American Weather takes the emotional temperature of Americans today. Chris Green, who created this moving and multi-dimensional theatrical piece, speaks of our country losing its narrative. Rather than proposing a new narrative, he suggests a new posture, one of gropipng acceptance, where we come to terms with the shape of our present in order to better prepare for the future.

Harry Connick, Jr. was the real deal at Tanglewood. Backed by a fabulous eleven piece band over two and a half hours of non stop fun he explored a wide range of musical genres with a distinctly New Orleans flavored patois.

The Cake by Bekah Brunstetter is a ripped from the headlines topical drama at Barrington Stage. While addressing vendors refusing to provide services for gay marriages it does so with a comedic touch. As Della, the conflicted specialty baker, the brilliant Debra Jo Rupp has never been more hilarious.

Only hours away from millions of people, the Finger Lakes, located in central New York state, is home to a large wine making population. With over one hundred twenty vineyards, located on or near one of the eleven lakes, the Finger Lakes 'cold climate' wine culture thrives year round, focusing on the Riesling varietal.

Now+There is the lineal descendant of the Urban Arts Institute. Its mission has expanded to reinforce social justice and environmental concerns with community-involved public art projects. Led by the creative and energetic Kate Gilbert, it works on a variety projects throughout the City of Boston.

I’m not sure that Canadian audiences share the idolatry that Americans have for O’Neill. Several Canadian critics gave this performance muted approval and a suggestion that O’Neill is a trifle unconvincing and overdone in this play’s insistent hopelessness.

The Old Globe’s prescient Erna Finci Artiti Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein, himself a Shakespeare scholar, understands how the hidden magic in Shakespeare’s plays can still inspire and entertain. His tapping of Irish director Joe Dowling to helm the technically challenging Old Globe production of “The Tempest,” is both a stroke of genius and of timing. Dowling ran the famous Guthrie Theatre of Minneapolis for 20 years. Kate Burton leads as Prospera.

The producing theater company Ferocious Lotus and playwright Leah Nanako Winkler are on the same wavelength in promoting Asian inclusion in theater. Although the narrative of Two Mile Hollow is about a white family, the pivotal character is Asian played by an Asian, and actors with Asian or Pacific Islanders blood play all of the white roles as well. So add one more brick to the building of ethnic inclusion in the arts.

PC or not to be was the question in a world premiere comedy The Closet by Douglas Carter Beane at Williamstrown Theatre Festival. It stars Broadway's Matthew Broderick in his first WTF appearance. He is backed by renowned WTF veterans Jessica Hecht and Brooks Ashmanskas. There was also a breakout performance by Ann Harada.

“Tilikum, the infamous SeaWorld killer whale, has died.” That was the headline in the Orlando Sentinel on January 6, 2017. Sideshow Theatre’s world premiere production of Tilikum takes the story of that sea creature and creates a poetic, percussive fantasy that demands that we pay attention to a range of social justice issues.

The Big D has a dual personality as a play, with some of the material risque and lively, while other moments are tender and tragic. Michael Mizerany's new work is having its world premiere at Wilton Manor's Abyss Theater. Prolific theater artist Ronnie Larsen is directing the play, featuring some strong acting.

The special exhibition Objects of Desire pairs whimsical narrative paintings by Joan Kiley with relief sculpture and polychromed assemblages by Larry Alice. There is a confluence and empathy of fantasy and the surreal in work that will be on view in the Eclipse Mill, 243 Union Street, from Friday, June 29 through Sunday, July 29. A receptiom will be held on Friday, July 6.

It's Christmas Eve at the NY apartment of Irving Berlin. He is joined by fellow masters of the Great American Songbook Jimmy Van Heusen and Harold Arlen. With just a piano we get 35 of their songs in Berkshire Theatre Group''s world premiere of Coming Back Like a Song by Lee Kalcheim,

In downtown Bennington, a new mural lets local artists shine and brings the community together.

The Barrington Stage world premiere of the musical Royal Family of Broadway has earned mostly positive reviews. It has been treated as a work in progress potentially bound for Broadway. The team assembled for this production have been there before. Because of a devastating review by Jesse Green in the New York Times that may not happen. While Green is an established, and well qualified critic, is it the role of the Times to nip in the bud regional productions being developed for a run in New York?

With all the secrecy that surrounds the arrival of a new music director for America's oldest orchestra, one must rely on live performances and recorded documentation to assess such a relationship. Happily, such documentation arrived earlier this year in the form of a DeccaGold recording of Beethoven's Fifth and Seventh Symphonies, made by the New York Philharmonic under the aegis of its new boss, Jaap van Zweden.

If you plan to see Hair at the Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, as well you should, a few tokes of medical marijuana will help to set the mood. Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. On opening night we spotted a granny with a crown of woven daisys.

With a combination of theatre of nihilism, taunts and insults the audience at Jacob's Pillow endured a riveting performance by Israel's Batsheva — The Young Ensemble. There was a single, hour long piece “Naharin’s Virus” (2001). It was choreographed by soon to retire artistic director Ohad Naharin. Like an ersatz Stockholm Syndrome experience the audience perhaps too politely thanked their tormentors for the assault on their sense.

Bard's Summerscape, ever brave, captures extraordinary moments in poet T.S. Eliot's masterwork, Four Quartets. The words the poet so clearly relishes in his own reading now dance before our eyes like searing moments at the still point. Choreographer Pam Tanowitz, composer Kaija Saariaho and painter Brice Marden join forces at the Fisher Center in Annandale.

In Professor Valerie Joyce’s visits to schools, she asks students to name African-American women they know of from before 1865. Even among black female students, the responses quickly falter – Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, maybe Sally Hemings. With 250 years of history in the United States before the Civil War, this whole segment of our population is virtually silent, unknown.

It helps if you have read or seen other productions of Macbeth. Without that background the radical deconstruction ot the iconic play directed by Obie winner, Melia Bensussen, won't make sense.

For the past decade there has been a tradition of at least one Afircan American themed production each season. This time its a benign and charming comedy Artney Jackson by James Anthony Tyler. Arguably there is progress that the well crafted and superbly acted play is a step back from polemical social and political agendas.

Silent Night by Kevin Puts with libretto by Mark Campbell is being presented at the Glimmerglass Festival. Tomer Zvulen directs this complex tale revealing each subtle turn in the story of a 24 hour truce during the First World War. Nicole Paiement conducts to bring forth all the subtlety and beauty of Puts’ score. Puts is both a fabulously gifted entertainer and a deep musical thinker. The music paints the scenes. The singers capture the tone in gorgeous melodies and often appropriately harsh recitative.

A forty year retrospective by Charles Giuliano "Heads and Tales" opens Thursday, July 26 at MCLA Gallery 51 in North Adams, Massachusetts. It will be a part of the monthly Downstreet celebration, The artist will give a talk at the gallery on Wednesday, August 8 from 6 to 7 PM. The exhibition, curated by gallery director Arthur Debow, surveys 40 images of jazz and rock musicians from the Rolling Stones, to Marvin Gaye, Miles Davis, Yoko Ono and Frank Sinatra.

Arthur DeBow did a super job of curating and installing my retrospective Heads and Tales at Gallery 51 in North Adams. Some 150 plus friends and strangers passed through.