Inspired by her great grandmother's life, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, presents Esther, a fine seamstress in 1905's New York City. Through this lens, we meet others of various races and sexes, from places around the world, all struggling to achieve their dreams. How they fare becomes our concern.

Berkshires Jazz, Inc. continues its summer of centennial tributes on Aug. 12 with the Ted Rosenthal Quintet, in a 100th birthday salute to Thelonious Monk. TD Bank is sponsoring the concert, which takes place at the Lee Meeting House (Congregational Church), starting at 7:30pm.

The Thimble Islands are an archipelago of more than 100 pieces of land in Long Island Sound, off northeastern Connecticut. Some are big enough for people to live on, but many more are just tiny granite outcroppings. Arthur Yanoff visited them a year or so ago, and created a sequence of abstract paintings about them. They will be shown at Reylonds Gallery in New Haven.

It was a relatively short walk from our hotel in San Freancisco to the entrance of its vast Chinatown. We explored and returned several times for fabuous meals.

The burlesque acts at the Irving Place Theatre make up almost half of The Nance, which is riproaringly directed by John Nasca. You’ll see a feathery fan dance by Joan (Britt-Marie Sivertsen) and other songs, dances and modest strip routines by Sylvie and Carmen (Steph Vondell). The women’s costumes are colorful and sparkly—and designed by Nasca, doing double duty as costume designer.

Coincidently, the 2017 ATCA conference took place at the same time that San Francisco is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the city’s now famous 1967 “Summer of Love” revolution of sexual freedom, psychedelic flower-power, pot, and tons of young people with raging hormones.

Joan Beber has tackled an intimate part of her own life, the death of a twin sister, in her new play, Dear Jane. Formed as a letter to her deceased sibling, Beber creates many memorable characters. Katrin Hilbe directs flawlessly.

In compiling a list of 40 works to deaccession the Berkshire Museum opted to sell no works given by living artists or donors. When Norman Rockwell gave two works to the museum the letter, which is referred to in media coverage, states his wish to share them with the people of the Berkshires. In selling the works is the museum in legal violation of that trust? GIven the sensitivity of what is at stake we demand that the museum make public the artist's letter.

Currrently number one at the box office the epic British film Dunkirk, written and directed by Christopher Nolan, is the surprise hit of the summer season. This is the time of year for action adventure cartoon characters, like Wonder Woman, kids stuff and date movies. The film focuses on the British army, then defeated in France, about to be driven into the sea by Rommel and his Panzers. Miracuously that didn't as the British used every available vessel from yachts to fishing boats to ferry the troops across the channel. This was the moment and event when the fate of Europe was at a tipping point. It makes for a heck a movie.

Stratford has a special history with this Shakespeare play, dating from Michael Langham’s extraordinary 1963 production with incidental music commissioned from Duke Ellington. Updating the setting, Langham offered an opulent melodrama with some textual additions, guest musicians and dancers.

Mandy Greenfield, artistic director of Williamstown Theatre Festival, has produced The Clean House, a 2005 Pulitzer nominee, by Sarah Ruhl. Ii is a play written by, about, and for women. It is directed by Tony winner, Rebecca Taichman, and pairs Tony nominees Jayne Atkinson and Jessice Hecht. There are two other women and a guy who Ruhl sends packiing in Alaska leaving his terminally ill mistress.

A fine cast and crew captures the darkness and the comic in Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street The lead actor creates a sympathetic Sweeney, even if we abhor the character's actions. The unease of Sweeney Todd's world eerily mirrors our own.

Small Sphere, Large Sphere was Alexander Calder's first mobile construction. Hanging in the center of the Hess Theater at the Whitney Museum in New York, it is set in motion, not only to delight the eye, but the ear as well. Christian Marclay makes music with the small wooded sphere carved by Calder.

Initially the Berkshire Museum disclosed plans to sell two paintings by Norman Rockwell but declined to reveal the other works. Under intensive media scrutiny and concerns from the community the museum has posted responses to frequently asked questions on the website and has released the full list of deaccessioned works. The lot has a pre auction estmate of $50 million toward a goal to "reboot" with $20 milion in renovation and $40 million for endowment. The remaining $10 millions will be raised apart from the sale of works of art.

Its always a treat when a package of wines arrive unannounced. When you open the box with the help of your mailman, the situation heightens, as you will see in this article.

Rossini stopped writing operas at the age of 37. He did not compose again for decades. When he was able to move back to Paris, and build a country home in Passy with his second wife, he took up his composer’s pen again. To the end of his life, he composed over 200 works which he gave the umbrella title Sins of Old Age. He was touching up the Petite Messe Solennelle when he died in 1868.

Leaving our thinking caps at home there was no heavy lifting in the delicious British farce, Taking Steps, by the redoubtable Alan Ayckbourn. At last count he has written 77 plays. After the knockout job that director, Sam Buntrock, and a truly gifted cast did with this one, one hopes that over time Barrington will produce the other 76.

Alla Nazirova was a theater and film original, who came to the US and stormed Broadway Leaving for Hollywood, she became Tinseltown's highest paid talent. She was Queen of Sapphic Los Angeles and that cost her. Now she is brought to life by Romy Nordlinger at 59E59 Theaters.

The Eclipse Mill Gallery, in North Adams, is featuring a special exhibition of unique drinking vessels "I'll Drink to That." It opens with a reception for the artists on Friday, August 4, from 6 to 8pm. It remains on view, Thursday to Sunday, from 10 am through 5pm, through August 27. Some 25 renowned potters from coast to coast will display their work.

In 1958 the one act play Zoo Story launched the career of playwright Edward Albee. In 2004 he added a first act. That version , retitled At Home at the Zoo (Zoo Story), is being produced by Berkshire Theatre Group on its intimate Unicorn stage in Stockbridge.

Works by Stephen Hannock are in global museum collections. His Oxbow painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art will be included in a survey of Hudson River artist Thomas Cole. Hannock's mate Sting will also be involved in the project. When he created paintings for his friend's hometown of Newscastle the studies were shown at the Berkshire Museum. He gave one of the studies to the museum to honor philanthropist Nancy Fitzgerald. The fact of that work and the entire fine arts collection of the museum is unknown. We talked at length with the Berkshire based global artist about the impact of the museum's strategy to sell its fine arts collection with a radical makeover as an interactive educational museum for history and science.

In N'est Pas Le Minuit by Compagnie XY, a group of acrobats whose physical feats demands cooperation and trust. They take that spirit and make it into a global miniature.

When the Berkshire Museum announced plans to focus on science and history there was initial euphoria. To reach a goal of $60 millon, $20 for renoivation, and $40 million for endowment it will sell 40 works of art including two paintings by Norman Rockwell which the artist gave to the museum and his Berkshire neighbors. In so doing it violates deaccession restrictions for art museums. In a shuffle Van Shields, the director of BM, has stated that he does not run an art musuem and is not bound by ethical guidelines. That may change as coverage evolves from local to national news.

Finding Mona Lisa is a fun-filled, quick-paced play with colorful characters. Six actors skillfully portray multiple roles in new Michael McKeever historically-based drama. The new play about the world's most famous painting produces plenty of laughs.

In “At the Old Place”, the story, set in rural Richmond, Virginia, centers around Angie (Heidi Armbruster) who is trying to come to grips with any guilt and closure that occurs following the death of her mother and the unrequited issues that linger and eventually fall to her for resolution. One unfinished piece of business that takes her back is the sale of her mother’s house.