Dottie’s Coffee Lounge hosts “Domingo Brunch” with Michael Aaron
Pittsfield— On Sunday, August 20th from 10 a.m. to noon, Dottie’s Coffee Lounge hosts “Domingo Brunch” with Michael Aaron.
Inspired by music icons from past decades, Michael Aaron projects a familiar but new sound while bringing back the lyrical tellings of the classic American singer-songwriter.
Michael Aaron plays live on Sunday, August 20th from 10 a.m. to noon at Dottie’s Coffee Lounge on North Street in Pittsfield, where every Sunday, Dottie’s serves up “Domingo Brunch”, delicious food and live music. The full menu and coffee bar are available until 2 p.m. More information can be found online.
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Great Barrington Public Theater and The Mount present a special event, ‘Representation and How to Get It’ inspired by Julia Ward Howe
Lenox— On Friday, August 25th through Sunday, August 27th, Great Barrington Public Theater (GBPT) and The Mount present a special event, “Representation and How to Get It” inspired by Julia Ward Howe.
“Representation and How to Get It” is a new solo show created collaboratively by playwright Joyce Van Dyke, actor Elaine Vaan Hogue, and GBPT Associate Artistic Director Judy Braha.
Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the Battle Hymn of the Republic, was also a famous poet and human rights activist. It’s early dawn, and we find her rehearsing a lecture she’s about to give to the Boston Radical Club on political representation for women. She delivers a passionate, moving call-to-arms for our time. The creators of “Representation and How to Get It” say, “We want her words and this play to charge the audience with agency, hope, and a collective sense of the need to take action now.”
Each performance will be followed by a post-show conversation with company artists, civic leaders, activist trailblazers, and representatives. On Friday, August 25th, the conversation is called “Julia Ward Howe Leans In, 2023”, a conversation about the genesis and creation of the play and what makes artists want to take on civic-minded projects and activism in the arts. On Saturday, August 26th, the conversation is called “It’s Your Community Calling”, a conversation about the positive effect of activism and what brings leaders to follow paths to community service. On Saturday, August 27th, the conversation is called “Women in Politics, Women in Place” a conversation about organized activism, electoral inclusion, and their personal journeys to representation by women, for all constituents in their communities.
The performances and post-show conversations are on Friday, August 25th at 7 p.m., Saturday, August 26th at 11 a.m., and Sunday, August 27th at 2 p.m., at the Mount on Plunkett Street in Lenox. Tickets are $30 and students are free with advance reservation and valid ID presented at door. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center presents ‘Mind the Gap’
Great Barrington— On Friday, August 25th at 7 p.m., the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center will present “Mind the Gap”, a free, intergenerational performance facilitated by New York Theatre Workshop.
The performance is a culmination of a week-long workshop at the Mahaiwe between local youth and seniors, working together to learn the power of storytelling and theatre.
The performance is on Friday, August 25th at 7 p.m. at the Mahaiwe on Castle Street in Great Barrington. The performance is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. Reservations can be made online or by calling 413-528-0100.
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Open Artist Studios in Great Barrington
Great Barrington— On Saturday August 26th and Sunday, August 27th from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days, six artists who maintain art studios at 292 Main Street in Great Barrington will open their doors to the public.
The artists include Morgan Bulkeley (paintings and sculptures), Stella Elliston (paintings), Joan Griswold (paintings), Phil Knoll (paintings and drawings), Wendy Noyes (photography), and Ken Otsuka (paintings).
The studios are open on Saturday August 26th and Sunday, August 27th from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days. The studios are located at 292 Main Street in Great Barrington. All are welcome.
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Professor Michael Hoberman will discuss the present-day legacy of early Jewish American history a two-part series
Pittsfield— On Thursdays, August 24th and August 31st at 10:45 a.m. on both days, the Jewish Federation presents Fitchburg State’s Professor Michael Hoberman in a two-part series on the present-day legacy of early Jewish American history.
Michael Hoberman is a professor of American literature at Fitchburg State University whose books include “New Israel/New England: Jews and Puritans in Early America” and “A Hundred Acres of America: The Geography of Jewish American Literary History”.
The first session will focus on the Touro Synagogue in Newport, R.I., which was built and dedicated in 1763 and is now a shrine to religious freedom and Jewish belonging in the U.S.
The second session on Thursday, August 31st will focus on recent research in the colonial era on the “first Jewish families.” How do present-day descendants tell their families’ stories and why are their stories important today?
The free discussions are on Thursdays, August 24th and August 31st at 10:45 a.m. on both days at Knesset Israel on Colt Road in Pittsfield. A kosher hot lunch will follow. Lunch is a $3 suggested donation for adults over 60 and $7 for all others. Reservations are required for lunch and can be made by calling 413-442-2200 before 9 a.m. on the day of the program. More information can be found online.
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The Clark Art Institute presents a sculpture garden artist talk with Pallavi Sen
Williamstown— On Saturday, August 26th at 3 p.m., the Clark Art Institute presents a sculpture garden artist talk with Pallavi Sen.
Sen leads an informal conversation about the sculptural artist’s garden that she and a group of Williams College students are cultivating as part of the current “Humane Ecology: Eight Positions” exhibition. Sen and the students walk through the garden and discuss the process of cultivation from seed-to-seed. They also describe the garden’s double status as an artwork and productive food source.
Featuring eight contemporary artists who consider the intertwined natural and social dimensions of ecological relationships, “Humane Ecology: Eight Positions” includes sculpture, sound installation, video, and plantings. Each artist represents a distinct approach and place, or “position,” and the complex dynamics between living things and their environments is essential to their thinking. Through their work, these artists illuminate patterns of cultivation and care, migration and adaptation, extraction, and exploitation that span historical, geographical, and species lines.
The free talk is on Saturday, August 26th at 3 p.m. on the Lunder Center’s Moltz Terrace at the Clark Art Institute on South Street in Williamstown. More information can be found online.
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Berkshire Theatre Group announces audition call
Pittsfield— Berkshire Theatre Group seeks young actors to audition for its upcoming non-Equity touring show production of the “Magic Tree House Merlin Missions: Winter of The Ice Wizard” for the 2023-2024 school year.
All auditions will take place at the Colonial Theatre on South Street in Pittsfield on Wednesday, August 30, 2023, starting at 6 p.m. Roles are open to young actors of all ethnicities and genders enrolled in middle school, high school, and local colleges ages 12 and up. Actors should come prepared to read excerpts from the play as provided by the director and possibly sing. Callbacks will take place the same evening.
Appointments and pre-registration are necessary to audition. To schedule an audition time slot or for further information, please email Allison Rachele Bayles, Director of Education at auditions@berkshiretheatre.org.
