With so much going on culturally speaking in our region, this is my highly selective, curated snapshot of some of the most promising events happening this weekend …
CIARRA FRAGALE at THE CLARK
Indie pop artist Ciarra Fragale, formerly of the Hudson Valley and currently based in North Adams, Mass., performs on the outdoor terrace at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass., tonight at 6pm, in a new, free concert series featuring regional musicians. Fragale writes intimate, emotional portraits disguised as jaunty, new-wave numbers. You can also catch Fragale at Masonic Street Live in Northampton, Mass., on Saturday night, and at the Avalon Lounge in Catskill, N.Y., on Friday, September 9. Highly recommended if you like the Pretenders and Chrissie Hyde and French indie-pop group Phoenix. (Fri, Aug 19; also Aug 20 and Sep 9)
SWEET MEGG BRINGS OLD-TIME ROOTS to STISSING CENTER
Sweet Megg brings her blend of early jazz, blues, old-time Western swing, classic country and rootsy original folk to the Stissing Center in Pine Plains, N.Y., tonight at 7pm. (Fri, Aug 19)
UKRAINIAN JAZZ MUSICAL at PS21
Hello, This Is Radio 477!, Ukraine’s first jazz musical, was written in 1929 by Yuliy Meitus as a musical portrait of the city of Kharkiv. Last year, Ukrainian theater artists and Serhiy Zhadan, a celebrated poet from Kharkiv, created a new theater piece out of the work, which was scheduled to debut in Kharkiv this past March. But then Russia invaded Ukraine. The new work will be staged at PS21 in Chatham, N.Y., tonight and Saturday night at 8pm. Legendary New York downtown pianist Anthony Coleman will lead a live orchestra in his revival and adaptation of Meitus’s original score. (Fri-Sat, Aug 19 and 20)
BERKSHIRE OPERA FESTIVAL BRINGS ‘DON GIOVANNI’ to THE MAHAIWE
Berkshire Opera Festival’s 2022 season culminates with a new staging of Mozart’s comedy-tragedy masterpiece Don Giovanni at the Mahaiwe on Saturday at 1pm; Tuesday, August 23, at 7:30pm; and Friday, August 26, at 7:30pm. (Sat, Aug 20; Tues, Aug 23; Fri, Aug 26)
‘WAITING FOR GODOT’ at BARRINGTON STAGE
Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot begins its run at Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, Mass., tonight, as does Measure for Measure at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox. Also at Barrington Stage this weekend, Broadway singer and actress Grace McLean brings her original cabaret act on Sunday at 8pm. (Fri, Aug 19 and on; Sun, Aug 21)
BILL WARE’s LIVE SOUNDTRACK to 1926 SILENT FILM at OLANA
Jazz composer and vibraphonist Bill Ware brings his original score to the 1926 silent film, “The Adventures of Prince Achmed,” to Olana in Hudson, N.Y., tonight at 7pm. Ware and his group will perform his evocative score to this animated fairy tale screening outdoors as part of Olana’s “Movie Under the Stars” series. (Fri, Aug 19)
TOM JUDSON BRINGS LATEST CABARET to BRIDGE STREET THEATER
Cabaret artist Tom Judson brings his latest one-man show, “Tom Judson Is Looney: Songs About the Moon,” to Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill, N.Y., on Saturday at 7:30pm. (Sat, Aug 20)
PIANIST GLENN ZALESKI at GARAGE AT CHATHAM
Adventurous pianist Glenn Zaleski will play jazz standards alongside his own, compelling compositions and improvisations in a solo performance at the Garage at Chatham in Chatham, N.Y., on Saturday at 6pm. (Sat, Aug 20)
GLEN DAVID ANDREWS BRINGS NEW ORLEANS SOUNDS to CAFFE LENA
New Orleans vocalist and trombone player Glen David Andrews brings his band and the sounds of New Orleans to Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Saturday at 8. (Sat, Aug 20)