Crandell Theatre to host area premiere of GardenFit March 27
CHATHAM, N.Y. — Crandell Theatre will present the area premiere of GardenFit, a new 13-episode public television series highlighting different garden styles and techniques, while providing advice and solutions for gardeners’ aches and pains. Columbia County residents, creators, and co-hosts of GardenFit, Expert Gardener Madeline Hooper and Fitness Trainer Jeff Hughes will introduce two 30-minutes episodes and conduct a Q&A on Sunday, March 27 from 1–3:30 p.m.
Admission is free for Crandell Theatre members and $10 for the general public.
GardenFit is coordinated with the Crandell’s new annual membership program that maintains the $8 box office ticket price for Crandell members and hosts members events focused on film throughout the year. Membership in the Crandell supports one of the few remaining big screen, not-for-profit community movie theaters in the United States, as well as FilmColumbia, and other film programs.
All attendees must show proof of vaccination and wear a mask. Seating is limited; please reserve your ticket in advance.
—A.K.
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Great Barrington Public Theater announces 2022 season
GREAT BARRINGTON — Great Barrington Public Theater (GBPT) announces a 10-week season of new plays. From early June to mid-August, it will present four solo plays and two ensemble plays that run the gamut from laugh-out-loud to riveting drama.
This summer, GBPT expands its season to introduce a new Solo Festival with four premiere, full-length, single-actor plays, followed by two new ensemble plays on the mainstage. The Solo Festival lineup includes premiere works featuring Berkshire resident and internationally celebrated writer/comedienne Alison Larkin, multiple Emmy-nominated actress Sharon Lawrence, and new works by actor/writers Will LeBow and James Morrison. The ensemble plays will include a brand-new comedy by Berkshire favorite Mark St. Germain and a penetrating new drama of a family coming to terms with unspoken truths.
GBPT’s season will return to the Liebowitz Black Box Theater and the McConnell Theater in the Daniel Arts Center at Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington. In keeping with its mission, tickets will be affordably priced between $20–$50.
The season opens in the Liebowitz Theatre with the GB Public Solo Fest, running June 3–July 10.
When you fall in love for the first time in your 50s and the worst happens, you have a choice. You can hide under the bed or you can write “Grief, the Musical…a Comedy” (June 3–12). Written and performed by Alison Larkin, with music by Gary Schreiner, directed by James Warwick, and arising from Larkin’s experience with heartbreaking loss, this deeply funny love story blends stand-up comedy, songs, and theater to bring audiences on a soul-healing journey.
Next in the GB Public Solo Fest (June 16–19), is Robin Gerber’s new play, “The Shot,” based on the life of Katherine Graham, Pulitzer Prize-winning publisher of The Washington Post. “The Shot” is directed by local writer and performer Michelle Joyner and stars Emmy-nominated and award-winning actress Sharon Lawrence in the role of Graham. Lawrence’s credits include memorable roles on “NYPD Blue,” “Shameless,” and “Dynasty,” and on Broadway in “Cabaret,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Chicago,” and more. “The Shot” is a searing story of a powerful woman uncovering her own shadowed past to overcome adversity.
“Leave Your Fears Here” (June 30–July 10) is a memoir written and performed by acclaimed stage and screen actor James Morrison. The play will be directed by Housatonic resident Robert Egan, artistic director of the internationally renowned Ojai Playwright’s Conference, where this piece was developed. In this intense and personal story, Morrison recounts his 10-year-old son Seamus’ journey from brain cancer diagnosis, through treatment and recovery. It is a poignant story of fear, the power of language, and ultimately, of triumph. Audiences will recognize Morrison from the Emmy-winning drama “24,” “Law and Order SVU,” and “Twin Peaks: The Return.”
The final play in the GB Public Solo Fest is “The Bard The Beat The Blues.” This new solo piece is a punchy compilation of Shakespeare monologues, Beat poetry, and live music composed and performed by Will LeBow. It will run in rotation throughout the Festival (June 8–July 8). Becket resident LeBow is one of the most lauded stage actors in the country, whose credits range from Broadway and Lincoln Center to Off-Broadway, with more than 20 seasons as a company member of ART in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and multiple film and TV roles. “The Bard The Beat The Blues” spotlights some of Shakespeare’s most challenging characters, such as Lear, Shylock, and Malvolio, blended with LeBow’s original songs and the poetry of Lawrence Ferlinghetti. GB Public’s Artistic Director Jim Frangione will direct.
The McConnell Theater mainstage springs to life July 14–24 with “Public Speaking 101,” a brand-new comedy by beloved Berkshire playwright Mark St. Germain. In this work, a neurotic amateur actress leads her community theater class of terrified adults to compete in their county’s First Annual Public Speaking Competition. This is the premiere of a brand-new comedy, with a stellar cast of Berkshire actors. Artistic Director Jim Frangione will direct.
From August 4–14, audiences will be drawn in and touched by “Things I Know to Be True” by award-winning playwright Andrew Bovell (Broadway’s “When the Rain Stops Falling”). A powerful Midwestern family drama, it was first presented by Milwaukee Rep in 2019 to rave reviews and was headed for Broadway until COVID intervened. GBPT will present the East Coast premiere of the play, with Judy Braha directing. “Things I Know to Be True” goes straight to the heart of family love, truth, and bonding, and exemplifies the power of transformative theater.
More information on the season will be available over the coming weeks. Tickets go on sale April 1, and will be affordable to all, but seating is limited, especially for the GB Public Solo Fest.
—A.K.
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Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui receives 2022 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award
BECKET — Jacob’s Pillow announces Belgian and Moroccan choreographer, dancer, and director Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui as the recipient of the 2022 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award. Cherkaoui will accept this award and present a new work at the season-opening gala on Saturday, June 18.
The gala program will also feature performances by Alice Sheppard and Laurel Lawson of Kinetic Light; Adam Weinert and Dancers performing an excerpt of Ted Shawn’s iconic “Dance of the Ages” (1938); past Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award winner Annabelle Lopez Ochoa presenting a world premiere, created during the week prior to the gala for The School at Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Ballet Performance Ensemble; dancers Sara Mearns and Gilbert Bolden III with an excerpt from Justin Peck’s “Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes (2015)”; Irene Rodríguez and guests; and a group of dance luminaries who will help inaugurate the new stage at the reopened Ted Shawn Theatre, including Carmen de Lavallade, Camille A. Brown, Michelle Dorrance, Ann Hutchinson Guest, Bill T. Jones, Liz Lerman, Mark Morris, Eiko Otake, and Wendy Whelan.
The Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award, presented each year to an artist of exceptional vision and achievement, carries a cash prize of $25,000, which the artist can use in any way they wish. Cherkaoui is a prominent international contemporary choreographer, dancer, and director who originally hails from Belgium. He has choreographed works for the Royal Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, Pilobolus, and Aakash Odedra. He choreographed a music video for Beyoncé and Jay-Z, the recent film “Cyrano” directed by Joe Wright, and was nominated for a Tony in 2021 for his choreography of Broadway’s “Jagged Little Pill.” He founded his own company, Eastman, in 2010, and has won awards for his solo work and his choreography.
At the season-opening gala on June 18, Cherkaoui will present the world premiere of a new work titled “con fuoco,” a duet for dancers Robbie Moore and Andrea Bou Othmane that will be supported with live singing by Ghalia Benali.
In addition to his groundbreaking contemporary choreography, Cherkaoui served as artistic director of Belgium’s Royal Ballet of Flanders from 2014–2021, and will become the artistic director of Switzerland’s Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève during the summer of 2022.
—A.K.
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BCC’s Hospitality & Culinary Program to offer ServSafe workshops
PITTSFIELD — As part of its FastTrack Hospitality & Culinary Program, Berkshire Community College (BCC) announces it will offer three free ServSafe Certifications beginning in April. Offered in both English and Spanish, the online workshops are presented in an asynchronous format, allowing students to start and complete them at their own pace.
ServSafe is a food and beverage safety training and certificate program administered by the U.S. National Restaurant Association. The program is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Conference for Food Protection.
The free online certifications, available beginning April 1, include:
- ServSafe Food Handler: The industry-recognized standard for delivering consistent food safety training to employees
- ServSafe Massachusetts Allergen Training: A program developed and created by the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network to meet the terms outlined in the Massachusetts Food Allergy Awareness Act
- ServSafe Alcohol: Provides the fundamentals of responsible alcohol service
Pre-registration is required. To register, click here. For more information, email workshops@berkshirecc.edu or call 413-236-2127.
In addition to offering these ServSafe courses, the FastTrack Hospitality & Culinary Program at BCC, offered through the new Berkshire Culinary Institute, offers students the opportunity to earn certificates in one of four areas: “front of house” hospitality core skills, “back of house” hospitality culinary skills, hospitality supervision and beverage service.
—A.K.
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Jewish Federation joins emergency campaign for Ukrainian Jews
PITTSFIELD — In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Jewish Federation of the Berkshires has joined the Jewish Federations of North America’s (JFNA) $20 million emergency campaign to provide humanitarian assistance to vulnerable Jewish populations living in Ukraine. Funds will be allocated through the Federations’ core partners: The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), The Joint Distribution Committee(JDC), and World ORT, who are on the ground in Ukraine providing critical welfare and support to Ukraine’s Jewish community.
Funds will support urgent necessities of vulnerable Jewish populations, including food, transportation, temporary housing for displaced persons, emergency needs in schools, and emigration-related assistance.
The Berkshire Jewish community has raised over $20,000 to date. Federation’s Executive Committee recently allocated an additional $10,000 from its emergency reserves.
Approximately 200,000 members of Ukraine’s Jewish community are dispersed over some 100 towns and cities. Since the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014, Ukrainians have been profoundly affected by political and economic instability. Jewish Federations and their partners provided ongoing support to this vulnerable population for communal needs, programming, and humanitarian aid.
—A.K.
