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Dance in August, Berlin
34th International Dance Festival
By: - Aug 29th, 2022The 34th edition of the International Dance Festival in Berlin has drawn to a close. From August 5th-27th, 2022, Hebbel am Ufer (HAU) showcased in 10 locations throughout Berlin and with 21 productions what is good, new, and exciting in contemporary dance worldwide.
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4000 Miles by Amy Herzog
Westport Country Playhouse
By: - Sep 01st, 2022The play by Amy Herzog focuses on the relationship between a nonagenarian grandmother and her adult grandson. Neither fits the stereotypical mold. Then director David Kennedy selected Mia Dillon to play the grandmother and Clay Singer, the grandson. Almost perfect.
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Fire and Ice Sculpture by Natalie Tyler
Berkshire Artist-in-Residence at Chesterwood
By: - Aug 30th, 2022In the historic apple orchard there will be a free artist's talk and reception on Friday, September 2nd from 5:00 to 7:00pm at Chesterwood, 4 Williamsville Road, Stockbridge, MA.
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Duplin’s Grape Stomp
Returns After Two Year Hiatus
By: - Aug 31st, 2022Duplin’s Grape Stomp returns after a two-year hiatus -- bigger than ever! A jamming concert, plenty of wine from the world’s largest muscadine winery and a chance to taste the family-owned winery’s new, top-secret Christmas wine are just some of the reasons to attend.
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Chopin in Paris by Hershey Felder
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley
By: - Aug 27th, 2022Hershey Felder currently plays “Chopin in Paris.” The great 19th century Romantic composer and pianist may hold special significance to the current imitator, as the living one is also of Polish extraction, though via Canada. The presentation holds to Felder’s usual high standards and wins praise from audiences.
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Waiting for Godot at Barrington Stage
Waiting and Waiting and Waiting
By: - Aug 25th, 2022We waited for two and a half hours but Godot never showed up. Barrington Stage has gamely taken on an avant-garde masterpiece with mixed success.
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Oklahoma
At the Golden Gate Theatre,
By: - Aug 25th, 2022Broadway saw this musical revitalized in an edgy form in 2019. That production, directed by Daniel Fish, won a Tony for “Best Revival of a Musical” and is currently touring. The production is noted for other departures from the past. In keeping with the edginess of the new look, Act 2 opens like an acid rock concert. With a thick manufactured fog covering the stage, an instrumental medley blasts with deafening, dissonant distortion leading into the famous dream sequence dance.
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Manfred Honeck Conducts at Elbphilharmonie
Pittsburgh Symphony Shimmers
By: - Aug 26th, 2022Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony have developed a specialty: revealing the texture of sound. In a concert at Elbphilharmonie, an event in the orchestra’s 75th year of touring, they displayed daring and diverse sounds not often heard. The Maestro and the musicians find buried clues to the balanced mix of rhythms, dynamics in detailed performance directions.
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M Butterfly at Santa Fe Opera a World Premiere
Libretto by David Henry Hwang and Music by Huang Ruo
By: - Aug 22nd, 2022"M. Butterfly" is composed in the modern operatic style without the lush melodies and memorable arias of old. Yet, it is fitting. Western mode dominates Ruo's score, but Asian motifs are also introduced. Conventional western instruments comprise the orchestra, but when needed, Ruo extracts Asian ornamentation through use of 5-tone scales.
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Tristan and Isolde by Richard Wagner
Santa Fe Opera
By: - Aug 22nd, 2022The invariable element of this opera is its formidable music. Premiered in 1865, Wagner's heroic love story presented difficulty in orchestration and near insurmountable vocal challenges. The composer led the musical world to the brink of atonalism with uncommon chord structures and harmonies never heard before, that were largely unappreciated at the time.
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Slavery Remembrance Day in the US
Dealing with Past Atrocities
By: - Aug 22nd, 2022On July 27, 2022, a bill creating a Slavery Remembrance Day, introduceed by Congressman Al Green of Houston, Texas, passed in Congress. August 20th was the date in 1619 White Lion ship with 20 “and odd” Angolans, kidnapped by the Portuguese, arrived in the British colony Point Comfort in Virginia.
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Anne of Green Gables at Goodspeed
A Work in Progress
By: - Aug 21st, 2022Overall, the performances are good. Juliette Redden as Anne has a strong voice and a winning personality. What is best is this Anne is a great role model – she’s creative, strong-minded, determined, optimistic and cheerful. If she has any doubts, they are well hidden. Though we do know she is seeking a family and acceptance.
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Georges Bizet’s Carmen
Santa Fe Opera
By: - Aug 19th, 2022As the title character, Isabel Leonard's voice is well suited - a warm, throaty, and resonant melodiousness. She excels in all of Carmen's famous arias like the Habañera “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” (Love is a rebellious bird) and the equally memorable Seguidilla “Près des ramparts de Sévilla” (Near the walls of Seville).
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Beth Galston at Chesterwood Stockbridge MA
Ice Forest Installation at Woodland Gallery
By: - Aug 16th, 2022On opening day, August 12, we went on one of our Berkshire country drives to South County to celebrate Beth Galston and her installation, 'Ice Forest.'
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Secondo by Jacques Lamarre
Theatre Works World Premiere
By: - Aug 17th, 2022Secondo is a sequel to playwright Jacques Lamarre’s adaptation of the book I Loved, I Laughed, I Made Spaghetti by Giulia Melucci. In the original book, Melucci told of her many romantic adventures with disastrously wrong men for whom she often cooked Italian food or for herself after a breakup.
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Sound at Wu Tsai Hall
Evaluating Acoustics at the New York Philharmonic
By: - Aug 16th, 2022In the whirlwind of announcements about the re-opening of David Geffen Hall, anti stain concert hall, Wu Tsai, we actually heard only one sound from the Hall, a single blast from a trumpeter in a hard hat. The Oklahoma State Univeristy orchestra will take up its residency and open the fall season on September 23rd. This may be the sound check.
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One in Two
An Island City Stage production
By: - Aug 17th, 2022"One in Two" is an absurdist comedy-drama about an HIV-positive person. A touching and funny production runs through Sept. 4 at Island City Stage in Wilton Manors, near Ft. Lauderdale.
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Dracula at the Colonial in Pittsfield
You're So Vein
By: - Aug 14th, 2022We happened to be in Dublin for Halloween. In the library of Trinity College there was a special exhibition in honor of Bram Stoker the author of Dracula. The story of the vampire is so familiar that there are no surprises in the hilarious and outrageous production by Berkshire Theatre Group at its Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield. It was a great evening of summer fun.
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MASS MoCA Union
Work Stoppage August 19
By: - Aug 15th, 2022Unionized employees of MASS MoCA voted by a 96% vote to engage in a one-day work stoppage on August 19, 2022. Employees will be picketing the Museum all day and asking visitors to express support for a fair contract for staff.
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Phantom by F.W. Murnau at Elbphilharmonie
Wolfgang Mitterer Offers Original Score
By: - Aug 15th, 2022Phantom by F. W Murnau was presented at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Germany. This version of the film was accompanied by an original score by Wolfgang Mitterer.
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Mary Ann Unger Reconsidered
Retrospective at Williams College Museum of Art
By: - Aug 13th, 2022Mary Ann Unger died at the age of 53 in 1998 after 14 years of battling cancer. As a member of the Guerrilla Girls, formed in 1985, she fought for equity for women in the art world. While she received grants and commissions, the exhibition organized by Horace Ballard for the Williams College Museum of Art, makes a compelling case for reconsideration of her work.
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Sondeim's A Little Night Music
Julianne Boyd's Last Waltz at Barrington Stage
By: - Aug 11th, 2022For her last production, founding artistic director, Julianne Boyd again directed her favorite musical A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim for Barrington Stage Company. Yet again the theatrical magic evoked smiles on a summer's night.
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Rodin in the United States: Confronting the Modern
Blockbuster Exhibtion at Clark Art Instutute.
By: - Aug 09th, 2022Through September 18 the Clark Art Institute is presenting the blockbuster exhibition Rodin in the United States: Confronting the Modern. More documentary than retrospective it tells the tale of Rodin in America and his great collectors. All but one of the 50 sculptures and 25 drawings are loans from American museums and private collections. This is the must see exhibition of summer in the Berkshires.
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Guys & Dolls
Sharon Playhouse Returns to Live Theatre
By: - Aug 11th, 2022Guys & Dolls is one of the classics (and I’d say masterpieces) of the Broadway musical. Words and lyrics by Frank Loesser and roster of songs that have become standards. But it isn’t an easy show to put on. I’ve seen at least one poor production on Broadway. That this rather small theater in a relatively remote area has produced such a fine show it is a reason for applause
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Knghts Orchestra at the Clark
Free Concert Celebrating Rodin.
By: - Aug 11th, 2022On Sunday, September 4 at 4 pm, the renowned Knights Orchestra returns to the Clark to celebrate the current Rodin in the United States: Confronting the Modern exhibition. This free outdoor concert takes place on the Fernández Terrace near the Clark’s Reflecting Pool.
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