Becket Arts Center to present ‘My Evil Twin,’ an intimate, genre-bending musical, starring identical twin opera singers
Becket— On Friday, August 9th 8 p.m., the Becket Arts Center will present “My Evil Twin,” an intimate, genre-bending musical, starring identical twin opera singers.
With Jim and John Demler portraying Jim and John Demler, the play tells the story of their lives in words and song in a poignant tribute to sibling love.
The performance is on Friday, August 9th 8 p.m. at the Becket Arts Center on Broker Hill Road in Becket. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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Norfolk Chamber Music Festival presents ‘Concerto Night,’ an evening of virtuosity and concertos from the Baroque era
Norfolk, Conn.— On Saturday, August 10th at 8 p.m., Norfolk Chamber Music Festival presents “Concerto Night,” an evening of virtuosity, as Norfolk Festival Artists and Fellows perform a variety of concertos from the Baroque era.
The showcase of concertos by Vivaldi, Bach, and Georg Philipp Telemann features Stephen Taylor on oboe, William Purvis on horn, Serena Canin, Katie Hyun, and Tai Murray on violin; Ole Akahoshi on cello, and Boris Berman on piano, with the Norfolk Fellows.
There is a free pre-concert conversation at 7 p.m. in the Battell Recital Hall. Festival Director Melvin Chen talks with festival artists, sharing the performers’ insight into the music, the life of a professional artist, and more.
The concert is on Saturday, August 10th at 8 p.m. in the Norfolk Festival Music Shed at 49 Battell Road in Norfolk, Conn. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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Lauren Clark Fine Art presents ‘Season’s Segue’ featuring new work by six gallery artists
Great Barrington— From August 10th through the 31st, Lauren Clark Fine Art presents ‘Season’s Segue’ featuring new work by six gallery artists.
You’ve seen their works before, but they are always reaching and growing. The featured artists include Jan Conn, Abby DuBow, David Eddy, Karen Iglehart, Terry Wise, and Larry Zingale, who will be showing their latest works of still life, figurative, landscape and abstract paintings, prints, and collage.
The exhibit runs from August 10th through the 31st at Lauren Clark Fine Art at 684 Main Street in Great Barrington. There is an opening reception on Saturday, August 10th from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. More information can be found online.
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Childs+Clark Gallery presents ‘Sweet Berkshire Summer,’ the works of two painters, three glass artists, and a sculptor
Great Barrington— From August 10th through the 31st, Childs+Clark Gallery presents ‘Sweet Berkshire Summer,’ the works of two painters, three glass artists, and a sculptor.
This show is all about summer, with large scale floral paintings by Great Barrington artist Joel Haynes, flowers and landscapes in the abstract by Stockbridge artist Sarah Horne, bronze birds by Sharon Wandel, pond lilies and frogs by Mariel Bass, sea birds by Aron Leaman, and glass by the gallery’s newest artist, Sid Hutter.
The exhibit runs from August 10th through the 31st at the Childs+Clark Gallery at 684 Main Street in Great Barrington. There is an opening reception on Saturday, August 10th from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. More information can be found online.
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Berkshire Botanical Garden presents Todd McGrain’s ‘The Lost Bird Project’
Stockbridge— From August 10th through October 6th, Berkshire Botanical Garden presents Todd McGrain’s “The Lost Bird Project,” an indoor and outdoor exhibit.
Since 2000, McGrain has created permanent memorials to birds driven to extinction in modern times. Collaborating with local communities, he’s placed memorials at sites with direct significance to the life of each species. In most cases, these sites are the locations where the birds were last seen in the wild.
The outdoor exhibit consists of large-scale bronze sculptures that are castings of those original memorials. They include monuments to the passenger pigeon, the Carolina parakeet, the Labrador duck, the great auk, and the heath hen. The indoor exhibit in the Leonhardt Galleries consists of photographs, drawings, and paintings McGrain created during his research at several museum collections.
“My first real introduction to these lost birds came from John James Audubon’s illustrations,” said McGrain, a Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship recipient. “Audubon’s compassionate image of the passenger pigeon has had a particularly lasting impact. There are many birds in the world, birds that we can hear and see, count and study. I am a casual birder and enjoy watching migratory visitors. These living birds, however, have never found their way into my imagination quite the way the lost birds have. Perhaps it was their absence that led me to them, that compelled me to shape my first small model of a preening Labrador duck. Perhaps it was the challenge of finding form for the formless. I have always turned to the studio to find purpose for complex thoughts and emotions. And so, with a fist full of clay, I began my own exploration.”
He explains, “My interpretation of ‘The Lost Bird’ sculptures is that they are, as a group, melancholy, yet affirming,” he said. “They compel us to recognize the finality of our loss. They ask us not to forget them, and they remind us of our duty to prevent further extinction.”
“The Berkshire Botanical Garden is an ideal location for ‘The Lost Bird Project’ exhibit,” he said, because the passenger pigeon and the heath hen would have both been common birds in this region. In a way it is a homecoming. Perhaps the memorials’ presence here will help us imagine this garden cast in shadow by a great flock of passenger pigeons. Perhaps we can still bring ourselves to conjure the sound of a flock of heath hens welcoming the dawn with its haunting, cooing morning choir.”
The exhibit runs from August 10th through October 6th at the Berkshire Botanical Garden at 5 West Stockbridge Road in Stockbridge, There is an opening reception on Saturday, August 10th from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. More information can be found online.
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Becket Arts Center presents ‘Quillings, Drawings and Block Prints,’ a solo show by Joan Rooks
Becket— From August 9th through September 1st, Becket Arts Center presents ‘Quillings, Drawings and Block Prints,’ a solo show by Joan Rooks.
Rooks’ work won the Becket Arts Center’s annual poster contest, and a print of the winning entry will be available for sale.
The exhibit runs from August 9th through September 1st. There will be an opening reception on Friday, August 9th from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. There will be a closing reception on September 1st from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. More information can be found online.
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The Crandell presents actor and filmmaker Griffin Dunne live in person
Chatham, N.Y.— On Saturday, August 10th at 7 p.m., The Crandell Theatre’s ‘Crandell LIVE!’ Series welcomes actor and filmmaker Griffin Dunne for a screening of a “Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold,” the Emmy-nominated film he directed about his aunt, the literary legend, and a post show discussion.
In addition to the film, he will be discussing his bestselling family memoir “The Friday Afternoon Club,” published by Penguin Random House in June. Crandell Executive Director Brian Edward Leach will interview Dunne and moderate questions from the audience.
Nominated for an Oscar for his short film, “The Duke of Groove,” starring a young Tobey Maguire, Dunne’s directing credits include “The Good Wife” television series and the feature films “Practical Magic,” starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, and “Addicted to Love,” starring Meg Ryan.
The event is on Saturday, August 10th at 7 p.m. at The Crandell Theatre on Main Street in Chatham. Copies of the book will be available for sale and there will be a signing after the discussion. Tickets and more information can be found online.
