MASS MoCA summer season calendar Listings

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MASS MoCA Summer Season Calendar Listings
May 25, 7 pm Viva Vienna: Opening Celebration for The Vienna Project. Sex Mob, New York's hippest band, plays "nonstop, surprising, avant-garde party music." For the opening of the Berkshire-wide celebration of Vienna, they bring the waltz into the new millennium and beyond with a little help from special Viennese guest artist saxophonist Max Nagl. The night magically morphs into a techno dance party as Blow Up! Vienna, the trans-Atlantic DJ collective, mixes not just tunes but projected images from the summer exhibitions at MASS MoCA, the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute, and Williams College Museum of Art in a sound and light extravaganza. $17/$14 Clark, WCMA, and MASS MoCA members/$8 kids June 1, 7 pm Dr. John and Jimmy Scott: Opening Concert. New Orleans' favorite son, the matchless piano bluesman Dr. John, is joined on stage by legendary singer Jimmy Scott, keeper of one of the greatest tenors in the history of rock and roll. A night of bayou-flavoredfunkiness, beautiful voices, and soul-stirring ballads. $20 advance/$25 day of show June 8, 4 pm Family Concert with Basya Schecter. Schecter of the wildly eclectic band Pharaoh's Daughter fuses Jewish, Middle Eastern and Indian influences to create a sound that is pure global unity. Here she gives a round-the-world musical workshop/concert for the whole family. Free with museum admission. Advance reservations required. June 15, 10:30 am Daydreaming and Dancing with Martha Bowers. Choreographer-in-residence Martha Bowers engages children in an interactive exploration of The Dream Life of Bricks, her site-specific dance piece about MASS MoCA's past, present, and future. Free with museum admission. Advance reservations required. June 21-22 The Dream Life of Bricks. If a building could dream, what would those dreams look like? Martha Bowers' visionary choreographic historyscape of the MASS MoCA mill-turned-museum poses that question, exploring the site as a repository for 200 years of the community's collective aspirations and imaginings. The project is a collaboration with lauded musician Phillip Hamilton and members of the North Adams community.$15 June 28, 8:30 pm Sunset Boulevard. Starring William Holden, Gloria Swanson, and the great Erich von Stroheim, Billy Wilder's classic tale of fame, intrigue, and decrepitude is a wicked skewering of Hollywood mores. "Remains the best drama ever made about the movies." - Roger Ebert $6 June 29, 8:30 pm Lost World with live music by Alloy Orchestra. Alloy Orchestra lays down a rousing score to the original dino-classic, Lost World (1925), forerunner of everything from King Kong to Godzilla to Jurassic Park. In it a research team tries to authenticate claims of prehistoric monsters in the Brazilian jungle. The skeptical group is soon screaming for their lives. $12 adults/$6 kids July 5, 8:30 pm Casablanca. WWII, Tangiers, Rick's Café, ex-pats, Nazi spies, epic romance - it all adds up to the film that solidified Bogart's place as the personification of cool. Casablanca is one of Hollywood's greatest achievements, and the chance to see it outdoors on the big screen should not be missed. $6 July 6, 7:30 pm Haitian Dance Party with Tabou Combo. The true kings of kompas Tabou Combo storm MASS MoCA for a night of blazing Haitian rhythms and non- stop dancing. $12 adults/$6 kids July 11, 8:30 pm Sing-A-Long Sound of Music. A cinematic phenomenon that is much more than a movie, this 3 1/2 hour event includes pre- and post-show festivities, a Best Costume contest, an official fun pack filled with interactive props and utterly silly film fun. The audience can boo at Nazis, hiss at the Baroness, cheer for Maria, and sing with the children. In addition to subtitles on the film, ardent fans promise to buoy along anyone who's forgotten the words. $15 adults/$10 kids July 13, 8 pm The Big Bang: Opening Concert for Summer Institute. The First Annual Bang on a Can Summer Institute of Contemporary Music at MASS MoCA starts with an explosive All-Stars' performance. Part classical ensemble, part rock band, part jazz band, the All Stars are adventurous, virtuosic, dynamic and intense. This concert features jazz giant Don Byron's Eugene 1, a new sound score set to an episode of The Ernie Kovacs Show. Plus high energy music from Bang on a Can's acclaimed CD Renegade Heaven (picked as #1 Classical CD of 2001 by Alan Korzin of The New York Times). Bang on a Can's maverick co-founders, Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolf (creators of last years celebrated production The Carbon Copy Building), are joined by composers Arnold Dreyblatt, and Evan Ziporyn (Shadow Bang) as they draw on influences from the Beatles to Sonic Youth and beyond. $20 July 20, 10:30 am Kids Can Too! Between the opening concert of the Bang on Can Summer Institute and the residency-closing Marathon blowout, the BOAC gang pauses for a session with kids, introducing children to a world of music and instruments far beyond the ordinary. Free with museum admission. Advance reservations required. July 20, 6 pm Vienna Vines: A Celebration of Wine James Beard. Award-winner Karen King (Best Wine List), sommelier of the famous Union Square Café, one of New York City's finest restaurants, gives a tasting tour of Austria's premier grapes. $25 July 27, 4 - 10 pm Bang on a Can Marathon with Steve Reich. A celebration of the completion of their two-week institute for new musicians at MASS MoCA with Bang on a Can in their first-ever Summer Marathon. An annual music extravaganza in New York City since 1987, the Bang on a Can Marathon is known worldwide for its unparalleled combinations of today's most innovative new music. Highlights of this 6-hour festival include music by very special guest Steve Reich and the debut of the Summer Institute's Balinese Gamelan, all capped off by a revolutionary and powerful performance of Terry Riley's minimalist classic In C. $20 August 3, 8:30 pm Rebirth of a Nation with music by DJ Spooky. A work in progress performance by conceptual artist, writer, and musician Paul D. Miller a.k.a. DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid. He re-imagines the controversial Birth of a Nation (1915), combining footage from the film with a modern musical collage. The first movie blockbuster from the moment Birth of a Nation premiered, the NAACP organized mass demonstrations against it. Not only did black people object to its racial stereotypes, but they feared that its glorification of the Klan would lead to increased violence against African-Americans. $12 August 10, 10:30 am Folk Tales from Afghanistan. Based on classic Sufi teaching stories and narratives, the late Afghan writer Idries Shah's spellbinding adaptations of tales from Middle Eastern and Central Asian oral tradition are among the most popular children's books the world over. Free with museum admission. Advance reservations required. August 10, 8 pm Viennese Café Concert. From the vanguard of Vienna's music scene, Lukas Ligeti conjures up a seamless pastiche of electronic music and African rhythms for a concert under the stars. Ligeti is joined by the singer Mai Lingani of Burkina Faso, West Africa. $10 August 17, 8:30 pm Sounds of the Surreal with live music by Gary Lucas. The man The New York Times called "guitarist of 1,000 ideas" improvises over three early masterpieces of surreal cinema: René Clair's Entr'Acte, Fernand Legér's Ballet Méchanique, and Ladislaw Starewicz's The Cameraman's Revenge. Lucas never wants for creative inspiration, and these reality-bending short films provide an ideal canvas for his virtuosic flights of musical fantasy. $12 adults/$6 kids August 23-24, 8 pm Mabou Mines' Red Beads: Preview Showing! Renowned puppeteer Basil Twist and the great avant-garde theater troupe Mabou Mines have completed their visually stunning fairy tale which includes fifteen foot tall silk puppets, exquisite lighting, flying actors, haunting text, and wonderful music. Adapted from traditional Siberian folklore and brought to life with wind, dance, music, and prose, this story centers on a haunting mythological fantasy about the passage of "feminine mystique" from mother to daughter. MASS MoCA hosted an early work-in-progress showing in February 2001. $20 August 31, 7:30 pm Cuban Dance Party with Yerba Buena Yerba. Buena plays Cuban funk fusion for a hot dance party. An urban hip hop sound. $12 adults/$6 kids September 1, 8:30 pm The Producers. According to Roger Ebert, Mel Brooks' 1968 gem may well be the funniest movie of all time. The theater production is now the toast of Broadway, but nothing in it can top the antics of Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, whose Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom make up one of filmdom's greatest comedy duos. "In 1968 the movie was like a bomb going off inside the audience's sense of propriety." - Roger Ebert. $6
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Berkshire County Homes Celebrating Holiday Cheer

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

There's holiday cheer throughout the Berkshires this winter.

Many homeowners are showing their holiday spirit by decorating their houses. We asked for submissions so those in the community can check out these fanciful lights and decor when they're out.

We asked the homeowners questions on their decorations and why they like to light up their houses.

In Great Barrington, Matt Pevzner has decorated his house with many lights and even has a Facebook page dedicated to making sure others can see the holiday joy.

Located at 93 Brush Hill Road, there's more than 61,000 lights strewn across the yard decorating trees and reindeer and even a polar bear. 

The Pevzner family started decorating in September by testing their hundreds of boxes of lights. He builds all of his own decorations like the star 10-foot star that shines done from 80-feet up, 10 10-foot trees, nine 5-foot trees, and even the sleigh, and more that he also uses a lift to make sure are perfect each year.

"I always decorated but I went big during COVID. I felt that people needed something positive and to bring joy and happiness to everyone," he wrote. "I strive to bring as much joy and happiness as I can during the holidays. I love it when I get a message about how much people enjoy it. I've received cards thanking me how much they enjoyed it and made them smile. That means a lot."

Pevzner starts thinking about next year's display immediately after they take it down after New Year's. He gets his ideas by asking on his Facebook page for people's favorite decorations. The Pevzner family encourages you to take a drive and see their decorations, which are lighted every night from 5 to 10.

In North Adams, the Wilson family decorates their house with fun inflatables and even a big Santa waving to those who pass by.

The Wilsons start decorating before Thanksgiving and started decorating once their daughter was born and have grown their decorations each year as she has grown. They love to decorate as they used to drive around to look at decorations when they were younger and hope to spread the same joy.

"I have always loved driving around looking at Christmas lights and decorations. It's incredible what people can achieve these days with their displays," they wrote.

They are hoping their display carries on the tradition of the Arnold Family Christmas Lights Display that retired in 2022.

The Wilsons' invite you to come and look at their display at 432 Church St. that's lit from 4:30 to 10:30 every night, though if it's really windy, the inflatables might not be up as the weather will be too harsh.

In Pittsfield, Travis and Shannon Dozier decorated their house for the first time this Christmas as they recently purchased their home on Faucett Lane. The two started decorating in November, and hope to bring joy to the community.

"If we put a smile on one child's face driving by, then our mission was accomplished," they said. 

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