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The Lamb’s in Limbo
By Bess Hochstein
April 2008
 Spring has sprung, but you wouldn’t know it looking out my window, where our vegetable garden is still covered in snow, much to K’s dismay. He’s anxious to plant, but the weather’s not cooperating just yet; in fact, right now it’s snowing again today, the last day of March, which is not making a very lamb-like exit. Nighttime temperatures remain below freezing, which means they’re still making snow at Jiminy Peak; a friend told me he’d been there a few days ago, enjoying about six inches of fresh snow in relatively warm spring skiing. I bet he’s back there today!
While the weather’s not yet hot, the cultural scene continues to sizzle. K & I returned from a brief getaway and jumped right into the swing of things. Last week Berkshire International Film Festival founder Kelley Vickery announced a tremendous cinematic lineup for her third festival, which kicks off with “Man on Wire,” a  Sundance award-winning documentary about high-wire artist Philippe Petit’s death defying and illegal stunt, crossing the top of the Manhattan’s Twin Towers with no safety net. The festival runs May 15-18, and also includes a screening of the new, digital edition of “Bladerunner” with a special presentation by FX master (and local resident) Douglas Trumbull, as well as a celebration of the work of Kevin Bacon. At the announcement party at in Housatonic, Vickery unveiled BIFF’s roster of more than 60 films – features, documentaries, and shorts – from around the word to be screened at The Mahaiwe, The Triplex and other venues.
 The next night we joined the sold-out crowd at The Mahaiwe to see Pilobolus spin-off “Momix,” a spectacle of strength, flexibility and inventive use of the human body. Even before the show opened with a giant, glowing dancing puppet, the evening began with a great surprise: on May 31, The Mahaiwe will present a new work by renowned choreographer Paul Taylor. (Hint: Buy tickets as soon as you can!) That same Friday night, the Berkshire Museum held its grand reopening, showcasing the new Feigenbaum Hall of Innovation, as well as a sweeping spring cleaning that highlights the museum’s beautiful terrazzo and wood floors and other formerly overlooked features. The museum offered free admission all weekend so the entire community could appreciate new exhibitions, renewed interiors, a long-awaited HVAC system and was just in time for an illustrated talk on Thursday, April 3, by native son Carl Sprague, a set designer for stage and screen. I was able to go to Pittsfield earlier that afternoon for the Norman Rockwell Museum’s high tea at the Crowne Plaza, at which some of the artist’s local models shared their experiences working with the master illustrator.
 Next Friday, April 4, we face a familiar question: go north, where indie band Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks are playing at MASS MoCA, having just released “Real Emotional Trash;” or head south, back to The Mahaiwe, for The PhilanthroBee, a free community event to raise money for local education foundations. On Saturday afternoon, April 5, The Mahaiwe presents the Metropolitan Opera’s “La Boheme” live in High Definition” which is already nearly sold out. Before the virtual curtain rises, Scott Eyerly from Juilliard will give a free lecture on the opera at St. James Church at 11am followed by lunch at noon at Castle Street Café. The Mahaiwe has more music of all kinds, including A Capella on April 11 and the Solid Gold Reunion on April 12, featuring three legendary groups from the early days of rock and roll: Frankie Lymon’s Legendary Teenagers (“Why Do Fools Fall in Love?”); The DelVikings (“Come Go With Me”); and The ShangiLas (“Leader of the Pack”).  More classic music is on hand at The Colonial, which presents “Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash” on April 8 before bringing us A Universe of Dreams: Ensemble Galilei with NPR personality Neil Conan, a multimedia presentation marrying recitation of some of America’s finest poetry with Cetltic/early music and a backdrop of gorgeous images from the Hubble Space Telescope.
Faithful readers know that I jump at any chance to dance and MASS MoCA’s got a good one coming up. CJ Chenier and his Red Hot Louisiana Band will be playing live at MoCA’s Zydeco Dance Party on April 11. It’s part of the Williamstown Jazz Festival, which this year is celebrating New Orleans and has thoughtfully scheduled free Zydeco dance instruction on Wednesday and Thursday, April 9 & 10 for those who need some help on how to move their feet to the Bayou beat. Jacob’s Pillow has also arranged for some dance instruction Friday night before  Chenier and the band take the stage. Other Jazz Festival events include a gospel concert with Kim and Reggie Harris; a double bill at the '62 Center featuring Robert Glasper Trio and Joe Lovano Quartet; a Dixieland Brunch at The Orchards Hotel’s Gala restaurant with the Jason Ennis Quartet; a free “Musical Legacies” concert by guitarist Freddie Bryant in conjunction with the exhibition “Unchained Legacies” at Williams College Museum of Art; a concert by pianist Gabriela Montero at The Clark; post-concert jams at restaurants such as Café Latino and Spice Root; and various films, lectures and exhibits dealing with New Orleans and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. You’ll want to get your tickets soon -- at least one event, a family-friendly story-telling tap dance extravaganza by 23 PriME, is already sold out.
 If you missed those tickets, don’t dismay; kids will also enjoy a freewheeling performance at MoCA on April 12 by The Miss Rockaway Armada, an artists’ collective presenting music, theater, puppetry and slapstick, with the promise of audience participation. For adults who’d rather just watch, The Colonial obliges on April 13, with The Aquila Theatre Company’s staging of Joseph Heller’s own adaptation of his classic novel “Catch-22.” But the focus remains on kids that Sunday at The Clark’s Remington Family Day, a free afternoon of family fun with pony rides; a miniature horse petting zoo; entertainment by Cowboy Rudy; a “Mr. Ed” marathon; games and puzzles; and the opportunity to create a bucking bronco, inspired by Remington’s first sculpture, “Bronco Buster.”  And local kids know that when spring arrives, “Baby Animals on the Shaker Farm” is never far behind. Starting on April 12, Hancock Shaker Village’s Round Stone Barn and the surrounding Barn Complex will be filled with the cutest piglets, calves, chicks, and, of course, lambs. We can only hope that by then the weather will be positively lamblike!
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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