Toshi Reagon (photo JOMOTO/Molly Rubin and Tony DiPietro)
TOSHI REAGON to PLAY MUSIC of PRINCE and MICHAEL JACKSON at MASS MoCA
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – Soul singer and guitarist Toshi Reagon — who just last week triumphed at Jacob’s Pillow in “The Blues Project,” her collaboration with Dorrance Dance – returns to the Berkshires when she brings “The Love Session: Michael Jackson vs. Prince,” a deep dive into the songbooks of two American soul-pop icons, to Courtyard C at MASS MoCA on Saturday, July 11, at 8pm.
Big Dance Theater (photo Brad Harris)
ND2 and BIG DANCE THEATER BRING CUTTING EDGE to JACOB’S PILLOW
(BECKET, Mass.) – Nederlands Dans Theater 2 (ND2), the expertly skilled companion company to the venerable Nederlands Dans Theater, returns to Jacob’s Pillow for the first time since 2007, performing a program of diverse works by Israel’s Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar, Swedish choreographer Johan Inger, and two U.S. premieres by NDT house choreographers Paul Lightfoot and Sol León, from Wednesday, July 8, through Sunday, July 12, in the Ted Shawn Theatre. Also at the Pillow this weekend, genre-fusing Big Dance Theater returns to with the evening-length work Alan Smithee Directed This Play: Triple Feature in the Doris Duke Theatre, July 8-12.
Dom Flemons (photo Tim Duffy)
DOM FLEMONS of CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS to BRING OLD-TIME STRING BAND MUSIC to PS21
(CHATHAM, N.Y.) – Singer and multi-instrumentalist Dom Flemons, a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops, will perform old-time string band music with his trio at PS21: Performance Spaces for the 21st Century on Saturday, July 11, at 8pm. Flemons will be joined by Brian Farrow on bass and fiddle and Mike Johnson on drums. Dom Flemons is widely lauded for reintroducing old-time African-American string band music to a new generation.
Kate Baldwin
BTG STAGES CLASSIC BROADWAY MUSICAL ‘BELLS ARE RINGING’ at COLONIAL
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – The classic Tony Award-winning musical “Bells Are Ringing,” with book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, music by Jule Styne, and original production, staging and choreography by Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse, will be staged at the Colonial Theatre from Thursday, July 9, at 7pm, through Sunday, July 26, at 2pm. The Berkshire Theatre Group production of this farcical love story that made Judy Holliday a star features Tony- and Drama Desk award-nominated Kate Baldwin and Graham Rowat.
IRISH COMEDY GETS NEW ENGLAND PREMIERE at CHESTER THEATRE
(CHESTER, Mass.) – “Halcyon Days,” an award-winning comedy by acclaimed Irish playwright Deirdre Kinahan, will be given its New England premiere at Chester Theatre Company from Thursday, July 9, through Sunday, July 19.
Alejandro Escovedo
ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO BRINGS DISTINCTIVE SOUL-ROCK to HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Alejandro Escovedo brings his band, the Sensitive Boys, and his distinctive catalog of original roots-rock songs to Club Helsinki Hudson on Friday, July 10, at 9pm. Texas-raised Mexican-American Escovedo, the uncle of pop-funk star Sheila E, is a one-time punk-rocker mostly playing original alt-country music since before there was such a term – and indeed his music today ranges from Velvet Underground-style drone rock to classic punk to Los Lobos-like Chicano rock to idiosyncratic, character-based visionary music along the lines of Tom Waits.
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Osvaldo Golijov (photo Festival de Saint-Denis – Sébastien Chambert 2007)
TMC to OFFER WORLD PREMIERE of WORK by OSVALDO GOLIJOV
(LENOX, Mass.) – The Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra will offer the world premiere of a new work for French horn and string orchestra by the dynamic contemporary composer Osvaldo Golijov (led by TMC Conducting Fellow Marzena Diakun), with principal horn James Sommerville of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, in Ozawa Hall on Monday, July 13, at 8pm. The next night, jazz great Wynton Marsalis — trumpeter, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, and nine-time Grammy Award winner — leads the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra at Ozawa Hall.
Ruth Reichl
RUTH REICHL in BERKSHIRE GROWN BENEFIT
(SHEFFIELD, Mass.) – Ruth Reichl, bestselling author, and former editor-in-chief of Gourmet Magazine and New York Times food critic, will talk at a brunch to benefit Berkshire Grown on Sunday, July 12, at 11am.
Colby Schuyler of Climbing Tree Farm in New Lebanon, N.Y.
BEHOLD! NEW LEBANON SHOWCASES CONTEMPORARY RURAL LIFE
(NEW LEBANON, N.Y.) – BEHOLD! New Lebanon, the nation’s first living museum of contemporary rural American life, continues its summer-long program showcasing rural life on Saturday, July 11, with programs including detailed looks at do-it-yourself automobile forensics; hops and beer-making; kinetic sculpture; farm-steading and animal care; and a tour of Elm Tree Mill, a favorite stop of President Theodore Roosevelt. 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.
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Amanda Boyd-Grout
COMEDY and MUSIC at PS21’s ‘SUMMER SHTICK’
(CHATHAM, N.Y.) – “Summer Shtick,” an evening of comedy and music featuring actors Nancy Rothman and Robert Zukerman and soprano Amanda Boyd-Grout, takes place at PS21: Performance Spaces for the 21st Century, on Friday, July 10, at 8pm. This show is the second in a series of three Variety Friday events at PS21 this summer. “Summer Shtick” will include short scenes, stand-up comedy and song parodies. Rothman and Zukerman have worked together for years, appearing at Barrington Stage Company and Stageworks/Hudson, as well as creating shows for the Spencertown Academy, where they were original members of the PantoLoons. Both have extensive stage, film and television credits.
The Curran siblings then
THREE SIBLING ARTISTS FEATURED in SPENCERTOWN ACADEMY EXHIBIT
(SPENCERTOWN, N.Y.) – “Related: Artwork by Tom, Frank and Margot Curran,” a group exhibition by three sibling artists, opens at Spencertown Academy Arts Center on Saturday, July 11, with a reception from 4 to 6pm and will remain on display through August 2. The Curran family resided in Spencertown in the 1950s. From a family of ten creative siblings, three Currans — Tom, Frank and Margot — would emerge as accomplished visual artists. All three siblings are still Columbia County residents. In this exhibition, they offer a curated selection of their recent prints, paintings and drawings. The work on display reflects their shared interest in the novel application of classic techniques.
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