The Mahaiwe adds to 2022 music lineup
GREAT BARRINGTON — The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center has added to its 2022 live event lineup with: An Evening with Josh Ritter on June 17; the Handel and Haydn Society with Glories of the Baroque: The Great Concertos on June 29; The High Kings on July 21; An Evening with Graham Nash on July 23; Chris Isaak on July 27; Get Happy!, Michael Feinstein celebrates the Judy Garland Centennial on August 5; Dear Erich, A Jazz Opera by Ted Rosenthal on August 6; Pat Metheny Side-Eye on September 3; Squirrel Nut Zippers and The Dirty Dozen Brass Band on November 4; and Strings Attached with John Pizzarelli & Jessica Molaskey on December 17.
The newly announced performances join Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People, with Debbie Millman and Roxane Gay on May 15, The Wallflowers on May 20, and Madeleine Peyroux on May 27 in rounding out the Mahaiwe’s schedule. More shows are expected to be added later this year, including a gala performance on Saturday, July 30.
The Mahaiwe presents An Evening with Josh Ritter on Friday, June 17 at 8 p.m. Josh Ritter was named one of the 100 greatest living songwriters by Paste Magazine, alongside Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Neil Young. Joan Baez and Bob Weir have covered his songs. He regularly sells out legendary venues such as the Fillmore, the Beacon Theatre, and London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Tickets are $29–$49 with discounts for Mahaiwe members and youth.
The Handel and Haydn Society brings Glories of the Baroque: The Great Concertos to the Mahaiwe on Wednesday, June 29 at 8 p.m. Vivaldi and his fellow Baroque composers set a new standard for musical brilliance that lasts to this day, and nobody brings these pieces alive like the period instrument virtuosi of Boston’s renowned Handel and Haydn Society (H+H). Tickets are $2–$50 with discounts for Mahaiwe members and youth.
The High Kings bring their Irish Folk music to the Mahaiwe on Thursday, July 21 at 8 p.m. The High Kings play 13 instruments between them. Their 2018 self-titled debut album reached number 2 on the world Billboard Music chart, and in March 2009, The High Kings played five consecutive sold out shows to a packed audience in Dublin’s Olympia Theatre. Tickets are $34–$49 with discounts for Mahaiwe members and youth.
The Mahaiwe presents An Evening with Graham Nash on Saturday, July 23 at 8 p.m. A founding member of both the Hollies and Crosby, Stills and Nash, Graham Nash is a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, a Grammy Award-winning artist, and a double-inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Tickets are $41 to $86 with discounts for Mahaiwe members and youth.
Chris Isaak will perform at the Mahaiwe on Wednesday, July 27 at 8 p.m. Over the course of his three-decade-plus career, Platinum-selling and Grammy-nominated singer and actor Chris Isaak has performed to sold-out crowds across the globe. His music and film credits include nine critically acclaimed studio albums, and 12 chart-topping singles, along with several motion pictures. He has created music for film soundtracks including “Eyes Wide Shut,” “True Romance,” and “Blue Velvet.” Tickets are $64–$119 with discounts for Mahaiwe members and youth.
The Mahaiwe presents a special event from a beloved returning performer on Friday, August 5 at 8 p.m. — Get Happy! Michael Feinstein celebrates the Judy Garland Centennial. Legendary singer Feinstein salutes and celebrates the great Judy Garland on her 100th birthday. Executive produced by Liza Minnelli, audiences are invited to join a nostalgic musical journey of Garland’s illustrious career. Feinstein will lead a historical journey through her life, telling stories he’s learned from Minnelli and other close friends. Tickets are $59–$124 with discounts for Mahaiwe members and youth.
The Mahaiwe presents Dear Erich — A Jazz Opera by Ted Rosenthal on Saturday, Aug. 6 at 7:30 p.m. This concert performance features members of the NYC Opera cast, accompanied by renowned jazz pianist Ted Rosenthal and his trio, with special guest NEA Jazz Master saxophonist Dave Liebman. Inspired by letters written in Germany between 1938–1941 by Herta Rosenthal to the composer’s father, Dear Erich depicts a family’s dual fates, addressing walls and wars, refugees and immigrants, survivors and victims, and the promise of a new world. Tickets are $25–$60, with discounts for Mahaiwe members and youth.
Another veteran of the Mahaiwe stage returns on Saturday, Sept. 3 at 8 p.m. Pat Metheny Side-Eye unites the jazz guitar great with keyboardist Chris Fishman and drummer Joe Dyson. Over the years, Metheny has won countless polls as “Best Jazz Guitarist” and awards, including three gold records. He has won 20 Grammy Awards spread out over a variety of different categories including Best Rock Instrumental, Best Contemporary Jazz Recording, Best Jazz Instrumental Solo, and Best Instrumental Composition, at one point winning seven consecutive Grammys for seven consecutive albums. In 2015 he was inducted into the Downbeat Hall of Fame, becoming only the fourth guitarist to be included and its youngest member. Tickets are $54–$89, with discounts for Mahaiwe members and youth.
The Squirrel Nut Zippers and The Dirty Dozen Brass Band bring their Southern Remedies Tour to the Mahaiwe on Friday, Nov. 4 at 8 p.m. New Orleans’ most celebrated modern brass band pairs up with the Squirrel Nut Zippers and their multi-platinum blend of 1930s era jazz, swing and folk. The performances by these two critically acclaimed bands make for an eclectic evening, with two sets plus collaboration. Tickets are $51–$81 with discounts for Mahaiwe members and youth.
A holiday season tradition returns to the Mahaiwe in a new iteration on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 8 p.m. — Strings Attached with John Pizzarelli & Jessica Molaskey. Travel back to the days of the Hot Club of France and Reinhardt and Grappelli for an intimate evening of standards performed by a “Django-esque” of two guitars, violin, bass, Pizzarelli on guitar and vocals, and Molaskey’s vocals. Tickets are $44–$94 with discounts for Mahaiwe members and youth.
Tickets to An Evening with Josh Ritter, Handel and Haydn Society — Glories of the Baroque: The Great Concertos, and An Evening with Graham Nash go on sale to Mahaiwe members on Wednesday, April 6 at noon, and to the public on Saturday, April 9 at noon.
Tickets to Chris Isaak, Get Happy! Michael Feinstein celebrates the Judy Garland Centennial, and Dear Erich – A Jazz Opera by Ted Rosenthal go on sale to Mahaiwe members on Wednesday, April 13 at noon, and to the public on Saturday, April 16 at noon.
Tickets to Pat Metheny Side-Eye, Squirrel Nut Zippers and The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and Strings Attached with John Pizzarelli & Jessica Molaskey go on sale to Mahaiwe members on Wednesday, April 20 at noon, and to the public on Saturday, April 23 at noon.
To purchase tickets, click on the links or call 413-528-0100 during box office hours, Wednesdays–Saturdays from 12–4 p.m. For $15 youth discounts (ages 30 and under), contact the box office directly.
—A.K.
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8th annual Live Out Loud Community Conference to be held at BCC April 2
PITTSFIELD — The Live Out Loud Community Conference will hold its 8th annual event at Berkshire Community College (BCC) on Saturday, April 2 from 9:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. in the Connector on the Main Campus. This event is free to the public, although registration is preferred. Attendees can register here.
The Live Out Loud Community Conference is Berkshire County’s annual event to strengthen the community’s understanding and advocacy of the LGBTQIA+ population. This year’s conference will feature the keynote presentation “A Conversation About LGBTQ+ Healthcare in the Berkshires,” at 10 a.m., followed by three additional morning presentations.
There will be a break for lunch (provided free to attendees) and the chance for folks to visit the “Show Up to Show Off” LGBTQIA+ vendor tables, featuring goods and services provided by local LGBTQIA+ owned businesses, and community resources and providers.
After lunch, there will be four options for break-out conversations on topics including nonbinary identities, the history of advocacy for LGBTQ rights, conversations on coming out, and an additional conversation on accessing healthcare in the Berkshires with medical professionals.
Additionally, TransExchange will hold a free clothing swap on site. Attendees are encouraged to bring clean, gently used clothes to give away, and/or walk away with new items.
—A.K.
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Clark to present virtual lecture on photography and Black Civil War soldiers
WILLIAMSTOWN — The Clark Art Institute will present a virtual talk by Deborah Willis, author of “The Black Civil War Soldier,” exploring the crucial role of photography in shaping African American narratives of the Civil War. The lecture, “(Re)telling Stories in Photography About the Black Civil War Soldier,” will be broadcast via Zoom and Facebook Live (@clarkartinstitute) on Saturday, April 9, at 2 pm. Advance registration is required to view the Zoom transmission.
Though both the Union and Confederate armies excluded African American men from their initial calls to arms, many of the men who eventually served were Black. Simultaneously, the emerging art of photography blossomed — marking the Civil War as the first conflict to be extensively documented through photographs. In her book, Willis shows how photography helped construct a national vision of Blackness, war, and bondage, and uses these early photographs to unearth the hidden histories of Black Civil War soldiers.
Willis’ talk is presented in conjunction with the Clark’s exhibition “As They Saw It: Artists Witnessing War,” on view in the Clark’s Manton Research Center through May 30.
—A.K.
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Mac-Haydn tickets on sale, limited performances announced
CHATHAM, N.Y. — The Mac-Haydn Theatre will return to its full seven-show main stage schedule this year, after a condensed season in summer 2021 following the theatre’s closure due to the pandemic. After their successful introductions last season, the Summer in September extension of performances and the Limited Performances series featuring guest artists will return. The season will run through until October 2.
This year’s Limited Performances Series will feature the return of fan-favorite musical theatre revue “Showstoppers,” as well as the second installment of toUch Ensemble’s immersive tarot-themed cabaret, “Major Arcana: The Next Draw,” after its successful debut last fall. Two Mac-Haydn favorites, Gabe Belyeu (“Man of La Mancha”) and Meredith Lustig (“Oklahoma!”) will debut their own solo shows as part of the series. Belyeu’s “A Call To Places “will bring to life the stories of his many travels, while Lustig’s “To Sondheim, With Love,” will reflects= on the many letters the late composer wrote throughout his life.
The previously announced main stage season will feature “A Chorus Line,” “Urinetown,” “Kiss Me, Kate,” “Next to Normal,” “The Full Monty,” “Xanadu,” and “Forever Plaid.”
Main Stage
- A Chorus Line (Thursday, June 23–Sunday, July 3, 2022)
- Urinetown (Thursday, July 7–Sunday, July 17, 2022)
- Kiss Me, Kate (Thursday, July 21–Sunday, July 31, 2022)
- Next to Normal (Thursday, Aug. 4–Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022)
- The Full Monty (Thursday, Aug. 18–Sunday, Sept. 4, 2022)
- Xanadu (Friday, Sept. 9–Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022)
- Forever Plaid (Friday, Sept. 9–Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022)
Limited Performances
- Showstoppers (September 3, 14, 21 & 28)
- A Call to Places: Gabe Belyeu (August 24, September 3 & 10)
- To Sondheim, With Love: Meredith Lustig (August 10, September 14 & 16)
- Major Arcana: The Next Draw (September 23 & 30, October 1)
Tickets can be purchased online or by calling 518-392-9292. Subscription packages and group rates are also available.
—A.K.
