As the sun sets in the Berkshires, residents and visitors alike find themselves in one of the enclave’s two dozen theatres. Painting by Frederic Edwin Church (1857) “Sunset in the Berkshire Hills.”
With a little twisting of Stephen Sondheim’s wonderful lyrics to A Little Night Music, a Berkshires jingle has been looping in my head ever faster as the heat rises. The Berkshires are always 5-10 degrees cooler than the rest of the state, and besides, all the theatres here are air conditioned. And for those headed to Tanglewood for Yo Yo Ma and his Silk Road Ensemble, the Tanglewood Music Shed and lawn are air cooled by Mother Nature and the nearby Stockbridge Bowl. Same for the Jacob’s Pillow inside-out stage. And all four of the major Berkshire Theatre Companies and their eight indoor theatres are fully air conditioned.
On this, the fourth of five weekends in June there are numerous plays and live performances to choose from. Each of them has its own story on our home page. Starting down by the Mass Turnpike and heading north they are, in order:
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Great Barrington – Sunday June 24 at 4pm the Berkshire Cabaret presents The Songs of Kate Smith with Stephanie Blythe.
Berkshire Theatre Festival, Stockbridge – The Puppetmaster of Lodz, Previews June 21-22, Opens June 23 at the Unicorn Theatre. 8 pm curtain. A full slate of plays continues throughout the summer.
Shakespeare & Company, Lenox – Your choice of King Lear, Parasite Drag, The Tale of the Allergists Wife, or Cassandra Speaks with varying curtain times. The Company performs all year round.
Tanglewood, Lenox-Stockbridge – Yo Yo Ma and Silk Road Ensemble, June 22 and 24 at 8pm. Diana Krall in Shed at 7pm June 23. Tanglewood continues into Labor Day Weekend.
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival – Opening Week June 20-24 with Mimulus Dance Copany from Brazil and the amazing Circa from Australia. The Festival continues all summer.
Colonial Theatre, Pittsfield – Dark in preparation for A Chorus Line which begins previews July 2.
Barrington Stage Company, Pittsfield – The classic Fiddler on the Roof on the mainstage and previews of Dr. Ruth, All the Way on the Germain Stage. June 21-24 and both shows continue their runs into July.
Berkshire Museum Little Theatre – Berkshire Actors Theatre presents Doubt: A Parable on June 21-24 and continues after that to July 14.
New Stage Performing Arts Center in Pittsfield – Death and the Maiden June 21-14 at 8pm. Runs until July 1.
Mass MoCA’s Hunter Center – North Adams – It’s sold out, but the Williamstown Theatre Festival’s first offering of their season is David Byrne’s Here Lies Love, in a musical workshop with seven additional shows over the summer. They officially open their season June 28 with a double header: The Importance of Being Earnest and The Deep Blue.
Each of these shows is described in great detail in our individual previews,reviews and interviews on our home page. You can also use the buttons below the Berkshire on Stage header to call up just music offerings, or dance, or theatre.
VIsitor Information, Places to Stay, Eat and Things to Do – berkshires.org
1/2 Tix – Discount Tickets to Performances – Click Me
Whatever your choice, if you enjoy the arts, and top quality entertainment, the Berkshires are the cool place to be.
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