PS21 presents La Banda Morisca from Spain
Chatham— On Friday, July 14th from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., PS21 presents La Banda Morisca from Spain.
Converging on roots music and tradition and inspired by Andalusian heritage, La Banda Morisca mixes Eastern and Western Mediterranean influences with the spirit of traditional flamenco and Andalusian rock. From New York to Samarkand, La Banda Morisca has dazzled audiences becoming a formidable ensemble with a vast reach in global music.
Inspired by this Andalusian heritage and by the traditional ballads, the group proposes a creative and original vision of a repertoire that mixes Eastern and Western Mediterranean influences including Andalusian moaxajas, Chaabi, Dahmane el Harachi, and Nass el Ghiwane with the spirit of traditional flamenco and Andalusian rock.
The concert is on Friday, July 14th from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in the PS21 Open-Air Pavilion Theater on N.Y. Route 66 in Chatham. Tickets are $35 or $10 for students. Tickets and more information can be found by visiting PS21 online.
***
Williamstown Theatre Festival’s ‘Fridays@3 Reading Series’ returns
Williamstown— On Friday, July 14th at 3 p.m., Williamstown Theatre Festival’s “Fridays@3 Reading Series” returns.
Williamstown Theatre Festival’s “Fridays@3 Reading Series” is a renowned program for the development and discovery of new work. Spend the afternoon at the Clark with a new play in development, performed by professional actors. It is of note that many Festival productions started as “Fridays@3” readings.
The 2023 “Fridays@3 Reading Series” includes the following projects:
Friday, July 14th is “Nick and the Prizefighter” by Kamilah Bush. Selah Thompson is the caregiver for her famous playwright father, Forest Thompson. Nick Beerman, a young writer and dramaturg, is tasked with helping Forest complete his life’s work before the clock runs out. Selah must fight for control of her father’s work and legacy—and find her own rhythm as she prepares to face the world without him.
Friday, July 21st is “Plunder and Lightning” by Cindy Lou Johnson. Tina and George’s preparations for an important party are wildly derailed when their daughter Rikki shows up on the run from the cops, and Tina’s stepmother, Lola, threatens to levy charges of elder abuse. A dark comedy about greed and the urgent power of love, “Plunder and Lightning” examines the price to be paid for burying our sins—in the field out back.
Friday, July 28th is “Chapters of a Floating Life”, WTF’s 2023 L. Arnold Weissberger New Play Award Winner, by Clarence Coo, WTF’s 2023 Jay Harris Commission recipient. Two couples from China try to make ends meet in New York City in the wake of the Second World War. A husband and wife live uptown, obsessed with a past of poetry, painting, and gardens. Another pair face the day-to-day reality of keeping a Chinatown restaurant in business. Their worlds, previously separated by class and education, converge when the two women find each other in Central Park and fall under the spell of the Chinese language.
Friday, August 4th is “Wipeout” by Aurora Real de Asua. It’s Gary’s 77th birthday and all she wants to do is surf. The only problem? She’s never stepped foot on a board before, but with the help of a hot-rod teenage surf instructor and the company of her two best friends, Gary is about to go on the ride of her life. As the three women navigate the currents of the Pacific, they must confront seven decades of secrets and sacrifices, not to mention the odd jellyfish or two.
The readings are at 3 p.m. on Fridays in the Auditorium at the Clark Art Institute. Tickets are $15 general admission. Reservations are required. Tickets and more information can be found by visiting WTF online.
***
The Ancram Opera House presents electrifying new musical, “The Lucky Few”
Ancramdale- On Saturday, July 22nd at 7:30 p.m., the Ancram Opera House presents a new musical, “The Lucky Few”, a new musical by songwriters and performers Todd Almond and Kate Douglas.
It’s New Year’s Eve, 1959, an explosive moment in American history. The U.S. has entered the space race; Lenny Bruce appeared on NBC for the first time; Miles Davis began recording Kind of Blue; and somewhere in South Dakota, a woman named Jane is making music nobody has ever heard before.
The show was a 2019 Semi-Finalist at the O’Neill National Musical Theatre Conference. “The Lucky Few is one of the best new musicals we’ve seen in years,” said Jeffrey Mousseau, Co-Director, Ancram Opera House. “As a theatre piece, it’s an electrifying work with a lively American Rockabilly score that captures the country in transition with parallels to radical cultural changes underway today. We feel very lucky, no pun intended, to present a show of this caliber.”
The creators of “The Lucky Few” are two of the busiest artists in theater. Todd Almond is an acclaimed actor, a songwriter, and a “brash, funny, heart-stirring” playwright (The New York Times). His Broadway performance in Girl from the North Country was called “stunning” by The Washington Post, and “roof-raising, uplifting, and invigorating” by Hollywood Reporter. As a composer and orchestrator, Almond has written and arranged music for Broadway, Off-Broadway, Lincoln Center Theater, and film. Todd can also be seen in the 2021 reboot of Gossip Girl on HBO Max. Kate Douglas is a writer, composer, and performer has been a finalist for the Jonathan Larson Grant, the Princess Grace Award in Playwriting, and the Jane Chambers Excellence in Feminist Playwriting Award.
The performance is on Saturday, July 22nd at 7:30 p.m. at the the Circa 1799 Barn on Simons Road in Ancramdale. Tickets are $40 general admission and $15 for students (valid student I.D. required). Tickets and more information can be found by visiting the Ancram Opera House online.
***
The Mount presents “A Very Large Poem “ by WordXWord
Lenox— On Sunday, July 16th, The Mount presents “A Very Large Poem “ by WordXWord.
Following in the footsteps of 2022’s World’s (possibly) Largest Poem, WordXWord returns with a suite of Very Large Poems. The title references the physical size, not the length, as the poems are created and curated by dozens of poets in collaboration. Performed outdoors along the pathways of the Mount, the audience moves (walks) through the poems.
The free event is on Sunday, July 16th and is offered at 5 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6 p.m., and 6:30 p.m. at the Mount on Plunkett Street in Lenox. Timed registration is required. Registration forms can be found by visiting the Mount online. The event is rain or shine.
***
The Lenox Library and The Bookstore present acclaimed legal scholar Stephen Vladeck in conversation with Pulitzer Prize winner Linda Greenhouse
Lenox— On Thursday, July 20th at 5 p.m., the Lenox Library and The Bookstore will collaborate to present acclaimed legal scholar Stephen Vladeck in conversation with Pulitzer Prize winner Linda Greenhouse.
In his instant New York Times bestseller, “The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic”, Stephen Vladeck exposes the Supreme Court’s increasing use of unsigned, unexplained orders to change the law—all behind closed doors.
The Supreme Court has always had the authority to issue emergency rulings in exceptional circumstances. But since 2017, the Court has dramatically expanded its use of the behind-the-scenes “shadow docket,” regularly making decisions that affect millions of Americans without public hearings and without explanation, through cryptic late-night rulings that leave lawyers—and citizens—scrambling.
Stephen Vladeck holds the Charles Alan Wright Chair in Federal Courts at the University of Texas School of Law. His work has been published in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and Slate. He has argued before the Supreme Court and has been CNN’s Supreme Court Analyst since 2013.
In her most recent book, “Justice on the Brink: A Requiem for the Supreme Court”, Linda Greenhouse provides unique insight into a court under stress, providing the context and brilliant analysis readers of her work in The New York Times have come to expect. In a page-turning narrative, she recounts the twelve months when the court turned its back on its legacy and traditions, abandoning any effort to stay above and separate from politics. With remarkable clarity and deep institutional knowledge, Greenhouse shows the seeds being planted for the court’s eventual overturning of Roe v. Wade, expansion of access to guns, and unprecedented elevation of religious rights in American society. Both a chronicle and a requiem, “Justice on the Brink” depicts the struggle for the soul of the Supreme Court, and points to the future that awaits all of us.
Linda Greenhouse is a Clinical Lecturer in Law, Knight Distinguished Journalist-in-Residence, and a Senior Research Scholar in Law at Yale Law School. She covered the Supreme Court for The New York Times between 1978 and 2008 and continues to write regularly for the newspaper’s Opinion pages. Greenhouse received several major journalism awards during her 40-year career at the Times, including the Pulitzer Prize in 1998.
This event is on Thursday, July 20th at 5 p.m. at the Lenox Library on Main Street in Lenox. No registration is required. Books will be available for purchase and signing at the event. For more information, please call the Lenox Library at 413-637-0197 or The Bookstore at 413-637-3390.
***
Dalton Cultural Council’s ‘Dalton Day’ dedicated to memory of town leader, Don Harris
Dalton— On July 15th from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Dalton Cultural Council hosts its inaugural “Dalton Day” dedicated to memory of town leader, Don Harris.
Seven months in the making, members of the Dalton Cultural Council are putting the final touches on the inaugural “Dalton Day”. The festival will feature musical guests Jack Waldheim, Melissa Brinton, and The Lucky Five. Food will be offered by HD Pizza, PortaVia, Shire Donuts, SweetPea’s Ice Cream, and Zinky’s Pub, with Another Round Bar selling craft beer and cocktails. The family-friendly event showcases Touch-A-Truck for children as well as art exhibits and face painting.
The afternoon will be dedicated to Don Harris who passed away suddenly last month. Harris was a fervent supporter of Dalton, serving for two decades on the Dalton Cultural Council, including as its past chairperson, as well as on the Dalton Conservation Commission. He was instrumental in the development of Dalton Day.
Don had an extended history with the community as a respected sound engineer and musician, founding “The Substance Free Concert Series” at Onota Lake’s Burbank Park–a precursor to the popular “Live on The Lake” summer concert series–and provided his expertise as “sound man” at venues such as the Colonial and the Mahaiwe as well as numerous local events including “Party in The Park”, “Sounds of Summer”, “Third Thursdays”, “The Berkshire Jazz Festival”, “The Dalton Folk Festival”, and “Berkshire Pride”.
The free festival is on July 15th from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Dalton’s Senior Center on Field Street Extension in Dalton. The event is open to the public and service animals. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and good vibes.
