There would be no Star Wars without the music of John Williams. On Friday night, the composer's stirring opening music sent hairs standing on end as the New York Philharmonic gave its second performance of the complete orchestral score of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Their task: accompanying George Lucas' 1997 remastered "Special Edition" of the beloved 1977 science fiction classic.

Based on an extensive Berkshire Eagle background check of Van Shields, and a failed attempt to create a radical new museum in South Carolina, it appears that he arrived in Pittsfield, a month after being fired, with an agenda. Funding plans that failed there entail selling 40 treasures of the Berkshire Museum. Through intensive study of non profit reports filed with the charity desk of the Attorney General, Thomas White, with knowledge of these matters, has sent us bullet points. They shed light on the "dire straits" forcing the museum to decimate its legacy to rebuild for the future.

Years of work between the Philadelphia community and Opera Philadelphia were realized in a Hip-opera by Daniel Bernard Roumain and Marc Bamuthi Joseph. Bill T. Jones, a maker, came in for the finishing touches.

Opera Philadelphia is the 'it' opera company in the United States. No one has been more successful in developing new opera, honing talent and developing audiences. The festival displays many facets of their work.

This production that delves into molestation is a worthy realization of Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize winning and otherwise highly decorated play, How I Learned to Drive. The story of Li’l Bit unfolds in a non-linear, but clearly demarcated fashion, from the character’s eleventh year until she is 35.

For the first time in three decades there is an open race for Mayor of North Adams. On Tuesday, September 19, there will be a primary vote for Mayor. Five names will be on the ballot for Mayor- Tom Bernard, Rachel Branch, Robert Martelle, Robert Moulton Jr. and Peter Oleskiewicz. Of these Oleskiewicz has withdrawn from the race. Bernard was invited to the Eclipse Mill to speak with artists and members of the community.

The Metropolitan Museum uses it galleries and collections to present events. The Shanghai Opera's production of Farewell My Concubine, based on a 3rd century BC story, fit perfectly in the Chinese Courtyard modelled on the Ming Dynasty Garden of the Master of the Fishing Nets.

North Coast Repertory Theatre (NCRT) artistic director David Ellenstein’s selection of “The Last of the Red Hot Lovers”, is a definite winner in kicking off its 36th season. It’s one of Simon’s best comedies. Deftly directed by Christopher Williams, the four person cast takes to this play like ducks to water.

The Annual 'Fresh Grass' Festival of Bluegrass Music opens its doors at 5:30 pm, today, at Mass MoCa in North Adams, Massachusetts. It will be a fun filled three day weekend.

Playwright Dan McCormick has taken a Stradivarius left in a cab and told the story of a changing neighborhood in the East Village and values that do not endure. A thank you concert won’t cut the mustard as thanks in this section of town. What will?

This is our second article from the San Francisco area and continuation of The Roads of North America. More than 50 photographs accompany this report. The views along the Bay and other discoveries are well worth seeing - no doubt!

Moto Osada’s first opera, Four Nights of Dream, is, like the composer, a cross over between East and West. Osada composed the music and libretto. The flexibility that gave him has yielded a work of exquisite sensibility.

Greenland, the world's largest island, offers majestic mountains, green valleys and picturesque fjords dotted with icebergs along its eastern coast. Towns of Tasiilaq and Kusuluk are home to Inuits, who have a unique way of life mediated by their environment.

Opera San Jose opened its 34th season with a handsome production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s popular opera buffa, Cosi Fan Tutte. A winsome cast of strong singers with fine acting chops yields a highly entertaining outcome.

John Millington Synge, who is best known for his plays Playboy of the Western World and Riders to the Sea, left an unfinished draft of Deirdre of the Sorrows when he died in 1909. The play was finished by William Butler Yeats and Synge’s fiancée, Molly Allgood.

Last night at Bounty Fair, a North Adams restaurant, five candidates were given ten minutes. They are running to serve the final year of former Rep. Gail Cariddi, who passed away while in office. Running unopposed the Republican, Christine Canning, spoke first. Drawing lots she was followed by Stephanie Bosley, Lisa Blackmer, Kevin Towle and John Barrett III.

There are several versions of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” that have been performed. Each production company gets to select the version that suits their audiences the best. Director Havely has chosen the “meta-mix” version for Theatre 29. Audiences will be seeing an all-singing and dancing production. No written dialogue. Director Havely is fortunate in that her cast – all twenty-three singer/dancer/performers – are committed, dedicated, and eager to strut their stuff in this format.

The reason for doing live performances of the Star Wars films goes far beyond their place in popular culture. Each of these films features a magnificent score by John Williams, the Boston-based composer who rose to national prominence with his 1975 score for Jaws.

Out on a Limb explores the creative process and how it engenders a final product. The exhibiting artists employ painting, collage, fiber art, and preliminary drawing to embody how new ideas push change. The exhibition at Eclipse Mill Gallery in North Adams features work by Debi Pendell, Sarah Sutro and Betty Vera. The opening will occur Saturday, September 30, from 6-8pm.

Barring intervention by the Attorney General, at best a long shot, plans to sell 40 works of art with two paintings by Norman Rockwell worth as much as the remaining 38 lots, the fall auctions by Sotheby’s in New York appears to be a done deal .For the second time protestors will picket in front of the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield from 10 am to 2 pmon Saturday, September 9. This past week Sotheby’s announced a presale estimate of “thirty pieces of silver.”

Puccini loved to compose and after the success of La Boheme, Madama Butterfly and Tosca he was looking for a new story. He wrote that these three operas already bored him. He had also had trouble with the librettists with whom he’d worked on these operas. Luigi Illica, co-librettist, even suggested that he get another composer to collaborate with him. Instead Puccini found new librettists. La Fanciulla del West is the upshot.

Traveling from the northern fjords near the Arctic Circle by way of Lake Myvatn to the south coast, Iceland offers breathtaking displays of geological wonders. Craters, hot springs, lava fields, roaring waterfalls, geysers glacial rivers and black sand beaches are all within easy reach. Landscapes of beautiful farmlands and cliffs with seabirds are the added bonus.

Happy Birthday Mr. Hockney: Self Portraits and Photographs at Getty Museum in Los Angeles remains on view through November 26. On the occasion of his 80th birthday there are many incentives to evaluate the British born artist who for many years has resided in Santa Monica. Paintings of his pool are among the most admired of his works that range from self portraits to "joiners" or photo collages.

Philip Kam Gotanda’s version of Rashomon serves the original well in its shape and dramatic intensity. Director Michael Socrates Moran has engineered a minimalist look and feel that serves the script well. Ubuntu’s clerestory-like, almost-in-the-round theater, with its wooden framing around the stage, gives the appearance of a primitive cage for blood sports.

There was a brief run, just six performances, of Georgie: My Adventures with George Rose, written and performed by Ed Dixon at Barrington Stage Company. Himself a distinguished character actor, this is a drama about drama, in the telling of a father/ son mentoring relationship with the renowned British born character actor George Rose.