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New Beginnings
By Bess Hochstein
September 2008
Yellow and orange clusters have made an early appearance on several trees I pass on my daily drive to ashtanga yoga class, and fiery colored leaves are occasionally wafting onto my lawn. Labor Day Weekend is a reminder that summer is fast coming to an end, but there are new beginnings to look forward to as well.
Summer cultural venues ended their season with a flourish. The final performance on the Ted Shawn stage at Jacob’s Pillow featured the debut of Trey McIntyre’s new company, with several world premiere dances including one to music by Peter Paul and Mary. The icing on the cake? Peter Yarrow, of that iconic sixties folks group, was in the audience, sitting about two rows in front of K & me. We were lucky to get into some of the final performances at Shakespeare & Company, including a sold-out show of Othello, which earned a rave from the New York Times, and The Goatwoman of Corivs County.
We had visitors over the weekend; Michael and Anne Marie came up for the Tanglewood Jazz Festival. The event called for a picnic, so we took them, plus Duffy and Hobbes, to the Great Barrington Farmers Market, which was fortuitously having a tasting of heirloom tomatoes, at their peak. After stopping at Guido’s and the Berkshire Co-op Market for more provisions, we hit the tent sale of Asian imports at Barong, then continued home to prepare our picnic salads. It was a gray Saturday, but the rain clouds passed in time for us to snag prime real estate on the lawn at Ozawa Hall for the classically inspired set by Donal Fox, with acclaimed trumpeter Christian Scott. We stayed for vocalist Dianne Reeves, who did an amazing rendition of One for my Baby. The next day dawned beautiful; we took our guests on a morning hike through the Tyringham Cobble,  taking time to savor the view from the top. Having worked up an appetite, we decided on Mexican brunch at Xichotencatl, with its gracious outdoor seating (and impressive tequila list). Michael has been shopping for paintings for his newly renovated home near Washington, DC, so we did a mini gallery tour, stopping at Sanford Smith Fine Art and Lauren Clark Gallery, then continuing on to the Hoadley Gallery and Church Street Art in Lenox. Our friends left that afternoon, giving us a bit of time to rest before we headed to Barrington Stage Company’s Stage 2 reading of Freud’s Last Session, a new work by playwright Mark St. Germain. Again, the house was packed, and Bill Finn, who had been in the Main Stage spotlight the two previous nights with Songs by Ridiculously Talented Composers & Lyricists You Probably Don’t Know, But Should... was in attendance. We were tempted to stop into Jae’s Spice after the show -- the joint was jumping – but we decided to make it an early night. After all, K had to get up early on Labor Day to cover the Rolex Vintage Festival at Lime Rock Park.  Monday was race day at the track; he shot some wonderful photos of vintage Ferraris, Porsches, Jaguars, and Lotuses tearing up the course in the sunlight. I chose to stay closer to home, dropping in on the Studio Festival Plays at Shakespeare & Co., an annual Labor Day marathon of staged readings. These plays are candidates for full-fledged performances by the company, and I’d readily vote for the one I saw, a new work called “The Children,” which has to do with the transporting of Medea’s children to the modern-day seacoast of Maine.
Those of the mindset that Labor Day is for slowing down should know that now that September has arrived, we’re gearing up fast for the fall. Both stages remain active at Berkshire Theatre Festival, where the classic musical Oliver begins a short run from September 4-7 on the Main Stage, with a cast of 123 kids and adults from the local community; tickets sales benefit Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation’s Education Enrichment Initiative and Berkshire Theatre Festival’s year-round education program, BTF PLAYS! Eleanor: Her Secret Journey, an intimate portrait of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt that opened just this week, resumes performances on the Unicorn Stage on September 6 through November 9, Thursday – Sunday.  And while the summer schedule is over at Shakespeare & Company, programming continues into the fall. As Artistic Director Tina Packer and other cast members of the 2006 hit Hamlet are hitting the road for the company’s first national tour, Irina Brook is gearing up for her local directorial debut with The Canterville Ghost. This family-friendly adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s 1887 comical tale of a transplanted American family living in a haunted English mansion with a ghastly ghost who grows on them runs from September 19 through November 9, Thursday – Sunday, with three shows each day.
Barrington Stage Company is also gearing up for its October production of To Kill a Mockingbird, in conjunction with “The Big Read,”  Pittsfield’s citywide programming based on Harper Lee’s classic novel exploring racial injustice, courage, and the loss of innocence in the American deep South. The Big Read kicked off on September 2 with a two-part reading and discussion of To Kill a Mockingbird at Knesset Israel. Part two takes place on September 9. The Colonial is also getting into the act, screening the 1962 award-winning film along with other movies starring Gregory Peck. Berkshire County’s central city is also fired up for the year’s final 3rd Thursday after-hours celebration on September 18. The Harvest Hoedown theme promises country music, square dancing, farm animals, outdoor dining, all manner of performances, free admission until 8 pm to the Berkshire Museum, and the chance to sign up for the city’s Hayman! creative scarecrow-making public art project.
Pittsfield’s not the only town holding a party; Lenox has plenty to celebrate, with the Weekend of the Gilded Age September 12-14, featuring “Sarah Morgan’s Soiree” at Ventfort Hall; the annual “Lenox Tub Parade” of historic horse-drawn carriages; and Gilded Age family picnics and festivities on Monday at The Mount. The next weekend, September 19-21, Lenox hosts “The Autumn Art Festival,” with painters in the streets, and cabaret performances under the stars.
The Williamstown Theatre Festival season has also ended, but programming at the’62 Center -- where WTF summers – organized by Williams College is just beginning. On September 9  Goli & Moti, two Israeli artists who live and work together in the Netherlands, creating art that attempts to bridge the divide between Jewish Israelis and Arabs, present Laylah, The Creature Beyond Dreams at the Adams Memorial Theatre, and on September 12 I’m planning to see the Fireworks Ensemble, hailed as “the hottest classical band in New York,” in the first of a new series called “The Box – Music by Living Composers.”
The next night, September 13, comedy-lovers will flock to The Mahaiwe, where Paula Poundstone is doing a benefit for Fairview Hospital. But before the ridiculous, I’ll see the sublime; architect Bruce Fowle will be at The Colonial that afternoon to discuss climate change, green building design, and his carbon-neutral design proposal for the Housatonic River Museum slated to open in Pittsfield near Wahconah Park. This environmentally conscious event is free, and Brix is providing the refreshments, so get in on the very beginning of the plans for this new museum.
About Bess Hochstein
Bess J.M. Hochstein came to the Berkshires as a second-homeowner before deciding to move here full time. Previously a communications executive, she's now a freelance writer living in Tyringham with her corgis Duffy and Hobbs and K. She writes for several publications, including Berkshire Living, the Boston Globe, New England Wine Gazette, and Healing Lifestyles & Spas magazine.
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