A scene from LA Dance Project’s ‘Murder Ballads’
BENJAMIN MILLEPIED’S NEW COMPANY MAKES PILLOW DEBUT
(BECKET, Mass.) – L.A. Dance Project, an exuberant contemporary dance collective hailing from Los Angeles, makes a rare East Coast appearance in its Jacob’s Pillow debut at the Ted Shawn Theatre from Wednesday through Sunday, August 19 to 22. Benjamin Millepied, former New York City Ballet principal dancer, choreographer for the film “Black Swan,” current director of the Paris Opera Ballet, and perhaps best known as Mr. Natalie Portman, founded L.A. Dance Project in 2012. Also at the Pillow this week is Liz Gerring Dance Company performing its evening-length work, “glacier,” in the Doris Duke Theater.
Opera Nouveau
HEATHER FISCH’S ‘TAROT SHOW’ PREMIERES at MAHAIWE
(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) — Opera Nouveau’s “Tarot Show” will have world premiere at the Mahaiwe on Saturday, August 22, 2015, at 8pm, kicking off the company’s inaugural tour of the Northeast with stops in rural Maine, Manhattan, and Providence, R.I. The brainchild of performance artist Heather Fisch, “Tarot Show” is a blend of fortune-telling, physical theatre, audience participation, multimedia and live music.
Ted Leo
INDIE-PUNK ICON TED LEO at MASS MoCA
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) — Indie-punk icon Ted Leo will perform a solo show outside on the Dré Pavilion at MASS MoCA on Friday, August 21, at 8pm. From his early adventures in the hardcore scene of 1980s New York City, to his much-beloved band Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, to his recent duo project with Aimee Mann called The Both, Leo has distinguished himself as a unique presence in the indie music world: a cerebral punk with an ear for power pop, equally at home ripping into a crunchy-guitared anthemic call to arms or belting out a sweet melody. As a solo performer, his many sides are distilled into one alarmingly entertaining singer-songwriter package.
KEIGWIN + Company (photo Erin Baiano)
CONTEMPORARY DANCE-THEATER at PS21
(CHATHAM, N.Y.) – Contemporary dance-theater ensemble Keigwin + Company performs a program of its state-of-the-art, high-energy movement at PS21 on Friday and Saturday, August 21 and 22, at 8pm. Named the “Cool Kids of Modern Dance” by Dance Magazine, the troupe will dance to music of Cyndi Lauper, Stevie Nicks, Annie Lennox, Aretha Franklin, Roy Orbison, Nina Simone, and Jonathan Pratt.
OLD WORLD KLEZMER EXPLORES NEW WORLD AFFINITIES at CR10 ARTS
(LINLITHGO, N.Y.) – “Rockin’ the Shtetl,” a multimedia presentation by Seth Rogovoy, based on a novel-in-progress of the same title exploring the affinities between 19th-century Eastern European Yiddish songwriters and musicians and 20th century American Jewish folk-rock poets and protest singers, will have a work-in-progress showing at CR10 Arts on Sunday, August 23, at 4pm. Joining Rogovoy for the performance will be multimedia artist and musician Ryder Cooley.
ERC musicians in ‘Van Gogh;s Ear’
PROGRAM EXPLORES CONNECTION BETWEEN VAN GOGH’S ART and MUSIC
(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – “Van Gogh’s Ear,” a theatrical concert performance by the Ensemble for the Romantic Century (ERC) that explores the connection between the painter’s artistic vision and music of the time, will receive 12 performances at the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) from Thursday, August 20, through Sunday, August 30, 2015. The program takes the audience on a journey through the artist’s final years in the south of France. Based on Vincent van Gogh’s letters to his brother Theo, the fully staged production interweaves an original script that dramatizes Van Gogh (played by Simon Fortin) with live performances of vocal and instrumental works by French composers including César Franck, Gabriel Fauré, Ernest Chausson, and Claude Debussy.
BeauSoleil
BEAUSOLEIL BRINGS BAYOU SOUNDS to HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Grammy Award-winning Cajun outfit BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet will bring its mix of Cajun, Creole and zydeco sounds to Club Helsinki Hudson on Thursday, August 20, at 8pm. For over 40 years, BeauSoleil have blended the rich Cajun traditions of Louisiana with elements of zydeco, New Orleans Jazz, country and blues to become the most esteemed Cajun group in music. A twelve-time Grammy Award nominee and two-time Grammy award winner (1998 & 2010), BeauSoleil were the first Cajun Band ever to win a Grammy and have released 25 albums. Perhaps no single band is more responsible for popularizing the unique Cajun sounds of the Louisiana bayou than BeauSoleil.
Jane Pfitsch and Christopher Innvar in ‘His Girl Friday’ at BSC (photo Kevin Sprague)
JOHN GUARE COMEDY ‘HIS GIRL FRIDAY’ at BARRINGTON STAGE
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – John Guare’s American screwball comedy “His Girl Friday,” an adaptation of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s original play “The Front Page” and the screen version “His Girl Friday,” continues its run on the mainstage at Barrington Stage Company through Sunday, August 30.