Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. and Indoors Out! present Indepen-DANCE by Boxxa Vine!
Pittsfield — Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. will present Indepen-DANCE by Boxxa Vine on Friday, July 1, 5 to 8 p.m. at Persip Park, 175 North Street. Boxxa Vine will host a pop-up dance party at Persip Park. She will be DJing and performing hourly, moving and grooving to start the Fourth of July weekend. There will be giveaways, performances, music, and more!
Hourly schedule:
00:00-00:30 Dance party and meet & greet with Boxxa Vine
00:30-00:45 Mini show with games and giveaways
00:45-00:00 Boxxa is on break, BRB!
Boxxa Vine is a Pittsfield-based drag queen and costume creator with a flair for the dramatic and theatrical. She is a self-taught seamstress who has worked on pieces that have appeared locally, across the country, and on shows such as RuPaul’s Drag Race, RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, and The View. She is also a six-time pageant title holder (Miss Gay: Western MA, Boston, Central NY, Camp Capital NY, Werrrk.com, and Berkshire). She spends most of her free time trying to get new and exciting drag events going around the Berkshires through her business Out of the Boxxa Productions.
Boxxa Vine serves as a board member for Berkshire Stonewall Community Coalition and as the director of entertainment for Berkshire Pride. You can see what she’s up to next on BoxxaVine.com or follow her on Facebook or Instagram (@BoxxaVine).
— A.J.
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All-Day Basketball Tournament to Kick Off Youth Basketball League
Pittsfield — “Beat the Streets,” a local youth basketball league, will host their second annual basketball league from July 2 – August 13. The league will kick off the summer with a basketball tournament at Dorothy Amos Park this Saturday, July 2. The event will feature live music, performances, concessions, food and community vendors, as well as a police presence.
The league features two age groups, 14-17 and 18-30, and is open to all genders. It will run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, at 6 p.m.
“Beat the Streets” will provide jerseys to all teams, referees for all games, and trophies to the league winners and MVPs. The league is sponsored by the NAACP Berkshire County Branch, Hilltown Veterinary Clinic, Premium Waters Inc, 18Degrees, and Beauty Local.For more information contact Dashine Moore at mrsuperfly78@icloud.com.
— A.J.
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Pittsfield Parade announces car show and string band performances
The Pittsfield Fourth of July Parade will host a car show on July 3 to benefit the annual parade. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., a variety of cars will grace downtown Pittsfield and compete for awards. A 50-50 raffle will benefit the parade, and concessions will be available onsite.
Entering a vehicle is free but donations to the Parade are suggested. Admission is free to visitors. Vehicles will be parked in the McKay Street parking lot at Depot Street, and visitor parking will be in the McKay Street garage.
Car enthusiasts will help to create a diverse, colorful, and unique show for the car buffs to enjoy. In addition, two dozen of the cars will be participating in the parade on July fourth.
The Pittsfield Parade Committee has also announced that the Greater Kensington String Band of Philadelphia will participate in this year’s Fourth of July Parade. In addition the group of some 20 musicians will provide a concert from 6-7:30 p.m. on July 3 at Pittsfield’s First United Methodist Church.
The Greater Kensington String Band has always been a crowd favorite and can be seen for blocks in advance with their bright and colorful costumes, exciting entertainment, and great music. While they might have committee members pulling their hair with their long pauses, they pull the crowds into their show along the way. The Greater Kensington String Band is one of over a dozen units making up the non-profit Philadelphia Mummers String Band Association.
Tickets for the July 3 concert will be $10 at the door, and seating is limited. Proceeds will benefit the Parade Committee.
— A.J.
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Leave Your Fears Here opens at Great Barrington Public Theater
The Great Barrington Public Theater 2022 four-title Solo Fest concludes with Leave Your Fears Here, a memoir written and performed by accomplished stage and screen actor James Morrison. In a touching performance, the actor recounts his 10-year-old son Seamus’s brain cancer diagnosis from treatment to recovery. The play is a poetic expression of the power of hope and triumph in the darkest hours. Leave Your Fears Here is onstage from June 30 to July 10 at the Public Theater.
When Seamus suddenly faced physical debilities and a life-threatening diagnosis, Morrison, his wife and family had to face a devastating reality while simultaneously navigating the daunting medical processes. They found themselves transcended by Seamus’s courage, brightness and ability to face his harrowing experiences with strength, humor and poetic nature.
Directed by Robert Egan, Leave Your Fears Here was developed and first staged at the multi-award-winning Ojai Playwrights Conference, where Egan has been Artistic Director since 2002.
Audiences will recognize James Morrison from 24, Law and Order SVU, The West Wing, Six Feet Under, Twin Peaks: The Return and other series and movies.
Leave Your Fears Here will be staged ten times only, from June 30 – July 10, Thurs.-Sun., 7:30pm and 3pm, in the Liebowitz Black Box Theater, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, 84 Alford Rd, Great Barrington, Mass. 01230. Advance tickets are encouraged and can be purchased on the Great Barrington Public Theater website.
Theater fans can also look forward to two other upcoming performances at the Great Barrington Public Theater. Public Speaking 101, opening July 14, is a brand-new comedy featuring a stellar cast of Berkshire actors. The play tells the story of a neurotic amateur actress who leads her community theater class to compete in their county’s First Annual Public Speaking Competition.
Things I Know to Be True will open on August 4, and tells a story of family love, truth, and bonding. GB Public presents the East Coast premiere of this new play that exemplifies the power of transformative theater. Judy Braha, who helmed GB Public’s 2021 hit Mr. Fullerton, will direct.
— A.J.
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Chesterwood announces 44th annual contemporary sculpture show
Stockbridge — The 44th annual contemporary outdoor sculpture show at Chesterwood, a historic artist’s retreat, will open on July 1. Elemental Matters: The Sculpture of Jonathan Prince will feature 12 large scale works situated throughout the landscape at Chesterwood.
Chesterwood’s Guest Curator, Cassandra Sohn, Director of Sohn Fine Art, was drawn to the way Prince’s metal works are often mistaken for wood, stone or liquid. “Though monumental in structure, rooted in geometry and made of metal, Prince’s sculpture’s possess an innate vulnerability. They are a meditation both in process and concept.”
Prince, based in Southfield, Mass., is known for pushing the boundaries of how materials can behave, as well as pushing the limits of what the human hand can accomplish. The artist’s monumental sculptures fabricated from steel and stone explore the human connection between our inner and outer selves. Holding a doctorate from Columbia University and founding several technology companies, Prince’s artworks are uniquely influenced by his background in science, technology, and medicine.
Elemental Matters will also feature the launch of one artwork specifically designed for the metaverse, a digital simulation viewable to visitors through mobile augmented reality (AR). Designed with his team at Berkshire House, a creative hub founded by Prince in 2020, the sculpture embodies much of the characteristics recognizable to Prince’s physical sculpture, but will be an entirely virtual experience.
All of Jonathan Prince’s sculpture is for sale, with a portion donated directly to Chesterwood to advance its mission to support contemporary artists.
A free artist’s reception will be held on Friday, July 29th from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The exhibition will be on view until October 24, Thursdays – Mondays, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Entry to Chesterwood is by ticket only. Either Grounds-Only or Guided Buildings Tour tickets can be reserved online or upon arrival. Special tours of Elemental Matters: The Sculpture of Jonathan Prince will be announced in July on www.chesterwood.org.
Chesterwood is notably one of the earliest venues in the United States to showcase large-scale works in an outdoor setting. Since 1978, Chesterwood has exhibited sculpture by more than 600 emerging and established artists. Prominent art curators, historians, and gallery directors, have traditionally been appointed to organize and curate the outdoor sculpture show in collaboration with Chesterwood staff. Chesterwood, a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is the former summer home, studio, and gardens of America’s foremost sculptor of public monuments, Daniel Chester French.
— A.J.
