The title character is Manrico, a troubadour and leader of a Roma troupe.  Unbeknownst to anyone but his adoptive mother, he is of noble blood and the brother of his arch enemy, Count di Luna.  They contest not only in the communal and political world but for the love of a woman, Leonora.

Berkshire Fine Arts was fortunate to hear Stephen Gould sing Parsifal in Bayreuth two years ago. He retired from Bayreuth this summer when he was diagnosed with incurable cancer.

The Many Wondrous Realities of Jasmine Starr-Kidd is about a 12-year-old computer genius who convinces her uncle to travel back in time to repair her parents' relationship. A strong Florida Premiere production is running through Oct. 8 at Theatre Lab on Florida Atlantic University's campus in Boca Raton. The play won the 2022 Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwrighting Competition at Alliance Theatre, where the world premiere production took place.

The subtitle of the play suggests where it’s going.  But if you think that it may simply be misandristic, that wouldn’t be correct.  Given the crazy antics of these females who are close to the president, you could just as easily add the word dumbass in front of the word women.  In any case, the result is “POTUS,” a farce that had Berkeley Rep’s opening night audience laughing with glee from start to finish. But it's not for everyone.

Rene Orth’s opera 10 Days in a Madhouse enjoyed a World Premiere at the Opera Philadelphia Festival. A tip off to where the weight lies in the opera was the stage set, immediately apparent when we enter the Wilma Theatre. The set is dominated by a Richard Serra-like sculpture. Our eyes and then our ears are fixed up where the orchestra tops the sculpture.

Berkshire artist, Sarah Sutro, is participating in Blue: The Celebration of a Color at the Somerville Museum. In Sutro's case the blue is from the saturated sky of her watercolor, "Blue Landscape. The group show has been curated by Martha Friend.

Composer Mason Bates and librettist Mark Campbell strike gold with this focused bio that should find a place on the opera circuit. San Francisco Opera's stunning production along with superb performances make it even better. The title character is portrayed with all of his positive and negative complexity, and even operagoers who learn nothing new about Jobs will find the opera highly involving and entertaining.

If you’re a follower of the regional jazz scene (and, the fact that you are on our mailing list suggests that you are), you may have already noticed that it is shaping up to be a busy autumn in the Berkshires. Starting with saxophone titan Grace Kelly this Friday at the Stationery Factory, something is going on every week…and often weekdays. Here’s a look at the first half of the season.  

During the 1920s, when Niels Bohr earned a Nobel Prize in physics, he collaborated as father and son with Werner Heisenberg. In 1926, with an appointment as chair to the University of Leipzig, he became Germany's youngest full professor. In 1941, with great effort, he returned to visit Bohr in Copenhagen. What transpired between them is unknown but is the content of the remarkable play Copenhagen now on stage at Berkshire Theatre Group in Stockbridge.

Opera Philadelphia knows how to produce opera. They recognize its multiple forms and multiple historic periods. No company in this country has spearheaded the development of new opera with such an effective program. Yet Philadelphia also continues to produce the tried and true with great style.

The play, English, by Iranian-American playwright Sanaz Toossi, was selected by freshman artistic director, Alan Paul, well before it won the Pulitzer Prize in May. Because of the original actress was unavailable she has stepped in to portray Elham. Thereby, the Barrington Stage production, directed by Knud Adams, is a double triumph. The play is complex, topical and timely while her acting proves to be utterly charming.

In 1983 Claude Gosselin founded le Centre international d’art contemporain de Montréal. With great invention and wizzardry he curated lively and insightful versions of international sourced biennials. We covered a number of them for American arts publications. This article allows readers to brush up on their French.

Photographer J. Alexander Baker is featured at the Eclipse Mill Gallery in North Adams with the exhibition The Big Picture Show. Recently he purchased a large format printer. This project explores the issue of scale and how bigger is better.

The Hungarian National Ballet’s production of Don Quixote at The Budapest Opera House was a joyful presentation. The energy and mirth emanating from the stage was infectious and intoxicating: I was practically jumping out of my seat with excitement by the end of the Act III pas de deux as Kitri, danced by Tatyjana Melnyik, balanced on pointe for what seemed an eternity.

Riccardo Muti’s long and winding road in this country has led him from Philadelphia to Chicago.  He is always rooted in Carnegie Hall whose acoustics benefit the micro-miniaturizing attention to a music’s score. Even Philip Glass, whose repeated phrases sometimes merge one to the other, seemed as clear as the strings that dominate in Glass’s composition dedicated to the Maestro.

This exhibition will be a celebration of Del Deo’s life and artistic career, featuring portraits, studio work, and the Italian landscapes celebrating his heritage, Provincetown landscapes, and reaffirm his status as a significant contributor to the legacy of the Provincetown Art Colony and to American art history.

Santa Fe based Exodus Ensemble has introduced theater that has become about as immersive as possible, short of the patrons spontaneously driving the narrative.  Performed by a troupe of talented and committed actors, this new form of entertainment already has a track record of delighting those who value youth, spontaneity, innovation, audience participation, and rule breaking.  Those preferring more established modes may be split on whether this kind of entertainment works for them.

Composer/librettist Carlisle Floyd drew on Nobel Laureate John Steinbeck for one of his most successful operas, “Of Mice and Men.”  It hews closely to the simple plotline of the novella, which is one of America’s distinguished, if controversial literary works, locally banned on various grounds, including sex, violence, racism, and euthanasia.

ArtWeek Berkshires will occur at multiple venues from October 14 to 23. In North Adams the Eclipse Mill will again host open studios.

"Sordid Lives," Del Shores' comedy drama from three decades ago, is running through Oct. 22 in Ft. Lauderdale's intimate Empire Stage. The piece is funny, timely, and entertaining. Cast members find the humanity beneath the characters' eccentricities.

The 12 looks at the immediate days following the crucifixion of Jesus through the eyes of his Apostles. Scared, uncertain, questioning. How do they stay safe? What should they do? What do they really believe?

Within Wagner’s canon, "Lohengrin" represents the apotheosis of his Romantic period and the launch point for his magnum opus, the four-opera music drama, the Ring Cycle.  As with much of the composer’s output, “Lohengrin” draws from Norse-Germanic mythology with strong fairy tale elements and moral-religious overtones.  The libretto is considered by many to be to be his best plotted.  Its breadth is breathtaking with themes of love, fidelity, trust, belief, misogyny, sacrifice, betrayal, revenge, tribalism, militarism, and more.

At 93 Eric 'Enrico' Lumet lived a long and remarkable life. Brilliant. witty and talented he would belt out arias. Born in Austria and interned in Mussolini's Italy he wrote two books about that childhood experience with his mother. Denied education by the Nazis he was home schooled and tutored. He spoke five languages which he used when he and his wife "Cookie" traveled extensively. He was a much admired member of the Berkshire International Club.

 The Crossing has been named Musical America's 2024 Ensemble of the Year. Musical America's article  states: "The Crossing is one of the most innovative choirs on the planet. Not only are they committed to issues of social justice, but the music they sing is brand spanking new. Under conductor Donald Nally, their performances have increasingly embraced theatrical elements, while their recordings have notched up a staggering three Grammy wins in under 20 years."

There is new a theater in town, have you noticed? Krymov Lab NYC was started in 2022 by the prominent Russian director in exile Dmitry Krymov, with a residency in LaMama Experimental Theatre Club in East Village.