BerkshireWeekend Cultural Preview, June 15-21, 2016

A highly selective preview of cultural events taking place this weekend in the greater Berkshire region, including pop legends at Tanglewood; abstract expressionism at the Rockwell Museum; new plays; old musicals, and a whole lot more.

 

Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton

DOLLY PARTON, BRIAN WILSON, JACKSON BROWNE and EW&F KICK OFF TANGLEWOOD POP SEASON

(LENOX, Mass.) – A grand slam of superstar artists from country, pop, R&B, and folk-rock, including Dolly Parton (June 17), Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys (June 19), Jackson Browne (June 21), and Earth, Wind & Fire (June 18), kick off the 2016 summer popular artists series at Tanglewood in back-to-back shows in the Shed this coming weekend.

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Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), "The Connoisseur," 1961. Oil on canvas mounted on board, 37 3/4" x 31 1/2". Cover illustration for "The Saturday Evening Post," January 13, 1962. Private collection. ©SEPS: Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), “The Connoisseur,” 1961. Oil on canvas mounted on board, 37 3/4″ x 31 1/2″. Cover illustration for “The Saturday Evening Post,” January 13, 1962. Private collection. ©SEPS: Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN

MUSEUM to JUXTAPOSE ROCKWELLIAN REALISM with ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM

(STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.) – For the first time ever, Norman Rockwell Museum will explore the contrast between the abstract and realist movements, placing works by Rockwell, Andrew Wyeth, and Andy Warhol side by side with Jackson Pollock, Alexander Calder, Jasper Johns, and over 40 other preeminent artists, including Walton Ford, Larry Rivers, Helen Frankenthaler, Jeff Koons, Anita Kunz, Jacqui Morgan, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman, Philip Pearlstein, Robert Rauschenberg, David Salle, Saul Steinberg, and Cy Twombly.

Rockwell and Realism in an Abstract World,” on view from Friday, June 17, through October 30, will examine the forces that forged the mid-century dismissal of narrative painting and illustration, as well as the resurgence of realist painting during the latter half of the twentieth century, its presence and critical consideration today, and the ways in which our contemporary viewpoints have been shaped by post World War II constructs.

The exhibition’s official opening reception will take place on Thursday, July 14, at 6:30pm, and will include remarks from featured artists.

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Debra Jo Rupp

Debra Jo Rupp

DEBRA JO RUPP, TAMARA TUNIE TAKE LEADS at BARRINGTON STAGE

(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – The summer theater season at Barrington Stage Company gets fully underway this weekend when Debra Jo Rupp opens in Pulitzer Prize-winner David Lindsay-Abaire’s “Kimberly Akimbo” and Tamara Tunie of TV’s “Law and Order” creates the lead role in the world premiere of “American Son,” written by Christopher Demos-Brown and already winner of the prestigious Laurents/Hatcher Award for Best New Play of 2016.

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Jeanine Müller-Laupert

Jeanine Müller-Laupert

ASTON MAGNA FESTIVAL PRESENTS EARLY MUSIC at BARD and SIMON’S ROCK

(ANNANDALE-on-HUDSON, N.Y. and GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – Aston Magna, the nation’s longest-running festival of early music, celebrates its 44th season with “Love and Lamentation,” featuring Friday and Saturday evening concerts at Bard College and in venues in Great Barrington, respectively, running weekends from June 17 through July 9. The concerts feature virtuoso early music artists performing on authentic period instruments.

At Bard, concerts take place Friday evenings at 8pm at the László Z. Bitó ’60 Conservatory Building. On Saturdays in Great Barrington, concerts take place in the Daniel Arts Center at Simon’s Rock College at 6pm, with a finale performance on Saturday, July 9 at the historic Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. A pre-concert talk takes place one hour before each event; Great Barrington concert are followed by a reception with the artists.

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Karen Oberlin

Karen Oberlin

NEW MUSIC SERIES DEBUTS at EGREMONT BARN

(EGREMONT, Mass.) – Marshall Crenshaw, John Davidson, Roy Zimmerman, and Trout Fishing in America are just some of the acts that will be performing in “Gems of Many Genres,” a new music series in the newly restored Egremont Barn, a part of the historic Egremont Village Inn, kicking off this weekend with Richie Havens sideman Walter Parks on Saturday, June 18, at 7 and 9pm, and running through October 16. The music series will have a grand opening celebration featuring Marshall Crenshaw and Friends on Friday, July 8, at 8pm and Saturday, July 9, at 8pm.

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Anna-Marie Holmes

Anna-Marie Holmes

ANNA-MARIE HOLMES EXAMINES BALLET at SANDISFIELD ARTS CENTER

(SANDISFIELD, Mass.) – Jacob’s Pillow Ballet Program director Anna-Marie Holmes will reveal secrets of the ballet at Sandisfield Arts Center on Sunday, June 19, at 2pm. The afternoon will include Emmy Award-winning choreographer Holmes’s commentary on her remarkable life in ballet, from a young girl to an international prima ballerina and master teacher. Holmes will share insights on what directors look for in young dancers today, and she will bring two dancers from the Jacob’s Pillow Ballet Program to demonstrate a ballet warm-up. With the help of Kansas City Ballet music director Ramona Pansegrau at the piano, Holmes will also show how important music is to dance.

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Austin Lombard

Austin Lombard

‘FIORELLO!’ GETS REVIVAL at BTG’S UNICORN THEATRE

(STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.) – “Fiorello!,” the 1959 musical about New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, who broke up the stranglehold so-called Tammany Hall had on New York City politics, is being revived by Berkshire Theatre Group at the Unicorn Theatre from Wednesday, June 15, through Saturday, July 23. The winner of three Tony Awards, the musical, created by the legendary Broadway duo Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, is one of only nine to have also won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

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Patty Warashina, “Beating the Housewife Blues” 24 x 16 x 13.75 in., earthenware, glaze, 1977. Photo: John Polak

Patty Warashina, “Beating the Housewife Blues”

FERRIN CONTEMPORARY EXHIBITS FIGURAL SCULPTURES

(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – The Clark Art Institute isn’t the only venue featuring artworks featuring the human form in the way nature intended. “EXPOSED: Heads, Busts, and Nudes,” an exhibition of figural ceramic sculpture from 1970 to the present, goes on view at Ferrin Contemporary on Saturday, June 18, with a reception at 4–6pm. The exhibition, which remains on view through August 7, features masterworks from estates and private collections alongside recent work direct from artist studios.

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Bobby Previte & the Visitors

Bobby Previte & the Visitors

BOBBY PREVITE BRINGS NEW BAND and NEW SOUNDS to HELSINKI HUDSON

(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Award-winning composer Bobby Previte brings his new band, the Visitors, to Club Helsinki Hudson on Friday, June 17, at 9pm. Previte’s new quartet features young and upcoming stars of the Brooklyn scene, including guitarist Mike Gamble; Michael Kammers on saxophone and organ; and bassist Kurt Kotheimer. Having just recently returned from a barnstorming tour of Europe, the band will be holed up in Previte’s Columbia County studio the week before this date, finishing up their second recording.

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