Monthly Archives: September 2010

ForeverPlaid101510-2

Preview: Forever Plaid never goes out of style

It is February 9, 1964, and four young male singers have landed their first big gig at an airport bar, but on the way to pick up their tuxes, they are slammed broadside by a busload of Catholic teenagers. That’s

ForeverPlaid101510-2

Preview: Forever Plaid never goes out of style

It is February 9, 1964, and four young male singers have landed their first big gig at an airport bar, but on the way to pick up their tuxes, they are slammed broadside by a busload of Catholic teenagers. That’s

BOSAlexBob2
/ Film

Alec Baldwin, Robert Osborne to talk film at WFF

The Williamstown Film Festival (WFF) and MASS MoCA will team up for their 20th collaboration with “Revisiting Billy Wilder,” a free-wheeling conversation between Emmy-winning stage and screen actor Alec Baldwin and Turner Classic movies host/anchor Robert Osborne about the legendary

BOSAlexBob2
/ Film

Alec Baldwin, Robert Osborne to talk film at WFF

The Williamstown Film Festival (WFF) and MASS MoCA will team up for their 20th collaboration with “Revisiting Billy Wilder,” a free-wheeling conversation between Emmy-winning stage and screen actor Alec Baldwin and Turner Classic movies host/anchor Robert Osborne about the legendary

BOSWFF

Live Music with WFF’s House of Usher screening at Mass MoCA

You can fall deep into the menacing secrets of the Usher family in Roger Corman’s 1960 House of Usher while enjoying a live original score by Marco Benevento at 8 pm on Friday, October 22, 2010. The film based on

BOSWFF

Live Music with WFF’s House of Usher screening at Mass MoCA

You can fall deep into the menacing secrets of the Usher family in Roger Corman’s 1960 House of Usher while enjoying a live original score by Marco Benevento at 8 pm on Friday, October 22, 2010. The film based on

The pregnant woman on the seven month

Film, art show, discussion explore connections between “Birth, Art and Alchemy”

Pittsfield, Mass. — In honor of National Midwifery week, a quartet of organizations will collaborate to present “Birth, Art, and Alchemy,” through a film screening, art show and panel discussion. The four local organizations are Alchemy Initiative, Berkshire Birth Professionals,

The pregnant woman on the seven month

Film, art show, discussion explore connections between “Birth, Art and Alchemy”

Pittsfield, Mass. — In honor of National Midwifery week, a quartet of organizations will collaborate to present “Birth, Art, and Alchemy,” through a film screening, art show and panel discussion. The four local organizations are Alchemy Initiative, Berkshire Birth Professionals,

BOSJPcrowd

Stunning 2010 season at Jacob’s Pillow is one for the record books

Despite a difficult economy, the 2010 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival felt a surge of audience interest – and support – during the just completed 2010 season. Given that the previous summer was marked by incessant rain on far too many

BOSJPcrowd

Stunning 2010 season at Jacob’s Pillow is one for the record books

Despite a difficult economy, the 2010 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival felt a surge of audience interest – and support – during the just completed 2010 season. Given that the previous summer was marked by incessant rain on far too many

BOSTopEvents

Picks and Previews: October’s Best Bets

The artistic bounty of Fall’s “shoulder season” is upon us, and October’s bumper crop of performances to choose from is as bounteous as it is diverse. Choices are easier to make. And unlike the summer season where many offerings are

BOSTopEvents

Picks and Previews: October’s Best Bets

The artistic bounty of Fall’s “shoulder season” is upon us, and October’s bumper crop of performances to choose from is as bounteous as it is diverse. Choices are easier to make. And unlike the summer season where many offerings are

BOSLeadHound

Review: “The Real Inspector Hound” is a rip-roaring good time

This whodunnit starts out as murder mystery and ends up being a farce. Or at least that is the verdict rendered by the two front row critics, Birdboot and Moon who interrupt the play constantly to make such comments. Without them it might have just been a typical thriller.

Nobody seems to notice that throughout most of the evening a dead body lies downstage, hardly noticed by the players.

The cast is great, the laughs almost nonstop, and the acting completely ignores the Goldilocks problem. The actors don’t have to decide if they are giving it too little juice or too much, they just go over the top, stomping on caution, just push the accelerator to floor. They take this 1961-2 Tom Stoppard play on a Pythonesque ride into zaniness that sent the opening night audience into non-stop gales of laughter.

BOSLeadHound

Review: “The Real Inspector Hound” is a rip-roaring good time

This whodunnit starts out as murder mystery and ends up being a farce. Or at least that is the verdict rendered by the two front row critics, Birdboot and Moon who interrupt the play constantly to make such comments. Without them it might have just been a typical thriller.

Nobody seems to notice that throughout most of the evening a dead body lies downstage, hardly noticed by the players.

The cast is great, the laughs almost nonstop, and the acting completely ignores the Goldilocks problem. The actors don’t have to decide if they are giving it too little juice or too much, they just go over the top, stomping on caution, just push the accelerator to floor. They take this 1961-2 Tom Stoppard play on a Pythonesque ride into zaniness that sent the opening night audience into non-stop gales of laughter.

BOSWitches

Preview: Arthur Miller’s The Crucible has stood the test of time

More than just good theatre, The Crucible by Arthur Miller has stood the test of time as political theatre. Using the Salem Witch Trials (three of its victim’s memorials are shown above) the playwright explores how such injustices come about. Miller

BOSWitches

Preview: Arthur Miller’s The Crucible has stood the test of time

More than just good theatre, The Crucible by Arthur Miller has stood the test of time as political theatre. Using the Salem Witch Trials (three of its victim’s memorials are shown above) the playwright explores how such injustices come about. Miller

BOSHispanicolead

Ballet Hispanico to fire up audiences at the Mahaiwe on October 8

The thirteen-member Ballet Hispanico will perform at the Mahaiwe on Friday, October 8 at 8pm. I last saw them at Mass MoCA in a joint presentation with Jacob’s Pillow. The evening will feature three works selected by Ballet Hispanico’s new

BOSHispanicolead

Ballet Hispanico to fire up audiences at the Mahaiwe on October 8

The thirteen-member Ballet Hispanico will perform at the Mahaiwe on Friday, October 8 at 8pm. I last saw them at Mass MoCA in a joint presentation with Jacob’s Pillow. The evening will feature three works selected by Ballet Hispanico’s new

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Hard rockers Blue Öyster Cult heading for the Colonial October 8th

Can it be three or four decades since Blue Öyster Cult first formed, and the guys are still together, making music? What a trip. Only the look of the group – which still has the chops, the licks and the

Picture 241

Hard rockers Blue Öyster Cult heading for the Colonial October 8th

Can it be three or four decades since Blue Öyster Cult first formed, and the guys are still together, making music? What a trip. Only the look of the group – which still has the chops, the licks and the

BOSTrioHound

News: The latest happenings on and off stage- September, 2010

Shakespeare & Co: The Real Inspector Hound prepares to open A body lies ignored in front of everyone on stage while second string critics once sitting among the audience meet their untimely ends. Sometimes death comes as good news. There

BOSTrioHound

News: The latest happenings on and off stage- September, 2010

Shakespeare & Co: The Real Inspector Hound prepares to open A body lies ignored in front of everyone on stage while second string critics once sitting among the audience meet their untimely ends. Sometimes death comes as good news. There

BOSCynthia2

Tragedy as art: Cynthia Hopkins remembers her dad at Mass MoCA

(North Adams, Massachusetts) On October 9, Cynthia Hopkins returns to MASS MoCA to pay homage to her father in The Truth: A Tragedy. The show, featuring Hopkins’ signature hybrid of spellbinding text and heart-wrenching songs, acts as a collage of

BOSCynthia2

Tragedy as art: Cynthia Hopkins remembers her dad at Mass MoCA

(North Adams, Massachusetts) On October 9, Cynthia Hopkins returns to MASS MoCA to pay homage to her father in The Truth: A Tragedy. The show, featuring Hopkins’ signature hybrid of spellbinding text and heart-wrenching songs, acts as a collage of

The Valhalla Machine

The Met’s new “Das Rheingold” has most opera lovers all excited

The October 9 arrival of Das Rheingold, the first installment of Wagner’s Ring Cycle – Der Ring des Nibelungen – has music lovers full of anticipation. Two live telecast venues for Das Rheingold have been added in the Berkshires (the

The Valhalla Machine

The Met’s new “Das Rheingold” has most opera lovers all excited

The October 9 arrival of Das Rheingold, the first installment of Wagner’s Ring Cycle – Der Ring des Nibelungen – has music lovers full of anticipation. Two live telecast venues for Das Rheingold have been added in the Berkshires (the

Lincoln Center Theater - Stories By Heart  John Lithgow

An Evening with John Lithgow promises to be upclose and personal

“You’re asking yourselves, why must we watch another one-man show? Why is this man plunging himself into this tired, old dramatic form, as tedious as it is narcissistic?” – John Lithgow, in the opening of his show, “John Lithgow: Stories

Lincoln Center Theater - Stories By Heart  John Lithgow

An Evening with John Lithgow promises to be upclose and personal

“You’re asking yourselves, why must we watch another one-man show? Why is this man plunging himself into this tired, old dramatic form, as tedious as it is narcissistic?” – John Lithgow, in the opening of his show, “John Lithgow: Stories

BOSHersh

Halloween means “Happy Ending” of music, storytelling at Mass MoCA

(North Adams, Massachusetts) Chosen by New York Magazine, The Village Voice, and NY Press as the best reading series in New York, The Happy Ending Series knows how to create a scene. Bringing together some of the most interesting storytellers,

BOSHersh

Halloween means “Happy Ending” of music, storytelling at Mass MoCA

(North Adams, Massachusetts) Chosen by New York Magazine, The Village Voice, and NY Press as the best reading series in New York, The Happy Ending Series knows how to create a scene. Bringing together some of the most interesting storytellers,

country fair crowd

All of Hancock Shaker Village becomes a stage for its 50th Country Fair

Hancock Shaker Village 50th Anniversary Country Fair When you walk onto the grounds of Hancock Shaker Village, you not only walk back to a simpler time, but the staff and interpreters enhance the illusion by taking on the dress of

country fair crowd

All of Hancock Shaker Village becomes a stage for its 50th Country Fair

Hancock Shaker Village 50th Anniversary Country Fair When you walk onto the grounds of Hancock Shaker Village, you not only walk back to a simpler time, but the staff and interpreters enhance the illusion by taking on the dress of

BOSDavallCrawford

Davall Crawford, “Prince of New Orleans” to Play MASS MoCA Oct. 2

(North Adams, Massachusetts) Davell Crawford, aka The Prince of New Orleans, is keeping New Orleans roots music alive with vitality and freshness. Crawford is known for his electrifying piano style, stage energy and performances with what can only be described

BOSDavallCrawford

Davall Crawford, “Prince of New Orleans” to Play MASS MoCA Oct. 2

(North Adams, Massachusetts) Davell Crawford, aka The Prince of New Orleans, is keeping New Orleans roots music alive with vitality and freshness. Crawford is known for his electrifying piano style, stage energy and performances with what can only be described

Tenacious Town Players of Pittsfield still nimble at 90

If there were a citywide game of Survivor in Pittsfield, the top spot would have to be awarded that city’s Town Players.  Founded in 1921, it clings to its title of the second  oldest community theatre group in the country.

Tenacious Town Players of Pittsfield still nimble at 90

If there were a citywide game of Survivor in Pittsfield, the top spot would have to be awarded that city’s Town Players.  Founded in 1921, it clings to its title of the second  oldest community theatre group in the country.