BROADWAY-BOUND ‘BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY’ MUSICAL ADAPTATION DEBUTS at WTF
(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.) – A new musical theater adaptation of Robert J. Waller’s best-selling romance, The Bridges of Madison County, premieres on Williamstown Theatre Festival’s Main Stage from Thursday, August 1 to Sunday, August 18, 2013. The show is slated to go to Broadway in 2014. The new musical production is written by acclaimed playwright, screenwriter and novelist Marsha Norman (Pulitzer Prize for ‘night, Mother), with music and lyrics by Tony Award-winner Jason Robert Brown (Parade; The Last Five Years).
NEW PAINTINGS by TINA SOTIS on DISPLAY at GREAT BARRINGTON GALLERY
(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – A reception celebrating the opening of Sometimes the Light Is Enough, an exhibit of new oil paintings by Tina Sotis at the CATA Studio Space, takes place on Saturday, August 3, 2013, from 3:30 to 6:30 pm. Twenty-five new pieces will be on display in the show, many or most of which feature Sotis’s portrayals of light playing off sky. There will be a gallery talk with the artist on Thursday, August 8, from 6:30 to 7:30.
OLYMPIA DUKAKIS and JOHN DOUGLAS THOMPSON STAR in BRECHT’S ‘MOTHER COURAGE’ at SHAKESPEARE & CO.
(LENOX, Mass.) – Academy Award-winner Olympia Dukakis and OBIE Award-winner John Douglas Thompson star in a new production of Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children, about an artful canteen woman with the Swedish Army intent on keeping her business and family alive amidst the destruction of war, at Shakespeare & Company’s Tina Packer Playhouse through Sunday, August 25, 2013.
BANG ON A CAN MARATHON CONCLUDES FESTIVAL
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – The 12th annual Bang on a Can Summer Marathon, featuring more than fifty musicians and composers in six hours of non-stop, boundary smashing music, including compositions by Aphex Twin, David Lang, Michael Gordon, and Julia Wolfe, closes the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASS MoCA on Saturday, August 3, from 4 to 10pm.
FRENCH CONTEMPORARY BALLET AND JAZZ-INFLUENCED MODERN DANCE FROM L.A. at JACOB’S PILLOW
(BECKET, Mass.) – A twist on contemporary ballet by 3e étage, soloists of the Paris Opera Ballet and jazz-influenced popular dance by Bodytraffic, from Los Angeles, are on tap at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival from Wednesday, July 31, through Sunday, August 4, 2013. Traveling from France, 3e étage will perform the world premiere of Le Pillow Thirteen, a suite of new ballets and beloved favorites commissioned specifically for Jacob’s Pillow. Bodytraffic will perform works choreographed by Israeli-American dancemaker Barak Marshall and Belgian-born Stijn Celis.
COMEDIAN RITA RUDNER to ENTERTAIN at THE MAHAIWE
(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – Comedian Rita Rudner, who performs mostly in Las Vegas, will make a rare appearance in the region when she entertains at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on Sunday, August 4, 2013, at 7pm.
CONCERTANTE CHAMBER PLAYERS KICK OFF CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES at THE CLARK
(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.) – The Concertante Chamber Players kick off a four-week series of chamber music concerts at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute on Tuesday, August 6, 2013, at 8 pm. Upcoming concerts feature the Gryphon Trio (August 13), the Dover Quartet (August 20), and the Dorian Wind Quintet with pianist Spencer Myer (August 27). The chamber music series highlights the Clark’s continued commitment to showcase a variety of art forms and allows visitors to enjoy the renowned acoustics of the Clark’s auditorium.
SIMI STONE BRINGS ‘MOUNTAIN MOTOWN,’ WAILERS BRING REGGAE to CLUB HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Woodstock singer-songwriter Simi Stone brings her signature, upbeat “Mountain Motown” style of music to Club Helsinki Hudson on Thursday, August 1, 2013, at 8pm, followed on Friday, August 2, 2013, at 9pm, by Jamaican reggae legends The Wailers.
COMEDY ABOUT FAMILY and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS RUNS at CTC
CHESTER, MA (July 15, 2013) – Body Awareness, a comedy by Amherst native Annie Baker, runs at Chester Theatre Company through Sunday, August 11, 2013. The play tells the story of an unconventional, modern American nuclear family.