Cultural Pittsfield: March 23-29
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Friday-Sunday: Last Chance to see Blood Sky at NEW Stage! NEW Stage Performing Arts Center presents Blood Sky, and directed by Mari Andrejco. A new play from acclaimed playwright Yasmine Beverly Rana, Blood Sky is a provocative and moving work that New Stage is proud to present as part of the 2012 International Women's Month. There will be a talk back, featuring the director, the cast and a representative of the Elizabeth Freeman Center following Sunday afternoon performances. Friday–Sunday, March 23–25 | Friday & Saturday 7:30pm, Sunday 3pm | NEW Stage Performing Arts Center | 55 North Street | 413-418-0999 | $20 general admission, $18 students & seniors |
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Friday-Sunday: Somewhere in Between The Town Players of Pittsfield, the oldest community theater group in the Berkshires, presents Somewhere in Between, a comedy by Craig Pospisil. The story revolves around Jasper and his quest to solve life's uncertainties. He moves through a frustrating job, bad advice and awkwardness with women to an epiphany at the hands of a homeless man. Patrick's Pub and Spice Dragon will offer a 10% discount to all people presenting a ticket to the show on the day of that performance. This includes all food items but excludes alcohol. The play contains adult situations and language. Friday-Sunday, March 23–April 1 | Friday & Saturday 8pm; Sunday 2pm | Barrington Stage 2 | 36 Linden Street | 413-443-9279 | $15 |
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Friday: Slumberland – A Pajama Dance Party! The Garage presents Slumberland: A Pajama Jammy Jam featuring DJ BFG, also known as Pittsfield author Gabriel Squalia, in the lobby of The Colonial Theatre. BFG is an old-school mixologist trained at NYC's Scratch Academy in 2003. Schooled on vinyl, he uses a digital rig to blend funky music from disco to dubstep into a seamless groove made for dancing. Guests are encouraged to wear their most comfortable pajamas to dance in, as visual dreamscapes will be provided by Drew Suto. Friday, March 23 | 10pm | The Colonial Theatre | 111 South Street | 413-448-8084 | $5 cover, $3 in pajamas |
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Friday: BCC Music Faculty Recital The Berkshire Community College music faculty presents a faculty recital in the Boland Theatre. featuring performances by instructors Dave Brown (pictured left), Amy Renak, Kathleen McDonald, Jeff Link and Hohlstein herself. Billy Keane, cellist Beth Craig and fiddler Sarah Hubbard will also perform. Friday, March 23 | 7pm | Berkshire Community College | 1350 West Street | 413-447-5323 | FREE |
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Friday-Monday: We Need to Talk About Kevin The Little Cinema at Berkshire Museum presents the award-winning film We Need to Talk About Kevin, a suspenseful and gripping psychological thriller. Tilda Swinton, in a bracing, tour-de-force performance, plays the mother, Eva, as she contends for 15 years with the increasing malevolence of her first-born child, Kevin (Ezra Miller). Click here to watch a trailer of We Need to Talk About Kevin! Friday-Monday, March 23-26 | Friday-Monday 7pm, Monday 1:30pm | Berkshire Museum | 39 South Street | 413-443-7171 | $5 |
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Friday & Saturday: Live Music at Flavours Flavours of Malaysia presents Fungus Amungus on Friday and the Arthur Holmes Blues Band on Saturday night. Fungus Amungus has been dropping the funk in the Northeast since the summer of 2002, spreading its soulful sounds like wildfire; performing at festivals such as Camp Creek and Wormtown's Garden of Eden. Listen to Fungus Amungus HERE! Meanwhile, the Arthur Holmes Blues Band doesn't try to take the blues and do anything strange with it; as far as the band is concerned, blues music is perfect just the way it is. Listen to Arthur Holmes Blues Band HERE! Friday & Saturday, March 23-24 | 10pm | Flavours of Malaysia | 75 North Street | 413-443-3188 | Friday $8; Saturday $5 |
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Saturday & Sunday: Magical Music Marathon at Berkshire Music School The Berkshire Music School hosts its annual Music Marathon Weekend this weekend, featuring musical performances by its students. This year, a magical theme has been selected, to encourage students to be creative with their performance music selections and attire. Special programs during the Marathon include a Community Drum Circle, led by Otha Day, on Saturday, 5pm-6pm; a Piano Showcase on Sunday, 3pm-4pm featuring two piano, four hand pieces or more advanced piano students; and a performance at 5:30pm on Sunday by the school's student orchestra. There will be a bake sale and music shop, and donations are gratefully accepted from audience members. Saturday & Sunday, March 24-25 | 10am-6pm | Berkshire Music School Taft Recital Hall | 30 Wendell Avenue | 413-442-1411 | FREE |
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Saturday: Storytelling at the Berkshire Athenaeum The Berkshire Athenaeum presents a special reading of beach-themed stories, including Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach, All You Need for a Beach, Otto Goes to the Beach and Beach Day! The fun continues with a screening of a Scaredy Squirrel movie, a summer craft and, of course, snacks! No registration is required. For toddlers and preschool aged kids. Children under 10 must be accompanied at all times by an adult over 18 years of age. Sponsored by WEE Read and the Friends of the Berkshire Athenaeum. Saturday, March 24 | 10:30am-12pm | Berkshire Athenaeum | 1 Wendell Avenue | 413-499-9480 | FREE |
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Saturday: Free Writer's Block Workshop The Lichtenstein Center for the Arts hosts Break Through Your Writing Obstacles, a workshop addressing writer's block with Coach Millie Calesky as part of the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers (BFWW). This interactive workshop explores roadblocks that writers often encounter and ways to overcome them. Participants will learn 10 strategies to increase productivity and achieve their writing goals. Advance registration is appreciated. Saturday, March 24 | 2pm-4pm | Lichtenstein Center for the Arts | 28 Renee Avenue | 413-655-2555 | FREE |
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Saturday: Great Music for a Great Cause at Barrington Stage Barrington Stage Company presents National Flatpicking Guitar Champion Mark Cosgrove along with International Music Ambassadors, John Kirk & Trish Miller, in a concert to benefit the Pittsfield Boys & Girls Club. Immersed in bluegrass and fiddle tunes from an early age, Cosgrove continues to make acoustic music his life's work and pleasure. Kirk and Miller are teaching artists in school music and dance programs, leading dances for all ages at festivals & parties. Click here to listen to Cosgrove, Kirk & Miller. Saturday, March 24 | 7:30pm | Barrington Stage Company | 30 Union St | 442-0080 | $20 |
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Saturday: Sandy Hackett's Rat Pack Show The Colonial Theatre presents this spirited tribute, already seen by over 1,000,000 people, which recreates one of the famous the revered Rat Pack's most famous shows. Click here for a preview of Sandy Hackett's Rat Pack Show. The Summit at the Sands hotel show starred Vegas' favorite sons Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin and Joey Bishop. Sandy Hackett's uncanny vocal recreations of hits like That's Amore, Fly Me to the Moon, Mr. Bojangles, plus unbridled humor and a live big band, will surely send audiences straight back to one of the coolest times in history. Saturday, March 24 | 8pm | The Colonial Theatre | 111 South Street | 413-997-4444 | general admission $45, $30 or $20 |
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Sunday: Smugglers' Songs at the Little Cinema The Little Cinema presents a 2011 French film is entitled Smugglers' Songs (Les Chants de Mandrin), directed by Rabah Ameur-ZaÏmeche. The 18th-century folk hero and bandit Louis Mandrin is the inspiration for this strikingly relevant period tale, tracing the efforts of Mandrin's followers to distribute his songs and stories in the build-up to the French Revolution. Click to watch a trailer of Smugglers' Songs. Sunday, March 25 | 12pm | Berkshire Museum | 39 South Street | 413-443-7171 | $5 |
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Sunday & Tuesday: Puccini's La Boheme at the Little Cinema The Little Cinema presents a screening of La Boheme, performed from the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Spain. In this opera, four struggling young artists live out their everyday lives amid dreams and disappointments. Sunday & Tuesday March 25 - 27 | Sunday 2pm, Tuesday 7pm | Berkshire Museum | 39 South Street | 413-443-7171 | general admission $18, members $16 |
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Sunday: Rhythm Dialogues – Blues & Tap Sunday, March 25 | 3pm-5pm | Lichtenstein Center for the Arts | 28 Renee Avenue | 413-281-6734 | $22 participants, $5 spectators; tap shoe rentals $2 |
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Tuesday: Dr. Maria Sirois Speaks at BCC Berkshire Community College presents inspirational speaker, consultant and licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Maria Sirois for a talk entitled The Resilient Life. Join Dr. Sirois as she offers insights from the fields of positive psychology and mind/body medicine. Dr. Sirois explains that the key to resiliency — the feeling that enables humans to optimize their strengths even in times of great stress — is a deeper sense of meaning. Tuesday, March 27 | 12:15pm | Berkshire Community College | 1350 West Street | 413-499-4660 | FREE |
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Tuesday: Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech at The Athenaeum The Friends of the Berkshire Athenaeum continue its Cinema of Law film series with Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech, in which First Amendment attorney Martin Garbus talks about the history and current state of free speech in America. Watch a trailer of this film here. The film will be introduced by attorney Janet Punphrey. The Cinema of Law Series is brought to you by the Brerkshire Law Librarians and the Berkshire Bar Association. Popcorn will be served! Tuesday, March 27 | 6pm | Berkshire Athenaeum | 1 Wendell Avenue | 413-499-9480 | FREE |
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Wednesday: Chisholm '72: Unbought and Unbossed at BCC Berkshire Community College presents Chisholm '72: Unbought and Unbossed, as part of its regular series of forums/discussions. New York City congresswoman Shirley Chisholm was the first African-American woman elected to congress and the first Black person and woman to mount a serious, high profile campaign for the presidency. This is her story. Sponsored by the Committee for Diversity. Wednesday, March 28 | 12pm | Berkshire Community College | 1350 West Street | 413-236-4564 | FREE |
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Wednesday: Misty Blues at The Garage The Garage presents Misty Blues, a blues band that performs with desires to carry on the tradition of classic blues performers, in the lobby of The Colonial Theatre. Misty Blues pays homage to the older blues music made popular by the bold and brassy women of its time, while still paying respect to the more contemporary female artist that carry on their rich traditions. Wednesday, March 28 | 9pm | The Colonial Theatre | 111 South Street | 413-448-8084 | $5 |
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