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Check out our what to do section for a complete list of Berkshire cultural attractions.
Galas Galore!
By Bess Hochstein
July 2008
Last weekend’s cascade of galas put Berkshire loyalties to the test. Some of my friends went to Berkshire Theatre Festival’s 80th birthday celebration, with a performance of Candida as the centerpiece. Others, including Governor Deval Patrick, joined Barrington Stage Company for the triumphant homecoming  celebration of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, held, appropriately, in St. Joseph Central High School’s gym. One of my more industrious compatriots went to both!
K & I took the northern route. After a stop at Ferrin Gallery for the opening reception of Maggie Mailer’s new paintings, “The Volcano Sitters,” we headed for the Clark’s I-do-mean-grand opening of the Stone Hill Center, designed by Japanese award-winning architect Tadao Ando. This enchanting evening began with a brief walk through the woods on a gravel path punctuated with wooden bridges and stairs, with various entertainments along with way. Japanese musicians and carvers, fanciful floating fish, and tables full of  Asian goodies marked our passage to the minimalist masterpiece on the hilltop, nestled in a lush field.
We ran into our friends from the Lenox Athenaeum before proceeding to the gathering on the terrace, where Ando, State Representative Dan Bosley, and museum director Michael Conforti spoke to a crowd equally enticed by the breath-taking mountain views and the delicious sushi, spring rolls, and dumplings at hand. After wining, dining, and schmoozing with folks from MASS MoCA and Williamstown Theatre Festival, we strolled back down the hill for dessert  and an unhurried look at the new “Painting Softly” show in the Clark’s main building. When we stepped back outside we were greeted with an array of desserts and a spectacular fireworks display.
It was a fitting start to an explosive week, encompassing our first performances at Jacob’s Pillow – two nights of stirring contemporary dance. First up was the U.S. premiere of Compagnie Heddy Maalem featuring a cast of dancers from 14 different countries in Africa presenting a fierce rendition of Le Sacre de Printemps. The next night, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company delivered a powerful look at crime, guilt, justice, and religion -- Chapel/Chapter -- presented at a reconfigured Duke dramatically draped in red, with a central performance space. We’ll be back next week for Lar Lubovitch, and maybe find time for a free show at the Inside/Out stage.
Three consecutive nights of dance may seem excessive, but the third entailed a change of venue: Mark Morris Dance Company presented a world premiere to Barber’s Excursions, for piano, at Tanglewood.  Accompanied by Tanglewood Music Center vocal fellows and pianists, the troupe also performed some of our older favorites, including Bedtime to Schubert and New Love Song Waltzes to Brahms. As an added bonus, Mark Morris himself was seated not far from us in Ozawa Hall. It was tempting to watch the choreographer’s reactions to his new work, but the dancers drew our full attention. This week I’m taking a friend from Australia to one of the most archetypical Berkshire events – James Taylor’s 4th of July concert at Tanglewood, concluding with more fireworks. Feeling a bit of premature summer burn-out, we regretfully bowed out of Shakespeare & Company’s Cornets & Summer Stars Gala, vowing to get to All’s Well that Ends Well well before Othello begins on July 18. We did make the opening reception of Pittsfield Contemporary: New Work by Artists under Forty at the Lichtenstein Center.  Somehow I expected a low-key event, but the joint was jumping, helped along by an excellent three-piece band; I don’t think I’ve ever seen as many people at a gallery opening!
Sunday began the same as nearly every morning for me: two hours of Ashtanga yoga. (The exception is Mondays, when I take the Pilates class at Jacob’s Pillow.) After breakfast at the Co-op Market, I went to The Triplex, not to see a movie, but to see Berkshire Living's “Rest of the Story” forum on Berkshire Theatre Festival’s 80th year, featuring artistic director Kate McGuire. My friend G. was there -- she works at BTF – so we coordinated a dog hike with a few of my dog-crazy lady friends at Monk’s Pond,  one of two gorgeous trails above Kripalu maintained by Berkshire Natural Resources Council. That left me in a hurry to meet my friend DW in Pittsfield for the opening of a new exhibition, Look @ Us: Portraits from the Berkshire Museum and Whitney Museum of American Art. The Berkshire Museum’s walls are filled with work ranging from early Americana to modern masters such as Alex Katz, Lorna Simpson, Chuck Close, and Andy Warhol, posing some thought-provoking juxtapositions. Afterward we hung out with Leslie Ferrin at her gallery where Gordon Chandler’s solo show Bringing It Home: Found Metal Sculpture and Furniture, opens on July 5. (If you want to learn more about how Chandler transforms scrap into art, he’ll be lecturing at IS183 Art School on July 9.) We had a private viewing of Maggie Mailer’s paintings, which is highly recommended viewing – the show closes July 13. Then we strolled around the corner to see The Mysteries of Harris Burdick at Barrington Stage Company’s Stage 2. I was expecting light fare, but this was a surprisingly affecting and beautiful musical – one woman leaving the theater said it was one of the saddest plays she had ever seen, and my companion admitted to having shed a few tears. Get tickets soon because it closes July 5. If you go this Thursday, July 3, your ticket gets you free admission to a late-night cabaret featuring the cast at 10 pm, though it’s only $10 if you don’t have a ticket.
The current week could exacerbate my premature burn-out. Tuesday my friend DS and I saw Campbell Scott in The Atheist at Williamstown Theatre Festival. This is the actor’s first one-man show, and he is a tour de force,  nailing the unsympathetic character, a journalist willing to do anything to make a name for himself. Scott’s delivers a highly kinetic performance, as intense and as rhythmic as playwright Ronan Noone’s script. (There’s not a lot of time to catch this one-man play; it closes July 6, making way on the Nikos Stage for the world premiere of Broke-ology.) Wednesday K & I are seeing Lar Lubovitch at the Pillow, and Thursday the world premiere of Pageant Play at BTF. This new satiric play was co-written by actor/playwright Mark Setlock, who gave us Fully Committed, and appears on stage with his co-writer, Matthew Wilkas. I heard enough about this show in a recent interview on WAMC that I am really looking forward to it. Friday, for the first time, I’m going to the Pittsfield Fourth of July Parade, which was just named one of the nation’s ten best parades by USA Today. The festivities will continue into the evening at Tanglewood for James Taylor’s concert.
The Boston Symphony Orchestra moves west this weekend for the official opening of Tanglewood on July 5 with Les Troyens, conducted by Maestro James Levine. It’s a two-part opera extravaganza, continuing on July 6. Who knows which celebrities will turn up for the opening-night gala? Last year I heard John Travolta flew in on his private plane for the festivities! But if Berlioz is not your bag, consider these two nights of popular alternatives: singer/songwriter Beth Orton at MASS MoCA on July 5 – outdoors if the weather’s good – and Daryl Hall -- half of hitmakers Hall & Oates -- at The Mahaiwe on July 6.
 There’s also music this weekend at Butternut, though it’s more of a side show to the main event: the Berkshires Arts Festival, July 4-6, a juried show featuring hundreds of artists displaying their wares on the mountainside. The following weekend, Julu 12 & 13, the first-ever Berkshire Green & Healthy Living Expo sets up slopeside, with scores of workshops, lectures, and demonstrations on sustainable energy, environmentally sound practices, and wellness, plus music, food, kids’ activities, and over 100 exhibitors.
 Into the midst of the summer’s riches come two avant-garde gems. The two-week-plus Bang on a Can Music Festival at MASS MoCA kicks off on July 10. Music students from around the world plus more than a dozen faculty, including some of the leading composers and performers of experimental music working today, will perform daily recitals in the galleries and around the campus. The dense performance schedule is on the website, but top-billed events include the Bang on a Can All-Stars, a high-energy new music concert with special guest Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth on July 19; and the concluding Bang on a Can Marathon on July 26. At the other end of the county, the Berkshire Fringe sets up at Simon’s Rock. Beginning on July 16, it’s a jam-packed schedule of new plays, music, dance, film, performance art, and workshops. It all begins with an irresistible gala on July 14: Eating it! The Art of Food. Billed as a celebration of food as art, this fundraiser promises delectable presentations from local chefs, bakers, farmers, plus visual and performing artists. Guests will partake in locally produced food and drink, dancing, panel discussions, a silent auction, and a special “Tomato Ceremony” by one of the featured festival performers.
In between the start of these festivals are any number of thrilling events, from Berkshire Opera Company’s Women on the Verge (July 11) and Los Lobos (July 12) at the Mahaiwe to funk-appella diva Abena Koomson at MoCA (July 12), and the continuous opening of new plays and dances.  All this activity can make one’s head spin, but the Berkshires also enjoys many an oasis of calm, be it hiking in the woods or fields at a Trustees of Reservations property, lounging lakeside, or taking in the gardens – either at home, at the Berkshire Botanical Garden, or at one of the many historic estates such as Naumkeag.
I just learned of a perfect, elegant break from the summer tsunami; The Mount has decided to open its Terrace Café from 5-8 pm on Friday-Sunday evenings. I can think of no more civilized setting to while away the twilight hours than watching the sun set over Edith Wharton’s famed gardens with a light repast. Admission is free, and guests are welcome to wander through the mansion and estate. But after a pre-theater glass of wine and some hors d’oeuvres on the terrace, you’ll no doubt be feeling so magnanimous that you wouldn’t dream of not helping the financially strapped historic estate with a generous donation.
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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