MCLA Gallery 51 To Show Theatrical Design Works

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MCLA Gallery 51 To Show Theatrical Design Works

NORTH ADAMS, Mass – Beginning next Thursday, MCLA Gallery 51 will showcase theatrical design works from Broadway to the Berkshires in “Beyond the Curtain.”

Curated by Tony Award-winning Broadway lighting designer Brian McDevitt and MCLA Director or Special Programs Jonathan Secor, this exhibition features the work of theatrical designers, including costumes from Broadway shows, interactive sound design installations and photographs and renderings from shows in the Berkshires.

An opening reception will be held on Thursday, Oct. 30, 5-7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Lighting designers whose work will be showcased include McDevitt and Matthew Aedelson, whose lighting design has been seen locally at the Mahaiwe, Jacob’s Pillow, Shakespeare and Company and the Berkshire Theater Festival.

McDevitt won a Tony award for his lighting of “Into the Woods,” and is the lighting designer for “Thirteen,” which just opened on Broadway, and for “Dr. Atomic,” John Adams’ newest opera at the Metropolitan Opera.

The show also will include the work of Andrew Hoar, the lighting and set designer for all of MCLA’s Fine and Performing Arts productions for the past two decades.

Costume designers whose work will be show include MCLA professor Dawn Shamburger and Tony Award-winning designer Susan Hilferty.

Set with lights for "Passing Strange," David KorinsHilferty has designed over 200 productions including the Broadway productions of “Assassins,” “Into the Woods,” “Dirty Blonde,” “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” starring Matthew Broderick, Elton John’s “Lestat,” and “Wicked,” for which she won a Tony Award.

Set designers featured in “Beyond the Curtain” are Carl Sprague and David Korins. Sprague’s work – including that at Shakespeare and Company, Old Castle Theater and Berkshire Theater Festival – is known throughout the Berkshires and beyond.

Korins’ work can be een on Broadway with “Passing Strange.” Other Broadway credits include “Bridge and Tunnel” and the upcoming revival of “Godspell.”

Not a medium usually seen at a gallery, sound designers will be represented by Erich Bechtel, whose Broadway credits include “Salome” with Marisa Tomei and Brian Young.

“Because the work of these great artists normally is not shown in a gallery, but on a stage, compiling this show has been an intriguing process as we’ve figured out how best to show the work of these great artists,” said Jonathan Secor, director of special programs at MCLA. “This exhibition will include not only wonderful images of the finished product, but also the parts that go into getting them onto the stage – the renderings, draftings, models and sound installations.”                                             

MCLA Gallery 51 is at 51 Main St. in North Adams and is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, call 413-664-8718, or go to www.mcla.edu/Gallery51
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Clarksburg Officials Debate Need for School Repairs, Renovations

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff

Select Board member Colton Andrews stands next to a bucket catching leaks as he talks to the joint gathering. 
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — School officials acknowledged that Clarksburg School is need of renovation or rebuild but declined to commit at this point to plan of action.
 
"We can't say that because it hasn't even been put out to the town," said School Committee member Cynthia Brule. "So I mean, we could say, 'yeah, I want a new school,' but it means nothing."
 
The comments had come during a joint meeting of the Select Board and School Committee last week over what to do with the leaking roof. 
 
"We're dealing with a pretty leaky roof that's affecting several classrooms," said Superintendent John Franzoni. "The leaks are continuing and impacting the classroom learning."
 
Select Board Chair Robert Norcross had pushed for the committee to make a declaration after talks with the governor's Western Mass office over the lingering $500,000 in a bond bill for the roof. 
 
He and Assistant Superintendent Tara Barnes had spoken with Kristen Elechko, Western Mass regional director, he said, and Barnes had mentioned the school could use more than a roof. 
 
"Kristen sent me an email the next day saying that I can't go for a roof if we're going to go for a new school or if we're going to go for something bigger," Norcross said. "You have to decide quickly what we want to do, because all these deadlines are coming up. So that's why I wanted to push the meeting forward and that's why I asked the Finance Committee and the Select Board to be here, because we got to make a decision tonight."
 
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