Front Page
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What she learned from plants at Gloucester Writers Center
By Peter Littlefield Directed by Roy Rallo
By: - May 31st, 2023Lately I've been writing little metaphysical screenplays for dolls, dogs and humans. My friend Roy Rallo - with whom I work in opera - has been shooting them with my help.
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Curtis Stewart Erupts at Merkin Hall
Kaufman Music Center Produces Ecstatic Music
By: - Jun 04th, 2023Curtis Stewart is a man for all seasons. He took over Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Center this week. When you hear him, you know that Nietzsche was right: without music, life would be a mistake.
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A Soldier's Play
Murder, Mystery, and Racism on the Home Front During World War II
By: - Jun 05th, 2023In 1944, African-American military units were always commanded by white officers, with black non-coms, and enlisted men, reflecting the plantation structure that preceded it by a century and more. This organization represents the natural order to Captain Charles Taylor, a West Point grad, who happily manages and cajoles a platoon comprised of talented black baseball players who will get to play the Yankees if they continue to win all of their games. To this day, a common condition persists, that racists like Taylor often carve out exceptions to allow minority peoples to reflect glory on their white overlords.
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Be Bamboo
By: - Jun 08th, 2023A freak June storm, an ever-more-common aberration in these times of climate change-induced storms, befell the northern Berkshires last week. It offered five inches of rain, and an hour’s worth of half-inch hail that left the ground looking as though it had snowed. The results were devastating to the meditation garden I have been building for 4 years.
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Clark Art Institute Concerts
Five Free Performances
By: - Jun 08th, 2023The Clark Art Institute debuts a five-part outdoor concert series this summer. The Clark presents Hermanos Gutiérrez on June 28, Joe Henry on July 5, Makaya McCraven on July 12, Darlingside on July 19, and Kathleen Edwards on August 8. All performances are free and take place at 6 pm near the Reflecting Pool.
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Die Frau ohne Schatten
Richard Strauss's Lush Music, Captivating Fairy Tale Story, and Pop Art Scenery.
By: - Jun 12th, 2023The Empress faces Sophie’s choice. Either decision - to accept or reject the shadow - could leave blood on her hands. High drama occurs with real or perceived betrayals and threats of killing, but since nobody dies, some would characterize “Die Frau” as a comedy!
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Susan Rennie Subverts the Male Gaze
Artist's Work on View in Venice, California
By: - Jun 16th, 2023Long before the Brooklyn Museum discovered the notorious Hannah Gadsby of "Nanette" and engaged her services as a curator of Pablo Picasso, Susan Rennie was gripped by the idea that art most often was created by the male gaze.
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Gabrielle Barzaghi at Gloucester's Matthew Swift Gallery
Horse Opera Presents Large Pastel Drawings
By: - Jun 17th, 2023Gabrielle Barzaghi is one of the leading contemporary artists residing on Cape Ann. Horse Opera is Barzaghi's fourth solo exhibition at the Matthew Swift Gallery, and presents a significant new body of her work comprising more than a dozen drawings.
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Experiments in Opera Presents Anthony Braxton
Feisty Opera Company Improvises at The Brick
By: - Jun 18th, 2023In 1999, Anthony Braxton caught the performance of an Improv group at Wesleyan College where he has taught for twenty-three years. Among its members was Lin Manuel Miranda. He picked a trooper and asked him to do an improvisation with him. The duo, collaborating on compositions 279 to 283, was the inspiration for this funny, hip and moving improv designed by Experiments in Opera (EiO).
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Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
Adams Theatre Benefit's Razom for Ukraine
By: - Jun 26th, 2023Locally rooted musical collective Floating Tower, working with Berkshire artist Joe Wheaton, will fill The Adams Theater July 1-2 with a unique, poignant musical tribute to the people of Ukraine.
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Rhiannon Giddens Adds New Dimensions to Ojai
A New Silkroad Winds Across a Boundary-less World
By: - Jun 27th, 2023Rhiannon Giddens is leading new music which is both classical and popular. Her commitment to telling stories that have been buried and to showing us the world as it really is in music heralds anew age.
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To Kill a Mockingbird
At Bushnell
By: - Jun 30th, 2023No matter whether you read it in school or more recently or even never read the novel, you owe it to yourself to see the absolutely fabulous new stage adaptation now at the Bushnell through Sunday, July 2.
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On Stage This Summer
From Connecticut to the Berkshires
By: - Jul 05th, 2023Straw hat is old hat. Summer once meant shows performed in actual barns by talented and young kids. Or tours led by well-known movie and TV stars whose popularity had diminished. Not anymore.
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Dutch National Ballet
World Class Company at Jacob's Pillow
By: - Jul 18th, 2023The Dutch National Ballet’s first visit to Jacob’s Pillow offered a deep immersion in classical ballet, past and present. On every level it belongs to the top tier of dance in the Berkshires.
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The Coronation of Poppea
West Edge Opera Right Sizes a Classic
By: - Jul 24th, 2023The narrative is historical only in the broadest sense. While the plot points actually occurred from AD 58 to AD 65, not only are they condensed into one day, but their order is shifted! Further, the librettist fancifully changes the character of characters, making some good who were actually bad and vice versa. Who would have thought of the barbaric and narcissistic Nero as also having room for love and magnanimity? So, for those who lambaste Hollywood for being fast and loose with the facts, let it be known that it had models to draw on
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Is it Thursday Yet at La Jolla Playhouse
Jenn Freeman and Sonya Tayeh Join Forces in Dance and Drama
By: - Aug 01st, 2023"Is it Thursday Yet", playing at the La Jolla Playhouse, tells the story of dancer Jenn Freeman, who was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) when she was 33 years old. Using actual recordings of her therapy sessions and home videos Jenn’s father recorded as she grew up, the play is essentially a documentary of Jenn Freeman’s life from infancy to young adulthood. Neither Jenn nor her family knew she had ASD.
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Sorrow, Fear and Stillness
By: - Aug 01st, 2023Each of us, each of us all, have lost someone or something. Each of us has faced fear – fear of loss, fear of failure, fear of death. In the moments of experiencing those fears, and of the sorrow that can accompany them, they were real. In some instances, they were debilitating.
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Blues for an Alabama Sky By Pearl Cleage
At Barrington Stage Company
By: - Aug 06th, 2023In his first season as artistic director Alan Paul has selected the 1995 play by Pearl Cleage. Set during the Harlem Renaissance its a good but not great play given a flawed production directed by Candis C. Jones for Barrington Stage Company.
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Letting Go: Stillness
By: - Aug 07th, 2023The Law Of The Heart, an ancient scroll, speaks of the Three Treasures: The Way, The Teacher, and The Scripture. Each plays an important role along the spiritual path we walk.
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Barrington Stage All Stars
Julianne Boyd Directs Brian Friel’s Faith Healer
By: - Aug 08th, 2023Julianne Boyd, the founding artistic director of Barrington Stage Company, retired last year. Unburdened by administrative responsibilities, she has been lured back to direct a dark, moody masterpiece, Faith Healer by Brian Friel (1929-2015) the greatest Irish playwright of his Generation. For this triumphant return she cherry picked a dream team trio of Christopher Innvar (Frank), the faith healer, Gretchen Eglof his long abused wife Grace, and Mark Dold as the whimsical roadie Teddy.
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Tippet Rise Makes Music in Place
The Montana Ranch Home to Concerts and Sculpture
By: - Aug 09th, 2023Tippet Rise Art Center welcomes musicians and concertgoers for its eighth concert season, beginning August 18 and running through September 17. With more than 15 indoor and outdoor performances planned over five weekends, the season features a wide range of repertoire performed by artists who can be young trailblazers or legendary musicians. A highlight of this summer’s season is the debut of the new Wander series, which moves musicians and audiences between different works of art installed at the art center
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Living a Daoist Life In Today's World
Fall Course Offering
By: - Aug 14th, 2023This fall, beginning after Labor Day, I will be offering a new course entitled "Living a Daoist Life In Today's World." The course will be 20 classes long and will include study of the Dao de Ching, The Law Of The Heart, and The 49 Barriers To Spiritual Growth.
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Complexions Contemporary Ballet, at Jacob’s Pillow
A Most Powerful Ballet Company
By: - Aug 15th, 2023Perhaps, it’s not accidental that 'Complexions' followed the 'Hip Hop Festival.'The performance started with an excerpt of 'Hissy Fits, 2006,' to ongoing very loud percussion, sounding like drum beats to, as per program, J.S. Bach music. And the music mostly continued at a high decimal, just like hip hop.
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Here You Come Again
Goodspeed’s Terris Theater in Chester
By: - Aug 19th, 2023Entering Goodspeed’s Terris Theater in Chester to see Here You Come Again, you view a cluttered living space with decorations for multiple holidays, a disco ball, things hanging from the ceiling, etc. Is this a hoarding situation?
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Here Lies Love on Broadway
Concept, Music, and Lyrics by David Byrne
By: - Aug 22nd, 2023Once the show actually began, I was engaged. While it is just making its Broadway debut, Here Lies Love, with concept, music, and lyrics by David Byrne, music by Fatboy Slim, and additional music by Tom Gandey and Jose Luis Pardo, began as a concept album in 2010. From there, it ran at off-Broadway’s Public Theater (2013, 2014-15) and London (2014-15), both times garnering multiple awards.
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