since its debut in 1922, although it had a successful run in England the following year. The now dated musical launched international stardom for its stars, Fred and Adele Astaire.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Conversations
Mitsuko Uchida and Muti Lead the Dialogue
Music
The mighty Riccardo Muti conducted. The powerful and yet delicate Mitsuko Uchida was piano soloist. An extraordinary oboist, Eugene Izotov, led us through Schubert's Great 9th Symphony. Such pleasure in sharing musical greatness in the Symphony Center in Chicago.
Londoners
People and Places
Portfolio
Taking the pulse of people and places while out and about in London. Catching the vibrant rhythms and social flavors of a great city.
Dubliners
Town and Country
People
Fulfilling a lifelong dream to hoist a pint of Guinness in a Dublin pub on my birthday. We were in and out of the city connecting with the Irish heritage of my mother and her ancestors. Encountering the whimsical poetic people in the city and touring the lush countryside and craggy coast there was much that rocked my bones and rattled my DNA. Here is a portfolio of images capturing the essence of that experience.
Bolivia
La Paz and Copacabana
Travel
Past problems behind, Bolivia is a new country under the leadership of its first indigenous leader, Evo Morales. Fast developing in tourism, it attracts with vistas of snow-capped mountains, lush rolling hills, bustling cities, and colorful native populations. La Paz is the country's largest city; Copacabana its most picturesque at the crest of the world's highest navigable Lake Titicaca.
Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room
Family Style Lunch in Savannah, Georgia
Food
When in Savannah Georgia you simply must have lunch at Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room. During a campaign swing through town President Obama sampled the famous fried chicken and Southern hospitality.
Marg Helgenberger to Star at Barrington Stage
Premiere of Sharr White’s The Other Place
Theatre
Barrington Stage Company (BSC), announces Emmy Award-winner and Golden Globe nominee Marg Helgenberger will star in the Berkshire premiere of Sharr White’s The Other Place, kicking off BSC’s 20th Anniversary Season, from May 21 through June 14 on the St. Germain Stage, directed by BSC Associate Artist Christopher Innvar.
The Indiana Repertory Theatre
Announces 2014-2015 Season
Theatre
The Indiana Repertory Theatre has announced its season for 2014/2015. The mix of shows include a Shakespearean comedy to celebrate the Bard's 450th birthday, an award-winning Broadway play, and a few hidden gems from the regional theatre circuit. To buy tickets or find out more information visit their site here.
Alice’s Restaurant Returns to the Berkshires
Dream Away Lodge Honors Women Chefs
Food
The rambling song “Alice’s Restaurant” by Arlo Guthrie is an icon of the 1960s. It spawned the film by Arthur Penn as well as “The Alice’s Restaurant Cookbook” which has gone through four printings. For the past 36 years Alice Brock has lived in Provincetown. She returns to Dream Away Lodge May 17 and 18 with evenings of her recipes prepared by Chef Amy Loveless. It is the second in a series created by Loveless to honor renowned women chefs of the Berkshires.
Playwright Terrence McNally’s Early Years.
CV REP of Rancho Mirage Four-Play Retrospective
Theatre
CV REP of Rancho Mirage, California, one of the best Equity Theatre companies in the Coachella Valley, brings down the curtain on the final play of their highly successful 2013-2014 season of a four-play retrospective of Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally’s early years. The preceding three shows: “Master Class”, “The Story of My Life”, “A Perfect Ganesh” were all first-rate, top tier productions. It ends with “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.”
King Lear at Theater for A New Audience
Michael Pennington Is a Nuanced Lear
Theatre
Directo Arin Arbus and Set Designer Riccardo Hernandez collaborated recently on a brilliant production of La Traviata at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. They do it again in Brooklyn at the new home of the Theater for A New Audience.
Jumping Out of Enframement
Is Everything Mostly Post Moderm
Fine Arts
Painting still privileges the individual and their own notion of time. It is, as well, in an inevitable dialogue with all that painting has ever been, so that intentionally or otherwise the artist is forced to accept the history of painting. Its uniqueness lies in its ability to create time out of its own language, which forces the viewer to linger in front of it.
Pioneers of Television on PBS
Series Returns on April 15
Television
The PBS series Pioneers of Television returns for its fourth season on April 15. In the premiere episode through interviews and vintage clips we have insights to the complex transition from the demands of standup to those of working with an ensemble of actors. The episode balances hilarious and poignant moments.
Rich Girl Loaded At Lyric Stage Company
An Equation of the Heart: Wealth Does Not Equal Happiness
Theatre
Add a rich girl, her richer mother, and a starving handsome artist boyfriend together, and what could possibly go wrong? When sheltered Claudine meets actor/director Henry, she falls head over heels for him. But her mother, a tough-talking, cynical celebrity financial guru, tries to crush her daughter's desires and ego. Is Henry everything her daughter deserves or is he only after her money? Rich Girl is a contemporary take on the classic play and film The Heiress. It is a clever comedy about a young woman and her relationships with a man, her mother, money and becoming who she really is.
Colombia: Part One
Bogota
Travel
After decades of conflict Colombia is emerging toward a bright future. It is a beautiful country with spectacular landscapes, ranging from Andean peaks to rolling hills and sandy beaches. Bogota, its capital, is a sophisticated, multi-ethnic city with distinct colonial architecture, world-class museums and one of a kind attractions.
5 UK Artists Better Than Bansky
British Street Scenes
Fine Arts
Think street art, and chances are you think Banksy. For some, he’s the wittiest man ever to have touched a spray can, while others consider him nothing more than an overhyped phenomenon with a technique and style that’s just a reproduction of other artists’ work from 20 years ago. Love him or hate him, his work never fails to stir up a buzz. But think Banksy’s the most exciting artist to emerge from the UK? Think again. Britain’s streets are home to some of the world’s most diverse and talented artists.
Lauren Gunderson Wins for I and You
Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award
Theatre
Last night at the 38th Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, Kentucky San Francisco based playwright Lauren Gunderson was honored for her play “I and You."
Coinciding with the prestigious Humana Festival it was the annual conference meeting of the American Theatre Critics which juries the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award.
Colombia: Part Two
Medellin and the Coffee Triangle
Travel
After decades of challenges by the drug cartels, Medellin has reinvented itself as a modern, innovative and lively hub with style. The superbly scenic Coffee Triangle is a region of lush green valleys dotted by picturesque colonial towns and age-old haciendas. Not to be missed is the Cocora Valley with endemic soaring wax palms.
Degenerate Art in Nazi Germany
The Neue Galerie Mounts an Important Exhibit
Opinion
The Nazis seized ‘degenerate art’ from museums and private collections. A three-year traveling exhibition of this art criss-crossed Germany and Austria. Most of the paintings were sold, lost, or presumed destroyed. The recent discovery in Munich of the Gurlitt trove of such artwork has attracted attention. The film "The Monuments Men", directed by George Clooney, is about the seized art. The Neue Galerie mounts a moving exhibit of the work and compares it with some of Hitler's favorite art.
Andrew Dawson at Mass MoCA
Space Panorama May 3
Theatre
Amid his residency developing The Russian Doctor, director and choreographer Andrew Dawson presents an otherworldly family affair on Saturday, May 3, at 11:30am, in MASS MoCA's Club B-10. Space Panorama is a hypnotic solo recreation of the Apollo 11 moon landing - using only Dawson's hands!
Lázaro Saavedra's Funerary Egocentrism
Performance April 30 at Boston's MFA
Fine Arts
Overcoming both administrative roadblocks and censorship, Cuban artist Lázaro Saavedra performs Funerary Egocentrism at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), on Wednesday, April 30.
Dennis Metrano Appreciation Day May 18
Celebrating a Famous Bartender and Rock Critic
People
On May 18, friends will join Dennis Metrano for “Dennis Appreciation Day” at the Newburyport Elks, 25 Low Street in Newburyport, MA beginning at 12 Noon. Back in the day at Daisy Buchanan's Metrano was the mixilogy master of the Boston rock world.
Now Dig This at Williams College
Art and Black Los Angeles 1960-1980
Fine Arts
In 2011-2012 The Getty Foundation sponsored Pacific Standard Time which involved 60 cultural institutions in Southern California. The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles presented "Now Dig This! Art and Black Los Angeles 1960-1980." The exhibition, which was awarded Best Thematic Exhibit Nationally for 2012 by the International Asssociation of Art Critics (AICA), is on view at the Williams College Museum of Art through December 1.
The Dawn of Egyptian Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Through August 5
Fine Arts
Beyond King Tut and Cleopatra most folks know little or nothing about the thirty dynasties and 3000 years of Ancient Egyptian Art. The Met's special exhibition The Dawn of Egyptian Art provides a tantalizing encounter with the esoteric era prior to and during the founding dynasties.
Yvonne Andersen on The Sun Gallery
Figurative Expressionism in Provincetown in the 1950s.
Fine Arts
From 1955 to 1959 the artist Yvonne Andersen and her late husband, the poet Dominic Falcone, operated the legendary Sun Gallery in Provincetown. In one week shows over five seasons, with a combination of group, one man and two man shows they displayed work by about 100 artists. A selection of whom formed the nucleus of the figurative expressionist movement. This summer the Provincetown Art Association and Museum will focus on this activity in Pioneers of Provincetown curated by Adam Zucker. This is part one of a dialogue about that era.
The Art of Scent, 1889 - 2012
New York’s Museum of Arts and Design
Fine Arts
Perfumes, fragrances and scents are everywhere in our lives - natural and artificial ones! The Museum of Arts and Design in New York challenges the American public for the first time to recognize creators and creations: Fragrances - as artists and 'Olfactory Art.' The Art of Scent exhibition presents convincingly developments of the last 125 years in the perfume industry, and fragrances that had the most impact over time.
Longterm Impact of Monsanto's Roundup Seeds
Supreme Court Screws American Farmers
Opinion
Our science correspondent and organic farmer Jimmy Midnight explores in detail why our food ain't what it used to be. He states that. As a farmer myself, I would not use glyphosate, or plant any (Monsanto) Roundup Ready seeds, because I presume they’re not safe to use, eat, or feed. If it’s perfectly safe to eat or feed, why does it suddenly become dangerous in the hands of the world’s small-time agricultural operators? On May 13 The Supreme Court upheld the copyright of Monsanto against a farmer planting cheap, second generation seed purchased from a grain elevator.
EarSay-Emma Jane & Christopher Crosby Morris
Another Best of 2012 and an Echoing Refrain from Decades Past.
Music
In this posting the pairing may seem unlikely at first. One artist is male, a senior citizen, an experienced artist with a well developed aesthetic while the other is female with the 21st century making up the majority of her life, little experience in comparison yet an aesthetic that while still evolving is already firmly anchored in the soul of a visionary artist.
Ear Say: John Fullbright and Ewan McLennan
Amazing Things Are Happening in Our World.
Music
The two artists whose recordings I comment on below are interesting in their comparisons and their contrasts. Both cds garnered considerable praise and attention in 2012. Oklahoma’s John Fullbright and his release were nominated for a Grammy, and Ewan McLennan’s was one of those selected in the UK’s best of the year lists.
Joe Turner's Come and Gone at Mark Taper Forum
John Douglas Thompson Soars in August Wilson's Play
Theatre
John Douglas Thompson got stood up on a date to see Joe Turner's Come and Gone at Yale Rep. It inspired him to give up a life in business to pursue what has evolved as a remarkable career in theatre. Berkshire audiences are familiar with his performances at Shakespeare & Company including last season's Satchmo at the Waldorf. He returns to the S&Co. this summer paired with Olympia Dukakis in Mother Courage, In LA, as Jack Lyons reports, he finally gets to play the August Wilson role that first inspired him.
EarSay: Iris Dement and Nora Jane Struthers
Iris Live at Bull Run and Nora Jane's New CD
Music
Although I did not know it was she or even know of her, I first heard the voice of Iris Dement while watching the final episode of Northern Exposure on July 26th, 1995.It was several years before I heard that voice again. In a live performance at Bull Run in Shirley I noted that while her vocal instrument has neither great range nor exceptional clarity, it does, however, embody a tapestry of tones that are conduits for a greater variety of passions and emotions than any other voice I know.
Anselm Kiefer at Mass MoCA for 15 Years
Building Developed with Hall Art Foundation
Fine Arts
In collaboration with the Hall Art Foundation a building dedicated to works by the German artist, Anselm Kiefer, will be on view at Mass MoCA for the next 15 years. Combined with the 25 year agreement for the Sol LeWitt building this greatly enhances the museum as America's foremost destination for contemporary art.
Yvonne Andersen Sun Gallery Co-Founder
Recalling Film and Animation Programming in Provincetown
Fine Arts
As research for “Pioneers from Provincetown: The Roots of Figurative Expressionism” an exhibition focused on the emergence of a largely misunderstood movement in the 1950s we interviewed Sun Gallery co-founder Yvonne Andersen. In response to our coverage she has sent additional notes of great historical interest.
Body & Soul at Museum of Arts and Design
A Dialogue with Curator Wendy Tarlow Kaplan
Design
The Museum of Arts and Design in New York City through March 2 is exhibiting Body & Soul: New International Ceramics. The medium has been used by artists to express a wide range of charged social issues including identity, sexuality, bullying, abuse, violence, rebellion and despair. Recently we discussed the project with Wendy Tarlow Kaplan who co curated the exhibition with Martin S. Kaplan and Laurent de Verneuil.
The Roads of North America, Part Three
A Drive South from the Berkshires to Georgia – 2013
Travel
Part Three you wonder? It's our second road trip which we chronicled in daily entries, noting all roads by numbers. And what an adventure! The stops in this report include days in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, DC.
The Roads of North America, Part Four
From DC to Georgia and Home
Travel
When we started planning a trip south, Savannah, Georgia, was the first location that came to mind. Actually, John Berendt’s novel, 'In the Garden of Good and Evil,' triggered our thoughts and imagination. We wanted to explore Old Savannah, as he had portrayed it. Other stops along the way fell into place after that.
100 Boston Artists by Chawky Frenn
New Book Follows 100 Boston Painters
Word
The figurative artist, Chawky Frenn, has followed 100 Boston Painters with 100 Boston Artists. The books are handsomely designed and printed with superb reproductions. Although he consulted with many experts in the field he made the final selections. This has resulted in an eccentric and uneven overview with a mix of major and minor artists. One of the strong points of the second volume is a fresh and insightful critical essay by Debbie Hagan the former editor of Art New England.
Calatrava's Costly Sculpture As Architecture
A Starchitect Whose Legacy Is Being Questioned
Architecture
In the last few decades, Spanish-born Santiago Calatrava (b.1951), a visionary architect, structural engineer and sculptor has risen to be a world renown star. His graceful, soaring and visually impressive bridges, transportation centers and cultural institutions are futuristically iconic. However, many of his prominent projects, though often quite startlingly beautiful, have been greatly criticized for functional flaws, detail mistakes, construction delays and huge cost overruns. His constant involvement in massive law suits is now diminishing his legacy.
EarSay: Reflections on Habits of Bass Players
Anne Hills' The Things I Notice Now
Music
Earlier this spring I spent a few hours with Tom Paxton hashing over old memories, talking a bit about how singer-songwriters changed the face of what we once called folk music.
EarSay On Stage
Sidi Touré, Beggar's Ride and The Boxcar Lillies
Music
An old friend of mine once noted, “You can always tell who in an audience was at a Pete Seeger concert for the first time.”
“You can?” I queried.
“Sure,” she said. “They are the ones who look annoyed when other audience members start to sing along with Pete.”
Uzbekistan: Part Three
Khiva and Fergana Valley
Travel
Khiva is the most remote and intact medieval town in Central Asia. Passing through the gates of the crenelated clay walls offers a journey back in time. The fertile Fergana Valley, home to 1/3 of the population, harbors the towns of Margilon, Rishtan and Kokand, each famed for an ancient craft or historic monument.
Ear Say: Those Harmonizing Ladies II
The Sweetback Sisters, The Boxcar Lilies, The Carper Family
Music
I am attracted to any group, male, female or mixed that effectively use vocal harmonies. Only rarely in my limited attempts to sing along with others have I found myself able to find that sweet harmonizing position. I have great respect for those who seem to effortlessly slip in and out of it.
The Zen of Watching Westerns
When Contemplating Art Just Ain't Enough
Film
Artist and theorist Martin Mugar is taking a break from his usual beat to explore the philosophical nuances and cult implications of watching Westerns. The discourse ranges from Hopalong Cassidy, to the Marklborough Man as a hacking and coughing paradigm of manhood, and the ultra vi of Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch. Here he gets his kicks on Route 66. With a left turn through Monument Valley.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
Best Play in London’s West End Reopensin June
Theatre
With rave reviews and multiple awards, including seven Oliviers (the British equivalenbt of Tonys), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime may be the most original, galvanic and influential play of this century on either side of the pond. The only real question is when this magnificent production, the hottest ticket in London, will make its way to Broadway. Until then hop a plane.
Kissing the Bleepin’ Blarney Stone
Blessed With the Gift of Gab
Travel
When visiting Ireland it's obligatory to Kiss the Blarney Stone. Which I managed in my own fashion. The Castle is a dump. Better to be a peasant in a cottage with a turf fire than a lord living in that damp pile of stone.
2014 Whitney Biennial
Museum Announces Participating Artists
Fine Arts
Yet again controversy surrounds who's in and who's out with the release of the list of artists selected for the 2014 Whitney Biennial. To stir the pot this time three outside curators will be given one floor each of the museum. With no compromises that will ensure the individual taste of the designated curators. The museum's curators will advise on the installations.
Dublin Pubs
Irish Comfort Food
Food
They say that a seven course gourmet Irish meal consists of a six pack and baked potato. Imagine then our surprise to discover traditional Irish food in cozy Dublin pubs. Washed down, of course, with a fresh pint of Guinness.
Trinity College and the Book of Kells
Viewing Ireland's National Treasures
Fine Arts
During the 1979 traveling exhibition Treasures of Early Irish Art I first viewed the Book of Kells. Given the long line of visitors it proved to be a brief encounter. That also was the case during a recent visit to the Old Library of Trinty College in Dublin. It was an absorbing and enchanting experience of the essence of Irish heritage.
The Irish Museum of Modern Art
Dublin’s 17th Century Former Royal Hospital Kilmainham
Fine Arts
Relaunching after renovations the Irish Museum of Modern Art presented two special exhiitions- Kathleen Eileen Moray Gray (9 August 1878 – 31 October 1976) the Irish born furniture designer, and architect and Leonora Carrington (6 April 1917 – 25 May 2011) a British-born–Mexican artist, surrealist painter and novelist. Her mother was Irish.
Rethinking Stones an Exhibition and Video Project
Inspired by a 2000 Visit to Neolitihic Avebury in the U.K.
Fine Arts
Inspired by recent visits to neolithic sites in Ireland, and memories of Stonehenge some years ago, we reconnected with the artist Jane Hudson about an exhibition we worked on together. The project Stones in the gallery of the New England School of Art & Design was stunning and deeply complex. This is a dialogue about that work and the ancient sites which inspired the exhibition.
Body & Soul at Museum of Arts and Design, NYC
New International Ceramics until March 2nd, 2014
Fine Arts
The current exhibition at MAD, "Body & Soul," presents an international survey of artists, who feel compelled to comment on aspects of our human condition through ceramic sculptures. It is an emotional roller-coaster! - Two other major exhibitions are on view: "Fashion Jewelry, The Collection of Barbara Berger" and most astonishing, "Out of Hand, Materializing the Post Digital."
Jacob's Pillow 2014
Schedule for Summer Season
Dance
The 82nd Festival season will feature more than 52 companies performing on three stages: the historic Ted Shawn Theatre; the intimate Doris Duke Theatre; and the open-air Henry J. Leir Stage, home to the Pillow’s free Inside/Out Performance Series, which served more than 21,000 community members last season. More than 350 free and ticketed dance performances, talks, tours, exhibits, films, classes, and community events will be offered June 14-August 24, 2014.
London’s Serpentine Galleries
Arte Povere’s Marisa Merz and Argentine Adrian Villar Rojas
Fine Arts
A bit of a hike from London's Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington is the entrance to Kensington Gardens in Hyde Park. In 1970 a tea pavilion in the park became the renowned Serpentine Gallery. This past year another small building within walking distance became Serpentine Sackler with an attached cafe designed by Zaha Hadid. In November we view exhibitons by the Arte Povere artist Marisa Merz and works in clay be the Argentinian sculptor Adrian Villar Rojas.
Good and Bad News for London’s Dog Production
Broadway Confirmed for Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Theatre
Following repairs to the Apollo Theatre, where the roof collapsed injuring 80 in December the production of the hit The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was scheduled to reopen on January 13. Now that's not going to happen. The show will reopen with a new cast next door at the Gielgud Theatre in June. The good new is that the National Theatre has confirmed that the sensational drama will open on Broadway in October.
Nantucket Sleigh Ride
Moby Dick's New England Legacy
Architecture
In the 19th century the whaling industry, as chronicled in Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick, thrived in Nantucket. The community declined after the 1850s, first through competiton from New Bedford and access to railroads, then through the introduction of cheaper keroscene lamps. Long languishing as a ghosttown it has been revived as a super expensive time capsule of historic architecture and culture. The island swells to some 50,000 inhabitants during the summer season.
Izhar Patkin's Space Time Continuum
The Wandering Veil at Mass MoCA
Fine Arts
In the vast space of Building Five, for the coming year, Mass MoCA is hosting a retrospective for the Israeli born artist Izhar Patkin. A series of rooms features Veils inspired by the poems of a collaborator, the deceased Pakistani poet, Agha Shahid Ali. The artist is challenged by solving technical problems for a variety of approaches to painting in sculpture in a range of media. Central to his practice is a commitment to modernist inspired narratives devoid of the irony of post modernism.
Israeli Izhar Patkin Debates Jewish Art
Secular Narratives When God Is Dead
Fine Arts
During a dialogue with the artist Izhar Patkin about his Mass MoCA exhibition David Ross hit a dead end when he asked whether there is a Jewish art? At this point in post modernism, with more than a century since Marc Chagall, Jacques Lipchitz, Chaim Soutine or Amedeo Modigliani, it is not a question that one would ask a Jewish American artist. But is it relevant for an Israeli Sabra?
In the Time of the Butterflies by Caridad Svich
Lyceum Space at San Diego Repertory Theatre
Theatre
Playwright Caridad Svich received the Primus Award, for one of her plays at the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) conference. Her family drama and memory play “In the Time of the Butterflies” takes place in the Dominican Republic during the 1950s and 60’s under the brutal dictatorship of Generalissmo Rafael Trujillo.
Death of a Salesman
Boston's Lyric Stage Feb. 14 to March 15
Theatre
A masterpiece of American Theatre, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman will be performed by Boston's The Lyric Stage from February 14 through March 15. The production with be directed by company founder Spiro Veloudos. Ken Baltin with appear in the lead role as Willy Loman accompanied by Paula Plum as his wife Linda.
Julianne Boyd Discusses Barrington’s Season
From High Drama to Three Musicals
Theatre
Now in its 20th year Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, Mass has earned a reputation as one of the nation's finest regional theatre companies. During a recent press conference artistic director, Julianne Boyd, discussed the upcoming season.
Invasion of Privacy at Dezart Performs
Larry Parr's Comedy/ Drama in Palm Springs
Theatre
“Invasion of Privacy” director Judith Chapman asks the audience in her program remarks to take a step back in time to the 1940’s. That was a time when a woman lawyer was a novelty in the South, and man’s moonshine was nobody’s business, and that an “invasion of privacy” lawsuit was something of a brand new issue, which eventually, became a popular reason for going to court.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Under Riccardo Muti
Musical Messages Delivered with Passionate Panache
Music
This evening introduced spaghetti-Western composer Ennio Morricone. Often nominated for an Academy Award, he finally won one for lifetime achievement. Clint Eastwood translated his acceptance speech live.
Before Muti began to conduct Morricone’s tribute to 9/11, Maestro Muti pointed out that this music has a message. The piece begins with a poem by the South African Richard Moore Rive. Ora Jones beautifully articulated the rainbow of our world, where words are neither white nor black. “Where the rainbow ends, there’s going to be a place…where we can sing together, a sad song. “
Hannah Höch at London's Whitechapel Gallery
Pioneer Dadaist of 1920s Berlin
Fine Arts
Using the technique of collage Hannah Hoch was one of the most inventive artists of the absurdist Dada movement in Germany during the 1920s. Her work is being surveyed at London's Whitechapel Gallery. She was condemned by the Nazis and included in Entartete Kunst an exhibition of Degenerate Art.
The Gonzo Chronicles
Arthur Yanoff Recalls Coffee Corner
Opinion
Arthur Yanoff has had a one man show at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and was named Jewish Artist of the Year. A couple of years ago he and photographer Kay Canavino collaborated on a Melville project for the Ralph Brill Gallery and the author's former home Arrowhead in Pittsfield. We met recently to discuss Boston's Coffee Corner and its rarely documented hipster legacy which was a spawning ground for gonzo.
Gonzo Chronicles Two
Arthur Yanoff Hipster and Jewish Artist of the Year
Opinion
Looking Berkshire hipster and artist Arthur Yanoff in the eye the rabbi told him "Once a Lubavitcher always a Lubavitcher." In part two we move from Coffee Corner to crits with Clement Greenberg and raising dogs in the country. Along the way Yanoff was celebrated as Jewish Artist of the Year. For which he had to rent a tux in Great Borington. Or something like that in no particular order.
Ai Weiwei a Smash in Miami
Florida Protest Artist Destroys Priceless Vase
Fine Arts
As an act of protest the renowned dissident Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei, famously was photographed deliberately dropping and destroying a priceless Han Dynasty vase. Now it appears that in protest an artist has dropped an ancient vessel, painted over by Weiwei, that was included in his traveling exhibition. We explore the many layers of irony that tracks vandalism mimicking the creative destruction of Weiwei. Yet again imitation, however criminal, is the sincerest form of flattery.
The 64th Berlinale Set New Records
Film Festival reigned February 6-16
Film
The 64th Berlinale just closed after eleven days, while 400 films from around the world were viewed by 330.000 Berliners and international visitors. The talk of the city while it lasted!
The Winter's Tale at Old Globe
First Production by Artistic Director Barry Edelstein
Theatre
San Diego's renowned Old Globe’s new Artistic Director Barry Edelstein, wanted his favorite Shakespeare play, “The Winter’s Tale” to be his first directorial production – and he wanted to present it inside, in the Globe’s venerable and famous 75 year-old theatre.
24th Annual San Diego Jewish Film Festival
Shoes Written and Directed by Ukrainian-born Costa Fam
Film
The story of the film “Shoes” is cleverly told without dialogue or seeing the faces of the actors. This unique film approach immediately engages the viewer; drawing them deeper into the story that director Costa Fam wants to tell. “Shoes” is a powerful, yet tenderly crafted movie, that traces a pair of red shoes from their purchase by a young woman just beginning to enjoy the pleasures and dreams that life has to offer.
It Happened in Saint-Tropez
French Film Directed by Daniele Thompson
Film
“It Happened in Saint-Tropez” is gorgeously photographed by Jean-Marc Fabre along with a stunning production design by Michele Abbe-Vannier. The film is easy on the eyes, and is well acted. It’s a light, frothy, tasty French pastry of a movie that produces chuckles and laughs all the while being entertaining in the process. And there isn’t a calorie in sight. Enjoy!
Polish Artist Konrad Smolenski
Caused Buzz at 2013 Venice Biennale
Fine Arts
It would be funny to say that Konrad Smolenski is someone you will soon have heard of. Already a pretty big deal throughout Europe, he had the honor of representing Poland at the Venice Biennale this year and made quite the lasting impression.
Festival International de Jazz de Montréal
35th Annual Festival June 26 to July 6
Music
This summer marks the 35th annual Festival International de Jazz de Montréal. There are many highlights with international artists slated to perform. It's worth planning for for the trip north to hear Diana Ross, Keith Jarrett, Bobby McFerrin, Ginger Baker, Rufus Wainwright and the music of Frank Zappa.
Ghost the Musical in Indy
Broadway Across America Comes to Town
Theatre
The latest in a string of movies turned musicals is Ghost the Musical. A Broadway Across America show based on the 1990 film of the same name, the production follows in the footsteps of The Wedding Singer, Grease, Once, Newsies, Sister Act, Flashdance and a few notable others, fleshing out the story from the movie with musical numbers. This popular trend works well with some movies, but feels forced with others; unfortunately Ghost is one of those others.
First Petrof Pianojazz Festival in Prague
At Famous Jazz Dock, February 24-27, 2014
Music
A new, young contributor to BFA, photographer and writer Ioana Taut, grew up in Romania. Her field of passion is Jazz ! Here she's reporting in word and image about a recent festival in Prague, where she's currently residing. Jazz is alive and well in Eastern European countries!
Not Quite April in Paris
Current Exhibitions
Fine Arts
Our correspondent is in Paris for the annual meeting of AICA (International Society of Arts Critics). Of which he is a board member. He sent links to exhibitions which he plans to check out. We appreciate being kept in the loop.
The Contemporary American Theater Festival
2014 Season in Shepherdstown, West Virginia
Theatre
The Contemporary American Theater Festival at Shepherd University has announced its 24th season featuring five new American plays, including three world premieres. Theater Festival Producing Director Ed Herendeen has chosen scripts from Christina Anderson, Charles Fuller (winner of the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for Drama), Thomas Gibbons, Bruce Graham, and Chisa Hutchinson.
An Incandescent Salome at BSO
Andris Nelsons Knows His Way Around Opera
Music
A top-tier cast tears the top off Symphony Hall in Richard Strauss's decadent take on the dysfunctional family with a religious prophet thrown in for good measure. The orchestra is enormous: 32 violins, a dozen violas, ten cellos, eight double basses and it seemed like every woodwind and brass player in the greater Boston area. And that doesn’t even account for the harps, tambourine, xylophone, harmonium, gong, kettledrum, timpani, castanet, triangle, glockenspiel and celesta. Andris Nelsons, the BSO director designate, kept them all in control.
Kiss Me Kate at Barrington Stage
Creative Team Announced
Theatre
Barrington Stage Company (BSC), has announced the creative team for the company’s 20th Anniversary Season opener – Kiss Me, Kate, to be presented June 11 through July 12 on the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage (30 Union Street). Joe Calarco and Lorin Latarro will direct and choreograph Kiss Me, Kate, which features music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Sam and Bella Spewack. BSC Associate Artists Darren R. Cohen will music direct and Renee Lutz returns for her 20th season opener as production stage manager.
36 Righteous
A Serial Killer's Hit List
Word
In a haters-gonna-hate world shared by the likes of Fred Phelps and a host of jihadist suicide bombers, we are obliged to grant credence to the central motif of a thriller pitting radical fundamentalist beliefs—one Jewish, the other Christian—against one another.
The Lantern Bar & Grill
Pittsfield Burger Joint
Food
A hole in the wall and favorite among locals is The Lantern Bar & Grill at 455 North Street along the main drag of downtown Pittsfield, Mass. The owner chef Mike Papas is a jazz fan signified by the photos on the long narrow space with a single row of tables. The Lantern touts the best burger in the Berkshires. The Pit Bulls dropped by for lunch.
La Clemenza di Tito at the Lyric Opera
Mozart Triumphs in the Human Voice
Music
La Clemenza di Tito is full of glorious Mozart arias and recitatives, and an occasional duet. It is an odd opera, which does not have a developing story arc, but rather presents one emotionally-telling vignette after another: thwarted love, political trickery, treachery and betrayal, noble friendships and a hero’s stance. The singing is classic Mozart in this Lyric Opera production.
Nadine Sierra Triumphs with Boston Lyric
Verdi Masterpiece Stylishly but Traditionally Staged
Music
One of the Boston Lyric Opera's most successful recent productions, "Rigoletto" is an unabashed melodrama but its dramatic truths are relevant to a day when the powerful and corrupt can get their way no matter what.
Nikos Stage Announces Sam Shepard Play
Chris Pine and Lauren Ambrose to Co Star
Theatre
For the final slot of the program organized by Jenny Gersten for the 2014 Williamstown Theatre Festival she has played an ace. Lauren Ambrose (“Six Feet Under”) will make a WTF debut paired with the returning Chris Pine (Kirk in the recent “Star Trek” movies). A revival of the 1983 Sam Shepard play will be directed by Daniel Aukin. It will run on the Nikos Stage July 24 to August 3.
Elisabeth Johansson at Clark Gallery
Renowned Still Life Painter
Portfolio
An exhibition by the still life painter Elizabeth Johansson is always a notable occasion.
The Clark Gallery, in Lincoln, Mass is presenting a selection of exquisite, meticulously observed and rendered drawings and paintings. The works will be on view through March 29.
Christopher Wool at the Art Institute
Chicago Celebrates a Native Son
Fine Arts
Thirty-one letters brought more than 26 million dollars at an art auction last fall. Visually the letters are compressed, blob-like, stacked. Musically, each of the three phrases has a sound which is considered one of the most beautiful in the English language: sell or cell. Two hard "c" sounds (actually a ‘k”) break up the beauty. The entire phrase startles because selling the kids is verboten. Do you have to know the title, "Apocalypse Now", to react?
The Glass House: Philip Johnson's Masterpiece
From Its Inception A 20th Century Architectural Icon
Architecture
Conceptualized in 1945 and completed in 1949, architect Philip Johnson's Glass House almost immediately became a 20th Century architecture icon. Used by Johnson as a weekend retreat for 58 years, it is now shared with the public as part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It is a pilgrimage mecca for architecture buffs to see the eccentric outer structures and contemporary art collection of Johnson and his longtime partner art curator/critic David Whitney. This is a visually-compelling experience of an architectural masterpiece.
Rita Coolidge Discusses Her Cherokee Heritage
Part One of a Dialogue with the Renowned Singer
Music
Prior to a Christmas gig at the Clark Art Institute on Friday, November 30 we spoke at length by phone from her home north of San Diego. Now a grandmother of three by a daughter with former husband, Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson, we delved deeply into her Cherokee heritage. That led to rewarding collaborations exploring Native music with Robbie Robertson. This is part one of a dialogue.
Two Time Grammy Winner Rita Coolidge
Delta Lady on Surviving Mad Dogs and Englishmen
Music
Growing up the daughter of a Baptist preacher in Tennessee, as a kid, Rita Collidge listed to R&B broadcast by WLAC out of Gallatin.Hearing Little Richard for the first time she was shaking all over. After Florida State and a year in Memphis she drove to California with Leon Russell in his Thunderbird. She recorded with Delaney and Bonnie before heading out solo which she has been doing ever since. There was a stint as a duo with Kris Kristofferson the father of her daughter. Then the epic tour of Mad Dogs and Englishmen with Joe Cocker who remains a close friend. Through it all she remained level headed while true to her faith and values.
Rita Coolidge at the Clark
Heart Warming Holiday Concert
Music
Last night at the Clark Art Institute in ever sense there were chestnuts roasting on the fire as Rita Coolidge, backed by the Williamstown Gospel Choir, delivered a heart warming program of Christmas music. Between songs she chatted intimately with the audience sharing insights to her Cherokee heritage, comments about her one and only ex husband, Kris Kristofferson, and life on the road. The set of carols was peppered with top forty hits gleaned from two Grammy awards and a life on the road that started on tour with Delaney and Bonnie in the early 1970s.
The Good Lovelies CD
Live At The Revolution
Music
Live At Revolution is the best CD that The Good Lovelies have yet produced. It satisfies completely. If it does not win industry notice, nominations and awards I will be amazed.
The Eccentric Barnes Foundation
Following Litigation Relocated to Philadelphia
Fine Arts
After lengthy law suits breaking the iron clad will of Dr. Albert Barnes, his foundation relocated from its inaccessible suburban home in Marion to downtown Philadelphia in 2012. In 1992, The Barnes Foundation received court approval to send 80 works on tour to generate funds for needed renovations. The Foundation continued to struggle financially, hampered by poor management for a time, the isolation of its location, and local restrictions on parking which reduced the number of visitors. From its inception, the Barnes Foundation has been the focus of ridicule and controversy. Today the collection of 2,500 works is valued at between 20 and 30 billion dollars.
Il Pane Degliangeli, Offering of the Angels: Paintings and Tapestries of the Uffizi Gallery
On View at Savannah’s Telfair Museums Through March 31
Fine Arts
The venerable Ufizzi Museum in Florence has tarnished its reputation by packaging works from storage and sending them to four out of the mainstream American museums. We viewed the final destination of the revenue generating tour at the Jepson Center for the Arts in Savannah, Georgia.
British Rocker Alvin Lee Dead at 68
Inspired Birth of Gonzo Journalism
Music
A 1970 concert at Harvard Stadium by Ten Years After inspired the first published use of the word gonzo. We recall the birth of Gonzo Journalism on the occasion of the passing of British rock star Alvin Lee at 68.
Ai Weiwei: According to What?
Traveling Exhibition Tours Five Museums
Fine Arts
We visited Ai Weiwei: According to What? at the Hirshhorn in DC mid February. The five museum tour or work by the dissident, iconoclast Chinese artist will be on view at the Indianapolis Museum of Art from April 5 through July 28. Ai who remains under house arrest in China is one of the world's most influential and controversial artists.
ArtsEmerson Announces 2013-2014 Program
Fourth Season Starts September 17
Theatre
ArtsEmerson announces the first half of its fourth theatre season, beginning in the fall of 2013. This announcement covers productions into January of 2014, with more winter/spring productions to be announced later. Tickets for these productions go on sale to ArtsEmerson members on April 12, and to the general public on May 3.
Provincetown's Legendary Sun Gallery
Yvonne Andersen Part Two
Fine Arts
After leaving Provincetown and Sun Gallery its co founder Yvonne Andersen acquired a global reputation as a pioneer of teaching video animation to children. This led to a position at the Rhode Island School of Design where she taught for 23 year with nine of them as department chair. Partnering with Red Grooms she was acknowledged in a recent Pace Gallery exhibition for creating one of the first Happenings in Provincetown.
EarSay: Catching up on the CD Backlog
Old Town School of Folk, Kirsty McGee, Karine Polwart and Maeve Gilchrist
Music
These cds have become embarrassments sitting on my “To be reviewed” shelf and staring at me with accusatory intensity. So, I made a pledge to devote myself over the next month or so of clearing up the backlog and every other installment will be dedicated to bring these gems, (and make no mistake these are gems not castaways) to your attention.
EarSay: A Plea for Diction, Plus
CDs by Darlingside, Alistair Olgivy, Joe Johnson
Music
When I write anything, be it an email or an installment in this series, my primary purpose is, as I presume is that of most writers, to clearly as possible express my ideas for you to consider. I would suppose that a songwriter has the same purpose, expressing clearly their ideas within the reinforcing framework of melody, rhythm and instrumental accompaniment.
Figurative Expressionism in Provincetown
PAAM Exhibition Through September 2
Fine Arts
Following World War II the matrix of global contemporary art shifted from Paris to New York with the development of abstract expressionism as the leading movement of contemporary art of that era. During the 1950s there was much speculation about a Return to the Figure. Young artists who flocked to Provincetown to study with Hans Hofmann and Henry Hensche explored a synthesis through Figurative Expressionism. A number of these artists showed with Sun Gallery in Provincetown and Hansa Gallery in New York. The exhibition "Pioneers from Provincetown: The Roots of Figurative Expressionism" curated by Adam Zucker, Co-curator, Stephanie DeTroy focuses on this important movement.
Matilda Soars in London's West End
Olivier and Tony Winning Musical Also on Broadway
Theatre
Having won a remarkable seven Olivier Awards the musical Matilda was restaged in New York. There it won a modest four Tonys. It is the current toast of Broadway. Surrounded by kids of all ages we caught a Saturday matinee in London's West End. Rarely have we been more delighted.
2014 Boston Pops Season
Fun Fun Fun From May 7 to June 14
Music
The 2014 Boston Pops spring season will introduce audiences to debut appearances by Warren Haynes (5/13 & 14), Tony award-winning Billy Porter (5/20 &21), and conductor Sarah Hicks (5/23 & 24), as well as first-time collaborations with the New York-based jazz band sensation The Hot Sardines (5/28-30) and Cirque de la Symphonie (5/16 & 17),the wildly unique circus act that brings its aerial flyers, acrobats, dancers, and jugglers to orchestral stages throughout the country. Opening night features comic Jason Alexander.
Izhar Patkin: The Wandering Veil
Vast Installation at Mass MoCA on View for a Year
Fine Arts
Building Five of Mass MoCA is one of the largest and most magnificent spaces for contemporary art in North America. It is always fascinating to see how artists respond to the daunting challenge. Izhar Patkin: The Wandering Veil is now on view for the coming year.
Terry Teachout’s Definitive Book on Duke Ellington
We Loved Him Madly
Music
Wall Street Journal theatre critic, Terry Teachout, wrote a superb jazz biography "Pops: A Life of Duke Ellington." That became the one man play with John Douglas Thompson "Satchmo at the Waldorf" which opens soon Off Broadway. Now Teachout has written an even better biography "Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington." He is in the process of transforming that material into a play.
Management Dust Up for Shakespeare & Company
Tony Simotes Will Report to Executive Director Jerry Bilik
Theatre
Not long after he took over as Artistic Director of Shakespeare & Company in 2009 Tony Simotes had to deal with near extinction caused by some $10 million in debt. With the board and managing director, Nicholas J. Puma, great strides were accomplished to reduce and restructure debt bringing stablity to the company which Tina Packer founded in 1979. In a major change the board has created the new position of Executive Director, Jerry Bilik, whom Simotes and Puma will report to. Those close to the company see this as a long term step foward.
Photographer/ Art Historian Carl Chiarenza
Makers and Mentors at Rochester Contemporary Art Center
Fine Arts
Carl Chiarenza is distinguished both as a photographer and a scholar. Rochester Contemporary Arts Center is featuring him in Makers & Mentors new and recent collages, paintings and photographs by:
Carl Chiarenza (Rochester), Lisa Bradley (New York), Bruno Chalifour (Rochester), David W. Haas (Rochester)
February 6 – March 16, 2014.
Nikos Stage for 2014
Williamtown Theatre Festival Update
Theatre
Previously Williamstown Theatre Festival released the Main Stage schedule. Now we are informed of two plays for the smaller Nikos Stage.
Tribes at The Phoenix Theatre
Indianapolis to February 9
Theatre
The power of the play lies in the exploration of communication. In a world where people can hear they seldom actually listen. It's about communication in every sense of the word. The way we interact with family, our partners, and the rest of the world.
Sondheim's A Little Night Music
I Could Have Waltzed All Afternoon at Emmanuel Music
Music
Emmanuel Music's semi-staged performance of Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night Music" demonstrated to me that the Broadway musical has its merits. I had expected that whatever the quality of the performance I would be writing a review mourning Emmanuel Music’s decline from pursuing high seriousness in music to reveling in kitsch. How could I have been so wrong for so long?
Newport Jazz Festival 2014
Schedule for August 1 through 3
Music
The Newport Jazz Festival is the most renowned of its kind. This is the lineup for the festival at Forth Adams State Park in Newport Rhode Island. Be there or be square.
The Brothers Chapman at London's Serpentine
Jurrasic in Hyde Park
Fine Arts
The ever controversial Jake and Dinos Chapman are at it again in London's Serpentine/ Sackler Gallery. "Come And See" is another of the artists’ exhibitions to be filled with insalubrious gore and crude hyper-reality. This is the classic art dialectic of vanitas; birth, death, sex, horror … and of course McDonald’s.
Visiting Smith College Museum of Art
Thoughts on Grunewald, Bouts and Jaune Quick-To-See- Smith
Fine Arts
To celebrate the birthdays of Astrid Hiemer and Norma Leavy, just a week apart, we drove to the Smith College Museum of Art. Jack, an artist who knows the collection well, called ahead for an appointment to see the only drawing in North America by Mathias Grunewald the German Renaissance master of the Isenheim Altarpiece. I was excited to find a painting by my friend Jaune Quick-to-See-Smith in the permanent collection.
Shakespeare & Company 2014
Programming Schedule for Summer Season
Theatre
Shakespeare & Company has planned a celebratory season packed with Shakespeare, modern works, premieres and special events in honor of the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth. Tickets for the 2014 Performance Season go on sale in Mid-February. For specific date and info please check online at: www.shakespeare.org or by calling the Box Office at (413) 637-3353, or in person at 70 Kemble Street, Lenox, MA.
Café of St. Martin-in-the-Field
Cheap Fun Atmospheric London Dining
Food
The top London destination for cheap hearty food with great atmosphere is found in Trafalgar Square. The Cafe in the Crypt below St. Martin-in-the-Fields is no secret. It is always noisy and crowded. Despite the inconvenience it's the best deal around in a very expensive city.
Remembering Folk Legend Pete Seeger
We're All Brothers And We're Only Passing Through
Music
I have few if any idols in my pantheon, but if there is anyone that I admired enough to put there, Pete Seeger might well be the one.
Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman at 46
Smacked on Super Sunday
Opinion
Today, as millions of Americans bet the farm on the Super Bowl, in New York, Lady Luck came up snake eyes for renowned actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. He rolled the bones and with the spike still in his arm croaked from a hot shot of smack. After 23 years of staying clean he started using again last May with today's tragic result. We remember and celebrate him as one of the finest actors of his generation.
Contrarian Osso Bucco
Improvising on a Peasant Recipe
Food
In upscale Italian restaurants when possible I always order Osso Bucco. Having read and absorbed some classic recipes on line, to the horror of my gourmet friends, I winged it and improvised. The resultant sauce was just awesome. But even at the suggested two hours the meat could have been more tender with longer cooking.
Barrington Stage's On the Town Broadway Bound
Julianne Boyd Discusses the Impact for Her Company and the Berkshires
Theatre
During a recent press conference artistic director Julianne Boyd announced the 20th season for Pittsfield's Barrington Stage. She confirmed that last summer's hit musical On the Town is transferring to Broadway. This is a part of a trend for regional theaters to develop shows for New York. We asked Boyd about the impact and implications for the Berkshires and her company.
Bethany at Old Globe in San Diego
Laura Marks Play Through February 23
Theatre
“Bethany”, written by playwright Laura Marks and directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch, is a dark, tragic-comedy that chronicles the efforts of a young single mother who has been caught up in the economic roller coaster of the housing and financial market bubbles of 2009.
Beautiful—The Carole King Musical
From Brooklyn to Broadway
Theatre
Beautiful—The Carole King Musical, currently at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on Broadway, is another prime example where song and dance, beautifully delivered by a talented cast and crew, trumps the storyline. Carole King attended James Madison High School in Brooklyn, the same one that I attended. Carole Klein as she was known in those years belonged to Gamma Phi the same sorority as my sister Annette.
Barrrington’s Theatrical Speed Dates
Third Annual 10 x 10 Upstreet Festival of New Plays
Theatre
Through March 2 Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield is presenting its now annual, much anticipated 10 x 10 Upstreet a lively festival of new plays. The pace is fast and furious as one theatrical thumbnail morphs into another and another. After two quick and crammed acts we departed with a head swirling marathon of impressions. There were many joyous nuggets in a mash up of intensive theatre.
FreePort [No. 007]: From Here to Ear
Musical Performance Art By Birds at Peabody Essex Museum
![read FreePort [No. 007]: From Here to Ear](uploadedImages/leads/4458_623576.jpg "Read: FreePort [No. 007]: From Here to Ear")
Fine Arts
Most Performance Art is warmed over conceptual art from three or four decades ago. So when something is truly new and exciting, even intellectually and aesthetically provocative, it should be celebrated. Currently at the Peabody Essex Museum is a performance piece by 70 beautiful finches created by French artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot. It should be seen and heard.
Berkshire Theatre Group 2014 Season
Programming from Pittsfield to Stockbridge
Theatre
"For our 86th Summer Season, we are producing a full schedule of musicals, plays, and special theatrical performances for another wonderful summer in the Berkshires with a splendid cast and crew of talented artists from across the nation,” said Kate Maguire. "Six extraordinary plays: The Mystery of Irma Vep: A Penny Dreadful, Benefactors, Design for Living, A Hatful of Rain, including two world premieres: Cedars and POE and two wonderful musicals: A Little Night Musicand Seussical highlight our schedule and make for an enjoyable mix of masterful and provocative classics and contemporary works. A special week-long performance of A Lover's Talespotlighting the works of Giuseppe Verdi, Charles Ludlam and Alexandre Dumas and performances by our summer apprentices, our 86th season will be memorable and entertaining for all.”
WAM Theatre Announces 2014 Season
Focus on Women and Girls
Theatre
WAM Theatre’s Artistic Director Kristen van Ginhoven announces highlights of the 2014 season. The Berkshire-based professional theatre company will celebrate its fifth anniversary with plays readings, special events, panel discussions, and educational programs that focus on women artists and stories of women
Christopher Durang Comedy at Mark Taper Forum
Vanya and Sonia Masha and Spike
Theatre
Christopher Durang, freely borrows characters and plot-lines from Chekhov’s plays, then cleverly remixes and reinserts them into his highly entertaining comedy tale with the result being it’s one of the best ensemble casts to tread LA theatre boards in quite awhile. At Mark Taper Forum through March 9.
Rusalka Re-Imagined in Chicago
Ana Maria Martinez Captivates as Rusalka
Music
In the front row of the Civic Opera House, Renée Fleming sat watching an enchanting water nymph take on the role which has been Fleming's signature for decades. The audience fell for Ana Maria Martinez from her first notes and throughout the challenging first Act. What would Fleming make of the performance?
Third and Final Phase of Mass MoCA Buildout
Commonwealth's $25.4 Million Kickstart
Fine Arts
With a $25.4 Million grant from the Commonwealth Mass MoCA is embarking on the third and final phase of renovation and development of its 26-building, 600,000 square foot, 16-acre factory campus. Phase III research and concept design work is complete. The project is ready to move construction projected for 2014-2016. This entails 130,000 square feet of gallery space requiring $25 million in state infrastructure grants, plus $30 million in privately raised construction investments, building maintenance reserves, and endowment funding.
Boston's Actors’ Shakespeare Project
Announces 2014-2015 Season
Theatre
Actors’ Shakespeare Project (ASP), under the direction of Artistic Director Allyn Burrows and Executive Producer Sara Stackhouse, announces the slate of plays for the beginning of its second decade. The 2014 -15 subscriptions are currently on sale and single tickets will go on sale August 1, 2014.
The Architecture of Becoming
NY's Women’s Project Theatre
Theatre
The clever, yet simple stage design allowed for the audience to believe this was the door to City Center, the inside of the theater, a subway station, several apartments and the streets. The costumes were inventive and in the case of the Grande Dame, wildly entertaining. That is how New York City would dress! The lighting gave atmosphere when needed and a sense of mystery for the ghost who was to lead us on our adventure.
Cape & Islands Theater Coalition
David B. Kaplan Appointed Executive Director
Fine Arts
The Cape & Islands Theater Coalition announced today that it has created the new position of Executive Director and has appointed David B. Kaplan to fill that post. The members of the Coalition took this step in recognition of the growth of the Coalition and its activities on behalf of the Cape and Islands live performance theaters, and in anticipation of greater collaboration and outreach by the organization. The Coalition is composed of 24 member theaters and a Friends organization which helps raise awareness of our regions theaters and promote theater-going.
Harvard Art Museums Open November 16
Renovation by Renco Piano Conflates Separate Museums
Architecture
The Harvard Art Museums—comprising the Fogg Museum, the Busch-Reisinger Museum, and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum—will open their new Renzo Piano-designed facility to the public on November 16, 2014. The renovation and expansion of the museums’ landmark building at 32 Quincy Street in Cambridge will bring the three museums and their collections together under one roof for the first time
Natalie Dessay Sings French at Jordan Hall
Opera Diva Featured Elegant Songs of Love
Music
Natalie Dessay has been one of the most electrifying singer/actresses on the opera stage for nearly 30 years. Now, she is focusing her career on pop songs and the classic song literature. Dessay assembled a primarily French program with enough German songs to give the evening some weight.
A Brecht Twofer in Dublin and London
Threepenny Opera and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
Theatre
This past summer Shakespeare & Comoany staged Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children starring Olympia Dukakis with John Douglas Thompson as the Cook. This led to a dialogue with Thompson exploring the play and the concept of Epic Theatre. Here we consider two more productions. At the Gate Theatre in Dublin the musical with Kurt Weill The Threepenny Opera. And in London's West End The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui.
2014 Tanglewood Schedule
James Taylor Returns July 3 and 4
Music
The Boston Symphony Orchestra announces the schedule for its 2014 Tanglewood program. Aftar a hiatus last year, as has become traditional, James Taylor returns for the Fourth of July Weekend. On July 5 Renee Fleming will appear on the opening night of the classical program. Popular artists will be announced as they are booked.
Firehouse Café Opens in Adams
Hottest New Restaurant in the Berkshires
Food
With a mid January launch the Firehouse Cafe is off to a hot start in sizzling downtown Adams, Mass. Word of mouth is spreading like wildfire for the new restaurant that combines great service, fine dining, and tasty food at an affordable price. It's the spark that's igniting long dormant Park Street.
Barrington Stage Announces Season
20 Strong Years for Pittsfield Based Company
Fine Arts
During a bone crunching cold snap the Berkshire theatre media gathered on stage for a lunch and press conference hosted by Julianne Boyd the artistic director of the now twenty-year-old Barrington Stage Company. In addition to discussing the program for the coming season Boyd confirmed that last summer's hit musical On the Town is headed for Broadway with either a summer or fall opening.
Williamstown Theatre Festival Main Stage 2014
Divas Renée Fleming and Chita Rivera to Star
Theatre
For her fourth and final program at Williamstown Theatre Festival outgoing artistic director Jenny Gersten has played her aces. Actually, make that Queens. Renowned opera soprano Renée Fleming will play, guess what, an opera diva in Living on Love. Broadway favorite Chita Rivera will appear in The Visit with book by Terrence McNally; music by John Kander; and lyrics by Fred Ebb. Jessica Stone who directed during Gersten's debut WTF season returns to helm a revival of June Moon by Ring Lardner and George S. Kaufman.
2014 Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival
Saturday, June 28 and Sunday, June 29
Music
The 37th annual Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival, one of the most celebrated and longest running jazz events in the world, will be held on Saturday, June 28 and Sunday, June 29 at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. This year's festival headliners include Earth, Wind & Fire, Trombone Shorty, Terence Blanchard, Dave Holland Prism, Patti Austin, Jon Batiste & Stay Human, Eddie Palmieri Salsa Orchestra, Quinn Sullivan, Dr. Lonnie Smith, and Newport Jazz Festival®: Now 60, among others.
Buzkashi! Shown at MASS MoCA
Final Film in Series: Compete! - The Human Tower
Film
Cinema Lounge at Mass MoCA screened the Canadian Indi-Film BUZKASHI! recently, which was shot in Tajikistan, Central Asia. Buzkashi, an ancient sport, is vaguely a cross between rugby and polo with few rules. The ‘ball,’ however, is a headless goat. There may be 200 riders on a huge field and slowly the film develops the game and its main characters into a fantastic tale set in a vast and fascinating landscape.
American Repertory Theatre 2013-14 Season
Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston as LBJ
Theatre
American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) has scheduled American Sign Language (ASL) interpreted performances and Audio Described performances for blind and low-visioned audiences during the A.R.T.’s 2013-14 Season. Bryan Cranston the star of the hit TV drama Breaking Bad plays President Lyndon B. Johnson in All The Way which opens the season in Cambridge on October 1.
Newport Jazz Festival to Celebrate 60th
Greetings From Its Founder George Wein
Music
I’ve been producing the Newport Jazz Festival since 1954 and I'm proud to announce that the festival will be celebrating its 60th anniversary on August 1 - 3, 2014. This may be the first time you're hearing from me personally, but I know I've met many of you festival-goers while riding around on my golf-cart, known as the "Wein Machine." It's always great to talk with fellow jazz-lovers.
Wilco Returns to Mass MoCA in 2015
Will Skip This Summer
Music
The Solid Sound Festival of Wilco has been a shot in the arm for the Northern Berkshire County tourism and hospitality industry. They will return to North Adams in 2015 but not this summer. This will be fourth festival organized by the band for Mass MoCA.
New York Sojourn
Trip to NYC Yields Architecture, Art and Theatrical Joy
Architecture
Invited to an architectural tour of Ground Zero, Mark Favermann and his companion Lisa went on a trip that was framed around ML King Birthday weekend to include architecture, art, theatre, good food and football playoff games. This underscores the notion that New York City is so nice it was named twice.
Ear Say: Closing Out 2013
This, Too Long Left Unsaid
Music
2013 got a bit complicated at its end and I find myself struggling to catch up with writing of those events, sorting out the ones on which I want to comment and deciding which deserve sharing.
New York Sojourn II & III
Two Great Nights at the Theatre and Two Great Museums
Theatre
Visiting new York City means seeing great theatre. Mark Favermann and his companion Lisa saw Pinter's No Man's Land with Sirs Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart and the musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder with the versatile Jefferson Mays. These shows are two of the 2013-14 Broadway season highlights in the Big Apple. And NYC also means visiting great museums. Two that were visited were MoMA and the Morgan Library.
Eagle Columnist John Seven Boycotts Artistic Creeps
Separating Individuals from their Accomplishments
Opinion
Dishing the dirt on celebrities has become a billion dollar industry for muckraking supermarket tabloids, talk radio, and TV entertainment and gossip shows. But we were shocked and distressed when Berkshire Eagle columnist John Seven unloaded a mud slinging screed against Woody Allen and other "artistic creeps." Seven seems surprised and offended to realize that great artists are not always great people. Duh.
Alec Baldwin Cries No Mas
Why He Vants to Be Alone
Opinion
For decades actor Alec Baldwin has opted to duke it out with paparazzis and the gossip media. Now like Roberto Duran tossing in the towel stating "No Mas" Baldwin, in a screed in New York Magazine titled "I Give Up," is withdrawing from public life. For celebrities of his stature, who have tried it in the past, this is more easily said than done. As Martha and the Vandellas sang "Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide."
Art Publisher Steve Zevitas Sounds Off
Venting a Jerry Maguire Moment
Opinion
Steve Zevitas is a Boston gallerist and publisher of the juried magazine New American Painting. Like many in the art world he is constantly on the go making the rounds of biennials and art fairs. Normally he is level headed and reasonable focusing on the artists he publishes and promotes. But he recently vented in a piece in the Huffington Post. He's mad as hell and ain't gonnah take it anymore.
Liza Minnelli Trashed by John Seven in the Eagle
Pissed that She Didn’t Wear Panties at the Oscars
Opinion
Eagle eyed columnist, John Seven, observed that 67-year-old Liza Minnelli didn't wear panties under her blue pantsuit at the Oscars. Seems he never thought much of her anyway. Her mother, Judy Garland, makes him break out in hives. Stating that he never watches the Oscars or even knows what films are nominated he wrote about it anyway. This from the columnist who urges readers to boycott artistic creeps like Woody Allen. It must have sent him to the emergency room that Cate Blanchett won an Oscar for one of Woody's films.
La Biennale de Montréal,
Defining Its Mission
Fine Arts
The mission of La Biennale de Montréal is to foster, support, interpret and disseminate the latest visual arts practices, while raising the international profile of Montréal as a destination of choice for contemporary art. Building on this mission, Uniform has drawn inspiration from the organization’s artistic vision—conveyed by four key terms: experimentation, agility, rigour and openness—to develop the graphic identity of La Biennale de Montréal.
BSO Announces 2014- 2015 Season
Welcomes Andris Nelsons
Music
The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s 2014-15 season shines a welcoming spotlight on Andris Nelsons as he makes hihighly anticipated debut as BSO Music Director, leading performances that feature an eclectic offering of music and an impressive lineup of guest artists, and presenting programs that illuminate touchstone moments in his life as a musician, from his youngest days as a child in Riga, to his present-day stature as one of the world’s most sought-after conductors. When Mr. Nelsons takes on the title of BSO Music Director in September 2014, at age 35, he will be the youngest conductor to hold that title with the orchestra in over 100 years. The fifteenth music director since the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s founding in 1881, Mr. Nelsons is also the first Latvian-born conductor to assume the post.
Fresh Grass Set for September 19-21
Lineup for Mass Moca Event.
Music
Fresh Grass returns to Mass MoCA from September 19 to 21. This year's lineup is the deepest yet, including The Carolina Chocolate Drops, Railroad Earth, Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn,Sam Bush, The Infamous Stringdusters, David Grisman Sextet, The Gibson Brothers, Alison Brown, Valerie June, Aoife O'Donovan, Rodney Crowell, Sam Amidon, Liam Ó Manolaí, Michael Cleveland,Claire Lynch,Darol Anger, Martha Redbone Roots Project, and more to be announced later in the spring. Last year's FreshGrass Award recipient, Cricket Tell the Weather, will take the stage for a full set.
Sochi 2014 Olympics Look of the Games
A Too Busy Patchwork Quilt of Ethnic Imagery
Design
The venues at Sochi look great, but like a too sweet holiday dessert, the Sochi Winter Olympics "Look" seems to try too hard to please everyone by the way it visually frames the 2014 Winter Games. Similar to Vancouver's 2010 everything including the kitchen sink approach to branding and graphic identity, Sochi's "look" works better. Too visually and perhaps ethnically layered, the " patchwork quilt" looks best on athletes' bibs and venue interiors. Perhaps, it has something to do with the Russian Character?
Looking Back with Global Artist Rafael Mahdavi
From Figuration in Painting to Abstract Steel Sculpture
Fine Arts
In 2000 when Rafael Mahdavi was commuting between Wellesley, Mass and a studio in Paris we collaborated on dual exhibitions at Suffolk University/ New England School of Art & Design and Boston's French library. Recently we connected to catch up and reflect on a multi national career as a painter and sculptor. Through hard work and entrepreneurship he has had the life and career that many artists aspire to.
Chawky Frenn – We the People
Nesto Gallery at Milton Academy
Portfolio
The Nesto Gallery at Milton Academy presents "We the People" by Chawky Frenn. The opening words of the Constitution of the United States, We the People, have inspired visual reflections on the history, principles, visions, costs, and challenges confronting our democratic ideals and values since the founding of our republic.