New York Times

Barrington Stage Company (BSC) and Knesset Israel (KI) continue the “Live from NY’s 92nd Street Y” Simulcasts at Barrington Stage with seven programs for winter/spring 2011. The popular satellite broadcast series brings lectures, interviews and readings from nationally and internationally recognized political figures, entertainers, newsmakers and authors to communities across the U.S. and Canada.

The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston (ICA) presents ambitious performing arts programming for Winter/Spring 2011, including world-premiere dance, revolutionary theater and a vaudevillian spectacular. The New Music Now series returns with three exciting concerts of adventurous music, and the ICA presents its first "live documentary," narrated by filmmaker Sam Green alongside live performances by sound artist David Cerf and band The Quavers (featuring special guest Brendan Canty of Fugazi).

The world-premiere adaptation of LYSISTRATA by the renowned puppet artist, writer and director Theodora Skipitares – which mixes Aristophanes’ ancient comic tale about a group of Greek women who withhold sex from their husbands and lovers with video and newsreel footage of actual modern-day international sex strikes – is being presented by La MaMa ETC in association with Skysaver Productions, with an opening set for Sunday, February 6 at the Ellen Stewart Theatre (66 E. 4 St.) in Manhattan.

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival will present more than 160 ticketed and free dance performances by companies from Argentina, Cuba, Canada, France, Germany, Norway, South Korea, Switzerland, and across the United States. Executive Director Ella Baff has crafted an international festival of dance, music, and the visual arts spanning three months and including six world premieres, seven U.S. premieres, five engagements with live music, three U.S. company debuts, and more than 300 total ticketed and free events, talks, performances, classes, and tours.

On Monday, February 7th at 7pm, Harold Bloom, America's leading literary critic and author of the best-seller "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human," will join Classic Stage Company's Artistic Director Brian Kulick in a rare public appearance.

Starting February 3 with an opening night set for February 10, the playwright and filmmaker Zach Helm -- author of the play Good Canary directed by John Malkovich, and the films "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" which he also directed, and "Stranger than Fiction" -- will perform his new piece Interviewing theAudience at The Vineyard.

Playwrights Michael Lew (MICROCRISIS, STOCKTON) and Rehana Mirza (BARRIERS, THE GOOD MUSLIM) take the helm as co-directors of New York's Ma-Yi Theater Company’s Writers Lab. Additionally, the six year-old Ma-Yi Writers Lab welcomes five new playwrights into the Lab: affectionately known as “labbies” they are Samantha Chanse, Mia Chung, Edgar Mendoza, Don Nguyen and Susan Soon He Stanton.

An Off Broadway hit for Public Theatre in October Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson opened on Broadway to mostly rave reviews. Especially for hunky and charismatic, pistol packing, leading man Benjamin Walker. What many critics found fresh, innovative and irreverent proved to be loud, racist and obnoxious. This underground hit may have been edgy Off Broadway but doesn't hold up to the scrutiny of prime time.

For most of us right now its jingle bells. With the announcement of the 2011 Tanglewood schedule this week, however, Berkshire arts organizations are hard at work planning a fast launch to the season on the Fourth of July. But, like Abbott and Costello, come summer, let's hope they aren't wondering about "who's on first." There is desperate need for branding, pooled resources, and a marketing strategy for the Berkshires.

Bad Habit Productions presents an evening of Christopher Durang comedies in the hilarious theatrical mash-up DURANG/DURANG December 2 through 12. Performances will take place at the Durell Theatre, located at the Cambridge YMCA at 820 Massachusetts Avenue on Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays at 2:00pm.

Our Boston arts and entertainment correspondent has been making a list and checking it twice. There is a lot of fun for the whole family on tap for the holiday season. Barbara Brilliant once again provides a cheat sheet to the best and brightest offerings and convenient links to the box office.

The Lyric Opera of Chicago has a way with casting. Like theater in Chicago, the company puts up a matchless ensemble that works together to bring life to operas old and new. This production of The Masked Ball (the Lyric prefers the English translation) is a bit of an exception, even though the mega wattage cast is superb throughout and alone worth hearing. Beware retired singers directing.

A growing number of influential critics regard John Douglas Thompson as one of the leading, clasically trained actors of his generation. We have engaged in an ongoing dialogue about his canonical roles. It started with Othello, three years ago, at Shakespeare & Company, continuing through Richard III this summer. Following a performance of Antony and Cleopatra, with Kate Mulgrew, we disussed the challening play.

WAM Theatre returns with Tony nominated Sarah Ruhl's 'Bold, Outward, Sassy, Sexy and Unashamed' contemporary farce, 'Melancholy Play'. This production will run from November 12-21, 2010 at the NEW STAGE Performing Arts Center in Pittsfield, Mass.

Dzul Dance will present a new work Danzon to launch their new season. The performance will take place at Chelsea Morrison Theater (at Millbrook School), School Road, Millbrook, New York, 12545 on Saturday, November 6 at 8:00 PM,

The Met Live in HD series continues with Boris Godunov on Saturday, October 23 at noon. It will be shown in the Berkshires at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Beacon Cinema, in Pittsfield, and at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown. The new production opened with rave reviews on October 11.

When the Boston Expressionist Hyman Bloom (March 29, 1913 to August 26, 2009) passed away none of his works were on view in the major New England museums. Bloom, his partner Jack Levine, and Karl Zerbe were the leaders of what is regarded as the most significant and influential movement of artists in Boston during the 20th century. Their neglect has been a scandal for Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. We are informed that a work by Bloom will be hung in the new wing of the MFA which opens in November. It remains to be seen how the museum will treat Levine and Zerbe. The MFA owns a minor work by the still living Levine which it acquired through the WPA.

Jacob’s Pillow Dance, international arts presenter and home of America’s longest-running dance festival, now offers a curated online selection of informative and entertaining PillowTalks. Based in Becket, Mass., Jacob’s Pillow hosts more than 160 free pre-show talks, post-show interviews, and hour-long PillowTalks during its annual Festival. PillowTalks are a series of hour-long moderated discussions with choreographers, performers, historians, filmmakers, and experts in the arts and related fields.

In the exercise of power, influence and ego art critics often like to make or break individuals and movements. The combative stances perpetuate the notion of artists as warriors. High art is depicted as a clash of the titans. The great artists are simply the last ones standing.

In 1969, while a sophomore at Williams College Steve Lawson worked that summer for the then young Williamstown Theatre Festival. From a base in Williamstown he divides his time in New York and LA keeping up on theatre and film. He is the Executive Director of the Williamstown Film Festival which will have its 12th season from October 15 through 24. Over two weekends the festival will screen 33 films.

Boston correspondent Barbara Brilliant offers a selection of highlights of arts and entertainment for October. We are moving into high season with many options for audiences.

Coming off the heels of its most successful summer season to date, Shakespeare & Company celebrates its Fall Gala with a very special one-of-a-kind performance of the famed Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding on Saturday, October 9th beginning at 5:00pm. The Fall Gala while honoring Artistic Director Tony Simotes and Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer will also benefit the Company’s thriving Education Program.

The Massachuetts Institute of Techology offers a great range of arts events many of which are free to the general public. We have the complete breakdown of the dense October calendar.

In addition to the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, in Great Barrington, the enormously popular Met Live in HD series of broadcasts has now been expanded to the Northern Berkshire Audience. The series, which is sure to sell out, as it has at the Mahaiwe for the past two seasons, will start on October 9 with Wagner's Das Rheingold.

Recently Ben Brantley of the New York Times posted a rave review of John Douglas Thompson as Richard III in a production at Shakespeare & Company. There are now only a few performances left of this summer long event. We engaged with Thompson is an extended dialogue about his radical interpretation of Richard III.