Weekend Cultural Highlights, Feb 5-7

Submitted by Seth Rogovoy on February 5, 2010 - 12:26am

 

 
Grammy Award-winning South African vocal group  Ladysmith Black Mambazo performs on Sunday, February 7 at 3, at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass.. This celebrated a cappella group represents the traditional culture of South Africa and is regarded as the country's cultural emissary at home and around the world. They have recorded with numerous artists, including Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Josh Groban, and Dolly Parton. Tickets are $34 to $39.
 
 
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center
14 Castle Street. Great Barrington. Mass
Box Office: 413-528-0100
Note Box Office Hours:
Wednesday - Saturday: 12noon - 6pm
plus 3 hrs prior to all showtimes
www.mahaiwe.org a
 
 
 
Pittsfield’s Kevin O’Hara, author of the critically acclaimed Last of the Donkey Pilgrims, will be at The Bookloft in Great Barrington, Mass., on Friday, February 5 , at 7, signing copies of his new memoir, A Lucky Irish Lad.


O’Hara grew up in Pittsfield, Mass., in the 1950’s and 60’s, his Irish-born parents having emigrated there with the hope of giving their children a better life. Written with O’Hara’s signature warmth and humor, A Lucky Irish Lad is more than a story about the Irish-American experience; it is the moving story of a time when people believed that anything was possible as long as you dared to dream and had faith in yourself.


O’Hara has worked as a psychiatric nurse for more than 25 years and still resides in Pittsfield.
 
 
The Bookloft is located at 332 Stockbridge Road, in the Barrington Plaza on Route 7 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Call (413) 528-1521 for more information.
 
 
 
 
Les Liaisons Dangereuses has been in previews for the last week, but officially opens this weekend at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox. Christopher Hampton’s wickedly entertaining story of love, indulgence, betrayal and corruption, full of devious plotting, sexual intrigue and morally ambiguous motivations, stars Shakespeare & Company’s own Elizabeth Aspenlieder and is directed by company founder Tina Packer.
 
 
This is the same play that won the prestigious Olivier and Tony Awards, and the Stephen Frears-directed film earned the 1988 Academy Award for Best Film. Les Liaisons Dangereuses is being staged in the 190-seat Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre through March 21. Curtain times are 7pm on Fridays and Saturdays (plus 2pm matinees every Saturday beginning February 13) and 2pm on Sundays. Tickets range from $12 to $48 with multiple discounts available, including discounts for Groups, Students, Seniors, and the very popular 40% Berkshire Resident Discount.
 
 
Box Office (413) 637-3353 or boxoffice@shakespeare.org to order tickets or learn more about discount availability, or order tickets from www.shakespeare.org.
 
 
 
 
MASS MoCA and Bazaar Productions Present Theatrical Work-in-progress The Waypoint
 
Since 2005, Bazaar Productions has brought up-and-coming, experimental theater, dance and music to the region each summer as part of the Berkshire Fringe. In addition to over 60 full length original works presented at the Berkshire Fringe, Bazaar Productions also oversees EarlyStages, a play development program for emerging local writers. In February, after a two-week residency, Bazaar Productions, in collaboration with MASS MoCA, will present a work-in-progress showing of The Waypoint, a play that began development during the EarlyStages Program at The Berkshire Fringe in 2008. After a two-week residency with the original ensemble The Waypoint will be performed on Saturday, February 6, at 8 in Club B-10 as part of MASS MoCA's Alt Cabaret series.
 
 
 
Developed by playwright Iris Dauterman while she was in residence at EarlyStages, The Waypoint features Shelby, a pregnant woman who is optimistic but concerned that her broken past makes her unfit to bring another life into this world, and Tristan, a child on the verge of being born who, after watching and learning about the struggles of the world, is not sure he is ready to 'get down there and live.' Under the guidance of the Waypoint's gatekeeper and a mysterious tattooed woman who weaves magical stories of life on earth, Tristan begins to see his life's potential in a new light. Shelby is heartened when her one-night stand proves to be more promising than expected and her brother's attempts to protect her confirm she has not only family but a foundation. The Waypoint weaves rich narrative and magical realism with an original sound-score to reveal the epic and often unexpected journey into life. 
 
 
Directed by Sara Katzoff and scored by Peter Wise (who MASS MoCA patrons will recognize from his work in the past with Bang on a Can at their Summer Festival of Contemporary Music at MASS MoCA), The Waypoint features an outstanding ensemble including local actors: Emma Dweck of Great Barrington, Hilary Somers and Karen Beaumont of Stockbridge, and Adam Sugarman of Pittsfield, plus Timothy Ryan Olson and Josh Ramos of New York City. The Waypoint is the first full-length play produced by Bazaar Productions, presenters of The Berkshire Fringe.
 
 
Sara Katzoff, Co-producing Artistic Director/Ensemble Director, is a native of Berkshire County. She graduated cum laude from Bard College at Simon's Rock and spent a year training at the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theater in California. In 2003, Katzoff and her creative partners co-founded Bazaar Productions and The Berkshire Fringe with the mission to establish a home for the creation and presentation of dynamic original works for the stage in the Berkshires. Most recently, she co-wrote and performed in Scored! and directed excerpts from Suzan Lori-Parks' 365 Days/365 Plays. Katzoff currently works as a performer, theater director, teaching artist and nonprofit consultant, dividing her time between Housatonic, Mass. and Brooklyn, N.Y.
 
 
Timothy Ryan Olson, Co-producing-Artistic Director/Assistant Director and playing the role of Simon, graduated summa cum laude from Bard College at Simon's Rock where he majored in theater and dance and spent a year in Amsterdam studying the Dutch language and researching the Holocaust. In 2002 he received his MFA in playwrighting from the Actor's Studio Drama School, where he was granted a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship in the Arts by the U.S. Board of Higher Education. Olson has taught method acting and scene study to advanced theater students at Simon's Rock, has worked as a first- and second-grade drama teacher through New York University's Metro Center, and has been a frequent participant in The Brooklyn Clown Lab. He is a co-founder of The Berkshire Fringe.
 
 
Emma Dweck, who plays Shelby, is a performer, director and creator. She received a Bachelor's degree in theater from Skidmore College where she studied a range of methodologies including viewpoints and Suzuki. In 2002, she founded the Art & Soul Theater Project in an effort to bring new styles of performance to northwest Connecticut. In 2003, she trained at the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Center and at the Theater Arts Academie in St. Petersburg, Russia. Dweck has toured and performed as a member of Triple Shadow, an experimental company influenced by Balinese mask, clown, movement and dance, and recently appeared in Alice: End of Days at La Mama in New York City where the piece was hailed as "theater handcrafted from pure timeless raw material...." by the Village Voice. She appeared in 365 days/365 plays and staged readings of The Waypoint and Dangerous Curves as part of EarlyStages at the Berkshire Fringe.
 
 
Playwright Iris Dauterman is a recent graduate of Bennington College in Vermont. While in school, she majored in acting, appearing in productions of Measure for Measure and Gum. She studied playwrighting with Caridad Svitch and Sherry Kramer. The Waypoint is her first full-length play. Written in 2008, the piece was accepted into the EarlyStages program at the Berkshire Fringe, and under the mentorship of Laura Maria Censabella and Bazaar Productions, received its first staged reading in July 2008.
 
 
Tickets for the work-in-progress showing of The Waypoint are $10. MASS MoCA members receive a 10% discount. The galleries will stay open until 7:30 PM before the show. Full bar and dinner and snacks from Lickety Split are available before and during the show. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located off Marshall Street in North Adams, open from 11 A.M. until 5 P.M., closed Tuesdays. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or purchased on line at www.massmoca.org.
 
 
The work-in-progress showing of The Waypoint is part of MASS MoCA's vaunted Alt Cabaret series which features new and emerging performers in music, theater and dance in MASS MoCA's intimate Club B-10. Other performances in the series include the band Jones Street Station performing on March 27 and a showing of work by Sundance Institute Theater Lab on April 3.
 
 
 
The Brass Ensemble presents BRASS BASH '10, a concert to showcase the ever evolving possibilities of brass chamber music.  Presented in that most sonorous of chambers, Chapin Hall, at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., The Brass Ensemble offers an exciting program.
 
 
 
Early brass works by Purcell, Palestrina and Melchoir Franck share the program with Hovhaness and world premiere works by Williams students Jacob Walls, Laone Thekiso, Dan Kohane and Rob Silversmith. For this concert the Brass Ensemble finds itself in a quintet format, with trumpeters Jacob Walls and Noah Wentzel; hornists Elizabeth Irvin and Christina Knapp along with Andrea Currie, trombone.  The director, Tom Bergeron, adds his trumpet to this choir of brass whenever a sixth voice is needed.
 
The concert is free of charge and seating is provided on a first come, first serve basis.
concert hotline: 413-597-3146
 
 
 
The Clark and the Williamstown Theatre Festival present a staged reading of Yasmina Reza's international hit Art on Friday, February 5, at 7, at the Clark. Hailed as "a remarkably wise, witty, and intelligent comedy" by the London Times, Art is sure to tickle your funny bone and brain. Don't miss this rare opportunity to experience WTF in the winter. Reservations are required for this free event at the Clark co-presented by the Williamstown Theatre Festival and the Clark. Call 413-458-0524 to reserve a seat (limit of four tickets per reservation).

When an art lover buys what is in essence a pure white painting for a horse-choking sum, his best friend goes ballistic, and a third friend gets caught in the middle. This three man play questions the meaning of modern art and modern friendships and how they're sometimes not all that
different. How would you feel about your best friend if he did something you thought was so colossally stupid, it made you doubt the very basis of the friendship?

The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown. The galleries are open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm (daily in July and August). Admission is free November 1 through May 31. Admission is $15 June 1 through October 31. Admission is always free for those eighteen years of age and under, members, and students with valid college identification. For more information, call 413-458-2303 or visit clarkart.edu.

 
 
 
The Harrison Gallery will present paintings by Connecticut artists Carol Gobin and Anda Styler from February 6 - 28, 2010. This is both Gobin and Styler’s second show with the Harrison Gallery. An opening reception with the artists will be held on Saturday February 6, from 5-7.
 
 
 
Carol Gobin has always been fascinated with architectural detail. She pursued studies in graphic design at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, continuing onto a commercial design career. She returned to painting in 2003. Gobin’s new work focuses on the artistic preservation of local farms. Glowing late afternoon light as it rakes across the landscape and buildings, inspires Gobin to catch the moment just before the sun sets. Working from photographs, sketches and imagination, she paints in thin layers of oil glazes on canvas until the luminosity, balance and harmony of colors are attained, adding the final realistic details last.
 
 
 
Anda Styler has been painting for most of her life. From an early age acrylics soon be

came and remained her favorite medium. Educated at Parson School of Design in NYC, she currently resides in Sherman, CT. Starting out as an en plein air painter, Styler now enjoys the combination of on location and studio work. She continues to explore her love for nature and is especially drawn to the magic of the New England landscape, mainly “the hidden places that are not often seen”. Working with shadow, light, and vibrant colors, she works to capture the unique and lasting beauty that only nature reflects.

 
 
 
The Harrison Gallery is located at 39 Spring Street in Williamstown, MA. Gallery hours are Monday - Saturday, 10 to 5:30, Sunday 11 to 4. For further information, please contact The Harrison Gallery at (413) 458-1700 or visit our website at www.theharrisongallery.com.

 

 

 

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