Santa Fe Opera presents the always stirring and diverse Apprentice Scenes. The backstory to these entertainments is that the company has a stellar apprenticeship program each summer that extends beyond singers to include young set designers, costumers, lighters, and the whole array of behind-the-curtain magicians who enhance opera scores to make them lavish events. Of course, it is the singers who are most in evidence, and to call them apprentices is a bit of misnomer.

When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the moon, this transformational moment was expected to give us a new perspective on life on earth and our place in the Universe. Aldrin, it turns out, administered communion to himself on the moon. He was that kind of guy and Jacob Brandt in song and talk captures him.

It has been a summer of celebrating Centennials for Leonard Bernstein and his collaborator, Jerome Robbins. The Jacob's Pillow season ended with Stars of American Ballet. They offered a tribute of five Robbins dances curated by New York City Ballet principal Daniel Ulbricht.

The summerlong Leonard Bernstein Centennial at Tanglewood ended with an all star celebration hosted by Audra McDonald. Five conductors and numerous guest artists presented a two hour program that featured his music as well as composers like Copland, a close friend, and Mahler, a kindred spirit. John Williams composed a special piece for the occasion. It was a night to remember as a chapter of Tanglewood's vivid history.

Theater Artist Ronnie Larsen is kicking off his four-play season in South Florida with a highly-suggestive play. The Gay Naked Play features full nudity -- discretion is highly advised. David Bell's play contains unapologetic humor which some might find offensive, a la The Book of Mormon.

Charles Giuliano and Astrid Hiemer will present a reading and book launch at Bascom Lodge atop Mt. Greylock on Sunday, September 2. The reception and reading, free and open to the public, will be held from 5 to 7 PM. Following the reading will be a prix fixe dinner for which reservations are required. Hiemer will read from her artist's books and projects. Giuliano is launching his fifth book of gonzo verse "Topsy Turvy."

We look at victims in each of three short plays offered this summer at 59 E59 Theaters, Throughline Artists producing. They are all brave in their own way, a bravery that is unexpected. Unusual situations in each play intrigue.

We much enjoyed the London production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Simon Stephens. It won an Olivier in London and Tony for Best Play on Broadway. We approached his two hander Heisenberg, at Shakespeare & Company, with great expectations. As directed by Tina Packer it didn't pan out.

Over the past two years, Jane Hudson has been exploring the relationship of color and form, reflecting on the work of early Modernists, e.g, Kandinsky, Miro and Sonia Delaunay. The medium is gouache wherewith one may explore the washes of watercolor as well as the opacity of denser media (acrylic, oil). This versatility allows for the layering of color within active geometric forms.

Leonard Bernstein's 'Candide' came to light at Ozawa Hall. The packed house and crowded lawn were recipients of a night of comedic opera, performed by The Knights with special guests. Skits jammed in-between tenor and soprano leads. The mockery led the way to this dumbfounded comedy, which reminds one of the Marx Brothers.

As manifestation of a commitment to social justice theatre Barrington Stage is the first to produce a play by Rachel Lynett. Her Well Intentioned White People focuses on young, gifted and black, tenure track professor, Cass Davis. She teaches Carribean culture and the diaspora at a small, white, liberal college in a Red state. The play relates responses to racist attacks by an unknown assailant.

In the magical setting of the Roman Garden Theatre, Shakespeare & Company smartly sets this play in the Roaring Twenties, a time of possibilities. With excellent direction by Allyn Burrows, and superb performances, this production is proof of its most famous line: "All the World's a Stage, and All the Men and Women Merely Players." It brings alive its characters, and makes the audience feel they are in the Forest of Arden, witnessing hilarious role-playing that results in love conquering all.

A Chorus Line now at Ivoryton Playhouse through Sunday, Sept. 2 is a “singular sensation” as one of its most well-known songs says. The show has everything and this production has almost everything right.

Dell'Arte Opera presented Vignettes from Vienna, including Mozart and Verdi. The highlight of the evening, however, was not Mozart’s music as a stand alone. We were treated to a performance of Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart and Salieri, into which the composer interwove Mozart’s music as part of the story.

Cross-Section, the inaugural exhibition of North Adams Fiber Artists (NAFA), will open at the Eclipse Mill Gallery on September 7 and run through October 8. The gallery is located in a 40 unit artist/ loft building ar 243 Union Street in North Adams.

An evening with Christopher Durang is never boring. These two one-act plays are hilarious and different. The first, The Actor's Nightmare, reminds us all of what it feels like to be lost - uncomfortable - amid many laughs and great performances. The second, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For Us, is a scathing, hilarious and extreme indictment of the force of any fundamentalist, controlling dogma. In this case, the Catholic Church and Sister Mary are its targets. All the performances are stellar.

Code named “Midnight” by Underground Railroad “conductors,” Detroit provided access to Windsor, Ontario, Canada just across the narrow Detroit River.

White Guy On the Bus is an unflinchingly honest look at racism, perception, political correctness and other topics. A riveting southeastern premiere is playing at GableStage near Miami. The entire cast and crew create a tense filled evening of theater that you should not miss.

Bard Summerscape concluded its 2018 season with a production of The Tsar’s Bride by Rimsky Korsakov. Often performed in Europe, it is unfamiliar to most opera lovers in the United States, who received it with rapt admiration at the FIsher Center.

Mothers and Sons by Terrence McNally, at Shakespeare & Company, is on the short list of finest productions of the Berkshire summer season. The well crafted play has been tightly directed by James Warwick. A superb cast is inspired by the pivotal, commanding performance by a living legend, Annette Miller. It's a hold onto your seat dense and devastating one act play.

The Santa Fe Opera House is the perfect venue to stage John Adams’s compelling contemporary opera Doctor Atomic, about the creation of the atomic bomb. With a riveting and intellectual, but sometimes obtuse, libretto by Peter Sellars that is largely taken from historic documents, a story whose outcome we know is still tense and absorbing

The packed audience at Tanglewood on a most beautiful day waited anxiously to hear the world premiere of a new composition from John Williams, in honor of Leonard Bernstein's ongoing 100th Year Celebration. The anticipated piece, 'Highwood's Ghost' featured Yo Yo Ma.

The opera is a play within a play. The “richest man in Vienna” has commissioned an evening’s spectacle at his manor for guests – a serious opera followed by a commedia dell’arte. It has been staged by Santa Fe Opera.

The summer long centenary celebration continued last night at Tanglewood with an All Bernstein Program conducted by Andris Nelsons. It featured Fancy Free a 1944 collaboration with choreographe Jerome Robbins for Fancy Free. That theme was expanded into their musical On the Town. The dance was performed in collaboration with Boston Ballet.

In this era which has generated a nigh unprecedented displacement and resettlement of refugees, George Pfirrmann delves into the human conundrum of self definition buried in the frightening headlines of violence and despair.