"Romeo and Juliet" reigns as the touchstone of love stories centuries after its creation. But the play offers depth of meaning and cautions in many other social realms which contribute to its greatness. Adapted in many genres, Gounod's opera remains perhaps the most compelling and enduring realization. Its lush music and tight adherence to the Bard's work yield a timeless masterpiece.

By popular demand Barrington Stage Company brings back a world premiere by Mark St Germain on the stage that bears his name. The Happiest Man on Earth is a one-man show based on the holocaust memoir The Happiest Man on Earth published by Eddie Jaku when he was one hundred years old. It is profoundly performed by Kenneth Tigar.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

After nearly a half century lapse Tanglewood has doubled down on the vintage British rock group The Who. Last summer we heard Pete Townshend leading Quadrophenia with the Pops. Last night lead singer Roger Daltrey performed the entire 75-minute Tommy as well as three encores minus the orchestra.

It was a long but satisfying evening at Tanglewood. Chris Hillman, a founder of The Byrds, and Herb Peterson, one of The Dillards went on at 7 PM. They were followed by Mary Chapin Carpenter. Then David Crosby brought it on home at 10:30 PM. The hits just kept on coming.

Fifty years ago Stephen Stills and Judy Collins met and had a relationship that lasted for two years. That breakup resulted in "Suite Judy Blue Eyes" the hit of the debut album of Crosby Stills and Nash. Not long ago they were booked for an AARP event. That chance encounter resulted in a tour that touched down at Tanglewood. On September 22 they will release a studio album "For What It's Earth" titled for a Leonard Cohen song.

Mr. Parker is a touching comedy-drama by versatile theater artist Michael McKeever. The piece, a three-hander, is receiving an impressive world premiere at Island City Stage near Ft. Lauderdale. A trio of actors sparkle in an all-around strong production.

New City Players is offering an explosive, comic production of Yasmina Reza's provocative Art. This comedy focuses on how perception can impact relationships. Actors excel in roles that require seamless shifts between subtlety and big acting choices.