People
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Patrick Sky: A Preserver of Irish Tradition?
The Fall and Rise of the Uilleann Pipes Tradition
By: - Jan 05th, 2010Patrick Sky was a prominent protest singer during the 60's. His caustic wit, outspoken views and willingness to test the boundaries of good taste added to his reputation as angry young man, malcontent and practical joker. His musicianship and intuitive sense of traditional forms made him a natural as a producer of recordings by artists such as Mississippi John Hurt, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Paul Geremia as well as the many other artists he recorded for his Green Linnet label.. Underlying his career was a sensitivity and a passion for causes, political and artistic. So when he embraced Irish traditional music…
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Inigo Manglano-Ovalle at Mass MoCA
People Who Live in Glass Houses
By: - Dec 09th, 2009While on a tight deadline to complete the installation of "Gravity Is a Force to Be Reckoned With" in the vast Building Five at Mass MoCA Inigo Manglano-Ovalle took a break to discuss his work. He will simultaneously show "Juggernaut" at the Williams College Museum of Art. A Williams alumnus class of '83 in 2005 he received the college's Bicentennial Medal.
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NY's National Arts Club
Titubating with the Smart Set
By: - Dec 06th, 2009It is always a treat and a part of our visits to NY to have dinner in the Iiffany designed National Arts Club next to bucolic Grammery Park. It is fully booked during the Holidays when after dining we danced the night away to the old timey music of a dixieland band.
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Patricia Racette Dialogue at the Morgan Library
Celebrating Puccini's 150th birthday
By: - Dec 04th, 2009Patricia Racette shared insights into operatic performance and Puccini at the Morgan Library. The lecture on "Adventures in Italian Opera" was co-sponsored by the Morgan and the Casa Italiana of New York University. The evening's moderator was opera and Italian culture aficionado, Fred Plotkin.
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Figurative Expressionist Irving Kriesberg
Rembering the Artist
By: - Nov 27th, 2009Seminal New York Figurative Expressionist Irving Kriesberg passed away at the age of 90 at home in Manhattan. Irving started painting during the wave of Abstract Expressionism but never strayed from using the figure. A tribute to a great artist and friend.
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David Omar White - A Remem-bromance
Recalling Artist/ Illustrator and White Rabbit
By: - Nov 14th, 2009The Boston artist/ illustrator David Omar White (1927-2009) died on June 26. He is fondly recalled by David Wilson, the publisher/ editor of Avatar, Broadside/Free Press, from their many collaborations during the turmoil of the underground press in the 1960s. Wilson started the White Rabbit comic strip which Omar took over. It later appeared in the Cambridge Phoenix, The Real Paper, and the Boston Globe. His last gallery affiliation was with Boston's former Genovese Sullivan Gallery.Though confined to a wheel chair he created and exhibited until the end.
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The Fantasticks, the Methuselah of Musicals at Barrington Stage Company
BFA Interviews its Creator, Tom Jones
By: - Oct 05th, 2009The Fantasticks tells an age-old tale of a boy, a girl, two fathers, and a wall. Its stage is a wooden platform, its scenery a tattered cardboard moon. Using only these bare essentials, it has become the most performed musical in history. Its creator Tom Jones tells us why.
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John Barrett Intends to Remain Mayor of North Adams
Tough Questions, Revealing Answers
By: - Sep 19th, 2009John Barrett, the "Dean of Massachusetts Mayors" is fighting to see his vision for North Adams fulfilled. In this, his 14th run for Mayor, he faces off against challenger Richard Alcombright. We asked him about the race and his hopes for the city he loves.
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John Douglas Thompson as The Emperor Jones
Rave New York Times Review at Irish Repertory Theatre
By: - Sep 03rd, 2009This summer John Douglas Thompson thrilled audiences at Shakespeare & Company as the lead in "Othello." He also worked with two other actors in a riveting production of John Patrick Shanley's "The Dreamer Examines His Pillow." This fall he moves to New York's Irish Repertory Theatre in Eugene O'Neill's rarely produced, 1920 play, "The Emperor Jones." NY Times calls production "magical."
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Olympia Dukakis Returns to Shakespeare & Company
Talking With a Titan of the Theater
By: - Aug 29th, 2009At the age of 78, Olympia Dukakis could easily retire having earned the title of legendary actress and a mantle full of Oscars, Obies, Gabbys and Golden Globes. Instead the busiest actor of her generation makes a surprising decision - to return to Shakespeare & Company and work with her old friend and favorite student, Tony Simotes.
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Tina Packer: Part Two
Edith Wharton's The Mount and Beyond
By: - Aug 25th, 2009There were books strewn about in the libarary, ice on the floors and broken shutters when Tina Packer and Shakespeare & Company moved into Edith Wharton's The Mount 32 years ago. There was an increasingly contentious relationship with Edith Wharton Restoration Inc. In 2000 S&Co purchased and moved to its current Lenox campus.
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Tina Packer's 32 Years of Shakespeare & Company
Why She's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
By: - Aug 23rd, 2009In June, Tina Packer turned over the day to day operation of Shakespeare & Company to the new Artistic Director, Tony Simotes. Recently she discussed 32 years at S&Co. as well as plans this fall to perform at the Publick Theatre in Boston and the Mercury Theatre Company in Great Britain. She will return to S&Co. next season as its Designated Hitter.
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Will LeBow Reflects on 32 Years of Theatre
Seventeen of Them at American Repertory Theatre
By: - Aug 13th, 2009The veteran actor Will LeBow performs as a piano playing ghost in the world premiere of the Melinda Lopez play "Caroline In Jersey" at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. We met to discuss the past 32 years in theatre with the last 17 years in the company of the American Repertory Theatre.
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Randy Harrison Interview: Ibsen's Ghosts at Berkshire Theatre Festival
The Actor Talks About Renewing a Classic
By: - Aug 05th, 2009When Randy Harrison takes on a classic role like Oswald in Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts, old plays become new again. He insists that he is but one small part of a BTF creative team that has reunited to overhaul this vintage play. But when this actor is involved, we know it could become the most talked about play of Summer 2009. We ask Harrison just what's going on inside that closed rehearsal studio.
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Lea Thompson and Matt McGrath to Debut Caroline in Jersey
Another World Premiere for Williamstown Theatre Festival
By: - Aug 02nd, 2009There is a hive of activity surrounding Williamstown Theatre Festival's premiere of Caroline in Jersey, and a lot of the buzz surrounds actors Lea Thompson and Matt McGrath, and the return of Laika, the Russian Canine Cosmonaut. This new play sounds so strange that those involved won't reveal much about it. But dig we must, and they threw us a bone or two.
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Justin Waldman at Williamstown Theatre Festival
Directs Play by Noah Haidle
By: - Jul 25th, 2009Last summer Justin Waldman directed the one man play 'The Atheist" which ran Off Broadway from September through January after two weeks at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. He sat with us to discuss "What Is the Sound of Thunder?" by Noah Haidle which he has directed in its world premiere at WTF.
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High School Musical 2 at Barrington Stage Company
Meet Music Director Brian Usifer, Young Artist on the Rise
By: - Jul 23rd, 2009Each summer, the Youth Theater at Barrington Stage presents a polished musical for some 40+ performances. These productions never fail to amaze and delight sold out audiences. They are full of energy and vitality that are a credit to both director Christine O'Grady and her young performers, and to Music Director Brian Usifer who is at the helm each night setting the tempo and intense pace that are their trademark.
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Picks and Previews for July 21 to August 3
The Berkshires' Best Review of the Arts
By: - Jul 17th, 2009Summer's abundance is all around us, and so is the Berkshire's annual bounty of music, theatre and dance choices. Here's another of our detailed guides to help you choose.
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Tony Simotes of Shakespeare & Company
Hitting the Ground Running as Artistic Director
By: - Jul 13th, 2009Tina Packer, after 32 years as Founding Dirctor of the Lenox based, Shakespeare & Company has stepped down. It was planned that Tony Simotes, now in his first season as Artistic Director, would be handed the reins of debt free company with a $10 million new facility including a second stage, The Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, and the start on an endowment. Then the economy fell off a cliff.
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John Douglas Thompson at Shakespeare & Company
Redefining Othello As a Love Story
By: - Jul 11th, 2009Last summer John Douglas Thompson received rave reviews, including Ben Brantley in the New York Times, for his performance in "Othello" at Shakespeare & Company. He earned an Obie Award for its Off Broadway production. He returns to Lenox with "Othello" as well as "The Dreamer Examines His Pillow" through September 6. There is a strong possibility he will perform "The Emperor Jones" Off Broadway this season.
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Brooks Ashmanskas Broadway Bound in Coward's Present Laughter
Premiere of Sherman's Knickerbocker at Williamstown Theatre Festival
By: - Jul 07th, 2009The Tony and Drama Desk nominated (2007) actor, Brooks Ashmanskas, will be back on Broadway in January with Noel Coward's "Present Laughter" starring Victor Garber and directed by Nicholas Martin. Ashmanskas is currently starring in Martin's production of Jonathan Marc Sherman's "Knickerbocker" which premieres at Williamstown Theatre Festival. It brings together several Bennington College alumni.
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Bebe Neuwirth Comes Home to the Berkshires
July 11 Mahaiwe Show a Rare Local Appearance
By: - Jul 06th, 2009Bebe Neuwirth takes to the Mahaiwe stage Saturday for an evening of songs and remembrances, but will she have time to check out the Berkshire antique shops she loves so dearly?
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Shirley Jones - A Life in the Arts
Her Planned Barrington Stage Appearance Cancelled
By: - Jun 26th, 2009Nevertheless, BFA talks to Shirley Jones about posing nude for Playboy, why Frank Sinatra wasn't in Carousel, and what had been planned for the July 6 Pittsfield concert that never happened. A funny, heartwarming interview with one of the greats of stage, screen and tv.
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Nicholas Martin's Second Season at Williamstown Theatre Festival
Directing Coward's Present Laughter on Broadway in January
By: - Jun 25th, 2009Just a week before the start of the Williamstown Theatre Festival, which opens on July 1 and runs through August 23, the artistic director, Nicholas Martin, took time from rehearsals to discuss his second season in the Berkshires, cutbacks in the face of a tough economy, and an ongoing personal struggle to recover from a stroke he suffered in September.
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Light Designer and Artist Julie Seitel's Practicals
Illuminati at The Eclipse Mill Gallery
By: - Jun 23rd, 2009In addition to working on a Tanglewood production of the opera "Don Giovanni" this summer the North Adams based artist and lighting designer, Julie Seitel, is also creating a series of light sculptures she refers to with the theatrical term "Practicals." They will be seen in a group show "Illuminati: Working in Light" which she is curating for the Eclipse Mill Gallery. She is a graduate of Williams College where she works for its 62 Center.
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