It was energizing to meet the 31-year-old artist, Dara Haskins, who was born in Baltimore and now lives in Philadelphia. We found it impossible to resist her charm and enthusiasm. She was eager to sell me a small painting but I fended off stating that I was there as a critic. Her intent is to raise enough money to return to Cuba where she recently resided for a month.

The paintings of Mother explore the diverse aspects of Motherhood, from the Divine Feminine to the Kitchen Witch.

Gee, a Chinese immigrant living in San Francisco, wishes to visit China but needs documentation that will ensure his return. To obtain that, he must undergo interrogation at the notorious Angel Island detention center. Because of the Chinese Exclusion Act, immigration officials are loathe to facilitate entry and re-entry into the U.S. by Asians, who are crafty in developing strategies to overcome the resistance.

Once a year I get to celebrate my half Irish heritage with a vengeance. That means corned beef and cabbage and raucous singalong at the Freight Yard Pub in North Adams.

Starting with an open jam session and ending with a jazz brunch at Dottie’s, the events include the popular Jazz Crawl, a swing dance, the jazz prodigy concert introducing two (!) young musicians to Berkshires audiences, and headline concerts featuring Brandon Goldberg and Marcus Roberts. The box office is open, and you can find a link at the end of this newsletter.

In response to provocation, Black private-school-student Omari has crossed a line with his White teacher. The boy's mother, Nya, who is a teacher, is conflicted, as she values the rules that serve to protect society, but she understands that her son is a good boy with a future now in peril. Dominique Morisseau's riveting play explores numerous issues of race and relationships, and African-American Shakespeare's production does the play justice.

One exercise I suggest to my students is a “slow by slow” day each week:  walk just a little slower than you usually walk; speak just a little slower than you usually speak; eat just a little slower than you usually eat.  Not slow motion, and not so anyone else would notice, but slower than usual. 

On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Not long after that, John Quincy Adams Ward (1830-1910) created the bronze sculpture “The Freedman.” It depicts a semi-nude seated figure in the act of his removing shackles. Resembling the iconic Roman “Boxer,” the work was arguably the first bronze sculpture to depict an African American.

It is easy to see why this play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2021. The play is about family, friends and dreams. It is about the challenges we all face in navigating the potential pitfalls in families and the difficulties of new romantic relationships.

The Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida is one of the most unique, and curious collections in America. It is sited on a manicured, tropical, 66-acre campus that conflates nature, leisure, warmth and depth in Old Master paintings, Ancient Mediterranean art, Asian art, 19th and  20th century art, prints, drawings and photography, as well as extensive circus related memorabilia. There are period rooms with collections of decorative arts. Through expansion it is now the 20th largest American museum.

I admit to still being perplexed. It kept reminding me of the Shakespeare lines from MacBeth, which begin “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,/Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time;” and ends with “It is a tale/ Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, /Signifying nothing.”

Overcoming odds, Liz Rico has become a highly successful basketball agent. She now must represent a first-round draft pick who lacks college experience and maturity. Further, he has a police record that the media could pick up on. In this dramedy, she must determine how to handle the conflicts of managing the relationship with the client and the broader community.

Thinking Cap Theatre in Ft. Lauderdale presents an updated "The Taming of the Shrew" at Broward Center for the Performing Arts. The production takes place in a modern-day office building. The reading of a play that is a response to Shakespeare's piece is also scheduled.

In 2017, the world's bee population has plummeted, putting the food supply at risk. Two research assistants at University of California Santa Cruz have produced research that identifies the source of the die off, but then one last data collection undermines the previous results even though their paper is about to be published. The play confronts the dilemmas that researchers deal with.

Joseph McNamara is a New York-based, realist painter whose work—often large-scale—is centered on paintings of the industrial landscape and his relationship to it.  His paintings are painstakingly detailed and can take months and even years, to complete.  McNamara uses photographs as aids, however, the paintings are not “photo-realistic”:  each painting strays away from a strict accounting of the subject matter and takes on a life of its own.

While offering instruction in the various taiji forms I teach, I often refer to a forest stream and urge my students to become it, ever-flowing, to find and then move at the pace of their breath, ever-flowing, just as the stream finds its pace.  The stream does not move from one place to the next; there is no line of demarcation between places.  The stream simply flows.  

Nightclub entertainer Joey Evans attracts a patroness, Vera, who stakes him to a club of his own. But she is older, domineering, married, and hot for him. He's a footloose schemer with the morals of an alley cat. What could possibly go wrong? Happily, the clashes of nightclub life are revealed with liberal doses of the beautiful tune "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered."

"Kathia St. Hilaire is a remarkable young artist who creates captivating works that combine a wide range of media,” said Olivier Meslay, Hardymon Director of the Clark. “She interweaves Haiti’s history and her own personal biography into images that are beautiful, sometimes difficult, and utterly original.”

Gatsby is directed by Tony Award-winning director Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown; Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812; Moby-Dick) with choreography by Tony Award winner Sonya Tayeh (Moulin Rouge!). The production features an original score by international rock star Florence Welch (Florence + The Machine) and Oscar and Grammy Award nominee Thomas Bartlett (Doveman), and a book by Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok (Cost of Living). Keenan Tyler Oliphant is associate director and Camden Gonzales is associate choreographer. Casting will be announced at a later date. 

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.

There is a story to tell and an enchanted slide show to see! The third annual Berkshire Mountains Fearie Festival happened on June 16 in Adams, Massachusetts. Faeries and elves of many realms appeared all day long. Activities, entertainment and festival goods were offered to nearly 1500 celebrants.