http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/ Berkshire Fine Arts RSS Feed en-us Copyright (C) 2005 berkshirefinearts.com Tanglewood is front ending the 2013 season with popular music programming. It starts with Melissa Etheridge on June 21 and a weekend that also included Warren Haynes and the Pops preforming a tribute to Jerry Garcia. Then Joan Baez paired with the Indigo Girls. Terence Blanchard returns to Lenox on June 28 in a weekend that includes the perennial Garrison Keillor and Jackson Browne. The serious music begins July 5. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3927_543137.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-23-2013_tanglewood-highlights-open-season.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-23-2013_tanglewood-highlights-open-season.htm Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT Najeeb Mirza has filmed, directed and produced a series of documentaries set in Central Asian countries of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Kyrgistan. They tell stories of lives well lived in cultures and landscapes so different from our own, yet the human condition of yearnings for love and a meaning of life remain the same. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3922_Najeeb-Mirza768047.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-21-2013_the-sweetest-embrace-return-to-afghanistan.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-21-2013_the-sweetest-embrace-return-to-afghanistan.htm Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT A blessing and curse the life and career of the artist Matuschka has been defined by a single iconic image. It has both opened and closed reports on work that came before and after the cover of the New York Times Magazine in 1993. The media entirely focuses on that image and her somewhat complex and freaky life. Attempts to evaluate her as an artist are few and far between. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3921_343904.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-21-2013_matuschka-maimed-claimed-and-famed.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-21-2013_matuschka-maimed-claimed-and-famed.htm Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT The former model, photographer and breast cancer awareness activist Matuschka is the subject of a current 40 year retrospective of her work at Sohn Fine Art in Stockbridge. Much of the work was created in the Berkshires as the jazz entrepreneur and journalist Edward Bride explored in a 2006 interview. Because of the media coverage of the recent elective surgeries of Angelia Jolie this proves to be both timely and provocative coverage of a courageous and interesting artist. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3920_741734.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-21-2013_matuschka-artistic-activist-activist-artist.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-21-2013_matuschka-artistic-activist-activist-artist.htm Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT The most beautifully written and deeply felt of Lincoln retellings is Tazewell Thompson’s play Mary T. & Lizzy K at the Arena Stage in Washington DC. Here the playwright, who is also the director, awards the play’s starring roles to Lincoln’s wife Mary Todd, her seamstress and confident Elizabeth “Lizzy” Keckly, and Ivy, Lizzy’s young assistant, both freed slaves. This production closed on May 5. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3919_278301.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-21-2013_arena-stage-mary-t-lizzy-k.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-21-2013_arena-stage-mary-t-lizzy-k.htm Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT From May 30 to June 2 the Berkshire International Film Festival will be simultaneously be screened with many additional special events at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington and The Beacon Cinema in Pittsfield, The festival combines feature fikms and documentaries. There will be some 15 documentaries in the categories of Celebrity and Politics. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3918_97228.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-21-2013_berkshire-international-film-festival-5.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-21-2013_berkshire-international-film-festival-5.htm Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT The Eclipse Mill at 243 Union Street in North Adams houses the Eclipse Mill Gallery, The Brill Gallery and River Hill Pottery and studio. The pottery is open daily and the two galleries on weekends through the fall. Both galleries have openings of new shows on June 15. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3917_113928.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-20-2013_brill-gallery-and-eclipse-mill-gallery.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-20-2013_brill-gallery-and-eclipse-mill-gallery.htm Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT The Workshop Theater is made up of 150 actors, directors and writers. In a small space, you are smashed up against the action. Each of the actors in this series found just the right balance between up close drama and in your face, It is particularly exciting to have performance next to you. You either enter the drama or embrace it or both. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3916_workshop831910.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-20-2013_five-first-rate-one-acts-in-new-york.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-20-2013_five-first-rate-one-acts-in-new-york.htm Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT 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. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3915_0lead877781.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-19-2013_earsay-iris-dement-and-nora-jane-struthers.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-19-2013_earsay-iris-dement-and-nora-jane-struthers.htm Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT Because her mother and grandmother succumbed to breast cancer the artist/ activist, Matuschka, got tested often. At precisely the age of Angelina Jolie she underwent a radical mastectomy to remove a tumor. Her self portrait on the cover of the New York Times Magazine proved to be iconic. Which is why this week Inside Edition woke her up to comment on the breaking news about Jolie. That prompted her to write this compelling article. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3914_396542.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-19-2013_matuschka-reacts-to-angelina-jolie.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-19-2013_matuschka-reacts-to-angelina-jolie.htm Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT A former model, Matuschka, created a riveting self portrait revealing a radical masectomy. It was on the cover of the New York Times Magazine and has been published in a Time Life book as one the 100 most influential photographs of the 20th century. With the recent coverage of Angelina Jolie ironically Matuschka is back in the news. Yesterday we attended her 40 year retrospective of self portraits at Sohn Fine Arts in Stockbridge. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3913_859675.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-19-2013_at-home-with-photographer-matuschka.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-19-2013_at-home-with-photographer-matuschka.htm Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT Traditionally it was anathema for critics to talk to and socialize with those they write about. With print in decline and the rise of blogs that has changed. But what happens when we are all in bed with each other? It both enriches our understanding and compromises objectivity. The third and final installment of a dialogue with Julianne Boyd may be a case in point. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3912_287032.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-18-2013_julianne-boyd-on-theatre-as-church-and-state.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-18-2013_julianne-boyd-on-theatre-as-church-and-state.htm Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT Surprise. Like every other regional theatre company Barrington Stage has scheduled Clybourne Park. What are the consequences when theatre companies all over America are presenting a short list of recent Broadway and Off Broadway plays and musicals? Does it mean a dumbing down of American Theatre with long term negative consequence?. Two of Barrington's productions this season On the Town and The Chosen have been recently presented by Boston's Lyric Stage. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3911_100049.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-17-2013_julianne-boyd-part-two.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-17-2013_julianne-boyd-part-two.htm Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT The National Design Awards program celebrates design as a vital humanistic tool in shaping the world, and seeks to increase national awareness of design by educating the public and promoting excellence, innovation, and lasting achievement. This year's award-winners are from a variety of design disciplines. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3910_227355.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-17-2013_2013-national-design-awards-announced.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-17-2013_2013-national-design-awards-announced.htm Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT Never expecting grandfather's version of the Pirates of Penzance at the American Repertory Theatre, this privateering musical crew gives a very different but rewarding production of the 19th Century English operetta gem. Set in an environment of a Tiki Bar married to a backyard lakeside pier with children's wading pools and and bamboo torches, ten performers go from badly dressed folksong singing beach goers to well-formed characters from the original production. Funny, lively and beautifully sung, this is a treat for the whole family. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3909_795486.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-17-2013_pirates-of-penzance-sings-at-american-rep.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-17-2013_pirates-of-penzance-sings-at-american-rep.htm Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT After its last outing at the Met a dozen years ago, Harbison's grand opera seemed to be forgotten. Now, a trimmer, more fleet version brings the works virtues to the fore. This is a preview of the July 11 performance at Tanglewood this summer. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3907_92272.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-16-2013_john-harbison-s-opera-the-great-gatsby.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-16-2013_john-harbison-s-opera-the-great-gatsby.htm Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT With the numerous cancellations of former Music Director, James Levine, his inevitable retirement and a two year interregum, the past few years have been a nightmare for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Just in his mid 30s the Latvian born Andris Nelsons has been appointed as Music Director of the BSO and Tanglewood. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3906_nelsons362807.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-16-2013_andris-nelsons-new-music-director-of-the-bso.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-16-2013_andris-nelsons-new-music-director-of-the-bso.htm Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT Julianne Boyd, the artistic director of Barrington Stage in Pittsfield called for a morning chin wag about the upcoming season. That led to a lively discussion of the current state of theatre and impact of criticism. Now in its 8th season the company has just completed raising $7 million. This is part one of an extended dialogue. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3905_Boyd915892.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-15-2013_barrington-stage-now-debt-free.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-15-2013_barrington-stage-now-debt-free.htm Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT Seeing Joan Rivers on stage at the Colonial Theater in Pittsfield prompted us to check out the video documentary. It was featured a couple of years ago in the Berkshire International Film Festival. With an appearance by the star at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington. Missed it. Having seen the bitch in heat we were curious to learn more about the insecure, fragile little girl from Brooklyn lurking behind that ferocious, grotesque, surgically altered mask. If you think you know Joan Rivers see this documentary and think again. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3904_Rivers794483.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-14-2013_joan-rivers-a-piece-of-work.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-14-2013_joan-rivers-a-piece-of-work.htm Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT 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. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3903_501376.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-13-2013_provincetown-s-legendary-sun-gallery.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-13-2013_provincetown-s-legendary-sun-gallery.htm Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT Last summer the musical based on a film with the same title Far From Heaven was developed by the Williamstown Theatre Festival. With the original cast leads Kelli O'Hara and Steven Pasquale from Williamstown it opens at New York's Playwrights Horizons on June 2 with a limited run through June 30. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3902_938408.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-13-2013_far-from-heaven-at-playwrights-horizons.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-13-2013_far-from-heaven-at-playwrights-horizons.htm Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT Sometimes there is a rare theatrical event that is brilliantly performed and directed, thoroughly entertaining and totally wonderful. The Lyric Stage Company's On The Town is one of these. It is the story of three young WWII American sailors with one day in New York City to see sights, meet a special girl, and literally have the time of their lives. Leonard Bernstein's score melds perfectly with the witty book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green to create a magical musical experience. Directed by an inspired Spiro Veloudos, this show revival is as good as it gets. It could transfer directly to Broadway with little or no changes. Run to get tickets. It is that brilliant. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3901_386431.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-12-2013_on-the-town-brilliant-at-lyric-stage.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-12-2013_on-the-town-brilliant-at-lyric-stage.htm Sun, 12 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT Handel took eight months to compose Giuilo Cesare, an unusually long time for him. Rinaldo was composed in two weeks. Harry Bicket, conducting with his hands, sometimes on a harpsichord which held his score, brought forward all the delights of this superb score. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3900_GC403327.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-12-2013_giulio-cesare-a-triumph-at-the-met-opera.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-12-2013_giulio-cesare-a-triumph-at-the-met-opera.htm Sun, 12 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT With a mask like face, pulled as tight as a drum from numerous nips and tucks, the potty mouthed, eighty something going on sweet sixteen, Joan Rivers prowled the stage of the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield like a tigress in heat hungry for raw meat. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3899_Joan200537.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-11-2013_joan-rivers-torches-the-colonial.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-11-2013_joan-rivers-torches-the-colonial.htm Sat, 11 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT This is our fourth review of Other Desert Cities and second by Jack Lyons who also covered the play at Mark Taper Forum. We will have our fifth review next season from Indianapolis. It begs the question of why every city in American seems to be producing a short list of the same ten overexposed plays. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3897_467644.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-11-2013_other-desert-cities-at-old-globe-theatre.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-11-2013_other-desert-cities-at-old-globe-theatre.htm Sat, 11 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT Winner of four 2008 Tony Awards including Best Musical, In The Heights is a potent reminder of the importance of chasing one’s dreams while finding who you are and where you belong. Set in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood, this vital production with a distinctive Latin beat spices up traditional musical fare with hip hop, salsa and rap to tell the stories of the residents of this close-knit community. You will be dancing when you leave the theatre. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3896_120811.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-11-2013_in-the-heights-soars-at-speakeasy-stage.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-11-2013_in-the-heights-soars-at-speakeasy-stage.htm Sat, 11 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT 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. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3895_983446.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-10-2013_yvonne-andersen-on-the-sun-gallery.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-10-2013_yvonne-andersen-on-the-sun-gallery.htm Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT The Eclipse Mill Gallery at 243 Union Street in North Adams launches its 2013 season with The Sixth Annual Berkshire Salon. The unjuried exhibition which includes work by 47 regional artists remains on view weekends, from noon to 5 PM, from May 10 through June 2. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3894_971243.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-09-2013_sixth-annual-berkshire-salon-2.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-09-2013_sixth-annual-berkshire-salon-2.htm Thu, 09 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT The current Theatertreffen in Berlin is presenting German language plays, classics and modern classics from Medea, War and Peace, to Orpheus Descending, as well as other theatre events and panel discussions. For non German speakers, Berlin will offer again the Berliner Festspiele in June and July of this year; more reasons for a trip to Berlin! http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3893_174179.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-09-2013_50th-theatre-festival-in-berlin.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-09-2013_50th-theatre-festival-in-berlin.htm Thu, 09 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT The premise for the story is intriguing: a 500-word mystery that required the following elements: a jug of bootleg moonshine, a stuffed swordfish, a 1959 Soviet armored limousine, and a dead gypsy! Gerald Elias, who resides in Utah and West Stockbridge, is author of the award-winning Daniel Jacobus mystery series (St. Martin’s Press). http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3892_630583.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-09-2013_snagged.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-09-2013_snagged.htm Thu, 09 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT Edith Wharton was 35 in 1897 when, in collaboration with Ogden Codman, she published her first work, the widely influential treatise "Decoration of Houses." Eight years later, in 1905, she published her first work of fiction "House of Mirth. " By then the Whartons had been living in The Mount, their estate in Lenox, Mass. for three years. The mansion and grounds expressed many of her theories of architecture, interior deign, and landscape gardening. She left under unhappy circumstances in 1911 never to return to the home she no longer owned. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3891_777392.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-07-2013_edith-wharton-at-home-life-at-the-mount.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-07-2013_edith-wharton-at-home-life-at-the-mount.htm Tue, 07 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT The Cape & Islands Theater Coalition is a collaboration of live performance theaters from Woods Hole to Provincetown and the Islands. Best known for its annual Theater Guide and Schedule which this year will be distributed to over 70,000 households and visitors throughout the Northeast, the Coalition also provides the latest theater performance calendars and news through its website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3890_440989.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-07-2013_the-cape-cod-theater-coalition.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-07-2013_the-cape-cod-theater-coalition.htm Tue, 07 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT OBERON, the American Repertory Theater’s second stage and club theater venue, continues its mission to bring exciting and original programming. A destination for theater and nightlife on the fringe of Harvard Square, OBERON is the home of the A.R.T.’s hit productions of Beowulf, The Lily’s Revenge, Futurity, The Donkey Show, Cabaret, and Prometheus Bound and Ryan Landry’s Rocky Horror Show,OBERON is also a thriving incubator for local and visiting talent. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3889_569170.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-07-2013_oberon-is-a-r-t-s-cutting-edge-second-stage.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-07-2013_oberon-is-a-r-t-s-cutting-edge-second-stage.htm Tue, 07 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT The Blind Boys of Alabama are recognized worldwide as living legends of gospel music. Celebrated by The Grammy Awards and The National Endowment for the Arts with Lifetime Achievement Awards, inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, honored by performing for three presidents in the White House, and are winners of five Grammy Awards. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3888_148594.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-07-2013_blind-boys-of-alabama-visit-cape-cod.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-07-2013_blind-boys-of-alabama-visit-cape-cod.htm Tue, 07 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT The Boston Lyric Opera assembled a sterling company of singers adept at Wagnerian style while music director David Angus conducted a white-hot orchestra. Its presentation of Richard Wagner’s early work, “The Flying Dutchman,” his first mature success, to commemorate the bicentennial of the composer’s birth, was not only one of the largest productions in its history, but it was the U.S. premiere of a newly prepared critical edition of the work. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3887_349896.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-07-2013_the-flying-dutchman-at-boston-lyric-opera.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-07-2013_the-flying-dutchman-at-boston-lyric-opera.htm Tue, 07 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT There is nothing quite like the wit of Oscar Wilde. No play better represents his absurd gift for droll frippery than the perennial comedy of manners The Importance of Being Earnest. Our Ms Hall was indeed amused as well she should be good gracious me. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3886_452291.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-06-2013_running-wilde-in-indy.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-06-2013_running-wilde-in-indy.htm Mon, 06 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT Dumbarton Oaks, the famous estate built on the highest point of the Georgetown section of Washington, DC, is a special treat in the spring. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3885_do75797.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-05-2013_dumbarton-oaks-in-the-spring.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-05-2013_dumbarton-oaks-in-the-spring.htm Sun, 05 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT Into the Woods begins as any good story should with Once Upon a Time. The Steven Sondheim musical, at The Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre, in Carmel, Indiana reintroduces us to well-known fairy tale characters. We meet Cinderella, Jack (and his bean stalk), Rapunzel and Little Red Riding Hood at the beginning of their stories. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3884_344424.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-05-2013_steven-sondheim-s-into-the-woods.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-05-2013_steven-sondheim-s-into-the-woods.htm Sun, 05 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT John James Audubon (1785-1851) was not the first person to attempt to paint and describe all the birds of America, but for half-a-century he was the young country’s dominant wildlife artist. His seminal Birds of America (1827-39), a collection of 435 life-size prints, quickly eclipsed others’ work and remains a standard against which ornithological renditions that followed are measured. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3883_335139.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-04-2013_the-birds-of-james-audubon.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-04-2013_the-birds-of-james-audubon.htm Sat, 04 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT How wonderful it would be to be able to hear Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony exactly as it was heard at its premiere! Or would it? The classical violinist, conductor and author Gerald Elias discuses how great masterpieces evolve over time. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3882_35582.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-04-2013_imagine-beethoven-s-fifth-as-it-premiered.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-04-2013_imagine-beethoven-s-fifth-as-it-premiered.htm Sat, 04 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT The first time I performed the Concerto for Orchestra I was moonlighting on last stand of the second violins in the New Haven Symphony. The New Haven Symphony has a long and respectable history as a semi-professional orchestra with many fine musicians. The gig also enabled me to pick up a few bucks for my Yale tuition. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3881_57092.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-03-2013_bartok-s-concerto-for-orchestra.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-03-2013_bartok-s-concerto-for-orchestra.htm Fri, 03 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT Aaron Neville's recent release, My True Story, is a collection of classic doo-wop numbers. To create the album, Neville teamed up with Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones and the legendary Blue Note label producer, Don Was. Showcasing the old-school rhythm and blues that were the key influences throughout his career, Neville covers The Drifters, The Clovers, and Little Anthony and the Imperials. "Opportunities like this don't come 'round very often," says Richards. "I grew up with these songs, like Aaron did. It's such a pleasure to play with a voice like that." http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3880_358994.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-03-2013_aaron-neville-at-mass-moca.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-03-2013_aaron-neville-at-mass-moca.htm Fri, 03 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT The world premiere of Myra Slotnick’s new play, The Weight of Water, opened at the Provincetown Theatre on October 6th, 2011. In November of 2012, the entire original cast appeared in a staged reading of the play at The Abingdon Theatre in NY. The upcoming New York production features the original cast and creative team from The Provincetown Theater production. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3879_71433.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-03-2013_the-weight-of-water-at-the-producers-club.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-03-2013_the-weight-of-water-at-the-producers-club.htm Fri, 03 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT Hidden Heroes is a design exhibition that includes cases of objects, patent drawings, movies and advertising posters. Showcasing the importance of elegant design of seemingly simple but highly useful objects, this array of 36 classic items embodies ideals of modernism that are both relevant and popular. Here function literally follows form. In basic terms, this is the underlying story of the marriage of creativity, industry and invention. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3878_986296.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-03-2013_the-genius-of-everyday-things-at-mit.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-03-2013_the-genius-of-everyday-things-at-mit.htm Fri, 03 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT Musicals Giant and Hands On A Hardbody led the field with 8 nominations apiece as the 2013 Drama Desk nominations were announced today. Meanwhile, Bette Midler earned a nod for Outstanding Solo Performance for her turn as Sue Mengers in I’ll Eat You Last and a special Drama Desk ensemble award this year went to the cast of Working: A Musical. The awards will unveil May 19 at NYC’s Town Hall. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3877_853432.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-03-2013_2013-drama-desk-nominations.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-03-2013_2013-drama-desk-nominations.htm Fri, 03 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT The 2013/14 Season, includes the previously announced Robert Schenkkan’s play All the Way and the world premiere of the musical Witness Uganda. Also: All the Way – by Robert Schenkkan, The Heart of Robin Hood – by David Farr, The Light Princess – a family show for the holidays, The Shape She Makes – conceived by Susan Misner and Jonathan Bernstein, choreographed by Susan Misner; written and directed by Jonathan Bernstein and The Tempest – adapted and directed by Aaron Posner and Teller (of Penn & Teller). http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3876_407095.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-03-2013_the-american-repertory-theater.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-03-2013_the-american-repertory-theater.htm Fri, 03 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT As Principal Guest Conductor of the Boston Symphony from 1972 to 1984, Sir Colin Davis not only conducted the orchestra four or five weeks a year, he also led some of the orchestra’s great recording projects: the complete Sibelius symphonies (some say the best set ever recorded), and music by Schubert, Mendelssohn and Berlioz. He also was a leading interpreter of Handel, Haydn and Edward Elgar. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3875_139942.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-03-2013_remembering-sir-colin-davis.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-03-2013_remembering-sir-colin-davis.htm Fri, 03 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT MASS MoCA's summer will include music from seasoned performers like Bettye LaVette and rising stars like Gabriel Kahane with Rob Moose, the annual Bang on a Can Festival of Contemporary Music, Wilco's Solid Sound Festival, and "circus punk marching band" Mucca Pazza. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3874_298815.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-02-2013_mass-moca-launches-14th-season.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-02-2013_mass-moca-launches-14th-season.htm Thu, 02 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT This article on Provincetown's historic dune shacks was originally posted in 2007. It continues to attract readers through Google searches. With another season about to begin we are refreshing this article as a service to readers. They have spent time in the dune shacks several times since this article was written. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3873_353981.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-02-2013_provincetown-s-historic-dune-shacks-going-going.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-02-2013_provincetown-s-historic-dune-shacks-going-going.htm Thu, 02 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT Now that it is May beach resorts are launching the summer season. We got a jump by visiting Myrtle Beach and Tybee Island in February and a week on the Cape in April. We offer a preview of Truro and Provincetown with plans to return in the fall. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3872_816559.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-02-2013_provincetown-launches-season.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-02-2013_provincetown-launches-season.htm Thu, 02 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT To fill gaps in the collection there are plans for 100 major acquisitions during the Centennial of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum in 2014. In addition to the $8 million raised for expansion and renovation there is a need to raise the current endowment of $3 million with another $8 million in pledges. In this final installment of an extensive dialogue McCarthy discusses progress and plans for announcements during the Centennial. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3871_654728.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-01-2013_p-town-s-christine-mccarthy-part-four.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-01-2013_p-town-s-christine-mccarthy-part-four.htm Wed, 01 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT Conducting, Anne Manson displays a mastery of music and drama that should have a much broader audience. Julia Bullock, a young soprano phenom, won first prize in the Young Concert Artists Competition of 2012. Peter Sellars has taken note, and cast her in Purcell’s The Indian Queen at the Teatro Real in Madrid this fall. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3870_vixen225171.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-01-2013_a-particularly-cunning-vixen-arrives-at-juilliard.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/05-01-2013_a-particularly-cunning-vixen-arrives-at-juilliard.htm Wed, 01 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Tom Reiss, Shakespeare & Company, SculptureNow, BIFF and Lift E'vry Voice have something in common: they are all part of The Mount's 2013 summer season. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3869_13572.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-30-2013_the-mount-s-season-highlights.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-30-2013_the-mount-s-season-highlights.htm Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT The 2013 Tony Award nominees were announced this morning and 32 members of the Williamstown Theatre Festival family have been nominated - including six that will visit this summer! http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3868_320230.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-30-2013_williamstown-theatre-festival-and-the-tonys.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-30-2013_williamstown-theatre-festival-and-the-tonys.htm Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Featured artists in this year's Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, June 28 to July 7, includes Aretha Franklin, Wayne Shorter, Chucho Valdés, George Benson, Oliver Jones; the absolutely essential Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman, John Abercrombie, Ravi Coltrane, Bill Frisell Holly Cole and Boz Scaggs as well as many more. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3867_48983.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-30-2013_festival-international-de-jazz-de-montr-al.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-30-2013_festival-international-de-jazz-de-montr-al.htm Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Nominations in 26 competitive categories for the American Theatre Wing’s 67th Annual Antoinette Perry “Tony” Awards® were announced today by Tony winning-actress Sutton Foster and star of both stage and screen Jesse Tyler Ferguson, at the Tony Award Nominations Announcement sponsored by IBM. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3865_257083.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-30-2013_tony-nominations-for-2013.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-30-2013_tony-nominations-for-2013.htm Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT One of the most prestigious and coveted honors in the entertainment industry, the Regional Theatre Tony Award is presented each year to honor a nonprofit professional regional theatre company in the United States that has displayed a continuous level of artistic achievement contributing to the growth of theatre nationally. It is awarded by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing based upon a recommendation by the American Theatre Critics Association. This year it was awarded to Boston's Huntington Theatre Company. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3864_776528.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-30-2013_huntington-theatre-co-gets-2013-tony.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-30-2013_huntington-theatre-co-gets-2013-tony.htm Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT 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. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3863_322989.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-30-2013_joe-turner-s-come-and-gone-at-mark-taper-forum.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-30-2013_joe-turner-s-come-and-gone-at-mark-taper-forum.htm Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT An iconic broken down truck is sitting on stage, so we know three escaping criminals will soon build Mahagonny. Behind a hospital-like dividing curtain, a flophouse will later cast off silhouettes of sex acts. Mahagonny will be a new Sodom & Gomorrah, or maybe even New York in the Age of the Derivative. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3862_mahagonny917177.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-29-2013_mahagonny-at-the-manhattan-school-of-music.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-29-2013_mahagonny-at-the-manhattan-school-of-music.htm Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT In addition to the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, the Library, and Fine Arts Work Center have been renovated while Provincetown Theatre built out a new facility. These changes occured, according to Chris McCarthy, the director of PAAM, "Because we had to." It represented the tipping point of preserving the legacy of America's oldest art colony and building for future generations. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3861_534277.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-29-2013_provincetown-s-christine-mccarthy-part-three.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-29-2013_provincetown-s-christine-mccarthy-part-three.htm Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT The Tony Awards Administration Committee announced Friday that it will present the 2013 Regional Theatre Tony Award to the Huntington Theatre Companyof Boston, Massachusetts on Sunday, June 9. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3860_289670.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-29-2013_huntington-theatre-wins-tony.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-29-2013_huntington-theatre-wins-tony.htm Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT 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. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3859_Earsaylogo117537.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-28-2013_ear-say-john-fullbright-and-ewan-mclennan.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-28-2013_ear-say-john-fullbright-and-ewan-mclennan.htm Sun, 28 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Gearing up for its 100th anniversary, next year, the Provincetown Art Association and Museum's director, Christine McCarthy, is in the midst of extensive plans for exhibitions and publications. This is the second installment of an extended dialogue. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3858_578442.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-27-2013_p-town-s-christine-mccarthy-part-two.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-27-2013_p-town-s-christine-mccarthy-part-two.htm Sat, 27 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT The 8th Annual season of The Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF) today announces the line-up to the action packed program showcasing over 75 of the latest in independent feature, documentary, short and family films from some 20 countries. The festival, which takes place from May 30 – June 2, 2013 in Great Barrington and May 31 – June 2nd in Pittsfield, MA, will bring films, filmmakers, industry professionals and film fans together for a four-day festival celebrating independent film featuring 27 documentaries, 25 narrative features and 24 short films. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3857_670641.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-26-2013_biff-announces-8th-season.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-26-2013_biff-announces-8th-season.htm Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT “Tru”, deftly directed by Larry Raben, from a wonderfully insightful script by Jay Presson Allen (who really knows her subject), is culled from Truman Capote’s own work and words and is brilliantly brought to life by Coyote StageWorks’ artistic director Chuck Yates. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3856_645131.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-25-2013_tru-at-coyote-stage-works.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-25-2013_tru-at-coyote-stage-works.htm Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT The Palm Springs area has added The American Documentary Film Festival (AmDocs) to its lineup. Local filmmaker Teddy Grouya who is also a working Hollywood professional, inaugurated the first AmDocs festival in April of 2012. He brought Academy Award winner Oliver Stone and his film “Comandante” to opening night audiences along with a variety of USA films and those from foreign countries. The four-day event was so highly successful it gave the festival the impetus it needed to become an ongoing festival/event. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3855_999245.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-25-2013_the-american-documentary-film-festival-amdocs.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-25-2013_the-american-documentary-film-festival-amdocs.htm Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Berkshire Bach Society brings NYC\'s preeminent vocal ensemble TENET to Great Barrington for its premiere Berkshire performance. “Bach and his Predecessors” offers a glimpse of the musically rich world from which Bach emerges. Several notebooks that Bach compiled in his youth attest to the hunger that he showed for learning from earlier composers. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3851_564529.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-25-2013_bach-and-his-predecessors-choral-works.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-25-2013_bach-and-his-predecessors-choral-works.htm Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Williamstown Theatre Festival announces casting for the 2013 summer season’s slate of productions. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3850_124108.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-25-2013_williamstown-theatre-festival-casting-2.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-25-2013_williamstown-theatre-festival-casting-2.htm Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT After seven years at the Institute of Contemporary Art, two of them as interim director, Christine McCarthy took a fifty percent pay cut to join the Provincetown Art Association and Museum as its director. Since 2001 she raised $8 to expand and renovate the Century plus institution. On her watch space has doubled with triple the budget, membership, and collection. This is the first of several installments of an extensive dialogue. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3849_956046.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-25-2013_christine-mccarthy-ica-to-provincetown.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-25-2013_christine-mccarthy-ica-to-provincetown.htm Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Tate Britain today announced the four artists who have been shortlisted for the Turner Prize 2013. This year the exhibition will be held at Ebrington in Derry-Londonderry as part of the UK City of Culture 2013. The artists are (in alphabetical order): Laure Prouvost, Tino Sehgal, David Shrigley and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3848_767275.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-25-2013_turner-prize-2013-short-list.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-25-2013_turner-prize-2013-short-list.htm Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT This spring the New York City Opera has returned to its roots at City Center in New York. Rossini’s Moses in Egypt was first up, and beautifully done. One of the grand themes of human history, the Exodus, was presented with appropriate grandeur. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3847_nyco730980.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-24-2013_the-new-york-city-opera-returns-to-city-center.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-24-2013_the-new-york-city-opera-returns-to-city-center.htm Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Mary Hrbacek’s solo exhibition Peopled Forest of My Mind curated by Elga Wimmer on view at the Creon Gallery in New York City from April 10-30, 2013, features Hrbacek’s new, very small and very large, personified tree paintings. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3846_291050.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-24-2013_dialogue-with-artist-mary-hrbacek.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-24-2013_dialogue-with-artist-mary-hrbacek.htm Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston presents Jeffrey Gibson, Love Song—the first solo museum exhibition of the New York-based artist. Gibson’s paintings and sculptures deftly bring together geometric abstract painting with Native American visual traditions. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3845_424787.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-23-2013_ica-to-show-work-by-jeffrey-gibson.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-23-2013_ica-to-show-work-by-jeffrey-gibson.htm Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Among those killed in the Boston Marathon bombings was LU Lingzi (GRS ’14), a Boston University graduate student. Though pursuing a statistics degree, LU also studied piano at CFA, because music brought her joy. In response to the tragic violence students at Boston University College of Fine Arts(CFA) are joining together to help the injured, but also to help one another in this emotionally traumatic time. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3844_846210.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-23-2013_post-marathon-healing-through-the-arts.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-23-2013_post-marathon-healing-through-the-arts.htm Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT During the American Theatre Critic Association's meeting in Indianapolis we met the critic Melissa Hall. She has agreed to allow us to repost reviews from her lively blog Stage Write. We engaged her in a dialogue about the challenges and incentives of covering theatre in middle America. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3843_260475.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-23-2013_indianapolis-critic-melissa-hall.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-23-2013_indianapolis-critic-melissa-hall.htm Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Over the years we heard Richie Havens perform on many occasions. Including at 2009 concert at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield. He returned to the Berkshires and Mass MoCA in 2010. He is best remembered for opening the Woodstock Rock Festival in 1969 and later being included in the film and album of that event. It established a career that ended only recently because of deteriorating health. He is recalled as one of the great voices and unique stylists of his generation. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3842_530355.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-23-2013_richie-havens-at-72.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-23-2013_richie-havens-at-72.htm Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Always broke, Mozart accepted a commission for an opera for the coronation of Leopold II that gave him only 18 days to write it. Although Mozart couldn't write a bad note if he tried, the results are not among his most enduring. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3841_198250.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-23-2013_b-u-s-opera-institute-does-mozart.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-23-2013_b-u-s-opera-institute-does-mozart.htm Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Museum of Fine Arts director, Malcolm Rogers, sent a special message to the membership. He addresses the aftermath of the tragic events during the annual Boston Marathon staged on Patriot"s Day. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3840_655260.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-22-2013_mfa-s-malcolm-rogers-on-the-marathon-tragedy.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-22-2013_mfa-s-malcolm-rogers-on-the-marathon-tragedy.htm Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT It seems the Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning drama Clybourne Park is being produced in ever city, town and village in America. Our Indy correspondent, Melissa Hall, reviews the staging at Phoenix Theatre which runs through May 5. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3839_386816.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-22-2013_clybourne-park-at-phoenix-theatre.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-22-2013_clybourne-park-at-phoenix-theatre.htm Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University has announced today that William Russo will join the institution as its new Managing Director, effective this July. Russo, who currently serves as the Managing Director of New York Theatre Workshop, will partner with A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus to manage the $13 million non-profit theater. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3838_234633.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-22-2013_a-r-t-new-managing-director-billy-russo.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-22-2013_a-r-t-new-managing-director-billy-russo.htm Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Handicapping the theatre awards season. Gathering the most nominations were: 11 – Pippin; 9 – Kinky Boots; 8 – Chaplin: The Musical, Cinderella; 6- Golden Boy, The Nance; 5- Dogfight, Matilda the Musical; 4- Here Lies Love, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, The Trip to Bountiful, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; 3- Bad Jews, Hands on a Hardbody, The Whale. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3837_28537.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-22-2013_outer-critics-circle-2.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-22-2013_outer-critics-circle-2.htm Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT In celebration of its 75th anniversary this year, Bascom Lodge, the iconic Berkshire landmark at the summit of Mount Greylock, has planned a series of special events and programs related to the rich history of the Lodge, the mountain, the 1930s, and local history and folklore. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3836_330229.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-22-2013_bascom-lodge-celebrates-its-75th-anniversary.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-22-2013_bascom-lodge-celebrates-its-75th-anniversary.htm Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Critic and art historian Richard Friswell focuses on "le spleen le Paris: petits poèms en prose" (1863) as the basis for an essay on modernism and surrealism. He states that "When Baudelaire’s poet abandoned his halo in the mire of a Paris street, he did more than disclaim the mantle of adoration affixed to those, like him, who had gone before ; he traded the sacred for the profane, embracing the intimate, familiar surroundings of a brothel in favor of the distant accolades of countless anonymous strangers." http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3835_13339.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-22-2013_setting-the-stage-for-another-halo-lost.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-22-2013_setting-the-stage-for-another-halo-lost.htm Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Monsters have always intrigued. They have come multithreaded and multifooted. They have combined lion, snake and goat. But over time they have come to look more and more like us, just larger and hairier. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3834_wanda712409.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-21-2013_making-books-sing-creates-fear-and-joy.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-21-2013_making-books-sing-creates-fear-and-joy.htm Sun, 21 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT No trip to lower Cape Cod is complete without a visit to the deliciously fragrant Atlantic Spice Co.. We talked with the owner, Eleanora, who with her husband Mark Irving, established the wholesale/ retail business in North Truro twenty years ago. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3833_793145.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-21-2013_atlantic-spice.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-21-2013_atlantic-spice.htm Sun, 21 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT The Provincetown Theater underwent extensive renovation this past winter. It has just launched its 10th season which runs through December 22. After God of Carnage through April 28 is the World Premiere of a brand new musical by Zoë Lewis "ACROSS THE POND" through June 9. Then Pornocchio, The Provincetown International Film Festival, The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer, Payomet Festival of Family Theater & Circus Arts for Children, The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife by Charles Busch, Mildred Fierce, and other delights. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3832_561912.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-20-2013_provincetown-theater-2013.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-20-2013_provincetown-theater-2013.htm Sat, 20 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT This past winter Brian Jewett worked on several new basket designs using plastic ties. Before shipping them to Snyderman-Works Gallery in Philadelphia he sent images to friends and collectors. He created an earlier version of the designs as a chandelier above our dining room table. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3831_581505.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-20-2013_brian-jewett-s-unique-baskets.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-20-2013_brian-jewett-s-unique-baskets.htm Sat, 20 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Now in its tenth year the Provincetown Theater has launched the 2013 season with a production of Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage. The gloves come off and tulips fly in the directorial debut of Brian Carlson. With a few caveats this is a hilarious evening of over the top mayhem. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3830_645238.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-20-2013_god-of-carnage-at-provincetown-theater.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-20-2013_god-of-carnage-at-provincetown-theater.htm Sat, 20 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Williamstown Theatre Festival Artistic Director Jenny Gersten has announced that Festival veteran Steven Pasquale will play ‘Robert Kincaid’ in this summer’s World Premiere of The Bridges of Madison County. As previously announced, the new musical, which runs on the Main Stage from August 1 – 18, 2013, features a book by Marsha Norman, music & lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, and direction by Bartlett Sher. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3829_166827.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-18-2013_steven-pasquale-in-bridges-of-madison-country.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-18-2013_steven-pasquale-in-bridges-of-madison-country.htm Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Roadkill comes to Chicago Shakespeare Theatre in the midst of a state-wide public awareness campaign aimed at shifting law enforcement's attention to sex traffickers and people who buy sex, while proposing a network of support for survivors of the sex trade. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3828_600909.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-18-2013_roadkill-chicago-shakespeare-theatre.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-18-2013_roadkill-chicago-shakespeare-theatre.htm Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Legendary comedian, Joan Rivers, will perform her world renowned stand up at The Colonial Theatre on May 10 at 8pm with opener Brad Zimmerman. Audience members are invited to walk the red carpet before the show and stay after to see Tom Judson sing and play the piano in The Garage. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3827_128967.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-18-2013_joan-rivers-at-the-colonial-theatre.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-18-2013_joan-rivers-at-the-colonial-theatre.htm Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Cruising southernmost Patagonia around the channels and fjords that border the Tierra del Fuego archipelago and Cape Horn is an electrifying experience. Majestic mountains, towering glaciers and charming colonies of coastal birds portray indelible images. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3826_395036.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-18-2013_chile-and-argentina-part-three.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-18-2013_chile-and-argentina-part-three.htm Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Transforming the Oberon into a cabaret/21st century mead hall, this very lyrical if not poetic version of the retelling of the Old English epic poem uses song, silliness and a great band to tell a story that we all mostly skimmed when we were assigned it in school. Grendel, his mother and Beowulf sing, dance, strut and fight their way through a poem that has been told for at least 1000 years. Using raw and rowdy songplay and featuring original music that combines Weimar cabaret, 40’s jazz harmony, punk, electronica and Romantic Lieder, the instrumentation and voices are marvelous. It isn't your English teacher's version of the epic. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3825_313040.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-17-2013_beowulf-disarming-at-a-r-t.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-17-2013_beowulf-disarming-at-a-r-t.htm Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Enough cannot be said of the splendid ensemble cast of “American Buffalo”. They grab Mamet’s absurd black comedy story and elevate it to a gritty, but engrossing evening of theatre. In Randall Arney’s production after one peels away all of the f-bombs, we are left with a gritty study of three American men who are unable to understand their role in a society, which views them as losers and permanent bottom-feeders. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3824_780469.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-17-2013_american-buffalo-at-la-s-geffen-playhouse.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-17-2013_american-buffalo-at-la-s-geffen-playhouse.htm Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT The musical Ragtime is brilliantly directed by Susan Goldman Weisbarth, and, thanks to her musical director and creative cohort Bill Wolfe, this impressive production just soars with 43 voices and performers on Kentwood’s somewhat undersized stage (the theatre seats 115 patrons). But oh what magic doth appear when good source material, creative talent and inspired direction abound. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3823_578970.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-17-2013_ragtime-at-la-s-the-kentwood-players.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-17-2013_ragtime-at-la-s-the-kentwood-players.htm Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT The Women’s Project Theater can be counted on for a thoroughly engaging evening of theater. They do this by tackling the most disturbing and important issues of our time with a novel flair and often high humor. Only at the end of Collapse do we realize that we have been at the heart of our world today, a world in which the center has trouble holding as we keep turning in the widening gyre. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3822_collapse417415.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-17-2013_collapse-by-women-s-project-theater.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-17-2013_collapse-by-women-s-project-theater.htm Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Here is the complete and final rundown, at least for now, of shows, cabaret, benefits and events for the 2013 season of Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, Mass. The fun begins on May 22 and winds down on October 13. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3821_688974.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-16-2013_barrington-stage-company-2013.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-16-2013_barrington-stage-company-2013.htm Tue, 16 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT The new Nina Raines comedy/ drama raises some interesting communication issues concerning the Deaf community. “Tribes”, currently onstage at the Mark Taper Forum in LA, is insightfully directed by David Cromer and brings into much sharper focus the issue and the debate of how one copes within a family of hearing parents along with hearing and non-hearing siblings. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3820_428022.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-16-2013_tribes-by-nina-raines.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-16-2013_tribes-by-nina-raines.htm Tue, 16 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT .The Indiana Repertory Theatre is closing its season with the classic comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Young lovers’ blossoming relationships run amiss when they cross paths with a forest full of fairies led by the warring King and Queen of the fairies, regally played by Ryan Artzberger and Jennifer Johansen. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3819_494745.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-16-2013_a-midsummer-night-s-dream-in-indianapolis.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-16-2013_a-midsummer-night-s-dream-in-indianapolis.htm Tue, 16 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Berkshire Theatre Group announces three additions to its 85th summer season: the 8th Annual Children's Theatre Production, Peter Pan, at The Colonial Theatre, Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling, at The Neil Ellenoff Stage and a special writers workshop with Hunter Bell, of the Tony nominated show, [title of show] http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3818_541157.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-15-2013_berkshire-theatre-group-adds-shows.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-15-2013_berkshire-theatre-group-adds-shows.htm Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Tina Packer’s The Complete Journey through the Women of Will starts with “Warrior Women, from Violence to Negotiation." These martial women, driven by revenge, women who Shakespeare seems to hold out from himself and from us. The traveling production is staged at New York's The Gym at Judson through June. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3817_tina790877.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-15-2013_women-of-will-the-complete-journey.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-15-2013_women-of-will-the-complete-journey.htm Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT At the close of WWII, the Allies captured Germany’s top ten nuclear scientists and kept them at a lavish English estate, Farm Hall. They were under surveillance to learn what they knew about the American nuclear program and to gauge how close the Nazis were to making an atomic bomb. Playwright Alan Brody brilliantly sheds light on the ethical complexity of pursuing scientific discovery at the risk of fostering catastrophic consequences. Mixing in the notions of individual hubris and personal or collective responsibility, this is a serious and revealing drama that wrestle's with conscience and culpability. With a fine ensemble cast, it is an engrossing major theatrical event. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3816_350399.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-14-2013_operation-epsilon-at-central-sq-theater.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-14-2013_operation-epsilon-at-central-sq-theater.htm Sun, 14 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT In the Musée Matisse, located in the northern French town Le Cateau-Cambresis, birthplace of the artist, is a wonderful exhibition on the topic of "cut gouaches." The Belgian critic Roger D’Hondt states that the late works changed the canon of modernism. . During his last 20 years of life, from 1936 to 1954, Matisse and his staff painted hundreds of sheets with gouache that looked like monochrome paintings on paper. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3815_241296.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-13-2013_matisse-s-la-couleur-d-coup-e.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-13-2013_matisse-s-la-couleur-d-coup-e.htm Sat, 13 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University will present the world premiere of the musical Witness Uganda, created by Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews, and directed by A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus. The production will begin performances at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge in February of 2014. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3814_265278.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-12-2013_american-repertory-theatre-launches-musical.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-12-2013_american-repertory-theatre-launches-musical.htm Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT During the 2010 season a musical that conflated Romeo and Juliet with the music of the gifted Jeff Buckley, who died tragically young, The Last Goodbye was workshopped at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Now it is slated to open the season for The Old Globe in San Diego. There are plans to move on from there. At WTF we interviewed the creative team and Buckely's Mom, Mary Guibert. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3813_462283.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-12-2013_last-goodbye-says-hello-to-san-diego.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-12-2013_last-goodbye-says-hello-to-san-diego.htm Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT With a new program of innovative and edgy repertoire, Rebeca Tomás will bring her A Palo Seco Flamenco Company back to Theatre 80 Saint Marks May 17 to 19 in a new production, "Cinco Por Cinco." Tomás, a fierce and feminine NY-based Flamenco artist, will direct her company of five dancers, two singers and three musicians. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3812_129386.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-12-2013_a-palo-seco-flamenco-company.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-12-2013_a-palo-seco-flamenco-company.htm Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT 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. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3811_178831.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-12-2013_artsemerson-announces-2013-2014-program.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-12-2013_artsemerson-announces-2013-2014-program.htm Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT The Indiana Repertory Theatre will launch its season with Arthur Miller's The Crucible. This will be followed by eight productions for a full and diverse program. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3810_596878.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-11-2013_indiana-repertory-theatre.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-11-2013_indiana-repertory-theatre.htm Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT The Old Globe production of “A Doll’s House” that opened at the Sheryl and Harvey White theatre on March 23rd is intelligently, sensitively, and seamlessly directed by Kirsten Brandt who brings a wealth of Ibsen directing credits to the production. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3809_342104.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-11-2013_a-doll-s-house-at-the-old-globe.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-11-2013_a-doll-s-house-at-the-old-globe.htm Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT On view June 9 through September 8, 2013, Winslow Homer: Making Art, Making History showcases some sixty oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, and etchings, as well as approximately 120 rarely seen wood engravings. Drawing upon the resources of the Clark’s own holdings of nearly 250 works by Homer (dating from 1857 to 1904), the exhibition provides a variety of distinctive perspectives on this important American artist. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3808_Homer51638.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-11-2013_winslow-homer-making-art-making-history.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-11-2013_winslow-homer-making-art-making-history.htm Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT The Boston Theater Critics Association (BTCA) announces its nominations for the 31st Annual Elliot Norton Awards. The awards, which recognize excellence in Greater Boston theater, will be presented on Monday, May 13, at 7 p.m. at the Paramount Mainstage, 559 Washington Street, Boston. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3807_963225.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-11-2013_31st-annual-elliot-norton-awards.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-11-2013_31st-annual-elliot-norton-awards.htm Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Michelle Dorrance, Artistic Director of Dorrance Dance, is lauded as "one of the most imaginative tap choreographers working today” (The New Yorker). A 2012 Princess Grace Award Winner, 2012 Field Dance Fund Recipient, and 2011 Bessie Award Winner, Dorrance is among the world’s most sought after tap performers, teachers, and choreographers today. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3806_1717.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-10-2013_jacob-s-pillow-dance-award-to-michelle-dorrance.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-10-2013_jacob-s-pillow-dance-award-to-michelle-dorrance.htm Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Don Pomponio takes out a personal ad in the local rag to find a husband for his daughter Lisetta. Mistaken identities ensure confusion, which leads to hilarity. In the end two young lovers find their mates, but not before Quakers and Turks make their appearance. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3805_954779.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-10-2013_new-england-conservatory-revives-rossini.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-10-2013_new-england-conservatory-revives-rossini.htm Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT As Ambassador of the Great American Songbook Michael Feinstein is a dynamo and one man band. The Third Season of his PBS series, with three episodes is currently airing. Recently, we visited the fast growing archive he established at Performing Arts Center in Carmel, Indiana where he serves as artistic director. The state of the art facility opened in 2011 and has become a destination for the appreciation of standards. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3804_209603.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-10-2013_michael-feinstein-great-american-songbook-initiative.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-10-2013_michael-feinstein-great-american-songbook-initiative.htm Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Wonderfully conceived and stylistically creative, the world premiere of Ryan Landry's "M" is a unique theatrical event. Light and shadow, comedy and drama and silliness and seriousness are blended together in a surrealistic and at times totally quite poignant adaptation of uberdirector Fritz Lang's masterpiece "M." We are compelled to watch with both amused wonder and horror as Landry brings his unique imagination to a new adaptation of this dark film noir 1931 classic. This is theatre of the absurd with a point. It is a gothic visual and verbal journey that is dreamlike but unconditionally entertaining. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3803_829617.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-10-2013_m-brilliant-at-huntington-s-calderwood-pavilion.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-10-2013_m-brilliant-at-huntington-s-calderwood-pavilion.htm Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Eve Queler introduced the Opera Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall in 1972 with Verdi’s I Lombardi. Featured in the cast were Jose Carreras, Renata Scotto and Paul Plishka in a memorable performances. Queler has continued to offer wonderful productions of seldom heard operas featuring stars, up and coming stars, and newbies. Her contribution to the music world has been incalculable. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3802_ilombardi58767.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-09-2013_eve-queler-s-opera-orchestra-of-new-york.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-09-2013_eve-queler-s-opera-orchestra-of-new-york.htm Tue, 09 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT The remarkable, 76-year-old Vanessa Redgrave is appearing, through April 27, in a sold out run of The Revisionist by Jesse Eisenberg at the venerable but intimate Cherry Lane Theatre in New York. It is a rare opportunity to see one of the great performers of our era up close and oh so personal. Be still dear heart. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3801_615157.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-09-2013_the-revisionist-with-vanessa-redgrave.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-09-2013_the-revisionist-with-vanessa-redgrave.htm Tue, 09 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Outrageous stand-up comic Lewis Black loves the Williamstown Theatre Festival. He returns this summer July 22, with My Fair Lewis. The festival has also added another play to the Nikos stage. Blood Play will run August 7 to 18. It is Written by Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen. Directed and developed by Oliver Butler and made by The Debate Society. Here is the final complete schedule for the 2013 season. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3800_519463.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-09-2013_williamstown-theatre-festival-updates.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-09-2013_williamstown-theatre-festival-updates.htm Tue, 09 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Xu Bing will deliver a public lecture about his work on Friday, April 26, at 5pm in MASS MoCA's Hunter Center. In addition to Phoenix Project the new installations include large format pen and ink drawings from Square Word Calligraphy series; his first hand-drawn animation, the 50’ wide, 17-minute The Character of Characters (2013) portraying the history of Chinese writing; and Book from the Ground. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3799_604314.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-08-2013_xu-bing-event-at-mass-moca.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-08-2013_xu-bing-event-at-mass-moca.htm Mon, 08 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Last night we watched Masterpiece Theatre and Tivoed the relaunch of Mad Men. Starting at 10 we were able to fast forward through two hours worth of ads. While it was fun to cut to the chase what we saw was mostly a muddle. A double time season opener is designed to set up plot points but there was little of the magic that got us hooked on the award winning series. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3798_839913.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-08-2013_so-so-or-so-what-mad-men-returns.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-08-2013_so-so-or-so-what-mad-men-returns.htm Mon, 08 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT The capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires is a twenty-four-hour city with colorful neighborhoods, fashionable districts, and a vibrant cultural life. El Calafate is the gateway to Patagonia, the southernmost part of South America both in Argentina and Chile. It is a vast land of national parks, towering mountains, pristine lakes, and large glaciers. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3797_957850.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-07-2013_chile-and-argentina-part-two.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-07-2013_chile-and-argentina-part-two.htm Sun, 07 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Members of the Berkshire arts community will meet with State Rep Gail Cariddi to urge her to encourage the Massachusetts House and Senate to increase the state’s allocation to the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) by $3 million to a total of $12.5 million. The event will occur on April 13th 6 PM at 47 Park St. (The Old Firehouse) in Adams MA. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3796_215489.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-07-2013_state-rep-gail-cariddi-meets-with-arts-community.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-07-2013_state-rep-gail-cariddi-meets-with-arts-community.htm Sun, 07 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Set aside, a day, week, month or year to fully absorb and comprehend the obsessive/ compulsive details of a troika of new special exhibitions at Mass MoCA. The sprawling contemporary art museum in North Adams has just launched Mark Dion: The Octagon Room, One Minute Film Festival: 10 Years, and Life’s Work: Tom Phillips and Johnny Carrera. During a gala celebration we caught just a tantalizing glimpse of dauntingly dense and complex work. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3795_307460.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-07-2013_mass-moca-s-timely-reboot.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-07-2013_mass-moca-s-timely-reboot.htm Sun, 07 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Daniele Gatti arrived at Carnegie Hall with the Boston Symphony Orceshtra for their annual spring visit. Gatti had recently triumphed at the Metropolitan Opera conducting Parsifal in a consummate performance. Katrina Dalayman, the Met’s Kundry, reports that the group of mega stars gathered to sing were exceptionally collaborative, guided by Gatti, emailing back and forth. This group effort showed on the stage with the BSO. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3794_gatti944881.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-07-2013_extraordinary-bso-conducted-by-daniele-gatti.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-07-2013_extraordinary-bso-conducted-by-daniele-gatti.htm Sun, 07 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT 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. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3793_767733.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-06-2013_buzkashi-shown-at-mass-moca.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-06-2013_buzkashi-shown-at-mass-moca.htm Sat, 06 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT American Idiot, based on the Green Day album of the same name, bursts onto the stage at Clowes Memorial Hall in Indianapolis, with a flurry of lights and blasting guitars. Sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, this show has all three in spades. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3792_195329.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-05-2013_green-day-s-american-idiot-in-indianapolis.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-05-2013_green-day-s-american-idiot-in-indianapolis.htm Fri, 05 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Gurari Collections presents an exhibition of watercolor paintings and work-on-paper by the artist Vico Fabbris. Entitled FLORALIES, the exhibition expands upon the artist's exploration of imagined botanicals. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3791_319715.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-04-2013_vico-fabbris-floralies.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-04-2013_vico-fabbris-floralies.htm Thu, 04 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Although Indiana is a staunchly conservative red state the Indianapolis Museum Art is currently hosting a survey of work by the world's most radical living artist. Ai Weiwei: According to What? will be on view through July 28. There is an encylopedic collection of some 54,000 works. We also visited the nearby 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park which opened in 2010. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3790_529474.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-04-2013_indianapolis-museum-of-art.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-04-2013_indianapolis-museum-of-art.htm Thu, 04 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Courtney Love the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the punk band Hole is also a visual artist. Her first museum exhibition Mentoring Courtney Love: David LaChapelle and Courtney Love will be on view at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum in New London, Connecticut form April 13 through August 10. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3789_70928.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-04-2013_courtney-love-at-lyman-allyn-museum.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-04-2013_courtney-love-at-lyman-allyn-museum.htm Thu, 04 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Featuring an eclectic mix of Broadway standards and cabaret songs, Tony and Golden Globe-winning actress Linda Lavin’s new cabaret will show you why Stephen Holden of The New York Times calls her “…a human tornado who lets nothing stand in her way…She has a jazz side, can swing and scat and even growl like Louis Armstrong, and displays a special fondness for Brazilian bossa nova.” T http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3788_855920.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-03-2013_barrington-stage-presents-linda-lavin-july-8.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-03-2013_barrington-stage-presents-linda-lavin-july-8.htm Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT On the night of March 18, 1990, a pair of thieves disguised as Boston police officers entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and roamed the Museum’s galleries, stealing thirteen works of art. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3787_983232.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-03-2013_gardner-museum-theft-investigation.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-03-2013_gardner-museum-theft-investigation.htm Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT In the College of the Desert (COD) production at the Pollock Theatre, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, director Tres Dean gives full rein to his talented cast to do just that which they do in spades. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3786_914637.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-03-2013_one-flew-over-the-cuckoo-s-nest.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-03-2013_one-flew-over-the-cuckoo-s-nest.htm Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT “A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder” is currently at The Old Globe’s Donald and Darlene Shiley stage in San Diego’s Balboa Park. This world premiere musical comedy conjured up by the remarkable team of Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak, and brilliantly directed by Darko Tresnjak, is an early Christmas gift to the city of San Diego. It's taking place at one of America’s finest Regional theatres. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3785_975753.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-03-2013_a-gentlemen-s-guide-to-love-and-murder.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-03-2013_a-gentlemen-s-guide-to-love-and-murder.htm Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT For a girls's night out Menopause the Musical is a no sweat, fun musical. It runs through May 12 at Indy's Beef and Boards dinner theatre. Women going through "The Change" interact compassionately while shopping at Bloomingdales. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3784_672752.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-03-2013_menopause-the-musical.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-03-2013_menopause-the-musical.htm Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT When Michael Feinstein appeared at Tanglewood last summer Liza Minnelli hopped the train with him at the last minute and popped on stage to thrill the audience in The Shed with "New York New York." While Faith Prince and Megan Hilty are confirmed as guests this summer we asked him if there is a chance that Barbara Cook may also board his Lenox bound Chattanooga Choo Choo. Barbara, who loves Tanglewood, just smiled. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3783_240933.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-02-2013_michael-feinstein-and-barbara-cook-meet-the-press.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-02-2013_michael-feinstein-and-barbara-cook-meet-the-press.htm Tue, 02 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT We return from an intensive visit of the American Theatre Critics Association in Indianapolis with more questions than answers. Mostly about the state of the arts in America's heartland. A busman's holiday evokes taking the pulse. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3782_982758.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-01-2013_why-atca-indianapolis.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-01-2013_why-atca-indianapolis.htm Mon, 01 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT The Clark Art Institute will present its eight Inness landscapes in an exhibition, "George Inness: Gifts from Frank and Katherine Martucci," which will be on view June 9–September 8, 2013. The presentation will unite new acquisitions with two works by Inness, Wood Gatherers: An Autumn Afternoon and Home at Montclair, that were purchased by Sterling Clark and have been a part of the Institute’s collection since 1955. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3781_367310.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-01-2013_clark-art-institute-s-works-by-george-inness.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-01-2013_clark-art-institute-s-works-by-george-inness.htm Mon, 01 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT Peter Gelb, recently elevated to artistic director of the Metropolitan Opera, has orchestrated an 9000-word piece in the magazine section of the New York Times defending against wide spread criticism of his regime. With no formal education or qualifications to make aesthetic decisions Gelb told the Times that music is in his genes. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3780_264508.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-31-2013_peter-gelb-elevated-to-artistic-director-of-the-met.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-31-2013_peter-gelb-elevated-to-artistic-director-of-the-met.htm Sun, 31 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT A comedy about racism, Hollywood and secrets by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage that takes an irreverent look at racial stereotypes in both Hollywood and 20th Century America. The show is a seventy-year journey through the life of Vera Stark, an African-American maid who becomes an actress, and her strange relationship with a white Hollywood star. When both women land roles in a Southern epic, the story behind the cameras leaves Vera with a surprising and controversial legacy. This is theatre of thought and difficult history. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3779_351713.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-31-2013_by-the-way-meet-vera-stark-at-lyricstage-company.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-31-2013_by-the-way-meet-vera-stark-at-lyricstage-company.htm Sun, 31 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT At the crest of the high Andes, Santiago is a bustling, international city with architectural treasures and cultural attractions. Easter Island, Chile's Pacific outpost, fascinates with Polynesian lore, impressive large stone statues and volcanic natural wonders. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3777_839003.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-30-2013_chile-and-argentina-part-one.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-30-2013_chile-and-argentina-part-one.htm Sat, 30 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT On Sunday morning, the final day of the American Theatre Critics Association meeting in Indianapolis we encountered life on the edge of the arts. It was insightful to learn about and experience Fringe theatre in Indy and hear from fringers in Cincinnati and St. Louis. It was so absorbing that Astrid Hiemer of BFA bounded on stage and became a character in the improv piece Going Going Gone. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3776_742592.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-30-2013_going-going-gone-and-i-am-peter-pan.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-30-2013_going-going-gone-and-i-am-peter-pan.htm Sat, 30 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT Shakespeare & Company’s 36th Performance Season just keeps getting bigger and better! Artistic Director Tony Simotes is pleased to announce additional programming filled with dance, music, zany antics and more with four new additions to the already scheduled line-up. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3775_544760.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-30-2013_shakespeare-company-adds-programming.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-30-2013_shakespeare-company-adds-programming.htm Sat, 30 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT Forty years ago when Indy's Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre was founded it was a fad. With annual ticket sales of some 150.000 now it is only one of seven equity companies that remain. More low brow than high brow, none the less, its production of Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 was a flat out hoot. In particular the blonde bombshell Crystal Mosser was a smash. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3774_949934.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-29-2013_dolly-parton-s-9-to-5.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-29-2013_dolly-parton-s-9-to-5.htm Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT A few years back Cormac McCarthy’s novel “No Country for Old Men”, was turned into an Academy award-winning movie. His current allegorical play “Sunset Limited”, deftly directed by Ron Celona and starring ML Berry as Black, and Don Oscar Smith as White, is a curious piece. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3773_430913.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-29-2013_cormac-mccarthy-s-sunset-limited.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-29-2013_cormac-mccarthy-s-sunset-limited.htm Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT The dark comedy The Lyons which had a run on Broadway has been staged at The Phoenix Theatre in Indianapolis. It stars veteran actor Diane Kondrat, as the matriarch of a dysfunctional family. The macabre action is set in the hospital room of her terminally ill husband visited by their two over the top children. The familial cruelty evoked is outrageously hilarious. Kondrat's Rita Lyons is a character we love to hate. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3772_69378.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-29-2013_the-lyons-at-indy-s-phoenix-theatre.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-29-2013_the-lyons-at-indy-s-phoenix-theatre.htm Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT During the American Theatre Critics Association meeting in Indianapolis we met with Melissa Hall who posts to the blog StageWrite Indy. With this take on a visit from out of towners we welcome her as a contributor to Berkshire Fine Arts. We will look forward to her coverage. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3771_806203.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-28-2013_an-indy-insider-s-view-of-atca-visit.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-28-2013_an-indy-insider-s-view-of-atca-visit.htm Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT The performance of Piaf Plus which we attended in Indianapolis by the 41-year-old Dance Kaleidoscope was a compelling conflation of narrative inflected American Modernism with a decidedly French accent. The choreography was created by the company's 22-year-long artistic director and former member of the Martha Graham company, David Hochoy. While elegant and conservative the dance had spectacular elements evked by lead dancers Jilian Godwin and Zach Young. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3770_202624.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-28-2013_dance-kaleidoscope-of-indianapolis.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-28-2013_dance-kaleidoscope-of-indianapolis.htm Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT Del McCoury, Leftover Salmon, The Infamous Stringdusters, Sam Bush, The Lone Bellow, and Dr. Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys are part of the first wave of performers announced for the FreshGrass festival. Bill Evans, Jerry Douglas, Alison Brown, Edgar Meyer and Mike Marshall, The Wood Brothers, Dan Zanes, Elizabeth Mitchell, Lake Street Dive, The Gibson Brothers, Noam Pikelny and Friends, John Reischman and the Jaybirds, Elephant Revival, Darol Anger, and Mandolin Orange are also confirmed. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3769_994951.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-28-2013_mass-moca-s-freshgrass-festival.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-28-2013_mass-moca-s-freshgrass-festival.htm Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT Stephen Metcalfe's stage play “Strange Snow” became the basis for the 1989 movie “Jacknife”, starring Robert DeNiro, Ed Harris, and Cathy Bates.The powerful and compelling drama currently dazzling audiences at the Groves Theatre, is brilliantly directed by actor/director Abe Daniels, and features a wonderful cast of three Desert Theatre League award winning actors: Donette Swain, Kurt Schauppner, and Abe Daniels. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3768_316766.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-28-2013_stephen-metcalfe-s-strange-snow-was-film-jacknife.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-28-2013_stephen-metcalfe-s-strange-snow-was-film-jacknife.htm Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT Pamla Vale Abramson is a wonderful Norma Desmond. She captures the spirit and the essence of the early Hollywood era through use of her marvelous eyes, hand gestures, and actor’s instincts, all the while never losing sight, of her role in bringing a bygone era back, if just for just awhile. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3767_216154.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-28-2013_sunset-blvd-at-palm-canyon-theatre.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-28-2013_sunset-blvd-at-palm-canyon-theatre.htm Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT Theater for the New City presents"American Star!!!," a new rockin', boppin' family musical by William Electric Black and Gary Schreiner, both Emmy-winners. The show whimsically examines teenagers' fascination with make-me-a-celebrity TV shows. Performances are April 11 to 28, Th-Sat at 8:00 PM and Sun at 3:00 PM. Running time is :90. Critics are invited on or after April 12. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3766_797626.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-27-2013_american-star-by-emmy-winners.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-27-2013_american-star-by-emmy-winners.htm Wed, 27 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT Broadway and television actress Anastasia Barzee premieres “Barzee Sings Bacharach” in a prime-time major engagement at The Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street, beginning April 18. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3765_460340.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-27-2013_anastasia-barzee-opens-in-ny-april-18.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-27-2013_anastasia-barzee-opens-in-ny-april-18.htm Wed, 27 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT Claybourne Park, winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize and 2012 Tony Award for Best Play is coming soon to a theatre near you. Here in the Berkshires from September 26 through October 13 at Barrington Stage in co production with Vermont's Dorset Theatre Festival where it will run from August 15-31. It begs questions about regional theatre companies focused on a short list of recycled Broadway and Off Broadway plays. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3764_27233.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-27-2013_barrington-stage-to-present-clybourne-park.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-27-2013_barrington-stage-to-present-clybourne-park.htm Wed, 27 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT The American Chapter of the International Society of Art Critics (AICA) announces its annual awards. There are a number of categories from site specific works to gallery and museum exhibitions. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3763_320096.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-26-2013_2013-aica-awards.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-26-2013_2013-aica-awards.htm Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT During our meeting of the American Theatre Critic's Association we visited Carmel, Indiana for an evening of The Great American Songbook with its Ambassador, Michael Feinstein and guest artist, Barbara Cook. For the audience of 1,600 filling the Palladium it was a love fest. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3762_223511.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-26-2013_michael-feinstein-and-barbara-cook-back-home-in-indiana.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-26-2013_michael-feinstein-and-barbara-cook-back-home-in-indiana.htm Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT The Terence Blanchard Group, featuring New Orleans’ jazz trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard, joins the 2013 Tanglewood season line-up with a performance in Ozawa Hall on Friday, June 28, at 8 p.m. Mr. Blanchard first performed at Tanglewood during Jazz Fest on August 31, 2008. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3761_460043.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-26-2013_terence-blanchard-at-tanglewood-june-28.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-26-2013_terence-blanchard-at-tanglewood-june-28.htm Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT The BSO has entrusted Italian maestro Daniele Gatti to conduct programs devoted to Wagner and Verdi during their bicentennial years. Gatti reveals himself to be a fine-tuner of a conductor, interested in the smallest elements of the work. The result can be impressive but a little cold. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3760_349380.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-25-2013_a-wagner-miscellany-at-the-bso.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-25-2013_a-wagner-miscellany-at-the-bso.htm Mon, 25 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT The first choral work commissioned for Crescendo is an original musical compostition based on the "West Lake" poem cycle by the Chinese poet and statesman Ouyang Xiu, who lived from 1007 - 1072 CE. The performances will occur at First Congregational Church, 251 Main St., Great Barrington, MA and Trinity Church - Lime Rock, 484 Lime Rock Rd., Lakeville, CT. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3759_West-Lake684040.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-23-2013_crescendo-concerts-april-13-and-14.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-23-2013_crescendo-concerts-april-13-and-14.htm Sat, 23 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT Last night some forty members and guests of the American Theatre Critics Association were astonished by a riveting production of The Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez. The Indiana Repertory Theatre production stars the astonishing David Alan Anderson with solid support from Tyler Jacob Rollinson and Andrew C. Ahrens. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3758_662892.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-23-2013_the-whipping-man-at-indiana-repertory-theatre.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-23-2013_the-whipping-man-at-indiana-repertory-theatre.htm Sat, 23 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT The second installment of MASS MoCA's Book Club will feature artists Johnny Carrera and Tom Phillips. It will be held on April 3rd at 6pm in the Life's Work exhibition. Unlike traditional book clubs, this program makes connections between museum exhibitions and the written word. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3757_424813.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-19-2013_mass-moca-s-book-club-april-3.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-19-2013_mass-moca-s-book-club-april-3.htm Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT The annual Berkshire Salon will be shown at the Eclipse Mill Gallery in North Adams, Mass from May 10 to June 2. For a handling fee of $15 all artists are invited. Drop off times are 3 to 7 pm on Sunday, May 5 and Monday, May 6. The exhibition, which is hung salon style, usually includes fifty or more artists. The gallery is located on Route Two within walking distance of Mass MoCA. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3756_520004.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-19-2013_sixth-annual-berkshire-salon.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-19-2013_sixth-annual-berkshire-salon.htm Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT Laurence Luckinbill as Clarence Darrow, brings the famous lawyer of the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial in Tennessee, up close and personal, delivering a penetrating, riveting, and insightful portrait of the man many thought they knew but didn’t. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3755_923247.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-19-2013_clarence-darrow-tonight-at-coyote-stageworks.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-19-2013_clarence-darrow-tonight-at-coyote-stageworks.htm Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT Having returned from Paris, in a blur, our correspondent Edward Rubin is reporting from Indianapolis this week. This was a typically witty, gonzo, e mail note he dashed off to friends and colleagues. It captures the wit and flavor of life on the road. And why he is known as Fast Eddy to his pals. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3754_527408.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-19-2013_fast-eddy-reports-from-indianapolis.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-19-2013_fast-eddy-reports-from-indianapolis.htm Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT San Diego REPertory Theatre’s current production of “The Mountaintop”, written by Katori Hall, and deftly directed by Roger Guenveur Smith, is right on the money. It’s a talky two-character exploration leading up to of the last day in the life of Martin Luther King Jr, as imagined by playwright Hall. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3753_287197.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-19-2013_mountaintop-at-san-diego-repertory-theatre.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-19-2013_mountaintop-at-san-diego-repertory-theatre.htm Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT American folk singer Joan Baez, and folk rock duo the Indigo Girls, have been added to the 2013 Tanglewood line-up, with a special concert in the Shed on Sunday, June 23, 2013, at 2:30 p.m. Joan Baez and the Indigo Girls last performed at Tanglewood on August 30, 1990. Also performing this year will be Barenaked Ladies, Ben Folds Five and Guster with support from Boothby Graffoe as part of their 30 city “Last Summer on Earth Tour” on Tuesday, July 23, 2013, at 7 p.m. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3752_255378.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-18-2013_joan-baez-and-indigo-girls-at-tanglewood.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-18-2013_joan-baez-and-indigo-girls-at-tanglewood.htm Mon, 18 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT Neal Rantoul: Wheat, Washington, 2009-2012, opens at the Danforth Museum in Framingham on April 7, 2013. This exhibition is an exploration of subject matter Rantoul has consistently revisited over the past decade—the wheat fields near Pullman, Washington. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3751_702382.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-18-2013_neal-rantoul-wheat-washington-2009-2012.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-18-2013_neal-rantoul-wheat-washington-2009-2012.htm Mon, 18 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT Chris Busa, the publisher/ editor of Provincetown Arts Magazine responded on Facebook to an essay which Mugar posted on Jed Perl’s new collection of essays “Magicians and Charlatans." Busa drew a parallel between Perl’s disenchantment with the current art scene and that of the contrarian arts commentator Camille Paglia. This exchange is the focus Mugar's essay which is reposted from his blog. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3750_425847.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-18-2013_chris-busa-camille-paglia-theosophy-and-peggy-lee.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-18-2013_chris-busa-camille-paglia-theosophy-and-peggy-lee.htm Mon, 18 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT 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. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3749_ESlead801456.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-17-2013_earsay-emma-jane-christopher-crosby-morris.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-17-2013_earsay-emma-jane-christopher-crosby-morris.htm Sun, 17 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT It is unfair that public artists, designers and architects do free work to get commissions. With some fanfare, several interesting hip judges and techno startups as point entities, another Competition has taken place with little to win for all of the effort that was put forth. Taken seriously, the results from a competition to replace the antiquated and often out of order call boxes would be an imaginative series of solutions. But instead it was only a minor creative conversation. And words are cheap. Here design is shown in fits and starts and undetermined consequences. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3748_860807.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-17-2013_nyc-phone-booth-competition-missed-call.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-17-2013_nyc-phone-booth-competition-missed-call.htm Sun, 17 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT A well-meaning state representative introduced a bill that would have made Modern Lovers’ “Roadrunner” the official state rock song of Massachusetts. Now, a pair of Boston-area representatives have introduced a rival bill to make Aerosmith’s “Dream On” the official Commonwealth rocker. Here's a bit of vintage show and tell about the bands. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3747_352330.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-16-2013_modern-lovers-vs-aerosmith.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-16-2013_modern-lovers-vs-aerosmith.htm Sat, 16 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT The artist run Eclipse Mill Gallery at 248 Union Street in North Adams announces its program for the 2013 season. It starts on April 20 with the annual High School Invitational in cooperation with Mass MoCA. The always lively Berkshire Salon follows from May 10 through June 2. A diverse schedule is planned including photography by the late Leonard Freed, Pin Hole Photography, and large format photographs by Chad Kleitsch. Joan Carney will be featured during Open Studios in October. The season ends with holiday themed small works November 15 to December 22. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3746_570075.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-16-2013_eclipse-mill-gallery-2013.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-16-2013_eclipse-mill-gallery-2013.htm Sat, 16 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT Last year Netflix initiated original programming with the series Lillyhammer starring Steven Van Zandt as a mobster in witness protection in Norway. It was mildly amusing. Now Netflix has taken a step forward with a remake of the classic BBC mini series House of Cards. The American version stars the always masterful Kevin Spacey who is not enough to bind together a sprawling often absurdly out of control political drama. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3745_832390.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-15-2013_netflix-gambles-on-house-of-cards.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-15-2013_netflix-gambles-on-house-of-cards.htm Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT After receiving nearly 900 entries for the 2013 Portland Museum of Biennial: Piece Work exhibition, the Portland Museum of Art (PMA) announces the names of the 28 artists selected to participate. The exhibition is the PMA’s eighth consecutive biennial. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3744_453404.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-15-2013_2013-portland-museum-of-art-biennial.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-15-2013_2013-portland-museum-of-art-biennial.htm Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT It started in 1966 as Boston After Dark a weekly entertainment guide launched by Jim Lewis then a student at the Harvard Business School. Stephen Mindich was its theatre critic and later bought in as partner. After Mindich bought out Lewis he later acquired the Cambridge Phoenix. The renamed Boston Phoenix was the flagship of an alternative media empire that has now crashed and burned. It leaves a remarkable legacy of journalism and criticism. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3743_597179.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-15-2013_boston-phoenix-incinerates.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-15-2013_boston-phoenix-incinerates.htm Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT L’Abbraccio, (The Hug) the name of the exhibition, refers to a cabinet designed by Gaetano Pesce in 2009 of two people locked in an embrace. In addition to its “namesake” cabinet, the exhibition will feature some of Pesce’s rarely seen drawings, maquettes, lighting and furniture from the 1970s. On view at Fred Torres Collaborations from March 21-May 25, 2013. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3742_827530.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-15-2013_gaetano-pesce-s-l-abbraccio-the-hug.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-15-2013_gaetano-pesce-s-l-abbraccio-the-hug.htm Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT Another fantastic afternoon concert at generous Joseph Rosen’s, just around the corner from Carnegie. Rosen, in addition to innovative programming which often introduces deserving but not well-known composers, also showcases up and coming talent. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3741_207714.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-14-2013_joe-rosen-showcases-piano-prodigy.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-14-2013_joe-rosen-showcases-piano-prodigy.htm Thu, 14 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT 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. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3740_694041.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-14-2013_longterm-impact-of-monsanto-s-roundup-seeds.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-14-2013_longterm-impact-of-monsanto-s-roundup-seeds.htm Thu, 14 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT In a crowded apartment in Chicago’s South Side, each member of a struggling African-American family yearns for a different version of a better life. An impending large insurance payment seems to be the key. While American prejudice and racism set barriers and even roadblocks to life's journey, this is an moving portrait of resilient people whose dreams are constantly deferred. A must see theatrical event. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3739_166733.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-14-2013_a-raisin-in-the-sun-brilliant-at-huntington.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-14-2013_a-raisin-in-the-sun-brilliant-at-huntington.htm Thu, 14 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT Featuring nearly 90 installations, sculptures, furniture, and objects, Against the Grain: Wood in Contemporary Art, Craft and Design explores the most cutting-edge conceptual and technical trends in woodworking today. It is on view March 19 through September 15, 2013 at New York's Museum of Arts and Design. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3738_Grain221101.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-14-2013_against-the-grain-at-museum-of-art-and-design.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-14-2013_against-the-grain-at-museum-of-art-and-design.htm Thu, 14 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT The first in a series of permanent collection-related exhibitions leading up to the museum’s 40th anniversary in 2014, “Over, Under, Next” surveys an era in which the definition and scope of art were continually expanded through the avant-garde’s embrace of “non-art” materials. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3737_934702.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-13-2013_over-under-next-at-hirshhorn-museum.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-13-2013_over-under-next-at-hirshhorn-museum.htm Wed, 13 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT Berkshires Jazz, Inc. announces several new events that celebrate April as Jazz Appreciation Month, a long-standing initiative of the Smithsonian Institution. The spring programming spans the timeframe from late March to early May, and includes CD release concerts featuring the Claire Daly Quartet and the Jeff Holmes Quartet. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3736_495523.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-12-2013_april-is-jazz-appreciation-month.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-12-2013_april-is-jazz-appreciation-month.htm Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT This is the second in a series of articles on the crisis in the arts by Larry Murray. They are reposted with permission of Berkshire On Stage. He reports that appropriations to state arts agencies grew by 110 percent between 1992 and 2001, reaching an all-time high of $450.6 million in 2001 before decreasing to $354 million in 2008. Since 2008, state appropriations have decreased by 27 percent, close to 1996 spending levels. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3735_211224.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-12-2013_arts-and-culture-demonized.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-12-2013_arts-and-culture-demonized.htm Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT Bjorn Somlo, chef-owner of Nudel Restaurant in Lenox, has been nominated one of the top 100 chefs for The People’s Best New Chef award for FOOD & WINE® magazine. This is Somlo’s second nomination for an award honoring up-and-coming innovators who have run their own kitchens for five years or fewer. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3734_463918.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-12-2013_nudel-in-lenox-nominated-for-food-wine-award.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-12-2013_nudel-in-lenox-nominated-for-food-wine-award.htm Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre presents "King Executioner," written and directed by Vit Horejš with musical score by Frank London (The Klezmatics). This enigmatic tale of early World War II is based on a novel by Polish magical realist Tadeusz Nowak. New York's Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave., presents the work March 21 to April 7. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3733_Czech254272.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-12-2013_czechoslovak-american-marionette-theatre-s-king-executioner.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-12-2013_czechoslovak-american-marionette-theatre-s-king-executioner.htm Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT Following the successful celebration of the festival’s 35th anniversary in 2012, this year’s festival headliners include Tony Bennett, Buddy Guy, David Sanborn & Bob James, McCoy Tyner Quartet featuring special guest John Scofield, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Kevin Eubanks, Gregory Porter, and Rudresh Mahanthappa among others. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3732_5508.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-12-2013_freihofer-s-saratoga-jazz-festival.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-12-2013_freihofer-s-saratoga-jazz-festival.htm Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT Norma is the long distance run for great bel canto sopranos and mezzos too. By that high standard, Angela Meade and Dolora Zajick hit their marks as the Washington National Opera mounted a new production of the Bellini opera. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3731_norma90203.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-11-2013_norma-arrives-at-the-washington-national-opera.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-11-2013_norma-arrives-at-the-washington-national-opera.htm Mon, 11 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT 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. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3730_378157.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-11-2013_ai-weiwei-according-to-what.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-11-2013_ai-weiwei-according-to-what.htm Mon, 11 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EDT With this richly detailed and insightful series on the crisis of the arts we welcome back to Berkshire Fine Arts, Larry Murray, a valued colleague and founding contributor of Berkshire Fine Arts. For the past few years he has been publisher/ editor of Berkshire on Stage and more recently joined Broadway World as its Berkshire Correspondent. He has spent decades involved in and thinking about arts management as marketing and PR manager, administrator, and, for the past several years, critic and reporter. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3729_6933.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-10-2013_the-arts-and-the-economy-interconnected-gears.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-10-2013_the-arts-and-the-economy-interconnected-gears.htm Sun, 10 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST Oedipus Rex as conceived by the Faux-Real Theater Company is true to the original, although the producers say "sort of." A play in which Son kills Dad and then marries Mom with whom he begets half brothers and sisters provides latitude. Even though Oedipus is played by an actress and Jocasta by an actor, the brew has already been mixed and turned upside down by the time the play starts. The Faux-Real troop provides a classic take with brilliant winks. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3728_OR277784.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-09-2013_the-faux-real-theatre-company-comes-to-la-mama.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-09-2013_the-faux-real-theatre-company-comes-to-la-mama.htm Sat, 09 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST The performance artist Marina Abramovic is known for extreme, punishing rituals. They entail endurance over long intervals that recall the actions of the post war German artist Joseph Beuys or those of Chris Burden. Her work, with recreations of a number of her classic pieces with living performers were presented in a retrospective at MoMA with additional performances staged at the Guggenheim Museum. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3727_287797.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-09-2013_mana-contemporary-honors-marina-abramovic.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-09-2013_mana-contemporary-honors-marina-abramovic.htm Sat, 09 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST On Friday, June 21 at the Solid Sound Festival at MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA, Wilco will perform a unique concert comprised exclusively of fan-requested songs, including covers. The band will take song submissions in advance and promises to learn fifty of those songs for the festival. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3726_941352.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-08-2013_wilco-by-request-june-22.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-08-2013_wilco-by-request-june-22.htm Fri, 08 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST 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. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3725_492712.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-07-2013_british-rocker-alvin-lee-dead-at-68.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-07-2013_british-rocker-alvin-lee-dead-at-68.htm Thu, 07 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST 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. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3724_762679.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-07-2013_il-pane-degliangeli-offering-of-the-angels-paintings-and-tapestries-of-the-uffizi-gallery.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-07-2013_il-pane-degliangeli-offering-of-the-angels-paintings-and-tapestries-of-the-uffizi-gallery.htm Thu, 07 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST Clybourne Park won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize and the 2012 Tony Award for Best Play. Filled with ironic humor, it is a brilliant drama about race, real estate and the volatile values of each. Inspired by Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, it transcribes racist American attitudes in two acts set 50 years apart. In the late 50s, a community is up in arms over the first black family to buy a house in their white neighborhood. Fifty years later, the neighborhood has changed around the same house, as now young white couples want to buy into the now predominantly black neighborhood. The social and emotional anxieties are mirror images. The writing and acting is sensational. This is great theatre. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3723_694381.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-06-2013_sensational-clybourne-park-at-speakeasy.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-06-2013_sensational-clybourne-park-at-speakeasy.htm Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST The Latino List: Photographs by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders exhibition is a portrait survey of 30 important Hispanic Americans by photographer and documentary filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. The exhibition debuted in 2011 at the Brooklyn Museum. It is on view in Atlanta's High Museum of Art from March 17 through May 19. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3722_450399.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-06-2013_the-latino-list-photographs-by-timothy-greenfield-sanders.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-06-2013_the-latino-list-photographs-by-timothy-greenfield-sanders.htm Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST On Monday, March 11 at 7 pm, the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute welcomes friends from the Williamstown Theatre Festival as they present “Shorts in Winter,” a cozy winter evening of short stories read by Festival actors. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3721_220938.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-06-2013_treat-williams-a-the-clark-march-11.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-06-2013_treat-williams-a-the-clark-march-11.htm Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST This is the first museum solo exhibition for Hye Yeon Nam but based on our delighted encounter with the kinetic sculptures and videos it won't be her last. The installation is on view at Savannah's Jepson Center for the Arts through April 28. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3720_665163.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-06-2013_unfamiliar-behavior-works-by-hye-yeon-nam.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-06-2013_unfamiliar-behavior-works-by-hye-yeon-nam.htm Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST Our correspondent Edward Rubin, known to his friends as Fast Eddy, is currently eating and drinking his way through Paris. He often enjoys outrageously expensive meals at Michelin star restaurants. While on the run he dashed off notes to friends including impressions of less trafficked museums. And the Pompidou. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3719_421595.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-06-2013_a-quick-note-from-fast-eddy.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-06-2013_a-quick-note-from-fast-eddy.htm Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST The High Museum of Art, and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto have collaborated to present Frida and Diego: Passion, Politics, and Painting. This is the most in depth effort yet to present the work of the famous couple of Mexican artists on a level playing field. On view through May 12 in Atlanta this is the only stop in the United States for a special exhibition with enormous popular appeal. While she resided in the shadow of his celebrity today the opposite is true. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3718_710591.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-05-2013_frida-and-diego-passion-politics-and-painting.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-05-2013_frida-and-diego-passion-politics-and-painting.htm Tue, 05 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST The complete 2013-2014 Season will include four plays at the Boston University Theatre on the Avenue of the Arts, three plays at the Wimberly Theatre in the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, and one play in the Roberts Studio Theatre in the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3717_447747.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-05-2013_kate-burton-and-nicholas-martin.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-05-2013_kate-burton-and-nicholas-martin.htm Tue, 05 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST Tina Benko’s performance as Jackie in the play of the same name by Elfriede Jelinek, is a turn for the ages. Beat by beat, swoop by swoop, dashes and arrested moments, Benko holds us in her sway. Every surprising comic opportunity is subtly presented. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3715_jackie677063.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-04-2013_nobel-author-jelinek-deconstructs-jackie-o.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-04-2013_nobel-author-jelinek-deconstructs-jackie-o.htm Mon, 04 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST A darkly clever play of what happens to a small village in County Kerry when a Hollywood crew shoots a "truly" Irish film using and in some cases abusing the locals who are hired as the extras. The story is carried on by verbally dueling very adroit two actors that transform themselves into fifteen characters by a turn of the head, a doffing of a cap or a twisting of the body. Actors Phil Tayler and Daniel Berger-Jones have strong nonstop performances. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3714_777536.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-04-2013_clever-stones-in-his-pockets-at-lyricstage.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-04-2013_clever-stones-in-his-pockets-at-lyricstage.htm Mon, 04 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST The Pasadena Playhouse has a long and pleasant association with the plays of Noel Coward. Twelve of his plays beginning with “Hay Fever” in 1926, “Star Quality” in 2003, and now with “Fallen Angels”, have been seen on its stage. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3713_170718.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-03-2013_noel-coward-s-fallen-angels.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-03-2013_noel-coward-s-fallen-angels.htm Sun, 03 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST All of the films have a direct connection to Native American or Indigenous people and their culture. All films screened at the festival have either been made by Native American or Indigenous filmmakers, actors, writers, producers, and/or technical experts from around the world. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3712_886201.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-03-2013_12th-annual-native-american-film-festival.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-03-2013_12th-annual-native-american-film-festival.htm Sun, 03 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST I’m a longtime student of a group of subjects that could collectively be called, “Molecular Biology." For the last few, maybe several months, I’ve been up on the internet, doing readings in this area, hoping that my “fresh eyes,” which are also those of a rock’n’roller and a visual artist, might see something that regular scholars are missing. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3711_c-ircle430615.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-02-2013_aspects-of-chimeric-artificial-plasmids.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-02-2013_aspects-of-chimeric-artificial-plasmids.htm Sat, 02 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST Berkshire Theatre Group announces award-winning actress, Christine Lahti, and award-winning actor, Treat Williams, will join.the cast of The Lion in Winter at the Fitzpatrick Main Stage. The classic play runs June 25 to July 13 http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3710_341995.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-01-2013_christine-lahti-and-treat-williams-the-lion-in-winter.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/03-01-2013_christine-lahti-and-treat-williams-the-lion-in-winter.htm Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) and Harvard University are proud to announce their participation in The National Civil War Project, an ambitious multi-city, multi-year collaboration of four universities and five performing arts organizations to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, which launched today in Washington, D.C. Inspired by noted choreographer Liz Lerman, The National Civil War Project will include the commissioning of original theatrical works as well as the creation of new arts-integrated academic programs. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3708_905949.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/02-28-2013_the-national-civil-war-project.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/02-28-2013_the-national-civil-war-project.htm Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:00:00 EST Met Music Director James Levine returns to the podium, leading a new production of Verdi’s Falstaff (December 14), directed by Robert Carsen, and the first Live in HD performance of Mozart’s Così fan tutte (April 26). The series opens on October 5 with Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, starring Anna Netrebko, Mariusz Kwiecien, and Piotr Beczala in a new production conducted by Valery Gergiev and directed by Deborah Warner. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3707_Met47111.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/02-27-2013_met-live-in-hd-features-10-productions-next-season.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/02-27-2013_met-live-in-hd-features-10-productions-next-season.htm Wed, 27 Feb 2013 00:00:00 EST Barrington Stage Company, the award-winning theatre in downtown Pittsfield, under the leadership of Artistic Director, Julianne Boyd, and Managing Director, Tristan Wilson, proudly announces two additional productions as part of the theatre’s 19th season; the world premiere of Muckrakers by Zayd Dohrn and Disney’s The Little Mermaid JR. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3706_569849.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/02-27-2013_muckrakers-and-little-mermaid-jr-at-barrington.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/02-27-2013_muckrakers-and-little-mermaid-jr-at-barrington.htm Wed, 27 Feb 2013 00:00:00 EST Bringing beloved classics to life on the Colonial Stage, The Hit Men, featuring original stars from Frankie Valli & The Four seasons, perform live at The Colonial Theatre on March 21 at 7:30pm. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3705_454262.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/02-27-2013_the-hit-men-at-colonial-march-21.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/02-27-2013_the-hit-men-at-colonial-march-21.htm Wed, 27 Feb 2013 00:00:00 EST The Boston Cyberarts Gallery is pleased to present The Game's Afoot: Video Game Art. Three artists who make video games that investigate the nature of art as well as the nature of video games themselves, will be on view at The Boston Cyberarts Gallery from Saturday, March 2 through Sunday, April 14. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3704_682485.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/02-25-2013_boston-cyberarts-gallery-march-2-to-april-14.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/02-25-2013_boston-cyberarts-gallery-march-2-to-april-14.htm Mon, 25 Feb 2013 00:00:00 EST The Philadelphia Orchestra, one of the preeminent orchestras in the world, will return to its summer stage at Saratoga Performing Arts Center from August 7 – 24, to present an extraordinary season of classical and contemporary programs. Highlights of the season http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3703_962689.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/02-25-2013_the-philadelphia-orchestra-at-spac.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/02-25-2013_the-philadelphia-orchestra-at-spac.htm Mon, 25 Feb 2013 00:00:00 EST Highlights of the 2013 season include: Animal Crackers, Pygmalion, and a new musical adaption of Bridges of Madison Country on the Main Stage. The smaller Nikos Stage will feature American Hero, Hapgood, and Johnny Baseball. The Free Theatre will stage a version of Dracula by Steve Lawson. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/uploadedImages/leads/3702_181071.jpg http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/02-25-2013_williamstown-theatre-festival-2013.htm http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/02-25-2013_williamstown-theatre-festival-2013.htm Mon, 25 Feb 2013 00:00:00 EST