Berkshire Eagle

Barrington Stage Company was founded in 1995. In 2005, with seed money from the city, the company moved from rented facilities in Sheffield to a permanent home in Pittsfield. Three years later it transformed rented space in the nearby V.F.W. Post as a Second Stage. Now that building has been gifted and Renamed Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center. With no additional debt beyond renovation BSC has now completed its Pittsfield campus.

Hancock Shaker Village (HSV) announces the living history museum’s 2012 plans at a press conference today. The 52nd season will run from April 7 through October 28. It includes a major new exhibition titled A Promising Venture: Shaker Photographs from the WPA, which features the work of photographer Noel Vicentini, who was hired as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Art Project in 1936 to document the Shaker villages in upstate New York and western Massachusetts for the newly-formed Index of American Design.

Heading into the 2012 Summer Season, the Berkshire's newest theatre company, Berkshire Actors Theatre will stage productions of two John Patrick Shanley plays. With Shanley on board as a creative consultant, and an exciting cast list of local actors lined up, BAT is looking to further solidify itself in the local theatre scene. BAT also just released a dynamic promo video for its season.

What I do consistently look for, and I think I said this earlier, is what each member of the company brings to the stage, and that goes for designers, actors, directors, musicians, choreographers and anyone else credited with anything for the production. I want to see the best in them and from them always. When I don't, I say so.

Berkshire theatre critic reviews for the weekly paper The Advocate. He also posts overnight for his on line site Berkshire Bright Focus. His reviews are also syndicated nationally. He started covering Broadway at the age of fourteen and now in his 60s had been doing it ever since.

10X10 On North announces the schedule of events for the Berkshires’ first-ever winter contemporary arts festival, creatively enlivening downtown Pittsfield February 16-26 with art, dance, film, music, theatre, and more

It would be difficult to match the success of the 2011 season of Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield. The company set records with its productions of Guys and Doll and a riveting new work by Mark. St. Germain, Best of Enemies. But in a press conference Julianne Boyd, artistic director of BSC, stated that she doesn't want to repeat herself. Opening with a musical, Fiddler on the Roof, Arthur Miller and a farce directed by John Rando, however, looks sure to run the table on the Main Stage. With St. Germain's new Dr. Ruth among the tricks up her sleeve for Stage 2.

In announcing a stunning, star studded program for the 35th season of Shakespeare & Company, now in his third season as artistic director, Tony Simotes provided indicators of what to expect in the future. This summer he will play his aces with former teacher and friend Olympia Dukakis in The Tempest. The company's homegrown star, John Douglas Thompson, returns after a hiatus in a new one man play Satchmo at the Waldorf.

After Hurricane Irene hit and destroyed 300 homes in Williamstown I was among the first responders and I am proud to say that my work recently became incorporated as a non-profit called Higher Ground dedicated to providing ongoing assistance to the flood victims and working long-term on the crucial need for affordable housing in North County.

With its 34th Performance Season still running until March 25, Shakespeare & Company Artistic Director Tony Simotes announces a strong end to its 2011 performance year on both critical and financial fronts.

It is that time of year when we look back at the highlights and insights of the past season. Take a deep breath and anticipate what lays ahead for 2012. There is much to remember as well as look forward to.

As home to Mass MoCA, MCLA and a growing arts community North Adams is one of the most unique cities in the Commonwealth. There wasn't the same intensity and media coverage of the race this time between incumbent Dick Alcombright who handily defeated opponent Ron Boucher. The 2009 contest against old time pol, John Barrett, III was a bloodbath. To make things interesting Barrett has won a seat on the City Council. Whether he is there to help the city or hurt Alcombright remains to be seen. Stay tuned.

In this third installment of a dialogue with Julianne Boyd, artistic director of Barrington Stage Company, we discussed the value and impact of reviews and critical dialogues. Is theater more of a life than a profession? What happens when boundaries get blurred?

Shakespeare & Company’s Artistic Director Tony Simotes announces the titles for its 17th annual Studio Festival of Plays—a mini-marathon of plays never before performed at the Company, running one-day only on Monday, September 5th in Founders’ Theatre. Staged readings begin at 11:00 AM, and continue through to 11:00PM. Company actors and special guest actors will present seven productions throughout the day, in the form of works-in-progress and staged readings.

There is no question that the first season of artistic director Jenny Gersten has done well at the box office. In a release WTF announces that its sales for August are double what they were in August last year. Overall they are stating attendance at some 44,000. According to the wildly uneven reviews, however, Williamstown Theatre Company has slipped from its once dominant position among the four major Berkshire theatre companies.

The production of Ten Cents a Dance based on a reworking of Rodgers and Hart by John Doyle is provoking a firestorm of controversy. The musical in which five women sing and play instruments with a male piano player is inspiring praise and scorn from audiences and critics. Everyone emerges from Williamstown Theatre Festival with an opinion. Here are links to positive and negative reviews. Don't miss the chance to wade in on this. See it while you can.

Tony Award winning playwright and director John Doyle, as well as, WTF artistic director Jenny Gersten are in denial that Ten Cents a Dance, a rehash of work by Rodgers and Hart is a "jukebox musical." But if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck? This cut and paste job is being passed off as a "an American premiere." You decide.

Increasingly the marketing and pr strategy of theatre companies has turned to social networking sources like Facebook and Twitter to drown out the negative reviews of established print and on line critics. Today Williamstown Theatre Festival sent out an e mail blast with raves from unattributed sources. The majority of Berkshire theatre critics were less than thrilled by the world premiere of Touch(ed) by Bess Wohl. But, hey, who cares what critics think?

When Rocco Landesman, the head of the NEA, suggested that there are too many arts organizations with supply outweighing demand there was a response of outrage in the arts community. Here in the Berkshires it begs the question of sufficient audience and patrons to support four major theatre companies. It also begs the question of the role of critics? Are we just providers of consumer information for ticket buyers?

Tommy sold out at the Colonial for the VIP opening on Saturday night. The reviews are staggering in, partly because some critics opted for an offer of better seats on Monday night. That doesn't give much time to promote an expensive show with a short run that ends on Saturday. We asked artistic director, Kate Maguire, about that during the opening night party.

This week the Williamstown Theatre Festival will start to build the first of seven sets. There is the opening of Streetcar Named Desire on the Nikos Stage opening on June 22. That's just three weeks from now. With tech rehearsals on June 21 and 22 which means the set has to be installed on the 18th and 19th. That's the norm for WTF. But right now a crew of 15 is frantically building the set shops to build the sets. On February 11 the roof collapsed at the Delftree Mill which housed the former props and set workshops.

This is the launch of the Barbecue Project. The mandate is to seek out, taste, and report on ever restaurant and pit in the Berkshires. Of which there are now quite a few. We will focus on ribs and pulled pork as well as evaluate sides and the all important variety of sauces. We got off to a great start with Mad Jacks in Pittsfield. With a promise to return to JackJack's Soul Food, also in Pittsfield, when Terrell serves barbecue on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

With affordable rent in a rural setting Leslie Ferrin has sustained a successful gallery through a difficult economy. But she is now faced with the decision to sell the space in Pittsfield. She plans to focus more on the major art fairs and working with artists whose careers have really taken off with global opportunities. That is measured against a retail business that is only viable during the busy Berkshire summer season.

The New York Times today in an e mail blast is announcing that it will no longer put out for nothing. While it makes sense to charge for world class content there is a glut of free information on line. Why does this feel like a desperate last stand for the once mighty media giant. What is not evident in this move is the potential decline of readership and an erosion of authority and influence. While older Times readers may well pony up it is unlikely that anyone under 40 will bother and the Times, accordingly, has abandoned its next generation of potential readers.

Blogs and the social networks routinely scoop print media on news, previews and reviews. By the time newspapers cover arts stories they may be days old. Arts organizations continue to rely primarily on print reviews to sell tickets but that has changed dramatically in the past few years. Through blogs and tweets Broadway shows with long previews may be dead in the water by opening night. Through internet coverage audiences make up their minds on ticket sales before reviews appear in print.