Kyra Sedgwick
(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.) – Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winner Kyra Sedgwick will make her Williamstown Theatre Festival debut in the world premiere of “Off the Main Road,” a newly discovered play by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright William Inge, running on the Main Stage through Sunday, July 19, 2015. Eric Bogosian and Jessica Hecht create the lead roles in the world premiere of the new Daniel Goldfarb dramatic comedy, “Legacy,” running on the Nikos Stage, now through Sunday, July 12.
Soledad Barrio in ‘Antigona’ (photo Chris Bennion)
FLAMENCO DANCE DRAMA ‘ANTIGONA’ at MAHAIWE
(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – Soledad Barrio and Noche Flamenca will perform their original dance drama, “Antigona,” at the Mahaiwe from Wednesday, July 1, through Sunday, July 5,. This visually arresting adaptation of Sophocles’s “Antigone” merges live music, theatrical spectacle, and dance, bringing the inherent theatricality of Flamenco to bear on this classical tragedy – reigniting the theatrical potential of the Greek chorus as the lyrical and rhythmic heart of the drama.
Hudson Air Radio Theater
LIVE RADIO PLAYS RETURN to PS21
(CHATHAM, N.Y.) – Hudson Air Radio Theater returns to the Tent at PS21 on Friday, July 3 at 8pm and Sunday, July 5, at 2pm with a selection of radio plays by classic American writers including Mark Twain, O. Henry, Dorothy Parker, and Booth Tarkington, performed live by a cast of five actors, renowned pianist Lincoln Mayorga, and sound effects. Actors including Lora Lee Ecobellli, Byron Nilsson, James Occhino, and Nancy Rothman will perform the voices of dozens of characters, while Andrew Joffe directs and creates the foley sound effects.
John Douglas Thompson
BSO OPENS TANGLEWOOD SEASON with ALL-AMERICAN PROGRAM
(LENOX, Mass.) – The Boston Symphony Orchestra opens its 2015 Tanglewood season with an all-American program featuring works by John Harbison, George Gershwin, Aaron Copland and Duke Ellington, all under the direction of conductor Jacques Lacombe, music director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, on Friday, July 3, 2015, at 8:30pm. Actor John Douglas Thompson will narrate excerpts from some of Abraham Lincoln’s greatest speeches, including the Gettysburg Address, as part of the performance of Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait,” replacing opera star Jessye Norman, who had to withdraw due to illness.
Bard Summerscape’s ‘Oklahoma,’ with- Amber Gray, Laurey; and Damon Daunno, Curly (photo Cory Weaver)
AVANT-GARDE AMERICANA VERSION of ‘OKLAHOMA!’ at BARD SUMMERSCAPE
(ANNANDALE-on-HUDSON, N.Y.) – The Pulitzer Prize-winning classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, “Oklahoma!,” is getting a reboot in an experimental staging in the Fisher Center at Bard College as part of Bard SummerScape, now through July 19. The interactive production in-the-round features new staging, new musical arrangements for a six-piece Americana band by Henry Hewes Award-winner Daniel Kluger, and new choreography by Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award-winner John Heginbotham.
Gregg Edelman
COMEDY THRILLER ‘DEATHTRAP’ GETS BTG STAGING
(STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.) – Ira Levin’s Tony Award-nominated comedy thriller “Deathtrap” opens on Friday, July 3 at 8pm and runs through Saturday, July 25, 2015, at 8pm, at Berkshire Theatre Group’s Fitzpatrick Main Stage Theater. Recognized as the longest-running comedy thriller on Broadway, Deathtrap is a sidesplitting romp of a play within a play. The all-star cast includes Gregg Edelman, Alison Fraser, Tom Pecinka and Debra Jo Rupp, and the comedy is directed by BTG alum Aaron Mark.
Aston Magna artistic director and violinist Daniel Stepner
ASTON MAGNA PRESENTS SCHUBERT’S OCTET for WIND and STRINGS
(ANNANDALE-on-HUDSON, N.Y. and GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – “Wind Power,” featuring Schubert’s monumental Octet for winds and strings, the Boccherini Quintet, and duos from Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” will be performed this weekend as part of the Aston Magna Music Festival, at Bard College’s Olin Auditorium on Friday, July 3, at 8pm, and at the Daniel Arts Center at Simon’s Rock College on Saturday, July 4, at 6pm. Musicians include Eric Hoeprich, period clarinet; Stephen Hammer, classical oboe; Andrew Schwartz, bassoon; Todd Williams, natural horn, and Daniel Stepner, Baroque violin, and ensemble.
The Wiyos
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 Thursday, July 2, at 8pm. The Wiyos are Michael Farkas, Teddy Weber, and “Sauerkraut” Seth Travins. Beloved for their unique blend of early swing jazz, rural folk, old-time blues and Appalachian music, the Hudson Valley-based trio the Wiyos are an intercontinental sensation, having warmed up U.S. audiences on a full 28-day summer tour for Bob Dylan in 2009 and having been featured in the BBC TV programs “Folk America – Hollerers, Stompers and Old-Time Ramblers” and “No Sleep ‘Til Yell.”
Howie Commander at the Lebanon Valley Speedway witch he owns (photo Uli Rose)
BEHOLD! LAUNCHES LIVING MUSEUM of CONTEMPORARY RURAL LIFE
(NEW LEBANON, N.Y.) – BEHOLD! New Lebanon, the nation’s first living museum of contemporary rural American life, kicks off its first full season on Saturday, July 4. BEHOLD! New Lebanon (BNL) is a museum-without-walls, unlike any other, offering a variety of guided tours by Rural Guides, locals who introduce visitors to today’s rural America. The July 4 program includes dog training advice and insights; an inside look at Lebanon Valley Speedway; instructions on hand-crafting all-beef sausage (tasting included); auctioneering; and collaging as art.