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Leroy employed young people as dishwashers, waitresses, and bartenders who were also writers, poets, photographers, painters, and dancers. He was generous and warm-hearted, one of those rare people who somehow hadn’t managed to forget what it meant to be young. In Paris those were years without credit cards; copy machines were rare; even telephones were hard to come by. Chez Haynes was a safe haven. And our dreams of Paris would surely come true.

The Berlin Philharmonic launched its 2025–26 season with a program that set Schumann, Zimmermann, and Brahms in conversation across a century of musical upheaval. Under Kirill Petrenko’s direction, the evening unfolded less like a sequence of works than  a drama in three acts.

The unlikely Santa Fe, New Mexico sets a remarkably high standard for tourism on many fronts. Exemplary visual arts, performing arts, museums, cuisine and restaurants, architecture, and festivals are just the beginning.

Ellen Miller Gallery opens the fall season with Tabitha Vevers: Flesh Memories, Remembered, the artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery. Vevers began Flesh Memories during a residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in 1993 and later expanded the series at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown.

“Barrington Stage has been more than a workplace — it’s been a home, a family, and a true creative community,” said Charlie Siedenburg. “One of the great joys of my career has been shaping the narrative of BSC — celebrating its artists, championing its productions, and helping to tell the story of a theatre that has become such an essential part of the Berkshires."

Of mixed heritage Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) endured a lifetime of rejection by his father, racism and adversity. To make a living the young sculptor created portraits of wealthy patrons. His single mother Léonie Gilmour, an American writer who edited much of Noguchi's work, did her best to encourage his decision to be an artist. Today he is regarded as among the finest of his generation. The Clark Art Institute is displaying 32 pieces as Isamu Noguchi: Landscapes of Time

Working-class Margie is fired from her job and desperately needs an income. She calls on Mike, now a successful doctor who she dated just before giving birth 30 ago and hasn't seen since. Unexpected clashes occur in this well-produced and riveting play.

The Boston Symphony opens its fall season with a free concert at Symphony Hall on September 17.

We started posting Dishwasher Dialogues about two thirds on. That ended last week. By popular demand we are now backtracking to the very beginning. This weekly column from Paris is one of our most read features. Everyone loves Paris.

Much of the spoken word flew over my head but the circus elements had the kids bounding up from their seats and the rafters shaking. It may have been, at least for me, the most entertaining fun I have enjoyed in a heck of a long time.

Gabrielle saw Judy as a fighter. She's a witch and also a pissed off teenager. It was Gabrielle's idea that a beast should attack Judy, who strangles it. She skins it with her teeth and takes its power (figure 4). “After blood-stained clothing was found, it was reported that Judy was killed by a beast. But in a fit of rage, she strangled it, gutted and skinned it with her teeth. Then she cooked it. She was stuffed with meat and took a nap.”

Twain was known for his satire, humor, and often darker view of mankind and its plights. The performance I saw talked about slavery and threats to democracy.

I had wanted to see Giant, starring John Lithgow, since it won rave reviews during a limited run at the Royal Court. Now it is in the West End (Broadway), and I hope it will come to NYC. Lithgow gives a stunning performance as Roald Dahl, the author of children’s books such as James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, and others.

The most telling thing Ava says is that “they took away my voice” in reference to being dubbed  in the film version of Show Boat. But in reality, her voice was taken from her throughout her career.

In the 17th chapter of the Tao Te Ching, Laozi outlines a hierarchy of leadership: “A leader is best when people barely know he exists; not so good when people obey and acclaim him; worst when they despise him.” This timeless wisdom offers a stark and challenging contrast to the political reality of modern America, where leadership has become a spectacle of personality, and one figure, in particular, seems to occupy every moment of the national consciousness.

A tornado destroyed June's family and farm. In isolation, she communicates with a goat. But when Alice, who brings photographic dignity and beauty to damaged women, shows up to do a layout on June, each faces her shortcomings with the possibility of escaping the pain of the past.

Still fresh today, the Art Deco period – which influenced the construction or fabrication of buildings as well as luxury décor and functional objects — is considered one of the finest moments in design history.

The work lives between abstraction and representation, woven from personal and cultural threads. I am interested in hybridity - how different visual languages can inhabit the same space. There is friction, but also connection. The paintings become a weaving of self and story, an attempt to make sense through making form, the experience of being shaped by multiple places and the ongoing search for coherence in layered identities.

King James by Rajiv Joseph is a lively and entertaining two-hander about fans, black and white, of Lebron James "The KIng" and the Cleveland Cavaliers. A regional sports market the CAVs hadn't won an NBA title in 50 years. In desperate need of cash Matt is willing to sell 19 courtside home game tickets pairs to Lebron's rookie season. Through four quarters the play, backlit by the career of James, tracks the complex relationship of eventual best friends.

I am not sure what old is anymore. Somewhere along the line it feels like we picked up an extra decade on our ancestors; those of us who have been lucky enough to keep our health. ‘Ninety is the new eighty’ sort of thing.

After several years at the Institute of Contemporary Art,. at 35, Christine McCarthy was ready to move on. The Provincetown Art Association and Museum was in desperate need. Taking an initial 50% salary cut she took the job in 2001 only with a commitment from the board for change. She raised $8 million for expansion and renovation. Today PAAM is thriving under her leadership while the once quaint and affordable fishing village on the Lower Cape is no longer what it used to be.

Western Massachusetts author and entrepreneur, Steven Reed Nelson, is a free range thinker. A graduate of Harvard Law School, and layman in the field of science, he proposes that the term Homo sapiens be replaced by Homo electric. The introduction of electricity some 200 years ago has greatly impacted human evolution.

Patricia White, the long-time company manager of Woodie King, Jr.'s New Federal Theatre (NFT) and a well-known figure in Black Theatre, died August 10 after a brief illness. "Pat," as she was widely called, was well-known throughout the theater community as a director, mentor, producer, backstage coordinator, grant writer, box office manager and administrator. Her comprehensive understanding of the theatrical process helped shape countless productions and careers.

MASS MoCA announces new programming through December 2025, including the opening of exhibitions Jimena Sarno: Rhapsody and Zora J Murff: RACE/HUSTLE, concerts by Chuwi and Harold López-Nussa and plenty of opportunities to experience the museum for free including a celebration of Día de los Muertos, Open Studios, and an after-hours Family Night. FreshGrass | North Adams, the campus-wide festival of roots and bluegrass music, kicks it all off with the best in the genre.   

Kiss, Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Gaynor, George Strait, and English actor Michael Crawford will receive the Kennedy Center Honors at a Donald Trump-hosted ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 8. He has hinted that the Kennedy Center should be renamed for him or at least to have co-billing.