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Check out our what to do section for a complete list of Berkshire cultural attractions.
Roaring In
By Bess Hochstein
March 2008
True to tradition, March came in like a lion, with another weekend snowstorm, delivering more fresh powder to the delight of skiers. That’s great for bargain hunters on sticks, as March also ushers in late-season lift-ticket discounts at local mountains.
You can ski free this month at Bousquet and Butternut if you purchase a 2008-2009 season pass; Catamount lift tickets cost just $20 on Monday-Thursday, as do tickets at Butternut every day after March 17; and Jiminy Peak continues to offer $21 lift tickets on select days through its E-Coupon program – the next one’s coming up on March 10.
 Fortunately, the snowfall did not dampen attendance at the long-anticipated fundraiser for IS183 Art School of the Berkshires, Rock the Opera. The masquerade ball was a roaring success, and the partygoers’ costumes ranged from raucous rock and roll to outrageously operatic. Between ticket sales and silent auction proceeds, the event raised about $60,000, which is much needed to fund the art school’s programs, including reasonably priced classes with top-notch artists and scholarships for those who need them.
The art world marches on this month with the 3/8 opening of Brave New Landscape, a group show of photography at Storefront Artist Project, as well as a reception for resident artist Derek Zeitel in his Storefront studio across from Pittsfield’s City Hall. The next weekend is also packed, with a silent auction of art work and vintage Polish movie posters benefiting Storefront’s programming, to be held in the Barn Gallery at Stonover Farm. Before heading to Lenox for the auction on 3/15, we’ll be in Pittsfield from 4-6 p.m. for the opening reception of 2D + 3D at Ferrin Gallery, a group show by artists working in multiple dimensions, as well as a solo show, Exquisite Corpse, by Cynthia Consentino.
The museums are keeping busy, too. Just in time for election season, the Norman Rockwell Museum has hung a new exhibition called Norman Rockwell: Illustrator in Chief, featuring the artist’s portraits of presidential candidates. In conjunction with this exhibition, the museum presents a one-man show, JFK: In His Own Words, by actor Mike Lowe, who will perform in the galleries surrounded by Rockwell’s paintings of prominent political personages.
 Playing off of its Remington Looking West exhibition, The Clark presents a free film series, A Wild and Savage Land: John Ford Looks at the American West, screening the iconic director’s classic Westerns on four consecutive Saturday afternoons, beginning with Stagecoach on 3/15.
The museum’s free lectures also continue; next up is Cowboys and Indians: Remington’s Characters on 3/9 at 2 p.m. And while the Berkshire Museum is currently closed, behind the scenes work is proceeding at a frantic pace for its grand re-opening and the introduction of the Feigenbaum Hall of Innovation on 3/29.
 MASS MoCA’s not hibernating either; in addition to its highly acclaimed exhibitions by Anselm Kiefer, Jenny Holzer, and Spencer Finch, plus a group show of work by Western artists in China, the museum presents a rich roster of documentary films in its Cinema Lounge series, as well as live performance. Up next, on 3/8, is Trickpony by Chelsea Bacon & Sally Rousse, an aerial dance theater piece based on the work of autistic author Temple Grandin and the artists’ personal experiences with brain tumors.
Of course we can always rely on the Mahaiwe to bring us a variety of performing arts and film. Classic movie Mondays take a film noir turn in March, with The Maltese Falcon on 3/10 and White Heat on 3/17, followed by The Postman Always Rings Twice and High Sierra.
 In celebration of national “Music in the Schools” month, the 26th annual Monument Mountain Regional High School Band Pops concert with Rolf Smedvig takes the stage on 3/7. Music continues to ring out on 3/14 with Crazy ’Bout Patsy – The Patsy Cline Show and on 3/15 for Close Encounters with Music’s Transcendental Night.
Plus the Mahaiwe has added some exciting new shows, including Richard Thompson on April 19 and America on May 17. That may sound far off in the future, but many Mahaiwe shows have been selling out, and these are sure to be hot tickets.
 The Colonial is keeping us hopping too, with Hal Holbrook in Mark Twain Tonight on 3/8 (the show is sold out), The Ten Tenors from Australia on 3/14, gifted guitarist/singer/songwriter Albert Cummings on 3/15, and Irish acoustic group Lunasa on 3/16, as well as Thursday night flicks: The Walker on 3/6 and global warming documentary Everything’s Cool on 3/13.
 Since it’s clear we’ll be out and about, we’ll need to set the TiVo on 2/8 at 9 p.m. to record the Food Network’s broadcast of a segment on Pets & Food, hosted by Rachel Ray, featuring footage from last September’s session of Camp Unleashed. I’m sure it will whet Hobbes and Duffy’s appetites for the 2008 session of their favorite dog camp, which is scheduled for Sept. 4-7. You’ll see why they (and we) enjoy it so much when you tune in to the segment!
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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