Check out our what to do section for a complete list of Berkshire cultural attractions. 

The Greening

By Bess Hochstein

March 2008

With the start of spring just around the corner, it’s not surprising that when I drive down from my snow-covered Tyringham perch I end up in a South County landscape with much less of the white stuff. While the lowland fields are not yet bright with new grass—after all, the skiing’s still great at our local mountains, and snow continues to fall intermittently—there is a lot more green in the Berkshires.

That’s partly because St. Patrick’s Day is upon us, as I was reminded at a recent visit to Pittsfield’s Lichtenstein Center for the Arts. Lining the walls, waiting to be hung, were photos, paintings, assemblages, pottery, plus work in video and other media for “Forty Shades of Green,” a group exhibition inspired by the spirit of Ireland and the color most associated with the Emerald Island. The show officially opens Sunday 3/16 with a reception featuring costumed Irish dancers and musicians, as well as the Mayor of Ballina, Pittsfield’s Irish sister city, and other dignitaries from across the pond. The Litch will maintain the Irish theme in celebrating the arrival of spring with local storyteller Richele Baburina reading from the book “Tales of Old Ireland” on 3/20 at 10:30 a.m.

There’s something of a spring awakening throughout the Berkshires; even as the weather remains wintery, it’s as if the warm up for summer has begun. On Thursday 3/13 entertainment journalist Martha Frankel appeared at Bard College at Simon’s Rock to talk about her memoir, Hat’s & Eyeglasses: A Family Love Affair with Gambling. I was interested in hearing about her work with magazines such as Details, The New Yorker, and Cosmopolitan.

Friday we’re taking a sneak peak at what’s happening at the Berkshire Museum. Since the soon-to-open Feigenbaum Hall of Innovation is still under construction, we’ll be privy to a hard hat tour. That evening, 3/14, we’ll head to the Lauren Clark Gallery for an opening reception, followed by dinner with lovely Lauren herself. We’re still deciding where to eat: maybe Greek at the Aegean Breeze, Mexican at Xichotencatl, or our old standby, Japanese at Bizen. Or maybe it’s time to try Spanish dining at Viva. I stopped in for a peek this week and it looks like a lively, welcoming place with a mouth-watering tapas menu. It’s a weekend night, and the skiers will be in town, so we need to decide soon and make a reservation soon!

Saturday will be a mix of art and socializing, with an opening reception at Ferrin Gallery, then a silent auction to benefit Storefront Artists Project featuring original artwork and vintage Polish movie posters at Stonover Farm’s barn gallery. But it’s a tough choice between gallery hopping and heading to the Mahaiwe, where Close Encounters with Music is presenting Transcendental Night. Who can resist Beethoven’s Ghost Trio? Things stay scary with Monday night movies in the film noir mode: James Cagney stars in “White Heat on 3/17 and The Postman Always Rings Twice on 3/24.  And the high drama continues with the Live in HD screening of the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde.

I know where all the stage moms and dads will be this weekend: in Pittsfield, taking their thespian teenagers to audition for roles in Barrington Stage Company’s Youth Theatre production of Seussical – the Musical on Friday evening 3/14 and all day Saturday 3/15, with callbacks Sunday 3/16. The production runs a full month in the summer, July 16-August 17, so it’s quite a commitment for a teenager!

If you’re devoid of stage-struck kids, consider dropping in at the Norman Rockwell Museum to celebrate Verizon’s donation of an iconic portrait, The Lineman, to the permanent collection. Rockwell was commissioned by New England Telephone to paint this heroic workingman for an advertisement in 1947. After driving around looking for subjects near his then-home in Southern Vermont, he ended up in the Berkshires, where Lenox resident John Toolan was working on a pole.

Having found his model, Rockwell had Toolan pose on a pole rigged up outside his studio and captured his spirit on canvas. Verizon donated the painting, worth about $2 million, to the museum on Wednesday, 3/12, in a ceremony attended by many Verizon employees, both working and retired. It was a fitting celebration at a time when Norman Rockwell has been put forward by the legislature as the official artist of Massachusetts.

More news from Barrington Stage Company recently came across my transom: a special announcement of a one-night-only concert by Idina Menzel, the Tony Award-winning star of “Wicked” and “Rent.” The Broadway songstress is celebrating the release of her album, “I Stand,” with a tour. The Pittsfield engagement on April 3 will mark her concert debut. Now there’s a great songbird to welcome spring! 

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.