LeeSaar the Company (photo Denise Cerniglia)
ASPEN SANTA FE, LEESAAR and MORE to BRING DOWN CURTAIN at JACOB’S PILLOW
(BECKET, Mass.) – While Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and LeeSaar The Company both perform from Wednesday, August 20, through Sunday, August 24 – in the Ted Shawn Theatre and the Doris Duke Theatre, respectively – the curtain officially comes down on the 2014 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival with a Festival Finale event on Saturday, August 23. Tickets include a performance by Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (ASFB) in the Ted Shawn Theatre or LeeSaar The Company in the Doris Duke Theatre, and a giant after-party with two full cash bars, desserts provided by local restaurants and bakeries, photo booth fun, and a typically unforgettable dance party.
Filmmaker Cynthia Wade
MARSHA NORMAN and SARAH LADUKE CO-HOST WAM THEATRE EVENT
(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Marsha Norman and WAMC Northeast Public Radio producer Sarah LaDuke will co-host Change Makers, WAM Theatre’s fifth season celebration and benefit at the Mahaiwe on Sunday, August 24, 2014, at 7 pm. The multifaceted event includes a panel discussion with award-winning artist/activists working to effect positive change; a sneak peek at WAM Theatre’s fall production, “In Darfur”; and an onstage reception for top-level ticketholders. The Rogovoy Report is proud to co-sponsor this event.
GUITARIST STEPHANE WREMBEL to BRING GYPSY SWING to MASS MoCA
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – Virtuosic Gypsy swing guitarist Stephane Wrembel performs with his quartet in the Dré Wapenaar Pavilion at MASS MoCA on Saturday, August 23, 2014, at 8pm. Wrembel has been called the second coming of Django Reinhardt – a fretboard wizard who embellishes the hot jazz of the 1930s with flourishes of world music to create a sound all his own.
Maria Schneider
BSO SAYS GOODBYE to TANGLEWOOD with BEETHOVEN’S 9TH; MARIA SCHNEIDER LEADS BIG-BAND at OZAWA HALL
(LENOX, Mass.) – While there’s still more to come at Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony Orchestra takes its final bow of the 2014 season at Tanglewood on Sunday, August 24, at 2:30 p.m., in the Shed, with its traditional performance of Beethoven’s transcendent Symphony No. 9. Later that evening, the Maria Schneider Orchestra – a big-band group led by composer-pianist Maria Schneider that blends the freedom of jazz and the structure of classical music -brings its unique flavor of music-making to Ozawa Hall for an 8 p.m. concert.
THE WIYOS BRING OLD-TIMEY MUSIC to HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Old-timey trio the Wiyos bring their original blend of music inspired by the early American musical idioms of the 1920s and ’30s, including blues, country, ragtime, gospel, and swing, to Club Helsinki Hudson on Friday, August 22, at 9pm.
TRIO VIRADO to BRING JAZZY CHAMBER STYLE to TANNERY POND
(NEW LEBANON, N.Y.) – The Trio Virado will perform a program in the Tannery Pond Concert Series at the Darrow School on Saturday, August 23, 2014, at 8pm. Flutist Amy Porter, violist Juan-Miguel Hernandez, and guitarist João Luiz have been together for a little over a year performing a new and unique blend of jazzy chamber music.
SINGER-SONGWRITER RYAN MONTBLEAU BRINGS SOUL-ROCK to HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – New England-based singer-songwriter Ryan Montbleau brings his bluesy, soulful folk-rock to Club Helsinki Hudson on Saturday, August 23, at 9pm.
SCOTT STOSSEL in NEW AUTHOR INTERVIEW SERIES at THE MOUNT
(LENOX, Mass.) — Author Scott Stossel takes part in “Touchstones,” a new interview series at The Mount featuring celebrated journalist Kate Bolick in conversation with leading writers. Stossel is editor of The Atlantic and the author of My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind and Sarge: The Life and Times of Sargent Shriver. Tickets and information at The Mount. $18 general; $15 Mount members. The one-hour conversation will take place on Friday, August 22, at 6 pm.
Allison McLemore
CTC SEASON CONCLUDES with ONE-WOMAN ‘AMISH PROJECT’
(CHESTER, Mass.) – The curtain comes down on the 25th anniversary season at Chester Theatre Company (CTC) with Jessica Dickey’s The Amish Project, running from Thursday, August 14, through Sunday, August 24, at the Chester Town Hall. CTC favorite Allison McLemore, star of last season’s smash hit production of Tryst, tackles all the roles in this one-woman play about an Amish community devastated by a terrible tragedy.
Paige Davis (photo Usha Menard)
ROMANTIC COMEDY by MARK ST. GERMAIN GETS WORLD PREMIERE at BSC
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – “Dancing Lessons,” the new romantic comedy by playwright and BSC associate artist Mark St. Germain, receives its world premiere at Barrington Stage Company (BSC) from Thursday, August 7, through Sunday, August 24. Directed by Barrington Stage artistic director Julianne Boyd, “Dancing Lessons” stars John Cariani and Paige Davis. The play centers on a young man (Cariani) with high-functioning autism (Asperger’s syndrome), seeking the instruction of a Broadway dancer (Davis), now sidelined with injuries. As their relationship unfolds, they’re caught off-guard by the surprising discoveries – both hilarious and heartwarming – that they make about each other.
Taj Mahal
TAJ MAHAL to BRING BLUES and GLOBAL ROOTS MUSIC to HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Grammy Award-winner Taj Mahal – one of the most prominent and influential figures in late 20th century blues and roots music – brings his virtuosic global-roots style to Club Helsinki Hudson on Wednesday, August 20, at 8pm. The singer and multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, piano, banjo and harmonica (among many other instruments) blends American blues with music representing virtually every corner of the world – West Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, the Hawaiian islands more.