Floating Tower attracted one of the most geographically diverse audience at the Adams Theater to date, says theater owner Yina Moore.
ADAMS, Mass. — Music theater collective Floating Tower's two nights of performances at the Adams Theater raised more than $7,000 to be donated to Razom for Ukraine.
"Our community is a very caring and supportive community," said theater owner Yina Moore. "Events like this bring people together and amplify the impact to great causes."
"Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: An Immersive Musical Homage to the Spirit of Ukraine" centers around a classic Ukrainian art film of the same name. Using the film as a starting point, composer Mátti Kovler brought together Ukrainian musicians and artists in Floating Tower who have their own immigration and refugee stories.
"Music often acts as a social glue connecting people from very different backgrounds," said Kovler. "Bringing together refugees and immigrants from multiple communities as well as local community members who participated in the production as a choir for an intensive week of rehearsals and performance makes for an interesting social experiment and, of course, deepens the understanding of the plight of the refugees in our own local community."
Moore added that this was the first show at the theater that involved a weeklong residency, on-site rehearsals, community participation on stage, and a community open house.
Kovler said he was amazed a the professionalism and dedication of the Ukrainian refugees in this production. The youngest member of the production, Polina, age 9 from Kyiv, and her brother Petro, age 11, portrayed the young Ivan and Marichka in the production.
"In between rehearsals they were writing notes to themselves and practicing their songs on their own," Kovler said. "This work ethic was inspiring. Strangely it was also the very first time for these kids who grew up in a large city, Kyiv, to have encountered some Ukrainian traditional instruments such as the bandura and sopilka."
The bandura is a folk string instrument and the sopilka a fife traditionally made of wood. He added that he just heard from their mother who said her kids are now interested in learning the ukulele and flute.
Moore said the shows were well attended. She said she was happy to see first and second-generation Ukrainian people in attendance from the region.
She said it was a good mix of Berkshire County.
"It was very well received. Numerous people in the local communities told me that they didn't know what to expect before the show, but walked away with such pleasant surprises," she said. "Among our audience members, 20 percent are from Adams, 20 percent from North Adams, 25 percent from the rest of the Berkshires, 20 percent from the rest of Massachusetts and NYC, and 15 percent from nine other states. I think this is the most geographically diverse audience pool that we have encountered this season."
Over the two performances that took place July 1 and 2 through ticket sales and donations, the theater was able to donate $6,843. Through a bake sale, this donation was increased to more than $7,000
Proceeds from the show will be donated to benefit Razom for Ukraine, an organization supplying aid to vulnerable communities in Ukraine.
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Dream Green Makes Mattress Recycling Easier
By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
Co-owner Patrick Kennedy says they aim to reuse more than 90 percent of a mattress.
ADAMS, Mass. — Dream Green owners Kyle Danforth, Cole Wojtkowski and Patrick Kennedy offer handcrafted recycling, ensuring that nothing goes to waste.
Kennedy, a longtime employee of Central Radio in North Adams, noticed a problem. It was not easy to recycle old mattresses, especially since the 2022 state law banning their disposal in trash.
Not only are mattresses difficult to move and transport, people often face steep disposal costs that dissuade them from recycling retired mattresses and box springs.
"Mattresses have to go to Lenox or they go far out east to Gardner so we wanted to find a way to make it easier and more affordable," he said.
Kennedy went to Danforth, a realtor and contractor, with the business opportunity. They roped in Wojtkowski and got to work in March 2023.
"We were working out of my garage, but we got the boot from there. So we went to this place and it has been a lot easier since," Danforth said
Dream Green moved to the former MRA building in the Adams Industrial Park, located at 15 Print Works Drive. They converted some of the office space into a large working area that allows them to more easily process — or filet the mattresses.
Kennedy, a longtime employee of Central Radio in North Adams, noticed a problem. It was not easy to recycle old mattresses, especially since the 2022 state law banning their disposal in trash.
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