‘Studio 54’ screening to include designer Q&A, afterparty
Millerton, N.Y. — The Moviehouse will screen the documentary film “Studio 54” Saturday, Oct. 27, at 9 p.m. The film will be followed by a question-and-answer session moderated by Jonathan Bee with designer Barry Cord of Kieselstein-Cord and Richard Lambertson, former assistant to Steve Rubell. An afterparty with drinks and dancing until midnight will hosted by 52 Main with thematic disco lighting by Alex Harney to accompany the tunes of the late ‘70s and early 80s provided by Paul Pesco.
For 33 months, from 1978 to 1980, the Studio 54 nightclub was the place to be seen in Manhattan. A haven of hedonism, tolerance, glitz and glamor, Studio was very hard to gain entrance to and impossible to ignore, with news of who was there filling the gossip columns daily. Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, two college friends from Brooklyn, succeeded in creating the ultimate escapist fantasy in the heart of the theater district. Rubell was the bon vivant who wanted to be everybody’s friend and was photographed with every celebrity du jour who entered the club and Schrager was the behind-the-scenes creative mastermind who shunned the limelight. The film was directed by Matt Tyrnauer with an original score by Lorne Balfe.
Tickets are $14 for the general public and $12 for members, and are required for the film and Q&A. All over 21 are welcome at the afterparty. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact the Moviehouse at (518) 789-0022
–E.E.
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Boston Symphony Orchestra to perform concert at MCLA
North Adams — The Boston Symphony Orchestra will offer a BSO Community Chamber Concert Sunday, Oct. 28, at 3 p.m. at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Church Street Center.
BSO musicians who will perform at this event will include Thomas Martin, clarinet; Tamara Smirnova and Bracha Malkin, violin; Michael Zaretsky, viola; Mickey Katz, cello; and Xak Bjerken, piano. They will present Schumann’s Märchenerzählungen for clarinet, viola, and piano, Op. 132; and Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57. As part of the series’ ongoing artistic exchange program, students from Berkshire Children and Families’ Kids 4 Harmony program will present a special pre-concert program at 2:30 p.m. Following the performances, concertgoers will have an opportunity to meet the musicians over dessert and coffee.
The concert is free and open to the public, but registration is required. For tickets and more information, call (617) 266-1200 or (888) 266-1200.
–E.E.
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Moors & McCumber to perform concert, hold workshop at Dewey Hall
Sheffield — Roots music duo Moors & McCumber will perform at Dewey Hall Saturday, Oct. 27, at 8 p.m. The duo will also give a workshop at the hall at 3 p.m. in conjunction with Berkshire Strings.
James Moors and Kort McCumber, who met 10 years ago and now perform 120 shows a year across the country, sing and play a wide variety of instruments including violin, guitar, ukulele, mandolin, bouzouki and harmonica. While they describe their co-written music as Americana or roots music, it is heavily influenced by Irish folk music with dollops of American country, rock, folk, bluegrass, R&B and blues.
Concert tickets are $20, and combination tickets for the workshop and concert are $30. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact Berkshire Strings at (413) 528-5739. To register for the workshop, email erika@berkshirestrings.com with “Workshop” in the subject line.
–E.E.
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Ventfort Hall to present ‘Fantastic Terrors’ Halloween reading
Lenox — Pittsfield historian Jeffry Bradway will return to Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum Saturday, Oct. 27, at 3:30 p.m., appearing in costume as Edgar Allan Poe for a presentation titled “Fantastic Terrors.” A Victorian tea will follow Bradway’s performance.
Bradway will present readings of three Poe classics: the poems “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee,” and the short story “The Masque of the Red Death.” As part of his performance, Bradway will intersperse on a first-person basis anecdotes about Poe as a writer, magazine editor, literary critic and his mysterious early death.
Bradway appeared at Ventfort Hall last year as Arthur Conan Doyle. An avid mystery fan since childhood, Bradway is a member of several Sherlockian societies, including the Baker Street Irregulars, the world’s oldest such organization. He has taught history at Berkshire Community College and Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury, Connecticut.He is a co-author of “History of the Colonial Theatre,” named the 2015 Outstanding Book of the Year by the Theatre Historical Society of America.
Tickets are $26 in advance and $32 the day of the event. Reservations are recommended due to limited seating. For tickets and more information, contact Ventfort Hall at (413) 637-3206 or info@gildedage.org.
–E.E.
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The Messengers, Gospel Gang to hold fuel assistance benefit concert
Lenox — On Sunday, Oct. 28, at 4 p.m. at the United Methodist Church of Lenox, the contemporary Christian choir the Gospel Gang and the gospel trio the Messengers will present “Harvest Gospel,” a concert to benefit the emergency fuel fund of the Pittsfield Area Council of Congregations and the emergency assistance fuel fund of Construct in Great Barrington.
“Harvest Gospel” marks the ninth annual concert the groups have presented for the benefit of the emergency fuel funds. The event has raised over $35,000 to date. The emergency fuel fund is administered through Pittsfield’s Salvation Army. Construct assists 40 households on average each winter season with 100 gallons of heating fuel, reaching families in crisis in the 15 villages and towns in the southern Berkshire region.
The Gospel Gang includes more than 20 singers and a full instrumental band and, along with the Messengers, offers an assortment of contemporary Christian music styles including Southern Gospel, country, blues and urban.
There is a suggested donation of $10. For more information, call (413) 445-5918.
–E.E.
