A highly selective preview of cultural events taking place this weekend in the greater Berkshire region, including a work-in-progress by legendary performance artist John Kelly; Cuban music at the Colonial; Cuban movies at FilmColumbia; artist Nick Cave’s career-topping exhibition at MASS MoCA; a benefit concert for Basilica Hudson by Rufus Wainwright; and a whole lot more.
John Kelly
JOHN KELLY WORKSHOPS NEW ‘LIVE MEMOIR’ at MASS MoCA
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – New York City-based performance and visual artist John Kelly will perform a workshop version of “Time No Line,” his new solo live memoir, in Club B-10 at MASS MoCA on Saturday, October 22 at 8pm. The program is based on personal journal entries about the East Village of the 1980s, gender performance, the culture wars, queer history, and more, and incorporates movement, projections, song, and spoken word.
Havana Cuba All-Stars
CUBAN ALL-STARS to PERFORM at COLONIAL
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – The Havana Cuba All-Stars bring their “Cuban Nights” program to the Colonial Theatre on Thursday, October 20 at 8pm. The Havana Cuba All-Stars is a band comprised of some of Cuba’s greatest and most prominent musicians, and is devoted to promoting the entire tapestry of Cuban music. This is their debut tour in the United States and Canada.
‘Julieta’ by Pedro Almodovar
CUBAN CINEMA and NEW FILMS by LOACH, ALMODOVAR, VERHOEVEN, & COURTNEY HUNT at FILMCOLUMBIA 2016
(CHATHAM, N.Y.) – A focus on Cuban cinema and premieres of new films by Ken Loach, Pedro Almodovar, Paul Verhoeven and Columbia County’s Courtney Hunt are some of the highlights of FilmColumbia 2016, offering an extraordinary lineup of international feature, documentary, independent, short, and children’s films from Saturday, October 22 through Sunday, October 30, at venues in Chatham and Hudson, N.Y. The films will be shown at three venues: the historic Crandell Theatre, the anchor of the festival’s screenings, and the Morris Memorial community center, both in Chatham, and at the Hudson Opera House in Hudson.
Rufus Wainwright (photo Seth Rogovoy)
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT to PLAY BENEFIT for BASILICA HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Folk-pop singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright performs an intimate, solo concert at Basilica Hudson on Saturday, October 22, at 8pm. Wainwright is widely regarded as one of the best songwriters of his generation by his fellow musicians, critics, and audiences alike, and in addition to eight albums of his own songs and film soundtracks, he has written a classical opera and set Shakespearean sonnets to music for a theater piece by Robert Wilson. Wainwright’s concert is a benefit for Basilica Hudson, which was cofounded by his childhood friend, Basilica director Melissa Auf der Maur.
The Suitcase Junket
THE SUITCASE JUNKET BRINGS INDIE-BLUES to HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Matt Lorenz, the Northampton, Mass.-based indie-blues singer-songwriter who performs under the name The Suitcase Junket, bring his box of creative tricks to Club Helsinki Hudson on Friday, October 21, at 9pm. The Dupont Brothers, a sibling indie-folk-Americana duo, will warm up the crowd for the Suitcase Junket.
Nick Cave, ‘Until’ (detail) (photo Doug Mason)
NICK CAVE’S SITE-SPECIFIC ‘UNTIL’ TAKES OVER MASS MoCA
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) — Nick Cave, the artist known for his wearable sculptures called Soundsuits, turns expectations inside out at MASS MoCA in “Until,” a massive immersive installation now open in the cultural laboratory’s football field-sized gallery in Building 5. The exhibition will be ongoing for about a year.