Berkshire Cultural Weekend Preview, 11.28.12

 

Rita Coolidge

RITA COOLIDGE CHRISTMAS CONCERT KICKS OFF HOLIDAY WALK WEEKEND at THE CLARK

(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.) — Two-time Grammy Award-winning pop-country vocalist Rita Coolidge will perform in a special concert featuring a mix of her greatest hits, jazz standards, and Christmas songs as part of Williamstown’s annual Holiday Walk weekend at The Clark on Friday, November 30, 2012, at 8pm. The Williams College Gospel Choir will join Coolidge for several songs.

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‘THE TEMPTATIONS’ COMING to THE MAHAIWE

‘The Temptations’

(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – The group currently performing under the name “The Temptations,” featuring 71-year-old Otis Williams, a co-founder and the only surviving member of the original legendary Motown vocal ensemble, known for such hits as “Get Ready,” “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg,” “Just My Imagination,” “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone,” and “My Girl,” will perform at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on Sunday, December 2, 2012, at 7pm. A 10-member horn section, made up of local musicians, including saxophonist Charlie Tokarz, trumpeter Jeff Stevens, and trombonist Don Mikkelsen, will accompany the group.

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Tim Crouch (photo Lisa Barnard)

SUNDANCE INSTITUTE THEATRE LAB FELLOW PRESENTS STAGED READING at MASS MoCA

(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – British playwright and performer Tim Crouch concludes a two-week residency at MASS MoCA, as part of the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, with a staged reading of his play My Arm in Club B-10 on Saturday, December 1, 2012, at 8 pm.  Crouch’s multimedia tale of a young boy who decides to permanently raise his hand into the air unfolds through a combination of live performance, digital film, and the animation of everyday objects supplied by the audience before each performance.

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JOY KILLS SORROW BRINGS ITS ORIGINAL TAKE on AMERICANA to HELSINKI HUDSON

Joy Kills Sorrow

(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Acoustic-roots outfit Joy Kills Sorrow brings its original style and songs to Club Helsinki Hudson on Friday, November 30, 2012, at 9pm. The group, featuring musicians all conservatory-trained in jazz and classical music, uses the tools and instruments of a bluegrass ensemble in the service of its original, acoustic indie-rock and folk. While the crack ensemble playing has made Joy Kills Sorrow proven favorites with the bluegrass circuit, their new emphasis on writing arrangements transcending genres allows them to reach wider audiences. Emma Beaton’s haunting vocals and the band’s rootsy variation on Americana is just as likely to appeal to fans of Mumford & Sons and Fleet Foxes as committed Stanley Brothers enthusiasts. Songs on the group’s most recent album, This Unknown Science, surprise with their melodic twists and dark, moody detours. While there are instrumental passages in some of the songs, this is not traditional bluegrass – a banjo solo in “Reservations,” for example, functions more like an electric guitar solo in a blues or rock song. In its overall vibe and swooping arcs of dramatic melody, “Jason” has more in common with Radiohead and Osvaldo Golijov than Bill Monroe.

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David Josef Hansen is Crumpet the Elf in Shakespeare & Co.’s “Santaland Diaries” (photo Scott Barrow)

DAVID SEDARIS’S ‘SANTALAND DIARIES’ at SHAKESPEARE & CO. for 3rd and FINAL YEAR

(LENOX, Mass.) – Shakespeare & Company’s annual – and final – run of David Sedaris’ irreverent Christmas memoir, The Santaland Diaries, opens on Friday, November 30, 2012, at 7:30 p.m., and runs through Sunday, December 30, 2012, in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre. This year, longtime company member David Joseph Hansen plays Sedaris’s less-than-merry autobiographical self, Crumpet the Elf. Once again, artistic director Tony Simotes directs.

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Carnival by Karen Andrews

DRAWINGS by KAREN ANDREWS on DISPLAY in HOUSATONIC

(HOUSATONIC, Mass.) – It’s A Chaotic, Fabulous World, a series of recent drawings by Karen Andrews, will be exhibited from December 1 to December 30, 2012, at the little gallery at Deb Koffman’s artspace at 137 Front St. in Housatonic. There will be an artist’s reception from 4 to 6 pm on Saturday, December 15, 2012. The gallery will be open Saturday afternoons in December from 2 to 4 pm. or call for an appointment 413-232-4027 or send email to kaa100@aol.com.

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