Student artists to decorate storefront windows
Great Barrington — On Thursday, Oct. 20, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Great Barrington Rotary Club will sponsor student artists from Monument Mountain Regional High School, Monument Valley Regional Middle School and the Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School who will paint Halloween-themed designed in many downtown storefront windows. More than 200 18- by 24-inch designs were entered in a several schools-wide competition for the chance to be seen in local shopkeepers’ windows.
The window painting is a longstanding downtown tradition that gives students a chance to casually interact through a positive activity with storeowners who help the students throughout the day providing water, bathrooms, food, and encouragement as well as citizens who stop to chat with the students as they work. The participating teachers and students are grateful to Steve Foley of Onyx Papers for donating the paper, Carr Hardware for providing space to set up supplies, the judges for choosing the Rotary prizewinners, and especially the Rotary for supplying all the painting materials and creating an opportunity for students and adults to work together on a festive, positive community event.
–E.E.
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Stardust Jazz to give local performances
Housatonic — On Friday, Oct. 21, Stardust Jazz will perform at the Unitarian Universalist Meeting of South Berkshire’s Third Friday Gatherings Music Series from 7 to 9 p.m. The line-up will feature Trice Atchison on vocals, Michael Junkins on guitar, Pete Toigo on bass, Charlie Tokarz on saxophone and Peter Peirce on drums. The cover charge is $10. Stardust Jazz will appear as a trio featuring Trice Atchison on vocals, Michael Junkins on guitar, and Allen Livermore on saxophone at Gateways Inn in Lenox on Friday, Oct. 28, from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m.
–E.E.
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Deborah Golden Alecson to lecture on fear of death
Lenox — On Sunday, Oct. 23, at 4 p.m., the Lenox Library will welcome Excelsior College Professor Deborah Golden Alecson to its Distinguished Lecture Series to give a lecture titled “A Good Death in a Death-phobic Culture.
Alecson was born in Brooklyn, New York, and specializes in thanatology, which is the scientific study of death and the practices associated with it. She facilitates workshops on spirituality in healthcare and has moderated interfaith forums on death, dying and the afterlife. “Lost Lullaby,” Allison’s account of her newborn daughter’s two months in a neonatal intensive care unit, received the Washington Irving Book Award in nonfiction from the Westchester Library Association. Alecson teaches “Ethics of Health Care,” “Death, Dying and Bereavement,” and “Spirituality in Life Transitions” at Excelsior College, as well as a course in medical humanities. Her monthly column “Musings on Mortality” is featured the Berkshire Eagle.
For more information, call the Library at (413) 637-2630.
–E.E.
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Doctor Gasp to give Halloween performance at Dream Away Lodge
Becket — On Saturday, Oct. 22, at 8 p.m., New England folk musician Dan Blakeslee will give a Halloween performance as his alter ego, the maniacal minstrel Doctor Gasp, at the Dream Away Lodge. Blakeslee’s all-original Halloween songs are a throwback to old-time cult horror themes, giving nods to Bobby Pickett, Alfred Hitchcock, John Zacherle and the cavernous voice of Paul Frees. This October marks the 14th anniversary of Doctor Gasp haunting the land with his traveling spook show, and some brand new chilling morsels will be unveiled in celebration. For more information, contact the Dream Away Lodge at (413) 623-8725.
–E.E.
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Berkshire Theatre Awards winners announced
Berkshire County — The winners of the first annual Berkshire Theatre Awards have been announced. Seventeen arts journalists voted on 120 nominees in 25 categories chosen from artists in the 75 live theatre productions mounted in Berkshire County and adjacent areas between Oct. 1, 2015, and Sept. 30, 2016.
The winner of the Larry Murray Award for a person or theatre project that advances social, political, or community issues will be announced at a winners’ celebration event on Sunday, Nov. 13 at Mr. Finn’s Cabaret in Pittsfield. Nominees for the Larry Murray Award are WAM Theatre Co-founder and Artistic Director Kristen van Ginhoven, Barrington Stage Company Artistic Director Julianne Boyd, and the three Vermont theatre companies that teamed up to produce all three plays in Alan Ayckbourn’s “The Norman Conquests” this past summer: the Dorset Theatre Festival, Northern Stage, and the Weston Playhouse Theatre Company.
Voting on the Berkshire Theatre Awards were Mark G. Auerbach of the Westfield News Group, J. Peter Bergman of Berkshire Bright Focus and the Berkshire Edge, Jeffrey Borak of the Berkshire Eagle, theatre historian Bob Bruyr, Dan Dwyer of Off Script, Helen Epstein of the Arts Fuse, Bob Goepfert of the Troy Record and WAMC, Charles Giuliano of Berkshire Fine Arts, Rex Hearn of the Berkshire Record, Macey Levin and Larry Murray of Berkshire on Stage, Gloria Miller of Curtain Up, Chris Rohmann of the Valley Advocate, Fred Sokol of Talkin’ Broadway, Stephen Sorokoff of Broadway World, and Bob and Sally Sugarman WBTN’s “Theater Talk.”
The complete list of winners follows.
- Outstanding Production of a Play, Large Theater: “American Son” (Barrington Stage Company)
- Outstanding Production of a Play, Intimate Theatre: “Cry Havoc” (Shakespeare & Company)
- Outstanding Production of a Musical, Large Theatre: “The Pirates of Penzance” (Barrington Stage Company)
- Outstanding Production of a Musical, Intimate Theatre: “Broadway Bounty Hunter” (Barrington Stage Company)
- Outstanding Production of a New Play: “American Son”
- Outstanding Production of a New Musical: “Broadway Bounty Hunter”
- Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor, Large Theatre: Will Swenson, “The Pirates of Penzance”
- Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor, Intimate Theatre: Stephan Wolfert, “Cry Havoc”
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor, Large Theatre: Tamara Tunie, “American Son”
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor, Intimate Theatre: Debra Jo Rupp, “Kimberly Akimbo” (Barrington Stage Company)
- Outstanding Supporting Performance by a Male Actor, Large Theatre: John Hadden, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” (Shakespeare & Company) and Andre Ware, “American Son”
- Outstanding Supporting Performance by a Male Actor, Intimate Theatre: Jeff McCarthy, “Broadway Bounty Hunter”
- Outstanding Supporting Performance by a Female Actor, Large Theatre: Nehassaiu deGannes, “Or,” (Shakespeare & Company)
- Outstanding Supporting Performance by a Female Actor, Intimate Theatre: Dana Harrison, “Holy Laughter” (WAM Theatre)
- Outstanding Direction of a Play, Large Theatre: Julianne Boyd, “American Son”
- Outstanding Direction of a Play, Intimate Theatre: Eric Tucker, “Cry Havoc”
- Outstanding Direction of a Musical, Large Theatre: John Rando, “The Pirates of Penzance”
- Outstanding Direction of a Musical, Intimate Theatre: Julianne Boyd, “Broadway Bounty Hunter”
- Outstanding Choreography, Large Theatre: Joshua Bergasse, “The Pirates of Penzance”
- Outstanding Choreography, Intimate Theatre: Jeffrey Page, “Broadway Bounty Hunter”
- Outstanding Scenic Design for Play or Musical: Beowulf Borritt, “The Pirates of Penzance”
- Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play or Musical: Jason Lyons, “The Pirates of Penzance”
- Best Costume Design for a Play or Musical: Jess Goldstein, “The Pirates of Penzance”
- Outstanding Sound Design for Play or Musical: Scott Killian, “Constellations” (Berkshire Theatre Group)
–E.E.
